ASHTON_COMMUNITY_TRUST - Accounts

The trustees present their report and financial statements of the group for the year ended 31 March 2020.

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 Memorandum and Articles of Association 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)".

Ashton Community Trust’s objects are, by associating with statutory authorities, voluntary and community organisations and the inhabitants of North Belfast, to:

• advance community development by providing facilities and amenities for and support and assistance to community and voluntary groups and organisations;

• advance health and wellbeing;

• relieve poverty;

• advance education;

• relieve those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage;

• advance the arts, culture and heritage;

• provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation and other leisure time occupations with the object of improving the conditions of life for the residents; and

• promote religious and racial harmony, equality and diversity.

The description under the headings "Achievements and performance" and "Financial review" meet the company law requirements for the trustees to present a strategic report.

Public benefit

The directors confirm that they have had regard to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's guidance on public benefit when reporting on the charity's achievements and performance during the year which follows below.

The following highlights some of the achievements of the 2019-2020 financial year.

Training and Employment Services

As lead partner of Belfast Works, Ashton Training & Employment Services has delivered another year of the Belfast-wide Lemis+ project and again surpassed its targets for the year. From April 2019 to March 2020 2,711 clients registered on the programme. All of these individuals benefitted directly from one-to-one mentoring, training and job-search support. Of those supported, 936 people gained employment, 949 received a qualification and 66 went into further education.

During the period Ashton carried out a review of the mentoring service to ensure that it continued to meet clients needs. As a result, the Economic Inactive Support Service was launched. This service dedicates itself to supporting those furthest from the labour market by addressing employment barriers that otherwise would not be supported, resulting in clients becoming another step closer to employment. The Belfast Works project supported 1,223 Economic Inactive clients during this period.

We would also highlight our success in delivering the CORE (Creating Opportunities & Real Experiences) project. The CORE project is an employability programme specifically designed for young people aged 16-24, who are not in employment, education or training and live in North Belfast. Young people participating in the programme receive a range of support that will help them overcome personal barriers and move into work or further education and training. CORE continues to exceed its targets year on year with 337 registered on the programme during April 2019 to March 2020. These participants benefitted from one-to-one mentoring and could attend a wide range of courses, from CV building to leadership programmes, from beauty courses to forklift training, and others including World Host and Digital Fabrication. All courses offered are closely linked to the labour market, so participants who took part are in a much better place to get a job.

Childcare and Family Support Services

Throughout the 2019-2020 year Childcare and Family Support Services continued to provide a range of much needed childcare and family support services to the community of North Belfast.

Kinderkids Daycare

Throughout this period Kinderkids team of 80 staff provided childcare for 226 children which enabled 107 parents to remain in employment, 29 parents to commence employment and 42 parents to avail of training opportunities. Kinderkids also provided support to children deemed as ‘in need’ and supported families referred through the Lower North Belfast Family Support Hub. The work of Kinderkids ensures that children are given the best start in life through engaging in high quality early years’ services.

Family Support Hub

The Lower North Belfast Family Support Hub continues to provide early intervention services to families and young people requiring support. The Hub brought together organisations that deliver services to children and young people (0-18 years) and their parents or carers. The Hub includes community, statutory and voluntary family support services.

During this period the Hub processed 197 referrals. The Hub membership was maintained at 63 individual members who could provide early intervention services to Tier 2 families who were referred. The most requested service was one-to-one family support to provide emotional and behavioural difficulty support to families. The main source of referral was self-referrals with approximately 30% coming directly from the family themselves.

Community Family Support Programme

The Community Family Support Programme is a city-wide consortium that offers training and employment opportunities to families, with a strong emphasis on family support and looking holistically at a family. The programme is led by Upper Springfield Development Trust and funded by the European Social Fund. Within the period the programme recruited 44 individuals onto the project, 9 of whom gained employment, 21 entered training, 42 were supported with job searches, 33 increased Social Inclusion and 31 improved family relationships.

Ashton Early Intervention Family Support Project

In September 2019 Ashton secured funding from Belfast Charitable Society to appoint two Family Support Workers who would provide one-to-one support to approximately 60 families within their home environments who had been referred through the North Belfast Family Support Hubs. There was also £7,500 allocated towards vouchers to support approximately 100 families in need across all of North Belfast.

