REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 04851054 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1135322

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026

FOR

LEICESTERSHIRE, LEICESTER AND RUTLAND

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Page

Report of the Trustees

1

to

8

Report of the Independent Auditors

9

to

12

Statement of Financial Activities

13

Balance Sheet

14

Cash Flow Statement

15

Notes to the Cash Flow Statement

16

Notes to the Financial Statements

17

to

32

The trustees present their annual report for the year ending 31 March 2026. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the notes to the accounts and comply with the charity's governing document, the Charities Act 2011, 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 Ireland (2019).

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

1. The Community Foundation is an independently constituted and locally managed charitable company, registered in England and Wales no. 04851054 and registered charity number 1135322. The liability of each member is limited to £1.

2. The Community Foundation meets its charitable aims by giving assessed and tracked grants to charitable, voluntary and community groups, particularly those working with local needs. Grant monies are achieved by attracting and managing local grant-giving funds for individuals and families, companies, public agencies and funders, local and national government, and onerous and dormant trusts. It is part of a network of 47 UK Community Foundations.

RECRUITMENT, APPOINTMENT AND INDUCTION OF TRUSTEES

All Trustees also serve as Directors under the Companies Act 2006. The Community Foundation periodically publicly advertises recruitment for Trustees. All Trustees sign a declaration of fitness to serve and an annual statement of interests, undergo an induction process and training, and are expected to attend at least 75% of meetings. They are subject to re-election every three years. The full Board of Trustees meets quarterly; the Finance Panel also meets quarterly, and the Grants Panel 3-5 times a year. Working groups are formed for specific projects or tasks.

The charity has a President, and three Vice Presidents, not subject to re-election. Trustees, Presidents and Vice-presidents are not remunerated, though may claim reasonable travel expenses to meetings. Trustee expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in notes 13 and 22 to the accounts.

Quality Standards

The Community Foundation submits to a regular rigorous Quality Accreditation (QA), a formal measure of efficacy. QA6 was awarded in 2026.

Organisational Structure and Pay

The Community Foundation's permanent paid staff were a Chief Executive, Finance Manager, Grants Manager and Grants Co-ordinator. Freelance staff were employed for administration, grants assessment and donor reporting. A pension contribution of 8% is given to permanent staff after a year of service.

GDPR

Communication and data storage continued to be monitored under GDPR in 2025-26.

What We Did: Activities and Performance of the Year

As every year, the focus of our work was:

1. Fund Development: increasing financial support for local needs by attracting and retaining donor-advised grant-giving funds, including legacies and onerous trusts.

2. Distribution of grants from these funds to charitable groups, mainly local.

3. Rigorous financial management, tracking money in and out, reviewing the performance of investments and maintaining a lean operating budget.

4. Governance: strategies and projects to lead, support or improve operation and comply with regulation.

1. Fund Development

As for many charities, this was a challenging year. Grant applications continued to increase, as voluntary groups filled gaps in local health and social provision while also facing rising costs. More charities, including national charities, universities and hospitals, were seeking donor and funder support. Local voluntary groups can rarely afford dedicated fundraisers: the Community Foundation works to enable donors to see effective but often 'hidden' underfunded local work to mitigate local needs. As usual, each donor or funder had a Fund Agreement instructing on their charitable aims and donors were offered two kinds of fund structure:

a. Endowment Funds: where the donation is invested under professional management for a charitable income drawn down quarterly for distribution. This creates enduring support for local community needs.

b. Spend down Funds: where the donation is distributed to a timescale specified by the donor or funder: This creates immediate support for local needs.

Some donors chose to do both; included in the totals below:

Fund development work included free of charge support for potential donors, helping them decide whether and how to direct a grant-giving fund. Existing donors were supported to ensure their grant-giving achieved the intended impact, with answers to questions about their funds throughout the year. Some donors with more than £50,000 available for immediate distribution chose a standalone application process with a decision-making panel of their choice. Those with broader aims, or smaller amounts to give at one time, used the Making Local Life Better Fund, a rolling programme for any charitable need across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, up to £3,000; donors selected from a quarterly list of assessed and summarised applications. Some donors asked the community foundation to select beneficiaries on their behalf, while others identified beneficiaries themselves.

