The Trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006 present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the twelve month period 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standards applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
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 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).
Crossroads Care Staffordshire’s raison d’être continues to be “to relieve, within the boundaries of Staffordshire, the stresses experienced by carers and people with any physical, mental or sensory impairment within the family or home by offering a respite service through the provision of community-based care attendants.”
Crossroads Care Staffordshire delivers a range of regulated and non-regulated services, including:
Home care services
Adult and children's respite care
Hospital discharge support
Palliative and end-of-life care
Dementia-specific support
Learning disability support
Information, advice and signposting
Social and wellbeing activities
Individual casework support.
Against a backdrop of continuing political turmoil and rising prices, we delivered 36,524 hours of direct care to our service users in the financial year to 31 March 2026, an increase of almost 3% over the previous year. This comprised 30,819 adult service hours and 5,705.25 children and young people's service hours. This has gone some way to reversing the decrease in hours seen last year, but we know that demand for services such as ours is increasing.
Crossroads continues to provide high-quality care at the best value we possibly can. Our annual survey of carers is full of positive comments, showing that we are fulfilling these objectives by supporting the innumerable unpaid carers, whether family, friends, neighbours, children or adults, who, often with no initial training, find themselves in a nursing rôle.
Our Palliative Care Service provides home-based care to support carers of those with a terminal illness. Crossroads is one of the few specialist providers of end-of-life care in the area and works alongside other care agencies and hospices locally. Our aim is to create alliances that can help service users in these most difficult of times, with complementary services to those provided by hospices. We have an established relationship with North Staffs Carers’ Association who provide funding and referrals to us in the North Staffordshire area.
The Children and Young People’s Service, which covers the age-range from new-born babies to those aged up to twenty-five continues to be an important part of our service. Excursions have included trips to local parks, theatre and cinema, discos, swimming pools, shopping trips, bowling alleys and visits to football matches for our eighteen children and young people clients. We have supported fourteen children and young people at our City Farm project in Bucknall, they meet twice weekly and work towards a volunteering award.
Once again Liz Salt, Senior Carer Support Worker for the CYP team, organised a Christmas party with entertainment from the Florence Brass Band, of which she is a member, to the delight of our service users and those they care for. And Care Support Worker Joan Oaks organised another very successful Christmas Raffle, with prizes provided by Joan and other members of the team. The amount raised was £316 which along with other donations from Trustees, service users and friends of Crossroads boosted the donations total for the year to £3,442.
Our administrative staff continue to work on a “hybrid” scheme split between home and the office so that there is a minimum of one specific staff member in the office at any one time and each staff member attends the office at least one day per week. Our physical office space is minimal, as we continue to use our funds as efficiently as possible. We continue to rent two rooms in Environment House with the opportunity to use a meeting room if need be. However, staff members are in constant contact with each other and their teams, thanks to mobile technology and our IT system specifically designed for homecare support services.
Why do we exist?
The estimated number of unpaid carers according to the 2021 census is 4.7 million in England and 5.8 million in the UK overall, although other sources quote a figure of 10.6 million or 9% of the population. This figure varies because it may be based on the number in receipt of the Carer’s Allowance, or often family carers do not consider themselves as such, and some people may care for fewer than the requisite thirty-five hours weekly or else may be over pensionable age so are not entitled to receive the Carer’s Allowance. According to the Centre for Care, these carers save the UK economy annually more than £184 billion. It is widely accepted that Homecare enables hundreds of thousands of older people to live well at home, reducing hospital admissions and supporting the wider economy. And yet Carer’s Allowance is the lowest benefit of its kind at only £86.45 per week (2026/7) for providing a minimum of 35 hours of care, contributing to 1.2 million carers living in poverty (Carers Trust research). Demand for services such as ours outstrips supply, as the challenging work and uncompetitive pay means that vacancies in homecare are 4 times higher than those in the wider economy (September 2025, Skills for Care).
The Homecare Association (HCA) has carried out extensive research and found:
that the UK faces a £3.25 billion annual shortfall to pay care workers a fair wage, equivalent to comparable roles in the NHS, and keep providers sustainable;
Only one public organisation in the UK pays at or above the Homecare Association’s Minimum Price for Homecare;
61% of councils and Health and Social Care Trusts, purchase too few hours per provider to sustain employment rights, efficient operation, and financial viability at average fee rates, with only 1% using block contracts that guarantee income stability.
