The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the charity's 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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016)
The objects of the charity, principal activities and organisation of our work:
The objects of SHARP are as follows:
a. To prevent and relieve hardship and distress among persons who are homeless and/or living in adverse housing conditions.
b. To promote research about housing conditions, housing problems and the circumstances of persons who are homeless and/or living in adverse housing conditions, and the dissemination of the useful results of such research.
c. As long as Shelter (National Campaign for the Homeless) remains established for charitable purposes under the Law of England and Wales, to advance, support and promote the charitable work thereof.
d. Generally to advance education, relieve poverty and further other charitable purposes beneficial to the community.
SHARP’s vision is that every person will have a decent, safe and affordable place to live.
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
The Shelter Housing Advice and Research Project (Leicester), known as SHARP, was established as an independent charitable trust by members of the Leicester Shelter Group in 1974. It was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 1990. 2024 was therefore our 50th anniversary year. This in itself is a very considerable achievement. 20 years ago, there were Independent Housing Advice Centres operating in Brighton, Derby, Gloucester, Kirklees, Leicester, Oxford, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, and Taunton. Despite the increase in housing need in the intervening period only Brighton, Kirklees and Leicester have been able to sustain themselves. We are very proud of the continuous service we have been able to provide to the people of Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland for over 50 years.
In working towards its objects SHARP undertakes three main types of activity.
First and foremost, we provide housing advice to people who are homeless or poorly housed. This includes the provision of information, advice, practical assistance, and advocacy to persons in need. This service is designed to prevent people from becoming homeless. If this is not possible, we aim to help people to find another home. Since October 2013 we have recorded and monitored this activity using a web-based casework management programme called ‘Advice-Pro’. This programme has been designed by Advice UK, the national umbrella body for advice service providers. SHARP is a member of Advice UK. ‘Advice-Pro’ is regularly updated and is fully compliant with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations.
During the course of 2024/25 we were able to provide this service to 607 new clients. In the previous year we were able to provide our service to 565 new clients. This modest increase of just over 7% in the number of new clients we were able to help reflects the continuity of the services we are able to provide.
New clients seen in 2024/25 continued to present a range of all too familiar Housing Problems. Such problems as Eviction; Homelessness; Overcrowding; Disrepair; Relationship Breakdown (including far too many instances of Domestic Violence); and all types of Housing Problem related to low income and ill-health. The higher prevalence of mental ill-health noted in our Annual Report for 2022 has continued ever since.
Appreciating the scale of the problem related to mental ill-health in early 2021 SHARP sought additional funding to try to address this need. Fortunately, our application to the Carlton Hayes Mental Health charity was successful. In November 2021, our new part-time Mental Health Support Worker commenced work with our clients. This post was funded for two years. Unfortunately, this funding was not renewed. However, despite this disappointment, SHARP has been able to secure ongoing mental health support for our clients.
This support is now being provided by arrangement with The Olive Trust, another Leicester based charity (registered charity number 1181558). Furthermore, the transfer of service provision was seamless. The mental health support worker employed by SHARP until November 2023 was employed by the Olive Trust in the same role and with the same client group with effect from December 2023. It helps of course to facilitate this partnership that the two charities have some trustees in common.
The case-studies below illustrate the kind of appalling housing conditions that SHARP clients all too often experience.
Ms. Reed
Ms Reed was a woman with 3 children aged 17, 15 & 7. The family were private renting. The 17 year old had an e-scooter, which he left to charge overnight in the hallway. During the night a huge fire broke out which caused extensive damage to the property. Fortunately, the family were not hurt. The family contacted the council for help with temporary accommodation, to be told that the landlord should have a ‘Rent to Buy’ insurance policy that included help with temporary housing costs, so the landlord should temporarily re-house them. It transpired that the landlord did not have insurance.
The family contacted SHARP to explain the above circumstances and seek assistance. After a lot of discussions and insistence by SHARP upon the council’s legal obligations, the family were housed in temporary accommodation.
Mr. Cleverly
Mr Cleverly was a 32-year-old man who was street homeless. He had a serious illnesses – cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart), which could lead to heart failure, stroke, or sudden death, he was also Bi-Polar and epileptic. He had been sleeping on the streets for over 2 years having lost 3 tenancies. The Council concerned insisted he was intentionally homeless because of the previous tenancies and arrears on two of those properties. SHARP referred the client to Adult Social Care for an assessment, and this was completed. The client was found to be both mentally and physically very poorly. He was eventually rehoused in supported accommodation. Having checked on his progress, 2 months after moving into his property, the client was managing really well, was now on all the appropriate medication and his Bi-Polar and epilepsy were now under control.
Please note that in these case-studies the name of the client has been changed.