Two large lunch events brought together donors, charitable groups and other stakeholders: one co-hosted with Mattioli Woods, and the other with the High Sheriffs of Leicestershire and Rutland. Staff and trustees also attended relevant events to promote the value of local charities and grant-giving for a thriving, stable area. The Community Foundation completed its third year as Charity of the Year for East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, alongside Forever Notts and Foundation Derbyshire. A grant from the Edith Murphy Foundation supported smaller funded groups to report more fully on their grants, so donors could see the impact they made. All donors received an annual report on their fund's activity.

Endowment Funds

Growing community endowment is a goal of Community Foundations because invested funds provide enduring charitable income for local needs. In 2025/26 the Community Foundation welcomed the Eales Family Foundation, which also has a 'spend down' element for immediate support, for schools where families struggle to afford activities or trips. Several donors generously added to their existing funds. Total value of endowment funds £4,132,194 (2025: £4,264,919).

Spend Down Funds

As valuable to local communities, "spend down" funds are spent within a timescale agreed with the donor or funder. The Community Foundation welcomed the SWEF Fund: grants for young people's business start-ups; the NHS ICB Public Engagement Fund: grants to raise awareness of NHS services, improve health, gain views about health services and reduce pressure on A&E. Efficiency East Midlands Foundation gave substantial grants for work readiness and employability throughout the East Midlands. Lead the change, was launched with UK Community Foundations by BBC Children in Need, in partnership with Co-op Foundation, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Henry Smith Foundation, Joseph Levy Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Postcode Justice Trust, UK Community Foundations and The National Lottery Community Fund: to support local young people to play a leading role in building belonging in their communities.

Generous immediate spend additions were made to the Louisa Fund, the William Colton Youth Sports Fund, and Cambridge and Counties Bank Community Fund, the Bobby Dhanjal Foundation, and the Market Harborough Building Society Community Fund. The 4 year Getting Help in Neighbourhoods Adult Mental Health Grant Programme with the NHS Leicester City Clinical Commission Groups came to an end and will be missed. Total of £285,913 (2025: £434,905).

2. Distribution of Grants

The Community Foundation followed it's established rigorous outreach, application, assessment and reporting processes to ensure that donors' and funders' money reached and had a positive impact on local needs. There were several new donors and funders with grant-giving programmes, all with different aims and requiring a tailored approach to advertised criteria, support and application processes. While giving various kinds of grant, there was as usual a focus on grants to 'grassroots' charitable groups, whose work makes a vital contribution in communities. Most charitable groups continued to face increased demands for their services as well as rising costs. There was a continued increase in numbers of applications for grants, a reflection of both this and reduced funding opportunities elsewhere, and it was not possible to fund all good applications. Nevertheless, donors and funders gave a wide range of grants to reduce homelessness, support health, increase affordable access to sports and the arts, improve local community facilities, offer education or employment support, and train volunteers, among much other work.

Having worked for some years to the IVAR "Open and Trusting" grantmaking principles, to improve clarity of information and manage administrative requirements for applying groups, the Community Foundation formally adopted these in the year. A survey of groups was carried out, and responsive adjustments to processes were made.

There was review of options and costs for the much-needed new Customer Relationship Management system for the large number of grants given and tracked from a wide variety of grant-giving funds in any year. The decision was made to re-join the now improved CRM system alongside several other UK community foundations, and preparation, testing and training undertaken. Full adoption is scheduled for next year. The Community Foundation continued to support the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire's workstream for the Kings Award for Voluntary Service.

The Community Foundation was grateful for the support of volunteers including Yash Gurjar, and all those who sat voluntarily on Grants Panels and the growing Advisory Group. The generous sharing of time, knowledge and experience from those working and living in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland helps makes the Community Foundation's grant-giving responsive, informed and far-reaching.

