The Board of Trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 30 September 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 governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" 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)".
The principal activity of the Charity continues to be the provision of high‑quality residential accommodation and care for older people within the Wirral community.
During the year the Group operated twenty‑six units of accommodation across its two residential homes:
Residential | Residential |
The Croft 10 | Heathermount 16 |
The occupation rate has been 97.6%.
Demand for placements remained strong throughout the year and the Group maintained exceptionally high occupancy levels averaging 97.6% across both homes. This performance reflects the strong reputation of the organisation within the local community and the high standards of care delivered by staff.
The Croft
The Croft continues to perform strongly, maintaining consistently high occupancy and strong engagement with residents, relatives and the wider community.
The Home supports a significant number of residents living with varying forms of dementia and increased frailty, reflecting broader demographic trends within residential care provision. In response, the organisation continues to invest in staff training and development to ensure that residents receive compassionate, dignified and person‑centred care.
Feedback from residents and relatives continues to be extremely positive and the Home maintains a strong reputation locally for the quality of its care provision.
The dementia‑friendly communal environment continues to support residents’ wellbeing, providing a safe and engaging space designed specifically for those living with cognitive impairment.
Heathermount
Heathermount Residential Care Home continues to operate at full or near‑full capacity and remains an important part of the local care community.
Located in the heart of the Wirral, Heathermount provides residents with convenient access to local amenities while maintaining a safe and supportive residential environment.
The Home continues to benefit from ongoing investment in the building fabric and internal environment, ensuring that it remains comfortable, safe and welcoming for residents and staff.
Heathermount continues to receive positive feedback from local authority monitoring visits, reflecting the organisation’s commitment to regulatory compliance and high‑quality care.
General
The high standards of care expected by the Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Trustees continue to be embedded throughout the organisation. Both homes maintain excellent reputations within the Wirral and continue to receive positive feedback from residents and their families.
The organisation remains committed to continuous improvement and has continued to invest in modernising its operational infrastructure. This includes the continued development of digital care planning systems, electronic medication management, and the implementation of smart technology designed to enhance resident safety and support care delivery.
Financial
The financial performance of the Charity during the year remained strong despite the ongoing economic pressures facing the adult social care sector.
Occupancy levels remained robust across both homes and operational expenditure has been carefully managed in response to rising wage costs, increased National Insurance contributions and higher utility costs.
During the year the Charity continued to invest in improvements to facilities and services for residents, including the acquisition of an accessible minibus designed to support community engagement and resident wellbeing.
Despite these capital investments the Charity has maintained healthy cash reserves and continues to operate from a position of financial stability.
The Trustees remain confident that the Charity remains financially sustainable and well positioned to meet the future challenges facing the sector.
Regulatory and other bodies
The Care Quality Commission [CQC] In the most recent inspections, the Houses were rated as ‘Good’. The Group has been commended on its Infection Control Procedures and has been admitted to various pilot schemes. The Group remains resolute in providing the highest quality of service and takes pride in striving for an ‘outstanding’ rating with ‘CQC’ in their next inspection.
The Charity Commission and Companies Register
The Society continues its registrations with both bodies and submits its accounts and replies to their annual requests for information promptly.
Wirral Borough Council. We maintain our contractual relationship with the Local Authority, thereby submitting to its audit and monitoring systems. We have received favourable feedback (Excellent) and have been admitted to various pilot schemes. Recently, we have dedicated one bed in each home to WBC to alleviate the Hospital’s pressures, and we have made additional beds available with financial support from the families to cover the Homes’ fees.
The Charity’s policy is to maintain unrestricted reserves, not designated for a specific purpose, at a level equivalent to between three and six months of operating expenditure, which is currently estimated to be between £361,000 and £722,000.
The Board of Trustees considers this range to provide an appropriate level of financial resilience, ensuring that the Charity can continue its activities and meet its financial obligations in the event of a temporary reduction in income, unforeseen expenditure, or wider economic pressures affecting the social care sector. Maintaining reserves within this range also allows the Trustees sufficient time to review operational arrangements and explore alternative funding or financial strategies should this become necessary.
The Trustees confirm that reserves have been maintained in accordance with this policy throughout the year and that the Charity continues to operate from a position of financial stability.
The level of reserves is reviewed regularly by the Board of Trustees as part of its ongoing financial oversight and risk management responsibilities.
Investment policy
The Trustees have adopted a prudent and conservative investment policy designed to safeguard the Charity’s financial reserves whilst ensuring sufficient liquidity to meet operational requirements.
Given the nature of the Charity’s activities and the importance of maintaining readily accessible funds, the majority of reserves are held in cash deposit accounts with UK financial institutions. A proportion of these funds are managed through the Akoni deposit platform (Barclays) which enables deposits to be distributed across a number of authorised banking institutions.