Secondly, SHARP provides free information about homelessness, housing conditions, and the work of SHARP to members of the public. For example, we can give short presentations concerning homelessness to various church and community groups and offer training sessions to local agencies. Furthermore, with the assistance of volunteers, SHARP has, for example, continued to provide up to date information about a wide variety of topics. Including lists of Hostels, Housing Associations, Private Rented Sector Landlords, and places where food can be obtained free of charge by homeless people. 2024/25 saw continuing improvements in both the quantity and quality of the information available on our website see:- https://www.leicestershelter.org.uk/ . We have also established a much greater presence on TikTok, and on X (formerly Twitter) using Social Media to disseminate information about SHARP and indeed about homelessness more generally. For example, our post on TikTok about how to prevent mould and damp has been viewed on over 3000 occasions.
Thirdly, SHARP has been funded by the National Lottery Community Fund to develop a volunteer cohort, supporting people, many of whom are ex-service users, to learn life and vocational skills. This has the dual benefit of increasing the volume of the work that SHARP can do, whilst simultaneously improving the confidence and employability of many of its volunteers. This programme commenced in August 2019, was suspended during the ‘lockdown’ and recommenced in June 2021. Since the start of this programme, we have worked with 80 volunteers, at least 28 of whom have gone on to find paid employment.
Public Benefit
We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on Public Benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives, and in planning our future activities.
The charity believes it has provided a public benefit during the year through the areas outlined in the section of this Report headed Achievements and performance.
As, trustees we take our charitable role very seriously and the charity works hard to make sure that it provides charitable services that are socially inclusive.
The Board of Trustees recognises we are continuing to operate in very challenging times with ‘austerity’ resulting in reductions of local authority expenditure of about 40%. These financial constraints impact significantly upon a charity such as ourselves who work with some of the most economically disadvantaged members of society.
The statement of financial activities (on Page 9) shows a total income of £146,232 and expenditure of £140,565. This results in a surplus for the year of £5,667. We started the year with fund balances of £46,104 and the surplus for the year of £5,667 after all charitable activities had been financed, leaves fund balances carried forward of £51,771. These are comprised of unrestricted funds amounting to £44,761 and restricted funds of £7,010.
For SHARP, from a purely financial perspective 2024/25 was a year of modest gains. During most of 2024/25 we were relying upon our National Lottery Community Fund 5-year grant of £399,999, donations of almost £38,000, and earned income of about £31,000. These latter income items total almost £69,000 including our regular donors, gift-aid, our Christmas Appeal, small grants, legacies, and the sale of services to other not-for-profit organisations. Such diversity of income is most welcome but remains too low to sustain SHARP without the vital support SHARP receives from the National Lottery Community Fund.
We would like to thank the National Lottery Community Fund, the Edith Murphy Foundation, the Leicester Social Economy Consortium and all our other supporters for their financial help over the year.
Reserves Policy
The Trustees have given some thought as to what level of reserves is appropriate for a charity such as SHARP. The charity had closing reserves of £51,771 as at the 31 March 2025 a modest increase from the figure at the end of the previous year. As a result, the Charity still has sufficient unrestricted funds to act as a contingency reserve equivalent to almost four month’s expenditure, for use to cover the work of the charity in the event that other funding should cease. The Trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity’s current activities whilst consideration is given to ways in which savings can be achieved or additional funds raised.
Principal funding sources
The charity considers itself to be extremely fortunate to have received considerable financial and other support from a large number of funders, trusts, organisations, and individuals. The following noted contributors' have been really important to the charity's work, and we wish to thank them for their contributions.
Major Funders
National Lottery Community Fund
Leicester Social Economy Consortium Ltd
Charitable Trusts
The Edith Murphy Foundation
Florence Turner Charitable Trust
The Archer Trust
The Charities Trust
The J R Corah Foundation
The Olive Trust
Individuals
Helen Ingall
Mrs M Knott
Rev A L Lattimore
Ms R.E.Marshall
Noel Oldershaw
Daniel Smith
Dr Andrew Teuten
Gill Taylor
Housing Associations
EMH Housing Association
Nottingham Community H A
Orbit Housing Association
Riverside Housing Association
Platform Housing Association
Churches
Christ Gospel Church
St Mary’s Church, Barkby
Blessed Sacrament Church & St Peter
Sacred Heart and St Margarets
Market Harborough Anglicans
All Saints Church, Sapcote
Enderby Parish Church
St Nicholas Church, Mowsley
Leicester All Nations Church
Blaby Congregational Church
Bardon Hill PCC
Saffron Lane URC
Great Glen Methodist Church
Harborough Congregational Ch
St Andrews, Carlton PCC
Holy Trinity, Ashby, PCC
Christchurch, Clarendon Park
St Mary’s Church, Anstey
St Mary’s, Queniborough
St Bartholomew’s Church
All Saints, Dunton Bassett
St Peter’s Church Claybrooke
South Wigston URC
St Michels & All Angels, Thurm
St Mary's PCC Bruntingthorpe
Churches Together in Leicestershire
Leicester Cathedral
Leicester Quaker Meeting House
Our Lady of Victories Church, Lutterworth
St Edwards House, Aylestone
Stuart Court Chapel, Kibworth
Westcotes URC
Wigston URC
Other Organisations
DSC Regen Limited
Earl Shilton Building Society
Hormann (UK) Ltd
Leicester Charity Link
NEXT Holdings Ltd
Vicar's Relief Fund, St Martin-in-the-Fields
Wyggestons Hospital
And many, many, many more
Risk Management
The Trustees actively review the major risks which the charity faces on a regular basis and believe that maintaining reserves at current levels, combined with an annual review of the controls over key financial systems, will provide sufficient resources in the event of adverse conditions. The Trustees have also examined other operational and business risks faced by the charity and confirm that they have established systems to mitigate the significant risks.