A total of 117 grants were made to a value of £535,694 (2025: £238,991). They are detailed in the Grants Summary for 2025/26 available on the Community Foundation website, or available as a hard copy on request.

3. Financial Management

As every year, the Community Foundation tracked and reported money from the wide variety of donations and additions to funds given out as grants, reviewed the performance of investments, and maintained a careful operating budget. The Community Foundation model is a self-sustaining one; it offers a charitable service for very competitive fees which contribute to its lean operation. At least 90% of donations goes to local need. For several reasons, including somewhat volatile markets, some slowdown in new philanthropic funds and fewer public funding programmes, it was a challenge to meet operating costs. The Community Foundation remained very grateful for contributions to operating costs from private donors.

Total income in the year, including new and renewed private funds, dormant fund transfers and public fund delivery, amounted to £541,802 (2025: £702,052).

Going Concern

The Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue for the foreseeable future and therefore adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. Further details are in the Accounting Policies, below.

Financial Review and Results for the Year

An overall deficit before losses on investments by the charitable company of £203,404 (2025: surplus of £224,805), this was made up of income from charitable activities towards the expendable funds. After the gains/(losses) on investments, the result was an overall deficit of £358,489 (2025: surplus of £67,056). This was made up of a deficit of £76,772 in unrestricted funds, a deficit of £148,992 in restricted funds and a deficit of £132,725 in endowment funds. The Community Foundation had £4.13m (2025: £4.26m) for its endowment fund by the end of the year. The balance of total funds carried forward at the year-end was £4,445,863 (2025: £4,804,352).

Reserves Policy

At the year end, free reserves stood at unrestricted funds of £27,756 less tangible fixed assets of £161 giving a total of £27,595 (2024: £104,144). Restricted funds amounted to £285,913 (2025: £434,905).

Investment Policy

The Trustees invest endowment funds with an objective to provide a return that maintains the real (inflation adjusted) value of the capital, whilst also delivering a cash flow to meet charitable giving and contribute to the operating costs of the Community Foundation. The Trustees' attitude is categorised as "risk tolerant", opting to invest in specialist investment funds which offer a diversified investment portfolio over a long-term time horizon. For clarity, the Trustees believe that the long-term investment horizon means that their investments may include a high degree of equity-based investment.

The Community Foundation currently uses two investment managers CCLA and M and G but will consider other investment managers etc generally for larger amounts (£150,000+) It offers a default allocation for the investment of endowment funds which are broadly socially responsible but can also offer some flexibility to those donors who take an active interest in where their funds are invested or wish to place further ethical restrictions on the investments. Any such "ethical investment" will be made on a best endeavours basis and will depend upon other factors. These may include the nature of the restriction imposed and the availability of a suitable fund or funds being accessible to the Trustees.

The Trustees' strategy is to aim to follow a total return approach, delivering a predictable return for giving through income and capital growth. The Community Foundation aims for an "income" for grant making from its endowment funds of 4% each year, comprising a mixture of investment income and capital growth. This is drawn down quarterly to minimise the impact of short-term market variability. Trustees may review this 4% aim in order to protect capital values. The Community Foundation reviews investment performance regularly and acts where investments are not achieving the desired returns within the approved attitude to risk. Investment performance and risk is reviewed every-other finance panel meeting. Trustees receive quarterly updates on fund performance from the investment managers, and may meet with them to discuss performance, and to better understand any changes to their investment policy.

In addition to the Endowment Funds, The Foundation has invested some of its restricted and unrestricted funds. The Trustees' strategy for the investment of restricted funds is to minimise any exposure to capital loss as the capital is restricted for giving in the medium term. Again, Fund balances are regularly reviewed, and the Trustees' attitude is categorised as "very risk averse". The Trustees' strategy for the investment of unrestricted reserves is to provide a return that contributes to the operating costs of the Community Foundation, whilst, as far as possible, maintaining the value of the capital for future sustainability. For clarity, the trustees interpret, the very risk adverse, attitude to mean that investments for restricted funds should be in the form of cash or near cash investments. The Board reviews its Investment Policy annually.