This two-fold approach was aimed at improving family relations, enhancing family functioning and increasing resilience of families. Throughout the period 62 families comprising 66 parents and 90 children were supported. This family support service has enhanced the work of the Family Support Hubs in North Belfast who identified that home visitation family support was a gap in its offering of services to families.

Health and Wellbeing Services

The 2019/2020 financial year was another busy year for Bridge of Hope. Throughout the year over 1,300 individuals impacted by the conflict, those experiencing poor physical and emotional health and wellbeing and those impacted by suicide and self-harm received 6,177 sessions of Complementary Therapies.

As has been the case over the last few years there was also a rise in the demand for our counselling and life coaching services with 1,233 individuals accessing 5,743 sessions of life coaching and counselling throughout the year. This vital service continues to be a lifeline for many of the individuals accessing this support and feedback remains extremely positive.

Bridge of Hope are fortunate to be funded by SEUPB under their PEACE IV funding for 2 Health & Wellbeing Caseworkers who provide critical wellbeing support to victims and survivors. During this period a total of 345 individuals accessed 1,666 engagements. As normal our Personal Development Training was very popular and 448 individuals developed valuable skills for improving their health and wellbeing by attending 32 training programmes throughout the year. On top of that 23 victims and survivors qualified as industry recognised Complementary Therapists, gaining valuable skills to help develop their careers.

We ran several Transitional Justice Grassroots programmes, both weekly training programmes and 2 residential events with 55 victims and survivors. Often this was the first time some of the individuals participating had taken the time to reflect on their unique and shared experiences during the conflict.

On top of all our client work Bridge of Hope underwent some restructuring during the year and welcomed our new Clinical Coordinator and Clinical Lead to the team at the end of the year. This was a welcome addition to the well-established team to develop and expand our clinical services going forward to ensure we are providing the highest quality service possible to our service users.

Youth Programmes

Breakthrough

165 young people completed the Breakthrough programme between April 2019 and March 2020. The programme, led by Ashton Community Trust and delivered in partnership with Cliftonville Community Regeneration Forum, Ardoyne Youth Enterprises, Mount Vernon Community Development Forum, Newtownabbey Antrim Cultural Network (NACN), Street Beat and YEHA engaged young people aged 14–24 years through work in schools, youth centres and community outreach programmes. The impact of Covid-19 towards the end of the year, as was the case across the Youth and Arts Department, saw staff move to remote working, engaging young people online through a range of creative strategies. While staff have adapted well to this new remote way of working Covid-19 brings many challenges not least the impact of the inability to host residentials, activity days, planned volunteering days and therefore some groups may experience reduced hours and a reduced duration of engagement.

New Lodge Youth Centre

Over 263 young people were engaged through New Lodge Youth Centre between April 2019 and March 2020. This included 104 young people engaged through 119 sessions on the START Programme and 159 young people engaged through 17 programmes and 267 sessions on the Core Programme. The summer programme, delivered over six weeks, engaged 124 young people through a range of in-centre activities, personal development and residential opportunities. International experiences included the Building Walls/Breaking Walls Programmes to Cork, Palestine/Israel and Switzerland with a total of 12 young people engaged. New Lodge Youth Centre also facilitated the Romania Programme in which 12 young people engaged in an international volunteering programme and an educational visit to Poland with partners Monkstown Boxing Club was delivered through the You and Me Programme. The impact of Covid-19 in March 2020 saw staff move to remote working with limited face-to-face support for very vulnerable young people.

Community Development

Community Information and Communication Systems

Ashton provided a centralised community information and communication system. This ensured continual information provision and communication flow between local groups, residents, external groups and agencies including the statutory sector. This included production of 4 quarterly community magazines hand delivered to homes and groups and circulated in PDF form via emails and social media. This meant that local people and community groups were provided with regular information updates on activities, events and services including details on how to access, participate and engage in them. At least 4,000 people, including residents and groups benefited from this process.