The HCA’s recommended minimum hourly price for state-funded care from April 2026 is estimated at £34.32, taking into account the increases in National Minimum Wage, recent increases in rates of National Insurance and changes to employment rights especially in connection with sickness leave. However, the average hourly council rate nation-wide is £24.36 (and only £23.42 in the West Midlands) while 27% of Local Authorities pay an hourly rate of less than £22.71. The hourly rates paid to Crossroads by local authorities and the NHS ranged from £21.38 to £26.50. Ultimately, this means that self-funding individuals continue indirectly to subsidise the state.
PUBLIC BENEFIT
Trustees must have regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when carrying out related activities.
My comments above under “Why we exist” demonstrate how Crossroads services contribute to the public benefit in so many ways. We consider that providing these services to as many people as possible who are in need is our raison d'être. Last year a sub-group of trustees and staff was formed with the aim of widening awareness of Crossroads’ services amongst potential clients and professionals in the sector. Our Chief Officer applies for relevant grants and awards whenever the opportunity arises. However, we are also extremely grateful for donations that we receive from our clients, trustees and supporters of Crossroads, which we use to provide free care hours where no other financial assistance is readily available and contributes to events such as our Christmas Party for clients. This year donations received amounted to £3,442.
We would like to sincerely thank all those who have donated to us in the past financial year, and those who continue to do so.
STRATEGIC REPORT
Achievements and Performance
a) In the financial year to 31 March 2026 Crossroads maintained a database of 1,924 registered carers and directly supported 403 individual carers through advice, information, respite services, casework, social activities, hospital discharge support and specialist care services.
b) The majority of carers supported were caring for older relatives and family members. More than half (51.1%) of carers supported by Crossroads Care Staffordshire were themselves aged 65 or over, highlighting the increasing pressures faced by older carers supporting loved ones with complex health needs. Women represented 66.3% of carers supported, whilst men represented 33.7%.
We also supported:
21 parent carers of children under 18 with disabilities or additional needs
72 carers in paid employment (17.9%)
74 carers with their own long-term health condition or disability (18.4%)
c) Alongside direct care provision, the charity delivered:
1,295.5 hours of training and workforce development
137.5 hours of wellbeing project activity funded in partnership with North Staffs Carers Association
Community engagement activities supported through donations and charitable funding.
d) As stated above, 403 carers received help during the financial year and a total of 36,524 care hours were delivered. We now have thirty-six CSWs and seven administrative staff, some of whom also work occasionally in a carer support rôle. We are proud of our 95% retention rate of current staff, which we believe is attributable to our supportive culture and our high quality training and standards. This retention rate is very high compared with other organisations in the care sector.
e) We have continued to qualify for funding from local authorities and the NHS, albeit sometimes at a lower rate than is ideal, and this funding is essential to our carrying out our services.
f) We adhere to the model policies issued by the Carers’ Trust. Audits by local authorities provide an external confirmation of the quality of our services.
g) Senior management staff undertake any additional training in aspects which are considered helpful, and keep training of CSWs under review to ensure that our high standards are maintained.
h) Client satisfaction remains high due to the efforts of all staff, and we maintain regular contact with families by assigning them a specific CSW who reports back after each visit. Each care package has a care co-ordinator who communicates weekly with each family and we also check on client satisfaction at regular intervals.
Below is a sample of the comments received from our most recent carer survey:
“Crossroads are consistent and caring.”
“The care, compassion, empathy and understanding are amazing.”
“[Crossroads are] always there for anything I need.”
“Always try to accommodate me.”
“Someone is always just a phone call away.”
“When staff are asked to do something they get it done.”
FINANCIAL REVIEW
During the financial year to 31st March 2026, our total reserves have increased to £220,467 with a surplus of £28,736.
This has given us the opportunity to set aside funds for the future which have in past years been difficult for us to provide. These are the Contingency for Closure Fund and the Training and Development Fund, of which more detail is provided under the section Designation of funds, below.
RESERVES POLICY
It is the policy of Crossroads Care Staffordshire to review annually the charity’s reserves and to designate these according to our current perceived needs. Our aim is to free as much of our funds as possible to support free hours of care for carers. The Trustees will seek to comply with current legislation and with the recommendations of the Charity Commission in respect of reserves and their use.
