Sense annual report and accounts 2006 by Sense

sense

Annual report and accounts 2006

Sense, for people with deafblindness and associated disabilities

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association 50 years of supporting deafblind people In 1955, a small group of families whose children had been born deafblind as a result of rubella came together, desperate for information and support. Fast forward ﬁfty years, and that small parents’ group had grown into a major UK charity providing specialist support for deafblind people. Sense has set up services where they are needed, campaigned for change and built a world-wide reputation for its pioneering work. But it hasn’t stopped there. Today we help people of all ages and with a wide range of complex difﬁculties. And as people’s needs have changed, so Sense has adapted to meet those needs, offering a wide range of quality services for deafblind people. In its 50th anniversary year Sense continued to look forward and reach for new horizons. Our Technology Advisory Project for example, has been helping deafblind people to use the latest technology to increase their independence. The world has changed enormously but our values are as strong as ever – placing the individual and their family at the heart of all that we do.

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Contents 2 4 5 7 15 16 19 22 26 28 30 31 32 33 34 37 61 63

Report of Council for the year ended 31 March 2006 Sense’s vision and purpose Who we help and what we do How are we doing? Our plans for the future Shout about success Governance and internal control Financial review Independent auditors’ report to the Trustees of Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Consolidated statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2006 Consolidated balance sheet as at 31 March 2006 Company balance sheet as at 31 March 2006 Summary consolidated income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 March 2006 Consolidated cash flow statement for the year ended 31 March 2006 Accounting policies Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2006 Major supporters Charity information sense annual report & accounts 2006

Report of Council for the year ended 31 March 2006

Members of Council have pleasure in presenting their report together with the audited accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2006

The Sense family The Sense family includes a number of separate charities. Sense, the trading name for Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association, is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. Sense works in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is also Corporate Trustee of the Royal School for Deaf Children (Birmingham), Coventry Society for the Blind, Sense Scotland and Sense International, and holds 100% of the issued share capital of Helping Sense Limited. It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. Sense Scotland is registered in its own right, in Scotland, as a company with charitable purposes.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense International, also a separate charity, works on a global basis â&#x20AC;&#x201C; pressing for change and supporting partner organisations in India, Latin America, Eastern Europe and East Africa. Helping Sense Limitedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main activities are the sale of new goods through our charity shops and the sale of Christmas cards. This is the consolidated annual report and accounts for all the Sense organisations. Sense International and Sense Scotland each publish their own annual reports, which describe their activities in more detail. Sense, Sense Scotland and Sense International are united by our shared vision of a world in which all deafblind children and adults can be full and active members of society.

Council Members Liz Booth Peter Brill Jack Carter Roy Cox John Crabtree Sherrie Eugene (resigned 23rd November 2005) Rosemary Evans Ben Fletcher (appointed 23rd November 2005) Dr. Katia Herbst, Chairman Peter Holman Hugh Gareth Jones Mike Lane Richard Linley (resigned 23rd November 2005) Nigel Marriott Sam McClelland Floyd Millen Richard Monaghan, Treasurer Paul Owens David Pearson, Vice-Chairman Carol Pollington (appointed 23rd November 2005) Robert Spigel Rita Stewart Juliet Stone (appointed 27th September 2005) Gillian Wood (appointed 23rd November 2005)

Council members are Trustees with the powers and obligations of directors under the Companies Act 1985. No Trustee had any ďŹ nancial interest in the charity or any of its subsidiaries.

Sense Scotland and Sense International have their own boards of trustees:

Sense Scotland Roy Cox, Chairman Neil Farquharson, Vice-Chairman Bill Shanks, Treasurer (retired AGM 2005) Douglas Smart, Treasurer (appointed AGM 2005) Joe Mortimer (appointed second term AGM 2005) David Newton John McFarlane Zeeshan Rehman (appointed AGM 2005) Colin Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien Cathy Taylor David Bridges Javed Dar Marian McArdle (appointed AGM 2005)

Sense International Ray Pierce, Chairman Jeremy Charles, Treasurer Catherine Cross, Vice-Chair Maria Andruszkiewicz Phil Brown Jessica Hills MBE Kunle Onabolu Sunil Sheth Sue Turner

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense’s vision, purpose and values

Our vision is of a world in which all deafblind children and adults can be full and active members of society. Our purpose is to work in partnership with others – deafblind people, their families, carers and professionals – to ensure that everyone challenged by deafblindness or sensory impairment with other disabilities, has access to advice, opportunities and support. Our values guide all that we do:

The worth of individuals We will embrace diversity and respond to individual need.

Self-determination We will promote the rights of individuals and will provide support for this where necessary.

Personal fulﬁlment We will promote opportunities for all individuals to develop and achieve their potential.