Leading the Greater New Lodge Community Empowerment Partnership (GNLCEP)

The GNLCEP structure enabled effective, ongoing community collaboration and networking: increasing the sharing of ideas; information and resources; access to services; interaction and participation in decision making and negotiation; engagement in community action; influencing policy and service delivery; providing representation on high level structures and holding statutory agencies to account in addressing local needs.

Through the GNLCEP network Ashton provided the lead to conduct research, develop area plans, advocate and highlight local interests/issues on high level structures, support and highlight area responses to any relevant policy engagement/consultations.

Examples include: Communities in Transition Programme, York Street Interchange Project, Ulster University Community Campus Regeneration Forum, Clarendon Master Plan, Upper Long Streets Housing Regeneration, BCC Transformative Leadership Programme and the Community Research Project ‘Impacts of Development on an Inner-City Community’. The community also made a short film entitled ‘On our Doorstep’.

Community Festival

Ashton led on the provision of an organisational working structure for the delivery of the annual Greater New Lodge Community Festival, including publication of a programme brochure distributed to over 3,000 local homes. As in previous years the 2019 festival programme contained dozens of community events including street parties, family fun-days, theatre, literature, film, exhibitions and art shows, music gigs and concerts, lectures, debates, sports events, workshops and tours. As always the various festival events were well attended including numerous visitors from outside the area, with over 5,000 people taking part in total. 250 people also participated in a survey about the value and impact of the festival and the general feedback was very positive.

Community Bursaries

Ashton provided a Community Bursary scheme to practically assist and encourage local groups within the Greater New Lodge area that are mostly made up of volunteers. This annual scheme helps build the capacity for small group sustainability and in the process helps contribute to building community morale, togetherness, spirit and pride. Fifteen successful applicant groups received bursaries at an awards ceremony in December 2019.

Overall net expenditure for the year was £450,583 (2019 - net expenditure of £21,492). Unrestricted funds fell by £550,172 while restricted funds rose by £99,589.

Income from charitable activities was £7,662,729, 97% of the total income of £7,870,571. Of this total £2,558,942 (33%) came from unrestricted sources with £5,103,787 coming from restricted sources.

Training & Employment Services contribute c. 28% of the income from charitable activities. This is dominated by the Lemis+ and CORE programmes. These receive funding from the European Social Fund (administered in Northern Ireland by the Department for the Economy) with match funding from the Department for the Economy, Belfast City Council and Urban Villages, with Belfast City Council also funding a transport academy. 2019-2020 is the second year of the cycle of ESF funding with the current funding scheduled to end in March 2022. The Lemis+ programme is delivered in partnership with East Belfast Mission, GEMS, Impact Training and Upper Springfield Development Trust who, along with Ashton Community Trust, contribute equally to the costs of external training costs. Funding is also received from the Department for Communities for Essential Skills training (English, Maths and ICT).

Childcare & Family Support Services contribute c. 21% of the income from charitable activities. Of this 91% relates to the Kinderkids Daycare. Kinderkids aims to provide affordable day care provision which breaks- even from a financial perspective. This is only possible due to two grants received by Kinderkids, one from the Department for Communities (c. £104k) and one from the Pathway Fund (£30k). During the year Kinderkids services were provided from 3 locations, one on the Cliftonville Road and two in Henry Place. The Lower North Belfast Family Support Hub is managed by Ashton (with funding received from Belfast Health & Social Care Trust), who also deliver a Community Family Support Programme (with ESF funding administered by Upper Springfield Development Trust). During the year funding was also received from Belfast Charitable Society for a new Early Intervention Family Support Programme. Initially for one year, this funding allowed two part-time staff to be recruited and also contributed towards the costs of school uniforms and vouchers to be distributed to families in need.

Victims and Mental Health Services contribute c. 11% of the income from charitable activities. Approximately 68% of this funding is received from the Victims and Survivors Service. This is a multi-year grant (running to March 2022) which includes an element of Peace IV funding covering the staff costs of two caseworkers. The remaining 32% is provided by Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, the Public Health Agency, Lighthouse and PIPS.