The trustees were pleased to announce in last year’s Annual Report that on 5th March 2024, the charity secured funding of £399,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund. This funding is for a 5-year project that started in June 2024. The project is called the SHARP Homelessness Prevention and Support Project, a project intended to support 350 unique individuals and 450 unique families. The total cost of the project including the grant from the NLCF is £555,823. The additional ‘matched funding’ of approximately £155,824 has been pledged to SHARP by Leicester Social Economy Consortium Ltd over a 5-year period. It is intended that this project will have a major impact on many people's lives.
The charity is constituted as a company limited by guarantee, number 02516047 and is therefore governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, as amended by special resolution dated 23rd August 1990. SHARP was initially established as a charitable trust in 1974 and was subsequently incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 1990.
SHARP’s vision is that every person will have a decent, safe and affordable place to live. We believe that a home is a basic human right that could and should be available to everyone.
The charity is organised so that Trustees meet regularly Ten times each year to manage its affairs. The paid staff, as directed by the Trustee Board, are responsible for the day-to-day administration of the charity and the delivery of its services.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:
The Trustees/Directors are elected by majority vote at the Annual General Meeting. Their period of office ends at the following Annual General Meeting when they are eligible to stand for re-election.
No Director/Trustee received any remuneration for services or expenses as a Director/ Trustee.
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
The trustees report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Shelter Housing Advice and Research Project (Leicester) Ltd (the charity) for the year ended 31 March 2025.
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.
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.
Shelter Housing Advice and Research Project (Leicester) Ltd is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 13 Welford Road, Leicester, LE2 7AD.
The accounts 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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, [modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties and to include investment properties and certain financial instruments at fair value]. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors or grantors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
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.
Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates.
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.
All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SOFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others are apportioned on an appropriate basis.
Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include project management.
Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include the independent examination fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity.
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 only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measures at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans, which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
Equipment, fixtures and fittings
Expenditure on equipment, fixtures and fittings is written off against grant income in the year in which expenditure is incurred.
Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.
Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the Management Committee for particular purposes.
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.
Grants receivable
Unrestricted funds expenditure
National Lottery Community fund
Carlton Hayes
Henry Smith
Rent, rates and service charges
Light and heat
Telephone
Insurance
Travel, training and conference expenses
VAT input tax not reclaimable
Printing, postage and stationery
Computer equipment and licences
Loan interest
Maintenance, repairs and sundry equipment
Miscellaneous expenses
Payments to clients
Rent
Light and heat
Telephone
VAT input tax not reclaimable
Other governance costs including insurance, cleaning, miscellaneous and PPS
Governance costs includes payments to the independent examiners of £2,255 (2024- £2,250) for examination fees.
None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year and none of them were reimbursed for travelling expenses (2024- £nil).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The remuneration of key management personnel was as follows:
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.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
The unrestricted funds of the charity include donations and grants from a variety of sources and they enable the charity to pursue its general charitable activities:
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:
The operating leases represent rental leases of premises which are fixed at £9,500 per annum until 2027.
HITS Home Trust
Mr David Brazier, who is a member of staff of Shelter Housing Aid Research Project (SHARP) is also a Director of HITS Home Trust.
SHARP received a loan of £50,000 from HITS Home Trust repayable over 3 years. The balance outstanding as at the year ended 31st March 2025 is £50,000 (2024: £50,000) and the interest paid this year £1,300 (to date on the interest on the loan was £15,100).
Leicester Social Economy Consortium (LSEC)
Frazer Robson and Jane Taylor, are trustees of Shelter Housing Aid Research Project (SHARP) and Mr David Brazier, is a member of staff of Shelter Housing Aid Research Project (SHARP), and all three are directors of LSEC.
During the year SHARP recharged management fees of £22,500 (2024: £22,500) to LSEC. One staff member of SHARP was seconded on a part-time basis to cover for a member of LSEC staff who was on maternity leave. SHARP invoiced LSEC £7,726 during the course of the year in relation to this secondment. During the course of the year LSEC made a donation to SHARP of £1,300. As at the 31 March 2025 SHARP was owed £79,654 (2024: £79,231) in respect of management fees and the commission on rental income during the normal course of business.