Surplus of Income over Expenditure
This reserve represents accumulated surpluses not specifically designated. It is our policy to review this annually and if the balance is substantial and not expected to be utilised in the foreseeable future , then to allocate it to reserves designated to meet specific charitable objectives.
Designation of Funds
a) Contingency for Closure Fund: This fund has been reinstated as a prudent measure. In the event that Crossroads was unable to continue its service for whatever reason, this is an estimate of a sum which would allow the transfer of our operations in an orderly manner. The amount designated is £79,000 and will be reviewed annually.
b) Direct Access Fund/Free Care for Carers Fund enables the company to fulfil its charitable objectives of delivering free care hours to support carers. The balance on this fund at the end of the year was £1,548
c) Restricted Funds: The Trustees will ensure that these are accounted for separately and used for the purpose they are intended. Currently, there are no restricted funds.
d) Training and Development Fund: This fund allows for additional bespoke or one to one training to supplement the current training which is mainly carried out online. The initial sum allocated is £10,000, to be utilised in future years.
The total amount of reserves held at 31st March 2026 was £220,467 none of which is restricted.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Organisational Structure
a) As a limited company, Crossroads Care Staffordshire’s Constitution is determined by its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
b) The organisational structure remains the same with a Chief Officer, one Area Manager post and Care Co-ordinators / Senior Carer Support Workers who undertake the day-to-day management of individual teams of Carer Support Workers. The finance function is carried out by an Accountant. The Trust Board exists alongside the Chief Officer to review and adjust this structure at regular intervals.
c) A scheme of delegation is in place and the day-to-day management and provision of services rests with the Chief Officer and the Area Manager. The Chief Officer is the Registered Manager and is responsible for ensuring that the charity delivers the services specified and that key performance indicators are met. The management team is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of services.
d) The Board of Trustees manages the company through a system of reserved powers. Those matters over which the Board wants to have direct control, including the appointment of Senior Management, pay-rates and major expenditure, are defined in the Reserved Powers Policy document. Anything not so defined is considered proper to the Chief Officer. The Chief Officer may propose actions to the Board which are outside her remit and equally may ask for the Board’s endorsement of actions within it.
e) The pay scales of staff are set by the Board and are benchmarked against similar organisations operating in the area.
f) The Board of Trustees meets six times a year. Meetings are held in person although sub-group meetings generally continue to be held virtually. These sub groups are Finance, Policies, Quality and Safeguarding and most recently Fundraising and Promotion. Their Chairs report at the Trust Board Meeting.
g) We would welcome new Trustees and would give them all the necessary support and training to enable them to make a worthwhile contribution to the charity.
DECISION MAKING
Decisions are taken at Board Meetings either by consensus or, rarely, by a simple majority vote. The Chair is authorised to make decisions between Board Meetings if there is an urgent matter, but must then seek agreement to the decision at the next Board Meeting. If appropriate a paper is produced with the key decisions taken, the reasons for the actions, the expected outcome, any alternatives to the proposal, plus the costings, and any savings arising from implementation. The Board will always be vigilant in considering changes that will either improve or at least will not impair the financial stability of the Charity and which will enhance the services for carers. At all times, wherever possible, the Board seeks to maintain or improve the conditions of service for staff, as it is their contribution which is essential to the success of the company.
RISK MANAGEMENT
Risks to Crossroads are periodically reviewed. The main considerations are as follows:
a) At present very little of the annual income is derived from charitable donations.
b) The company has to compete for contracts, presently awarded by Local Authorities and NHS Commissioners, in order to fund the service.
c) The obvious cause of the loss of a contract is through failure to tender at a price which is competitive. Funding bodies are under pressure to accept the lowest price from those tendering. We continue to stress the value of high-quality support for carers in order to achieve a contract price which covers our organisation’s delivery costs.
d) The main elements of control in pricing are the management of overheads, which entails ensuring that the management structure is kept at a minimal level of cost, and the creation of efficiencies of scale which involves maintaining a sufficient number of service hours.
e) Contracts, or more often of late working arrangements rather than formal contracts, are paid at an hourly rate based on the hours of service delivered. The rate is determined by the authorities and is generally less than Crossroads’ true cost of care. This has been the case for some years and requires careful management in order to sustain the service. Of greater concern is the limitations of funding based on hours delivered, in particular since the introduction of the entitlement to paid sick leave from Day one. This is mitigated by careful budgeting and monitoring of sickness levels.