Openness and honesty Our interactions will be transparent, open to scrutiny and built on trust and accountability.

Learning and improving We will continuously improve the quality of what we do by consulting and reﬂecting on our actions.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Who we help and what we do – objectives and activities

Sense Sense is a national charity that supports and campaigns for children and adults who are deafblind. We provide specialist information, advice and services to deafblind people, their families, carers and the professionals who work with them. In addition, we support people who have sensory impairments with additional disabilities. In 2005/2006: ●

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Sense celebrated its 50th anniversary with ‘Deafblind Horizons’ – a series of forwardlooking activities. These included regional events that celebrated the creativity of deafblind people, the launch of a new project to promote the use of technology for deafblind people, and hosting three lectures at the Royal Institution that explored the future for deafblind people. We enabled 315 deafblind people to live more independent lives in Sense-run houses and ﬂats. Sense’s Family Education and Advice Service offered vital guidance, information and support to 356 people. Children with multi-sensory impairments were supported to attend mainstream schools for 840 hours. Over 900 professionals and others concerned with deafblindness received training and consultancy services from us.

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Sense’s website received 171,998 unique visitors last year – a 69% increase on the previous year.

The key areas of our work are:

Work with children and families Children born with sight, hearing and sometimes additional difﬁculties need skilled help from a wide range of professionals. Sense specialists provide vital support to deafblind children, their families and the professionals who work with them. We promote effective multi-agency working, carry out assessments, and help to develop individual programmes that will help each child to reach his or her full potential. Sense also supports families, giving them a voice and enabling them to share information and offer vital support to each other. We run a membership scheme, 14 branches across the country, Family Network events and support a range of other groups.

Work with adults Sense believes strongly that each individual should be able to choose the help and support that is right for them. Our specialist services enable deafblind people to live as independently as possible, offering a range of housing, educational, employment and leisure opportunities built around individual needs and wishes. This includes 63 group homes in the community, and eleven supported living services, funded mainly through local authority fees. In 2005/2006 Sense opened three new

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houses in Malvern, Louth and Ramsgate where deafblind people receive the support they need to live as independently as possible.

Work with older people More and more people are experiencing combined sight and hearing difﬁculties as they get older. Sense provides support, information and training to enable older people to live as independently as possible – overcoming barriers and combating the isolation that many older deafblind people experience. This includes providing communicator-guide schemes in many parts of the country and working with local authorities to help them provide such schemes themselves. This year we organised two Holiday Plus breaks for ten older deafblind people – setting up an additional holiday when demand exceeded our initial expectations. The third of Sense’s 50th Anniversary lectures at the Royal Institution focused on the growing population of older people with dual-sensory impairments.

Campaigns and awareness Sense strives to improve the understanding of deafblindness among service providers and others – and continues to campaign for improved rights and access for deafblind people to the wider community. This year, we generated media coverage that reached an average of 4.5 million people every month.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense Scotland Sense Scotland works with children and adults who have: ●

impairments to both sight and hearing whether or not individuals have other disabilities

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impairment to sight with other disabilities

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impairment to hearing with other disabilities

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communication difﬁculties

Sense International Sense International exists to support deafblind people and their families throughout the world. It aims to improve the quality of life for deafblind people by working with partner organisations, helping them develop their own deafblind programmes and building their capacity to ensure the sustainability of these programmes.

How are we doing? Achievements and performance

Sense Putting the individual ﬁrst We believe passionately that every deafblind person should be able to choose the help and support that is right for them. This year, we have focused on extending our person-centred approach, and ensuring deafblind people are supported to make decisions for themselves. ●

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We strive to ensure that our deafblind holidaymakers have as much choice as possible about the type of holiday they go on, the activities they enjoy and the people they holiday with.

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We have introduced new ways for holidaymakers to express their wishes, expectations and choices about their holiday. Sense has been working in partnership with Cambridgeshire Social Services to provide a weekly intervenor service for 10 children and young adults. We have improved the ways in which we record and deal with challenging behaviour. Our Policy and Quality Team has revised its audit process to include feedback from service users every time they perform a quality audit.

It made me realise I was capable of doing lots of activities I

”

thought I couldn’t do or that I wouldn’t enjoy. I was wrong

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Deafblind people, families, friends and staff came together to celebrate our 50th anniversary with lively events around the country.

A strong voice for deafblind people Sense has always been a membership organisation close to the families and people we support. But in the wider world, deafblind people often struggle to have their views understood. We want to ensure they have a stronger voice – both within Sense and within society more widely – and to have opportunities to come together to share experiences.