Income in relation to Youth & Arts Programmes exceeded £1.2 million during 2019-2020 (c. 17%). Approximately 60% of this year’s funding relates to the Peace IV funded Breakthrough Programme (total grant award €3.4 million with an end date of December 2021). The Department for Economy also provides a grant to cover incentive payments to participants. The New Lodge Youth Club received numerous grants from the Education Authority this year, with additional funding being received from Belfast City Council. The young people also carried out fundraising activities towards a number of overseas trips including Romania, Poland and Switzerland. The Department for Communities also funded two projects: Uniting Communities and Uniting Opportunities.

Although Community Development only received £122k income during the year, this work is central to the ethos of Ashton Community Trust. The main sources of funding in this area were received this year from the Community Relations Council (£85k), the Department for the Communities (Capacity Building and Inner North Neighbourhood Renewal) and Belfast City Council (2 grants of £15k which ran from July 2018 to June 2019).

Ashton Community Trust also takes the lead on a number of projects involving other voluntary sector partners. These tend to be for a fixed term period, changing year to year. During 2019-2020 Ashton managed the Employment Fuel Poverty programme (funding provided by The Executive Office - the Social Investment Fund). The income from this programme this year was c. £864k. This programme ended in March 2020. Other projects being managed this year include the North Belfast Mens Shed (funding provided by The National Lottery Community Fund) and the Building Positive Relations Project (funding provided by the Special EU Programmes Body). Both of these will be funded again in 2020-2021. Income from projects contributed c. 21% of the income from charitable activities.

The associated total expenditure on charitable activities was £7,913,168. Approximately 65% of these costs relate to staff costs (in line with many other charitable organisations). Changes to NJC scales and an increase in the minimum total pension requirements for 2019-2020 are matters which impacted on the charity’s costs this year.

Service delivery within Victims and Mental Health Services is reliant on a group of dedicated self-employed counsellors and therapists. A tender exercise for the provision of these services is carried out each year to maintain quality, ensuring that all those delivering services continue to meet required standards.

Capital expenditure during the year was relatively modest, amounting to c. £17.4k, £8.6k on IT and £8.8k on Fixtures and fittings.

The financial results of the group for the year are set out in detail on pages 19 to 42.

Department for the Economy Audit

In March 2020 the Department for the Economy carried out an audit of the two ESF projects: Lemis+ and CORE. As a result of this audit a negative audit report was issued, highlighting issues with previous grant claims. The trustees took immediate action informing the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland of the issue and the circumstances involved. The trustees then engaged Edwards & Co. solicitors, given their experience of charity law as well as engaging GMcG Chartered Accountants to carry out a full forensic audit of the organisation. All funders were made aware of the issue and kept informed of progress of the investigations. The GMcG forensic report, while confirming that the audit concerns were confined to the Training & Employment department, made a number of recommendations and produced an action plan which set out a programme of corporate corrective measures which are ongoing.

As a result of the Department for the Economy audit and the GMcG forensic audit it was agreed that Ashton Community Trust should repay £330,708, being the amount incorrectly claimed between April 2018 and December 2019. Regular repayments have been agreed to be made between July 2020 and June 2021.

The financial impact of this is disclosed in note 12 of the financial statements.

Restricted funds

Restricted funds are subject to specific trusts, ordinarily stipulated by the donor. Grant funding tends to be restricted in nature.

The total of restricted funds carried forward at the balance sheet date is £310,037.

Designated funds

Designated funds are those unrestricted reserves that have been allocated for a particular purpose by the trustees. The fixed asset reserve, amounting to £539,046, equates to the net book value of the charity’s tangible fixed assets which are used on an on-going basis to deliver the charity’s aims.

Ashton Community Trust have loaned funds to Ashton Centre Development Limited. These are treated as a Programme-related (or social) investment. This investment has been made directly in pursuit of the organisation’s charitable purposes. A debenture is in place which provides Ashton Community Trust with security over the loan amount. The value of Ashton Centre Development Limited’s assets is significantly greater than the loan amount.

At 31 March 2020 the level of designated funds was £1,980,067.

General funds

General funds are those unrestricted funds which have not been designated for specific purposes by the Board.

At 31 March 2020 the level of general funds or ‘free reserves’ was £439,795.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The risks to which the charity is exposed are assessed by the Audit and Risk Committee throughout the year. The Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee then presents the principal risks to the Board for discussion and agreement on what the response to those risks should be.