f) Financial risk is mitigated further through diversity. Thus, Crossroads Care Staffordshire does not depend on one major contract for its income. The largest percentage of our income – 32.8% - comes from the total of Direct Payments for adult clients. The loss of some smaller contracts would have little effect individually, but the loss of a larger contract would be more serious. Swift action and the use of dedicated reserves, if necessary, should enable survival.
g) Further risks involve the failure to recruit and retain appropriate staff. CSWs are poorly paid nationally, although increases in the National Minimum Wage have resulted in above inflation pay rises in the last two years. Qualifications within the Social Care field are required for staff in a management role, and employees are encouraged to gain further knowledge and skills in the course of their employment. However, development of the workforce makes the staff more attractive to other competitor organisations, although repayment of tuition fees is a contractual requirement for staff who move to another organisation within two years of training.
h) The service carried out by CSW’s is often challenging and even potentially dangerous. There are comprehensive policies and procedures for ensuring the safety and comfort of service users and CSW’s, including systems for monitoring and addressing incidents and near misses. These operational risks, as for any agency working in the Care Sector, could also potentially lead to reputational risks.
i) It is important to maintain a capable and engaged Board of Trustees, to provide governance of risks. The Trust Board has a varied mix of Trustees, all bringing different skills to the organisation. We continue to actively encourage new trustees to join us, to ensure our collective knowledge and skills remain relevant.
The Board of Trustees is responsible for ensuring effective and adequate risk management, with internal control systems in place to manage the major risks to which the charity is exposed. This is done by monitoring the effectiveness of the risk management framework. Trustees and the management team must remain focused on these risks which could adversely affect our reputation and the stability of the organisation.
In summary, the major risks remain insufficient income, possible loss of a contract and an inability to recruit and retain sufficient staff to provide a service.
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
a) Crossroads Care Staffordshire is a charity, registration number 1040583. It is also a company limited by guarantee, registration number 02944546.
b) The sole office and registered address of the company is Environment House, Werrington Road, Bucknall, Stoke on Trent ST2 9AF
c) The Trustees who are also directors of the company are Mrs Susan Whiting (Chair), Mrs Susan Brookes (Vice Chair), Mrs Ann Flevill, Mrs Diane Hall, Mrs Mal Smith, Mrs Susan Tams and Mr Paul Edden. Mrs Jan Price attends the Board as Carers’ Representative. The Articles of Association do not require a post of Company Secretary.
d) The company’s Accountants and Business Advisors are bk plus (formerly Geens) Ltd, Graphic House, City Road, Stoke-on- Trent ST4 2PH. Bk plus Ltd perform an Independent Examination as a full audit is not required.
e) Banking services are provided by Unity Trust Bank, Brindley Place, Birmingham.
f) Senior Management Team
- Chief Officer Mrs Rebecca Bestwick
- Accountant Mrs Jane Etherington
- Area Manager Mrs Kerry Bible
g) Crossroads Care Staffordshire, as for all other organisations using the Crossroads name, is a Network Partner of Carers’ Trust. This Partnership provides a range of services, including human resources support, legal advice, provision of policies and various other services to support Partners within the Network.
STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES.
The Trustees who are the directors of Crossroads Care Staffordshire Limited for the purpose of Company Law are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the Financial Statements in accordance with the applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice)
They are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company. At all times they must be able to show that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and for taking reasonable steps in the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Company Law requires that for each financial year the Trustees prepare financial statements, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company, of the incoming resources and the application of those resources. This includes the income and expenditure of the charitable company for the financial year. In preparing these financial statements the Trustees are required to
- Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently
- Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice)
- 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
- Prepare the financial statements on a going-concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.
So far as the Trustees are aware, there is no relevant audit information (as defined by Section 418 of the Companies Act 2006) of which the company’s auditors are unaware and each Trustee has taken all the steps that he or she ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make him/herself aware of any relevant audit information, and to establish that the company’s auditors are aware of that information.
REPORT ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
At last year’s AGM I was appointed Chair of Crossroads, taking over from Susan Brookes who had served as Chair for five years. She is a hard act to follow, being both an eloquent spokesperson for the issues and challenges facing the Care sector, and a capable and reassuring leader of our Board meetings. I don’t underestimate the importance and the responsibility of being a charity trustee, which also means being a director of the company. But my role as the new Chair is made easier by Susan’s continuing support as Vice Chair, and the experience and commitment of all the Trustees and our Carer’s representative, Jan Price. I am truly grateful to them all for the work they do with good humour, but with no financial reward. And I was very happy to welcome Paul Edden to our Board this year, who supplements the knowledge and experience of our Board through his career at his former company, Home Instead.