During the year, the charity received £73,535 (2025: £67,180) income from its investments and saw losses of £155,085 (2025: £157,749) in the market value of investments.

4. Governance

The Board of Trustees met regularly: full Board meetings to review operation and progress, policies and the Risk Register, as well as the Finance Panel and the Grants Panel meetings. A new trustee, Tracy Soraghan, with a background in corporate talent solutions, was appointed. A Vice Chair was appointed from the trustees, and a board survey undertaken, to highlight areas of good practice and pinpoint potential improvements. Several trustees made active introductions to new potential fundholders and donors, and gave speeches at events, as well as supporting overall development and direction. A new strategic plan was created to take the Community Foundation to 2029, in a changing, demanding climate for most charities, with a detailed fund development and reporting plan central to this. The Community Foundation continued to engage with UKCF and other Community Foundations at staff and board level, to make sure national developments could be used locally.

The Community Foundation thanks Wyggestons Charity for their generous loan of meeting rooms for formal meetings.

Plans for 2026-27

The Community Foundation will continue its core work to maintain and grow levels of philanthropic support for impactful grant-making to strengthen local communities. A key part of this work will be spending time with potential donors and their advisors, collectively and individually, to share information about the work and its purpose. Plans to place articles and information in relevant journals, and social media channels used by key audiences will be implemented. A website refresh is planned to support interest generated among the various audiences and help progress long-standing plans to develop shared funds for those who cannot, or do not wish to, establish a named, directed living or legacy fund but would still like to support local charities, via the Women in Philanthropy Fund and the Making Local Life Better Fund.

A significant priority for the coming year will be the implementation of a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. This will support organisational efficiency for grant giving, finance and fund management, and eventually reporting requirements. Investment in freelance work will be considered during the transition period to support finance functions, as well as continued freelance support for grant assessment and reporting. Managing operational costs while responding fairly to increasing demand for grant funding will remain a central consideration. A recent Board survey highlighted several training requests, which will be addressed in the year.

It is likely to remain challenging for small local charities and voluntary groups to attract support for their vital work within a highly competitive fundraising environment, where a significant proportion of charitable giving is directed towards national organisations. Rising costs are also unlikely to ease. The Community Foundation will explore opportunities to secure more favourable interest-bearing accounts for cash reserves and will continue to seek opportunities to secure and distribute available public funds, alongside private philanthropic funding, for the benefit of local communities.

Public Benefit

The Trustees have had due regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit. The Community Foundation worked to support the diverse communities of Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland by attracting and distributing private philanthropic, company and public funds, and reinvigorating dormant charitable trusts. Funds were distributed to charitable groups working to reduce local needs and improve local quality of life, and considerable work took place to ensure access to funds was equitable. The Community Foundation continued to maintain intelligence about the local area, and grant spend was monitored. The Community Foundation continued to work in as cost-effective manner as possible, with the large majority (usually 90% or over) of all funds managed channeled into local giving. The activities and strategy described above are supported by regularly reviewed policies and procedures, including a risk register considered at each Board meeting. Trustees review fund development, finance and grants at least quarterly, and the website clearly explains remit, application criteria and processes. Each donor and funder has a signed Fund Agreement or, in the case of public funders, a contract setting out charitable aims and areas of benefit. All grant recipients sign a grant agreement outlining the purpose of the award and complete an end-of-grant report on how the money was spent.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number

04851054 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number

1135322

Registered office

3 Wycliffe Street

Leicester

Leicestershire

LE1 5LR

Trustees

Mr D Andrews

Mr R J Colton

Mr S Dawkins

Miss J Flack (resigned 18.6.2025)

Ms J Hand

Mr K Hudson

Mr I McCormack

Mr M Robinson

Dr V Sharma

Ms T Soraghan (appointed 18.6.2025)

