The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 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 chairty'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)".
INTRODUCTION
The David Family Foundation was incorporated on 31 October 2007 and was established to support the charitable interests of the late Doreen David's children. The Company was registered as a Charity on 14 March 2008.
Governing Document
The David Family Foundation is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. It is constituted under its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 31 October 2007. It is a registered company under company number 06414484, and a registered charity under Charity Commission reference number 1123198.
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 given appropriate induction and training on appointment to the board.
Key Management Personnel
Fiona Ellis and David Emerson resigned during the year. The current Trustees thank them both for their service.
Ben Robertson was recruited as a new Trustee and will be appointed during 2026.
The trustees consider that the board of trustees comprises the key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the Charity on a day-to-day basis. All trustees give of their time freely and no director received remuneration in the year. Details of Directors' expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in note 10 to the accounts.
Governance
The trustees retained Kingston Burrowes (formerly Myrus Smith) as auditors.
The trustees reconfirmed that the Foundation existed for the long term and could manage occasional temporary periods of higher spending when appropriate. However, having increased spending in in previous years responding to the pandemic, at the start of the year there had been a return to the previous level of spending, and which would broadly maintain the level of the endowment during a period of further potential volatility.
Trustees continued to review the Foundation's legacy and priorities, and with the benefit of the greater capacity of an additional trustee, further strategic discussions were planned for 2025, with the intention to maintain the flexibility to respond to new priorities, but potentially enabling a focus across fewer areas.
Investment Policy and Performance
The charity has power to invest in such assets as it sees fit. The trustees have appointed UBS as investment managers to manage the majority of the charity assets, with a brief to adopt a medium risk investment strategy whilst providing revenue for the charity's current needs while enhancing income and capital growth over the long term.
The trustees have previously switched the investments to a Sustainable Investment [SI] portfolio which has higher ESG benefits. The trustees confirmed that it is appropriate to stay in the SI portfolio as a long-term strategy, and that the SI and ESG strategies better reflect the values and ethics of the foundation. This policy is reviewed on an annual basis, as well as whether the particular current SI strategy is the right one for the foundation as others emerge.
Trustees had aimed to maintain an minimum annual spending target of 5% of the original endowment, to ensure that the value of the endowment, with an allowance for inflation, would not be diminished long term. This provides a budgeting guide for each of four grant-making meetings a year, and allows for some longer-term commitments. Trustees have the power to spend out, as agreed, during any particular period. This could also be assessed against the annual level of the endowment, with adjustments then made to spend accordingly, either up or down, although on an ongoing basis the Foundation is an in-perpetuity fund, retaining the core of the endowment.
After the previous downturn, as anticipated, the Trustees saw a continuing recovery in value of the investments and funds carried forward at 31 December 2025 of £5,682,398 sit quite comfortably in line with the initial endowment, with a conservative inflation buffer well in excess of 10% against the endowment value. The Trustees are satisfied with the investment performance during the year.
The investment strategy and spending targets are reviewed annually at the Trustee’s quarterly meetings. Recognising the almost unlimited opportunities of charitable spending open to them, the trustees intend that the strategic discussions planned for the coming year should include consideration of the longer-term future of the foundation, and of it’s aims and priorities. During the year Trustees have started work towards developing a set of funding Theme Priorities for the Foundation which is intended to start to move towards a more active selection process rather than the open selection process of unsolicited applications which has mostly been the policy to date.
Applications which do not fit the priorities will not be considered.
During the year ended 31 December 2025, income was £77,919 (2024: £171,258) and net expenditure was £914,582 (2024: £677,781).
The charity also recognised a gain on the market value of its investments of £626,181(2024: £560,196).
Unrestricted Funds as at 31 December 2025 totalled £5,682,398 (2024: £5,892,880).
At the balance sheet date, the Trust had an unrestricted fund of £5,682,398 (2024: £5,892,880). The charity is mainly reliant on its return from investments to fund its charitable aims and therefore has a reserves policy which aims to provide sustainable funds for the future.
Events after the Year End
The Trustees will start to implement the funding Theme Priorities for the Foundation and unsolicited applications which do not fit will not be considered.
The Trustees have started to discuss moving towards a higher spend-out to raise the potential impact on the Theme Priorities.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
The trustees, who are also the directors of THE DAVID FAMILY FOUNDATION 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 chairty 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; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the chairty 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 chairty 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 chairty and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of THE DAVID FAMILY FOUNDATION (the chairty) for the year ended 31 December 2025.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the chairty 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 chairty’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.
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 chairty 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.
The David Family Foundation was incorporated on 31 October 2007 and was established to support the charitable interests of the late Doreen David's children. The Company was registered as a Charity on 14 March 2008.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the chairty'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 chairty is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the chairty. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes. 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 chairty 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.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the chairty 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.
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.
Fixed asset investments are initially measured at transaction price excluding transaction costs, and are subsequently measured at fair value at each reporting date. Changes in fair value are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred.
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 chairty 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 chairty's balance sheet when the chairty 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 chairty’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
In the application of the chairty’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.
Expenses totaling £1,487.49 were reimbursed to four trustees during the year end 31 December 2025 (2024: £36).
No remuneration or other benefits have been made or are due to be made to the trustees in respect of the year to 31 December 2025 (2024: Nil).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
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 grants to Space Art (registered Charity number 1188167), of which one of the trustees of the David
Family Foundation is also a trustee, totalling £29,037 were made during the year (2024: £nil).