Depending on the circumstance the Board may decide to:

• avoid the activity altogether, if they judge the risks to be too high;

• transfer the risk by taking out insurance cover;

• develop a response plan to mitigate the effects of an external risk;

• put controls in place to manage some risk but ultimately accept a residual risk.

Risks are assessed on both the potential impact to the charity as well as the likelihood that the risk might happen.

Failure to successfully recruit and retain staff is viewed as a significant risk. As well as impacting upon the ability to deliver the specified outputs of programmes, there is also a financial risk as the income for a number of ESF and SEUPB funded programmes is based on the number of staff in post. Job vacancies are widely advertised, in print, online and through social media. Health and wellbeing strategies are in place to increase morale among existing staff. These initiatives also help reduce the cost of sickness absence.

Welfare reform, specifically the roll-out of Universal Credit, is impacting upon Ashton Community Trust in a number of ways. Parents may not be able to pay for their childcare costs while their claims are being assessed, while staff may be unwilling to work additional hours as this will impact their own payments. A dedicated credit controller sympathetically works with parents experiencing financial difficulties and payment plans are often agreed and put in place.

The security of data is seen as a principal risk. Reputational damage as well as potential fines by the ICO or loss of contracts from public sector bodies may follow any breach or loss. Consequently cyber-security processes are being reviewed and strengthened where necessary.

Ashton maintains insurance cover consistent with other providers in the sector in which it works and sufficient to meet the stipulations of funding bodies. Ashton also purchases professional indemnity insurance on behalf of its directors and officers.

The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.

The negative audit report from the Department for the Economy has impacted upon Ashton in a number of ways. In line with standard practice the Department for the Economy shared their findings with all of Ashton’s other statutory funders. This, obviously, caused them concern that similar issues may have taken place in other projects which they funded. Commissioning GMcG Belfast to carry out a forensic review was to provide the other funders with the assurance that the issues identified in one department were not also present in any other part of the organisation.

The Ashton Board, through their Chair, constantly updated funders during the forensic process and shared the findings when they were available. Some additional cashflow pressures were put upon the organisation as some funders temporarily suspended payments. However, as they were reassured that there were no other issues within the organisation, funding was quickly re-established. Updated repayment schedules for advanced grants were agreed and have been adhered to. A repayment schedule for the grant over-claim amount to the Department for the Economy has been put in place, whereby the Department for the Economy will reduce future monthly claim payments over a 12 month period.

Plans for Future Periods

Ashton continues to develop partnerships that will benefit the North Belfast community. With regard to service delivery our plans, subject to restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic, are as follows:

Training and Employment Services

Ashton Community Trust’s Training and Employment Services' long-term goal is to work towards the sustained economic, social and physical regeneration of the area through a long term people-centred development strategy. We work with all North Belfast residents who are seeking work, particularly the long-term unemployed and economically inactive. We will continue to offer a high quality, person-centred service with quality at the core. The Senior Management Team will continue to liaise with stakeholders to ensure the service's sustainability and will engage in effective planning for future funding opportunities.

Childcare and Family Support Services

Kinderkids Daycare

For the period 2020-2021 Kinderkids is committed to enhancing and building upon the quality of the childcare provision to children and families. Kinderkids aims to do this by introducing the Solihull Approach across the Management team and to develop Solihull Approach practices throughout the infant rooms within the daycares as a starting point. Furthermore, Out-of- School Staff within Kinderkids will embark on a learning journey based on the Play Work Principles, alongside management to integrate the play work practices into the Out-of-school provision on offer.

In addition to the continued professional development training outlined above, Kinderkids hopes to secure funding for tablet based devices to implement a nursery management software system. This software will enable enhanced communications between the day care settings and families, as well as, consolidate paperwork and planning in a more secure and user friendly format.

Family Support Hub

The Lower North Belfast Family Support Hub, through funding provided by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, will seek to provide a minimum of 144 referrals for families residing in the Lower North Belfast area. The project plans to further develop its membership base and to further develop links with UU Law Clinic to access relevant training for our members.