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Young people affected by Usher syndrome came together to share their dreams for the future.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

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As part of our See Me Hear Me campaign, 20 more deafblind people have received training to undertake campaigns, or support Sense campaigns, on their own behalf. Sense has supported a wide range of events enjoyed by 290 deafblind people and their families this year. For example, Sense Southeast region arranged three family days and deafblind people and their families in the West region enjoyed a family weekend in Birmingham. As a result of this many new friendships have been formed and individuals with personal issues have been helped by being able to discuss them with their peers and listen to other peoples’ experiences. We held a hugely successful conference weekend in June 2005 for 229 people where we also celebrated Sense’s 50th birthday. We held get-together weekend events for young people affected by CHARGE and Usher syndrome where the young people had the chance to network, plan for the future and have fun. We have increased our membership by 16% – and the numbers of young members rose by 50%. Liz Ball, a deafblind woman guest-edited the winter 2005 issue of our magazine Talking Sense, and numerous articles by deafblind people themselves have been featured.

The See Me Hear Me campaign is enabling deafblind people to push for changes on their own behalf – for accessible transport and services for example.

Overcoming barriers Deafblindness can be hugely challenging, and deafblind people face many barriers to their participation – even in everyday activities that most of us take for granted. But with appropriate support and greater awareness, these barriers can be overcome. In 2005-6 we have continued to focus on changing attitudes and ensuring that local authorities fulﬁl their obligations.

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As a result of Sense’s 4th annual survey of local authorities we know that – thanks to our campaigning – there has been an increase in the numbers of deafblind adults identiﬁed, from 24 per 100,000 population in 2002 to 45 per 100,000 population in 2005. However over 10% of local authorities have failed to identify any deafblind adults and 40% do not provide anyone with a communicator guide service.

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Sense continues to promote good practice including through our website where there is information designed speciﬁcally for social services. This received 3,362 visits this year, an increase of 19% from the previous year. Companies like Tesco and the Harrogate Moat House Hotel – winners of Sense and Deafblind UK’s Deafblind Friendly Awards – have demonstrated good service to deafblind people and are more aware of deafblind people’s needs. One hundred and forty one press articles highlighted the need for other providers to do more.

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326 deafblind people responded to our survey on their need for assistive technology and the difﬁculties they have in using it. As a result a campaign was launched and meetings held with 3 MPs who are on the Science and Technology Committee. An adjournment debate on deafblind people’s access to technology was held in the House of Commons. We supported other service providers through training and consultancy. For example, Sense North organised two awareness raising events for external organisations; Sense’s Woodside Centre held four training days and three open days for external professionals; and Sense West ran three intervenor courses for people who work directly with deafblind children and young people.

It has given me the tools and conﬁdence to be able to ﬁght

”

for my rights

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Our Technology Advisory Project is now offering guidance to deafblind people on how to use technology in their lives

Understanding deafblindness A key priority this year has been to improve our specialist skills and knowledge as well as wider understanding of deafblindness.

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Sense’s Information Team received over 1,500 enquiries from callers asking about a wide range of topics, an increase of 58% from the previous year. This lead to seventy ﬁve deafblind people and their families receiving a new service from us.

on Deafness consortium) ten deaf visuallyimpaired people are now able to provide training on the sign language used by deafblind people – such as, signing in a restricted visual frame or hands-on signing. ●

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Sense’s specialist library on deafblindness now has an online catalogue, and produces a regular current awareness bulletin – leading to a sharp increase in loans. Our launch of the Rubella Network was very popular and attracted 50 members. As a result of a British Sign Language awareness project (part of a UK Council

The National Collaborative Usher Study is the ﬁrst major study in the UK involving families with Usher syndrome, a major cause of deafblindness. The study aims to ﬁnd out if some genes cause the condition to be more or less severe, and which are the common types of Usher syndrome in the UK. So far 179 families have been involved in the study, and this has enabled us to provide a much better quality of information about this condition to people with Usher and their families.

Ten deaf visually impaired people can now provide training in the signing language used by deafblind people

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense staff receive ongoing training in the unique needs of deafblind people

Investing in our people Employees At the end of March 2006, Sense employed 1989 staff – and it is a priority that these staff receive ongoing training in the unique needs of deafblind people.

Achievements this year include: ●

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One member of the Policy and Quality Team, three people in Sense North, and two in Sense South East completed the Deafblind Diploma. A further two people completed a masters course in deafblindness in the South East. In Sense Cymru eight staff obtained the necessary CACDP qualiﬁcation Level 2 or 3, and in Sense West the target for 80% of communicator guides to have CACDP Level 3 was only narrowly missed – 75% have them. Northern Ireland implemented a new induction programme that takes into account the needs of deafblind individuals, staff and the requirements of the Social Care Register. A new award scheme was introduced to recognise the achievements of staff, deafblind people and volunteers. Voluntary turnover of full time staff was only 14%, which compares favourably with the average ﬁgure of 15% for the sector.