Auditors

Mark J Rees LLP Chartered Accountants

and Statutory Auditors

Granville Hall

Granville Road

Leicester

LE1 7RU

Patron

Her Grace, The Duchess of Rutland

President

Lord Lieutenant of Rutland, Dr L Howard OBE, JP

Vice Presidents

Mr I McAlpine OBE

Ms S Morgan QPM

Mr R Moore FRICS

Chair

Mr S Dawkins

Company secretary

Ms K Green

Chief Executive Officer

Ms K Green

Bankers

NatWest

Granby Street

Leicester

LE1 6EJ

Investment managers

CCLA

Senator House

85 Queen Victoria Street

London

M&G Charities

PO Box 9038

Chelmsford

CM99 2XF

Website address

www.llrcommunityfoundation.org.uk

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees (who are also the directors of Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Community Foundation for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual 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 charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period.

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 2019 (FRS 102).

-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 the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company 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 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 charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

As far as the Trustees are aware:

-there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditor is unaware: and

-the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

AUDITORS

The auditors, Mark J Rees LLP Chartered Accountants, will be proposed for re-appointment at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 2 November 2026 and signed on its behalf by:

Mr S Dawkins - Trustee

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Community Foundation (the 'charitable company') for the year ended 31 March 2026 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and 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 (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

-	give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2026 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

-	have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

-	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 Auditors' responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the 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.

Conclusions relating to going concern

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 charitable company'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 trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our Report of the Independent Auditors thereon.

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.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 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 the audit:

-	the information given in the Report of the Trustees for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

-	the Report of the Trustees has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Report of the Trustees.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where 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 trustees were not entitled to take advantage of the small companies exemption from the requirement to prepare a Strategic Report or in preparing the Report of the Trustees.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes 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 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 responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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 a Report of the Independent Auditors 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:

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that material misstatements in the financial statements may not be detected, even though the audit is properly planned and performed in accordance with ISA's (UK).

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks applicable to the charity and industry in which it operates through our general commercial experience. We determined that the following laws and regulations were most significant: FRS 102, Companies Act 2006 and Charities SORP (FRS 102).

We enquired of management concerning the charities policies and procedures relating to:

- the identification and compliance with laws and regulations.

- the detection and response to the risks of fraud.

- the internal controls inherent within the charity to mitigate fraud risk and non-compliance to laws and regulations.

We enquired of management, whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations or whether they had any knowledge of actual, suspected or alleged fraud.

We communicated relevant laws and regulations and potential areas of fraud to all audit team members. We remained alert to any indications of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations throughout the audit.

We have determined that the principal risk areas where material irregularities could occur were related to posting manual journal entries to manipulate financial performance, income recognition and significant one-off or unusual transactions.

Our audit procedures were designed to respond in particular to these identified risks (including non compliance with laws and regulations and fraud).

Our audit procedures included but were not limited to:

- A review of a sample of fund agreements from both income streams to ensure income has been accurately recorded and to confirm amounts are recognised in the correct period.

- Identifying and testing journal entries, on a sample basis, to review for potential management bias or manipulation of income recognition.

We did not identify any matters during the course of our work that indicated non-compliance with laws and regulations or relating to fraud.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our Report of the Independent Auditors.

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 auditors' 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.

Elena Waddingham ACA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

for and on behalf of Mark J Rees LLP Chartered Accountants

and Statutory Auditors

Granville Hall

Granville Road

Leicester

LE1 7RU

2 November 2026

2026

2025

Unrestricted

Restricted

Endowment

Total

Total

fund

funds

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

£

INCOME AND

ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

2

24,318

148,194

55,705

228,217

450,495

Charitable activities

4

Grants

13,781

135,030

-

148,811

94,312

Charitable activities

80,739

-

-

80,739

85,065

Investment income

3

2,883

70,652

-

73,535

67,180

Other income

5

10,500

-

-

10,500

5,000

Total

132,221

353,876

55,705

541,802

702,052

EXPENDITURE ON

Raising funds

6

116,671

-

-

116,671

116,793

Charitable activities

7

Grants

-

535,694

-

535,694

238,991

Charitable activities

92,749

12

80

92,841

121,463

Total

209,420

535,706

80

745,206

477,247

Net gains/(losses) on investments

427

-

(155,512

)