Community Family Support Programme

2020-2021 will be Year 3 of the current programme. During this year the team will continue to place a strong emphasis on working with families to deliver on the targets set.

Ashton Early Intervention Family Support Project

The team are committed to providing a 1-1 family support home visitation service for 60 families and to continue to provide supermarket vouchers for those families experiencing financial distress. The main thrust of planning at this time is to embed the programme fully into the network of services in North Belfast. To do this the team will pursue available funding opportunities to extend the life of the project.

Health and Wellbeing Services

Due to the onset of the covid-19 pandemic the Bridge of Hope team commenced working from home on 24th March 2020. The department plans to be as resourceful and flexible as possible, within government restrictions, to ensure that those in need continue to get the support that they require. For the 2020-2021 year Bridge of Hope aims to continue to provide their service users with ongoing counselling, life coaching and telephone support with additional support from the Health & Wellbeing caseworkers.

Youth Programmes

Breakthrough

During the 2020-2021 year Breakthrough will continue to work with programme partners, SEUPB and YouthPact to engage and support young people through the programme. As the impact of Covid-19 continues staff will be supported through this new development in youth work and to work flexibility and creatively. It is envisaged that the mental health of both young people and staff will be a key focus as we move forward.

New Lodge Youth Centre

Plans for April 2020 – March 2021 will be to increase the delivery of accredited OCN NI training opportunities alongside the launch of a new leadership programme called Full Circle. Plans also include the consultation on an annual basis with young people, parents and the wider community.

Community Development

The Community Development department plan to continue and build-on the wide-range of services provided to the community next year.

Ashton Community Trust was incorporated by company limited by guarantee on 5 August 1998. It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association (as updated 21 January 2000). It has no share capital and the guarantee of each member is limited.

Ashton Community Trust is registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (charity reference NIC 104639) and is recognised as a charity by HMRC under reference XR26284.

Vision

Our vision is ‘to create a safe, prosperous and caring community where residents have pride and a sense of ownership’

Mission

Our mission (or overall purpose) is ‘to promote positive change and improve the quality of life of the North Belfast community’

Core values

• Integrity

• Inclusion

• Empowerment

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

Organisational structure

The charity is governed by trustees who are also directors for company law purposes. Unless otherwise determined by the company at a general meeting the number of directors shall not be less than 4 or more than 12. The directors are elected by its members on an annual basis.

The Board ensures the good governance of the charity by setting its strategic objectives and policy direction through the creation of a strategic plan and monitoring progress against that plan on a regular basis.

The organisation’s last strategic plan was for a period ending March 2021. The uncertainty of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic has led to more short-term based decisions being made, reacting to changes in legislation and guidance. A more structured long-term strategic plan will be constructed when the impact of the pandemic has reduced and we return to a ‘new normal’. However, in the interim, the Board of Trustees has set a number of strategic objectives for this coming year.

The Board meets (on average) 8 times per year.

A number of sub-committees support the work of the Board:

• The Audit and Risk Committee;

• The Finance and Personnel Committee;

• The Nominations and Remunerations Committee; and

• The Strategy and Innovation Committee.

New Board members receive induction training to brief them on their roles and responsibilities, their legal obligations under charity and company law, the decision making processes of the Board and the sub-committees, the current strategy and operational plan, the organisational structure and current matters being discussed.

Related Parties

Ashton Community Trust is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (charity number 104639) and recognised as a charity by HMRC (under reference XR 26284). It is registered as a company in Northern Ireland (company number NI034595). To help it fulfil its charitable objects, Ashton Community Trust has two active, fully-owned, subsidiaries:

Ashton Services (NI) Ltd is a company registered in Northern Ireland (company number NI620447). Ashton Services (NI) Ltd has a contract with Belfast Health and Social Care Services for the supply of staff to support childcare provision within North Belfast;

New Lodge Arts is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (charity number 100353). It is registered as a company in Northern Ireland (company number NI603904). New Lodge Arts provides educational arts based activities for young people within North Belfast.

The financial results of Ashton Services (NI) Ltd and New Lodge Arts have been included in these group financial statements.

Ashton Community Trust also has a 50% share in the dormant company, Fab Foundation Ireland. This company is registered as a company in Northern Ireland (company number NI636755).