Susan’s report last year referred to the failure of the new Labour government to live up to their promises to introduce specific funding for social care and Baroness Casey’s independent commission into adult social care. The reporting timetable for the commission was phase one in 2026 with a final phase in 2028. It seems that the commission has so far only started the conversation, with contributions from carers which will come as no surprise to many of us. The Care Sector seems to be attracting some mainstream attention of late, with a BBC TV programme following the former East Enders’ actor Natalie Cassidy as she embarks on a new career in care, and also a Radio 4 series titled “Who Cares?” One can only hope that these programmes shine a spotlight on those people who are and have been for many years living the reality of caring either as carers, care workers or the cared for. And in a recent statement Angela Raynor, former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party but now free of that constraint, has referred to the contribution made by care workers, although in the context of migrant workers’ right to settlement in the UK. She has called on the government to raise care workers’ wages – all very laudable but the question of how this would be funded is not addressed, seemingly being filed under “too difficult”.
Crossroads has charitable status, but it still has all the responsibilities of being an employer. The challenges affecting businesses such as the increases in National Minimum Wage, the increases in National Insurance and the changes to eligibility for paid sick leave are all issues that Crossroads must contend with and which affect its sustainability, particularly as its payroll costs amount to 85% of its outgoings. Funding from the NHS and local authorities does not reflect the increases in costs that we face, so the solution is for us to increase the volume of services in order to make efficiencies of scale. However our funders also seem intent on reducing quality despite the risks that this entails in an attempt to balance their own books, leading to an apparent reluctance to signpost those in need of care to our services. We have this year set up a sub-group to promote Crossroads’ work to a wider public and create greater awareness within the sector of the value of well trained and experienced Carer Support Workers.
It is now my pleasure to give my whole-hearted thanks to the staff of Crossroads. Rebecca Bestwick, Chief Officer, Kerry Bible, Area Manager, and Jane Etherington, Accountant, carry out their work with professionalism and enthusiasm, and I have personally found their support and engagement invaluable. The work of the team of Care Coordinators and staff at Environment House, Linda Ford, Jo Ridge, Liz Salt and Geoff Mosedale, is greatly appreciated. Last but not least, my thanks go to the Carer Support Workers on whom our service users and their families rely, who carry out their work with such commitment and compassion every day of the year.
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Crossroads Care Staffordshire Limited (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2026.
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011.
Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000, the independent examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW), which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the Companies Act 2006.
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements give a true and fair view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Crossroads Care Staffordshire Limited is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office address is Environment House, Werrington Road, Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, ST2 9AF
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, 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.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount.
Income from charitable activities includes income from service contracts and trading activities to raise funds for the charity. Income is received in exchange for supplying services in order to raise funds and is recognised once entitlement has occurred.
Income from government and other grants are recognised at fair value when the charity has entitlement after any performance conditions have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably. If entitlement is not met then these amounts are deferred.
Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to the expenditure, 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 accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Expenditure on charitable activities includes the cost of providing care services in accordance with the objectives of the charity.
Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include office costs, governance costs, administrative payroll costs. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include management and charitable activities. Where support costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to the cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
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.
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.
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.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. 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.
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.
Travel and subsistence payments were paid to trustees during the year is £40 (2025 - £nil).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The remuneration of key management personnel was as follows:
The key management personnel of the charity comprise the trustees, the chief officer, the accountant and the area manager The total employee benefit of the key management personnel of the Charity was £101,387 (2025- £88,013).
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.
Free care for carers fund
This fund is to provide free care to support carers to take a break from their caring role on an occasional basis. This may be to supplement existing support that may already be in place or to help those carers who only need an occasional break to support them in their caring role.
Training and Development Fund
This fund allows for additional bespoke or one to one training to supplement the current training which is mainly carried out online.
Contingency for Closure Fund
This fund has been reinstated as a prudent measure. In the event that Crossroads was unable to continue its service for whatever reason, this is an estimate of a sum which would allow the transfer of our operations in an orderly manner.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
At the reporting end date the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2025 - none).