(155,085

)

(157,749

)

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

(76,772

)

(181,830

)

(99,887

)

(358,489

)

67,056

Transfers between funds

21

-

32,838

(32,838

)

-

-

Net movement in funds

(76,772

)

(148,992

)

(132,725

)

(358,489

)

67,056

RECONCILIATION OF

FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

104,528

434,905

4,264,919

4,804,352

4,737,296

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

27,756

285,913

4,132,194

4,445,863

4,804,352

2026

2025

Unrestricted

Restricted

Endowment

Total

Total

fund

funds

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

£

FIXED ASSETS

Tangible assets

16

161

-

-

161

384

Investments

17

-

-

4,106,727

4,106,727

4,368,991

161

-

4,106,727

4,106,888

4,369,375

CURRENT ASSETS

Debtors

18

37

855

10

902

79,273

Investments

19

-

50,000

-

50,000

50,000

Cash at bank

46,002

240,058

25,457

311,517

319,153

46,039

290,913

25,467

362,419

448,426

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year

20

(18,444

)

(5,000

)

-

(23,444

)

(13,449

)

NET CURRENT ASSETS

27,595

285,913

25,467

338,975

434,977

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

27,756

285,913

4,132,194

4,445,863

4,804,352

NET ASSETS

27,756

285,913

4,132,194

4,445,863

4,804,352

FUNDS

21

Unrestricted funds

27,756

104,528

Restricted funds

285,913

434,905

Endowment funds

4,132,194

4,264,919

TOTAL FUNDS

4,445,863

4,804,352

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

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 2 November 2026 and were signed on its behalf by:

Mr S Dawkins - Trustee

Cash flows from operating activities

Cash generated from operations

1

(243,976

)

(83,886

)

Net cash used in operating activities

(243,976

)

(83,886

)

Cash flows from investing activities

Purchase of fixed asset investments

(112,257

)

(215,517

)

Sale of fixed asset investments

219,437

22,606

Deposit into current asset investments

-

(50,000

)

Interest received

73,535

67,180

Net cash provided by/(used in) investing activities

180,715

(175,731

)

Cash flows from financing activities

Income attributable to endowment

55,705

164,256

Expenditure attributable to endowment

(80

)

(2

)

Net cash provided by financing activities

55,625

164,254

Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period

(7,636

)

(95,363

)

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period

319,153

414,516

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period

311,517

319,153

1.	RECONCILIATION OF NET (EXPENDITURE)/INCOME TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

2026

2025

£

£

Net (expenditure)/income for the reporting period (as per the Statement of Financial Activities)

(358,489

)

67,056

Adjustments for:

Depreciation charges

222

392

Losses on investments

155,085

157,749

Interest received

(73,535

)

(67,180

)

Income attributable to endowment

(55,705

)

(164,256

)

Expenditure attributable to endowment

80

2

Decrease/(increase) in debtors

78,371

(68,888

)

Increase/(decrease) in creditors

9,995

(8,761

)

Net cash used in operations

(243,976

)

(83,886

)

2.	ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET FUNDS

At 1.4.25

Cash flow

At 31.3.26

£

£

£

Net cash

Cash at bank

319,153

(7,636

)

311,517

319,153

(7,636

)

311,517

Liquid resources

Current asset investments

50,000

-

50,000

50,000

-

50,000

Total

369,153

(7,636

)

361,517

1.	ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Community Foundation is a public benefit entity, incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 3, Wycliffe Street, Leicester, LE1 5LR.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).

Income

Income is recognised in the period in which the charitable company is entitled to receipt and the amount can be measured with reasonable certainty.

Expenditure

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to headings, they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources and budgets available. Salaries have been allocated on a time basis.

Grants payable comprises all tranches for which the conditions for payment have been met during the year. Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and of maintaining its quality accreditation to UK Community Foundation standards endorsed by the Charity Commission.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Fixtures and fittings

-

15% on reducing balance

Computer equipment

-

33% on cost

Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted general funds are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific funds. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.