Management and staffing

During the 2019-2020 year Ashton Community Trust's Chief Executive was Paul Roberts who had responsibility for leading and developing the strategies and day-to-day operations of the charity. To facilitate effective operations, the Chief Executive Officer had delegated authority from the Board for operational matters.

The Chief Executive was supported during 2019-2020 by a Senior Management Team: Pat Boyle, Head of Training and Employment Services; Christine McKeown, Head of Childcare and Family Support; Katrina Newell, Head of Arts and Youth Development; Paul O’Neill, Community Development Co-ordinator; Ciara Rea, Head of Corporate Services and Irene Sherry, Head of Victims and Mental Health Services. Salary costs for the CEO and Senior Management Team for 2019-2020 were £433,367.

Reserves policy

The reserves policy has been designed in order to:

• Provide a sustainable and appropriate level of working capital;

• Allow for periods of unexpected drops in planned income;

• Cope with sudden short-term increases in planned expenditure;

• Provide an appropriate level of cover for other risks or unforeseen events that may arise.

As assessment of the likelihood of each income stream continuing has been carried out as well as assessment of the impact on the charity of each income stream ending or being significantly reduced.

An assessment has also been carried out on the level of committed expenditure, as well as gauging the impact on beneficiaries, volunteers and staff of reducing expenditure in particular areas.

As assessment was also made of the amount of working capital required. This recognised the amount of payroll costs and an assessment of the variability of payment receipts from funders.

After taking all these factors into account the Board have decided that a target range of free reserves of £1,200,000 to £1,500,000 would be appropriate.

It should be recognised that free reserves (or general unrestricted) reserves do not include restricted funds or designated funds.

Designated funds currently include:

• Fixed asset reserve equivalent to the net book value of the charity’s fixed assets. These are used in the furtherance of the charity’s activities and include buildings and equipment;

• Programme related investment in Ashton Centre Development Limited. Although this investment generates some financial return, its primary motivation is not financial but the actual furtherance of the charity’s objects, given the commonality of many of the objectives of both charities;

At 31 March 2020 the level of free reserves was £439,795.

As stated in last year’s report the Board recognised that the level of free reserves was lower than their target range. Given this year’s significant reduction in unrestricted funds, it is even more important for new, unrestricted sources of income to be found. However, the Board also recognise the difficulties of this in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic.

Where the opportunity arises to diversify the funding base with the result of reducing the level of risk on income this will be done.

Investment policy

The need to hold reserves has been explained in the Reserves Policy above.

The Board have considered whether some or all of the reserves should be invested to obtain a financial return for the charity. In making the investment decision the Board considered when the reserves might be needed and the acceptable level of investment risk.

To meet the charity’s working capital requirements there was a realisation that a significant amount of reserves may need to be accessed at short notice. It was also recognised that investing reserves in assets other than cash would involve a greater degree of investment risk.

The Board have therefore decided that a mixture of bank deposit accounts and holding an investment portfolio with the Northern Ireland Central Investment Fund for Charities are best placed to meet its requirements to generate income and provide capital growth in the context of the current economic climate.

Investment and disinvestment of funds to the Northern Ireland Central Investment Fund for Charities has been delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, with such decisions made on the basis of cashflow projections.

At 31 March 2020 the charity investment was valued at £347,434, being 27,958 shares at a share price of 1,242.70p.

The trustees, who are also the directors of Ashton Community Trust for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the group 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 group and parent charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the group for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

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

In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that GMcG BELFAST be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.

Each of the trustees has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

The trustees' report, including the strategic report, was approved by the Board of Trustees.

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Ashton Community Trust (the ‘parent charitable company’) and its subsidiaries (the 'group') for the year ended 31 March 2020 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the consolidated balance sheet, the charity balance sheet, the consolidated statement of cash flows and the 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, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

give a true and fair view of the state of the group's and parent charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2020 and of the group's incoming resources and application of resources, for the year then ended;

have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group and parent 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.

the trustees' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate; or

the trustees have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the group’s or parent charitable company's ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

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 auditor’s report 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 there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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.