This approach provides diversification of counterparty exposure whilst ensuring that funds remain within the protection limits of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). During the year, the FSCS protection limit was increased from £85,000 to £120,000 per eligible depositor per authorised institution, enabling the Charity to review and optimise its treasury arrangements whilst maintaining appropriate risk protection.
The Trustees continue to monitor treasury arrangements regularly in order to ensure that:
Capital is preserved and protected
Liquidity is maintained for operational needs
Counterparty risk is appropriately diversified
Competitive interest returns are achieved where possible
The Charity does not engage in speculative investment activity and remains committed to maintaining a low-risk investment strategy consistent with its charitable objectives and fiduciary responsibilities.
Risks
The Trustees have continued to review and assess the principal risks to which the Charity is exposed and are satisfied that appropriate systems and procedures are in place to mitigate these risks.
For the purposes of governance and oversight, risks are categorised within the following areas:
Governance and management
Operational risk
Financial risk
Regulatory and compliance risk
External and environmental factors
The adult social care sector continues to operate within a challenging economic and regulatory environment. The most significant risks identified by the Trustees include financial sustainability, regulatory compliance, workforce stability, and safeguarding responsibilities.
Financial risk remains a key consideration for the Charity. Operating costs continue to increase due to statutory wage increases, rising National Insurance contributions, pension obligations and sustained inflationary pressures affecting utilities, insurance, food and other operational expenses. The Charity mitigates this risk through careful financial management, prudent reserves and maintaining high occupancy levels across both homes.
Occupancy risk is inherent within residential care provision and can arise from natural fluctuations in admissions or resident turnover. The Trustees mitigate this risk through maintaining high standards of care, strong relationships with local authorities and healthcare partners and active marketing of the homes.
Risks (continued)
The increasing complexity of residents’ care needs also presents operational challenges. Residents are now more likely to present with advanced frailty, multiple medical conditions and varying forms of dementia. The Charity continues to respond to this evolving landscape through ongoing staff training, investment in leadership capacity and ensuring appropriate staffing levels are maintained.
Safeguarding and the prevention of abuse remain critical responsibilities. The Charity maintains comprehensive safeguarding policies and procedures, regular staff training and robust internal reporting mechanisms to ensure that any concerns are identified and addressed promptly.
Regulatory oversight from bodies such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) continues to evolve, placing greater emphasis on governance, quality assurance and evidence of person-centred care. The Trustees remain committed to maintaining full compliance with regulatory requirements and continuously improving service delivery.
Infection prevention and control also remains a key operational priority. Enhanced infection control procedures continue to be embedded across both homes to protect residents, staff and visitors.
The Trustees review risk management arrangements on an ongoing basis and remain confident that the systems in place are appropriate to manage the risks faced by the Charity.
The charitable company was incorporated on 10 March 1967 and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. The name of the charitable company was changed on 14th October 2015 to Allandale Care Group Limited following termination of its membership of the Abbeyfield movement. The registered office, as from June 2005, remains The Croft, 94 Irby Road, Heswall, Wirral CH61 6XG.
The Board of Trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:
Members of the Executive Committee are appointed under the company's Articles of Association [49 – 56] and one third retires each year but is eligible for reappointment. Additional members may also be appointed. Moreover the Executive Committee may at any time appoint replacement or additional members who serve until the following Annual General Meeting and are eligible for election/re-election at that meeting.
Currently [April 2026] the Executive Committee comprises:
Mrs G Colvin: President
Mr R Hughes: Chairman Professor M Riley: Vice Chairman
Mr. K Morris, Mr C Howell, Dr E Cooper
|
The Directors retiring this year were: Mr C Howell and Mr R Hughes who were willing to be re-elected. They were both re-elected unanimously.
The Directors due to retire at the forthcoming AGM are Dr E Cooper and Professor M Riley.
|
Members appointed this year – none
|
Our Trustee Indemnity Insurance is provided by Everywhen, formerly Towergate.
Professional advisors
We instruct A Halsall & Co Solicitors for ad hoc property transactions. For survey, valuation and sale purposes we consult Legat Owen, chartered surveyors. For employment law issues we consult with WorkNest.
Staff
Ms K Baker is the registered CQC manager for Heathermount and Ms J Evans is the registered CQC manager for The Croft.
We have subscribed to numerous additional training events and continue to do so. Our responsibilities have greatly increased over the last few years [see Regulatory and other bodies above] and we shall need to assess carefully how best we can match those responsibilities.
Mr C Warren continues to be the Group’s Chief Executor Officer and Company Secretary from 14 September 2021 and 27 September 2021 respectively.
We owe our staff a considerable debt for their commitment, dedication and diligence.