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

the information given in the trustees' Report, which includes the directors’ report and the strategic report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

the strategic report and the directors’ report included within the trustees' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and parent charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors’ report included within the trustees' report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees' responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose 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 group's and parent 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 group or the the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

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 an auditor's report 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.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: http://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an 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.

Income from charitable activities

Expenditure from charitable activities

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

Ashton Community Trust is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Northern Ireland. The registered office is Ashton Centre, 5 Churchill Street, Belfast, BT15 2BP.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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, modified to include the revaluation of certain financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

The financial statements consolidate the accounts of Ashton Community Trust and all of its subsidiary undertakings ('subsidiaries').

The charity has taken advantage of the exemption contained within section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 not to present its own Income and Expenditure Account.

The income and expenditure account for the year dealt with in the accounts of the charity was net expenditure of £465,686 (2019 - net expenditure of £23,816).

These financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, notwithstanding the fact that the group incurred a deficit in the period of £450,583 (2019 - £21,492). The deficit in the year was recorded after accounting for exceptional items totalling £399,808 that are not expected to recur. The group has fund balances at the balance sheet date of £2,729,899 (2019 - £3,180,482). Following the year end the charity has taken action to address the issues that led to the deficit in the year and have carried out a detailed review of the charity's ongoing financial commitments and cash flow requirements. Financial projections indicate that the charity can continue to meet its obligations for at least the next 12 months. Taking all factors into consideration, at the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the group 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.

Designated funds comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the trustees for specific purposes. The purposes and uses of the designated funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors 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.

Turnover is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for goods and services provided in the normal course of business, net of discounts, VAT and other sales related taxes.

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 allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity. Governance costs are those incurred in connection with administration of the charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Costs of generating funds are costs incurred in attracting voluntary income, and those incurred in trading activities that raise funds.

Charitable activities and Governance costs are costs incurred on the charity's operations, including support costs and costs relating to the governance of the charity apportioned to charitable activities.

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 net income/(expenditure) for the year.

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).

Intangible assets with indefinite useful lives and intangible assets not yet available for use are tested for impairment annually, and whenever there is an indication that the asset may be impaired.

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.

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.

Rentals payable under operating leases, including any lease incentives received, are charged as an expense on a straight line basis over the term of the relevant lease.

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.

The annual depreciation charge on fixed assets depends primarily on the estimated lives of each type of asset and estimates of residual values. The directors regularly review these asset lives and change them as necessary to reflect current thinking on remaining lives in light of prospective economic utilisation and physical condition of the assets concerned. Changes in asset lives can have a significant impact on depreciation and amortisation charges for the period. Detail of the useful lives is included in the accounting policies.

Short term debtors are measured at transaction price, less any impairment. Impairment of such debtors involves some estimation uncertainty.

Judgements are made in relation to allocation of income and expenditure to restricted and unrestricted funds. The directors consider it appropriate to allocate these funds based on interpretation of donations received.

Interest receivable and investment income

Rental income

Other income

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

The Charity considers several of its staff to be key management personnel. The total employment benefits including employer pension contributions of the key management personnel were £391,331 (2019 - £357,868).

Exceptional costs

During the year the Department for the Economy carried out an inspection of two ESF projects: Lemis+ and Core. The inspection identified that the charity had overclaimed amounts in relation to the projects and, as a result, it was agreed that the charity should repay £330,708, being the amount incorrectly claimed. Exceptional costs represent this repayment plus associated professional fees that were incurred to confirm the amount to be repaid and to confirm that there were no overclaims on other projects.

Charity

Ashton Community Trust is the controlling party of Ashton Services (NI) Limited and New Lodge Arts, both are charitable companies incorporated in Northern Ireland and limited by guarantee.

The results of those entities are consolidated into these financial statements.

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 charge to profit or loss in respect of defined contribution schemes was £310,406 (2019 - £274,850).

Movement

Movement

A portion of grants received may become repayable if the charitable company fails to comply with the terms of the letter of offer

The remuneration of key management personnel is as follows.

There were no other transactions with related parties requiring disclosure.

Details of the charity's subsidiaries at 31 March 2020 are as follows:

The charity had no debt during the year.