Volunteers
We owe an equal debt to our volunteers both at Executive Committee and House level (Friends of Heathermount).
Website
Our website is https://allandalecaregroup.com
The Board of Trustees, who are also the directors of Allandale Care Group Limited 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 Board of 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 Board of 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 Board of 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.
A resolution for the re-appointment of Lonsdale and Marsh as auditors of the Charity will be proposed at the Annual General Meeting.
The Trustees report was approved by the Board of Board Of Trustees.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Allandale Care Group Limited (the ‘Charity’) for the year ended 30 September 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:
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 Board of 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 Board of 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 Charity 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, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the Board of 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.
The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.
We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the charity and determined that the most significant are those that relate Care Quality Commission requirements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements such as Charity SORP including FRS 102 and Companies Act 2006.
Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, included the following:
the engagement partner ensured the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
discussions with senior management;
identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team and remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.
We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including override of controls) and addressed the risk through testing of journal entries to identify unusual transactions and assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed our audit procedures which included, but was not limited to:
discussions with management about any known or suspected instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations, and fraud;
reviewing minutes of meetings of those charged with governance;
reviewing the financial statements disclosures and agreeing to underlying documentation;
analytical review to identify unusual transactions;
reviewing for any transactions undertaken with related parties such as those charge with governance and/or trustees;
review of journals;
checking expenses are bona fide transactions of the charity;
Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulations. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.
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.
The notes on pages 15 to 24 form part of these financial statements.
The notes on pages 15 to 24 form part of these financial statements.
The notes on pages 15 to 24 form part of these financial statements.
Allandale Care Group Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is The Croft, 94 Irby Road, Heswall, Wirral, CH61 6XG.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charity's governing document, the Companies Act 2006, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" 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)". 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, modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties and to include investment properties and certain financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the Board of Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the Board of 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 Board of Trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds consist of grants, donations and legacies received and for which the donor has specified the purposes to which the funds must be applied.
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.
Legacies are recognised on receipt or otherwise if the Charity has been notified of an impending distribution, the amount is known, and receipt is expected. If the amount is not known, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Charitable activity costs relate to services provided centrally and identified as wholly or mainly in support of direct charitable expenditure, together with an appropriate proportion of management and office overheads.
Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the Charity but do not undertake charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, personnel and payroll. Governance costs comprise all costs involving the public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice. These costs include costs relating to statutory audit.
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:
Freehold land is not depreciated.
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.
Properties whose fair value can be measured reliably are held under the revaluation model and are carried at a revalued amount, being their fair value at the date of valuation less any subsequent accumulated depreciation and subsequent accumulated impairment losses. The fair value of the land and buildings is usually considered to be their market value.
Revaluation gains and losses are recognised in other recognised gains and losses and accumulated in equity, except to the extent that a revaluation gain reverses a revaluation loss previously recognised in net income/(expenditure) or a revaluation loss exceeds the accumulated revaluation gains recognised in equity; such gains and loss are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.
It is the Charity's policy and practice to maintain properties to a high standard through a continuing programme of refurbishment and maintenance. Consequently the lives of the properties and their residual values are such that any depreciation charge would be immaterial.
A full year's depreciation is charged on fixed assets in the year of purchase but no charge is made in the year of disposal.
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 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.
If material the cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
If relevant 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.
Social housing grants
Some of the Charity's housing schemes are financed partly by Social Housing or other capital grants. These grants are recognised in income (amortised) on a systematic basis over the expected useful life of the asset in accordance with Section 24 of FRS 102 'Government grants', All grants are repayable in certain circumstances, primarily following a sale of a property.
Turnover
None of the Board of Trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any expenses or benefits from the Charity during the year. For details of remuneration see note 9.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
Payments of £3,185 (2024 £2,008) were made to defined contribution pension schemes on behalf of employees whose emoluments exceed £60,000.
The remuneration of key management personnel, who are also directors/trustees, is nil (2024: nil).
The charitable company has charitable status and therefore is exempt from corporation tax on the income it has received. The charitable company is not registered for VAT. Accordingly no VAT is charged to residents, and expenditure in the income and expenditure account includes the relevant VAT.
Land and buildings with a carrying amount of £1,110,000 were revalued in April 2025 by Frank Knight, independent valuers not connected with the Charity on the basis of market value. The valuation conforms to International Valuation Standards and was based on recent market transactions on arm's length terms for similar properties.
At 30 September 2025, had the revalued assets been carried at historic cost less accumulated depreciation and accumulated impairment losses, their carrying amount would have been approximately £1,011,722.
The revaluation surplus is disclosed in note 17.
Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:
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 company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital.
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:
Amounts contracted for but not provided in the financial statements:
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2024 - none).
The Charity had no material debt during the year.