Volunteers Sense’s volunteers help and support our work in so many ways. For example, our network of shops depends on volunteers to be able to provide a service to customers and to raise much-needed income for Sense. The holiday programme play schemes, family days and Saturday clubs, which are held in many different parts of the country, depend on the work of hundreds of volunteers every year. Volunteers are young and old, families and friends of deafblind people, and interested supporters. In 2005-06 a total of 1,182 people volunteered for Sense. Our thanks to the very many people who support Sense in this way.

Sense Scotland Sense Scotland continues to establish new services all over Scotland as well as improving others. ●

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Mary, Dowager Countess of Strathmore LLD DL and Bailie Helen Wright, Convener of Dundee City Council Social Work Committee opened the new Dundee respite service. A number of service users moved into new housing from the older group home model. It has been wonderful to see individuals blossom under these new arrangements and it is impressive what people can achieve.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense International supports partner organisations overseas to work with deafblind people

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Sense Scotland’s staff continue to develop and training and professional development remain crucial to the delivery of continually improving services. Sense Scotland was therefore delighted that fourteen staff were able to attend the European Conference on deafblindness held in Slovakia this year. Everyone contributed, delivering workshops and presentations but we all learned a great deal as well. Sharing ideas and information is a great tool for learning.

Sense International This year saw many exciting achievements for Sense International: ●

The involvement of service users in the organisation took a giant leap forward when the service user consultation group organised their successful ﬁrst conference. ●

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We have been developing our work to improve our response to cultural and ethnic diversity. In this respect we sought grant funding from the Scottish Arts Council and Glasgow City Council, Cultural and Leisure Services. Both applications were successful and the work will start in April 06. We are particularly pleased with the development of TouchBase. The new resource centre has been three years in planning and should be complete in December 2006. As well as housing head ofﬁce functions, the centre will be a resource for direct services to children and adults. TouchBase will also incorporate a community training café and our art, music, woodwork and video activities.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

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In Romania, the Ministry of Education recognised 65 teachers of deafblind children and four National Trainers, who are responsible for delivering the in-service training course in conjunction with the Ministry of Education. In Latin America, as a result of a campaign led by Sense International, deafblindness was recognised as a distinct disability in Colombian law. Our East Africa programme expanded with the launch of a new programme in Tanzania and new staff recruited to further develop the programmes in Kenya and Uganda. In India a number of our partner organisations have achieved ﬁnancial sustainability and are able to continue their deafblind work without ﬁnancial support from us. The Director of Sense International was elected Chair of BOND, the umbrella body for UK NGOs, successfully leading it through the year of Make Poverty History.

Over 400 people ran for Sense in the Flora London Marathon to raise money for our work with deafblind people

Fundraising Sense As a result of our fundraising work, voluntary donations of £5.4m have enabled our current services to continue and new services to be developed. ●

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We were chosen as Orange’s Charity Partner for 2005-6 with the target of raising £200,000 towards Sense’s Outreach work over two ﬁnancial years. Their fundraising events included the Tour d’Orange where over 70 Orange employees and 4 Sense staff cycled from London to Paris. Through the support of our trustee, John Crabtree, we set up a Corporate Development Board with representatives from the CBI, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Clifford Chance, Conygar Investments, Interbrew and BUPA. The Board is pledged to raise donations for Sense over a minimum of three years and to provide new networking opportunities. Sense was a beneﬁciary of a city trading day at ICAP, which raised £110,000 in eight hours of trading for a range of charities.

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403 people ran the Flora London Marathon raising £667,000 for Sense’s work with deafblind people. 293 articles about Sense runners and our involvement in the Flora London Marathon were featured in the media. BBC Children in Need pledged £98,000 over three years to support our work with deafblind children in Wales. We secured three year funding from the Department of Health to develop an advocacy training project. John Crabtree organised a trek to Machu Picchu in Peru that raised over £100,000. Planned future treks include Bavaria, Mount Etna and to Everest’s base camp. Our legacy income continues to make a huge contribution to our work. Past supporters donated over £1.4m in their wills towards our support for deafblind people.

Sense helped me communicate with my child – it gave

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me a liﬂeline

– a Sense parent

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense trading is supported by a loyal army of staff and volunteers

Sense International For Sense International the key aims of the year were to focus on generating unrestricted income and to continue supporting the fundraising efforts of the overseas teams. ●

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We continued to expand our trading operation with the opening of a further two Sense International shops. We had a number of extremely successful overseas treks and physical challenges. We were also successful in securing large grants from a number of statutory sources and a wide variety of trusts and foundations.

Sense Scotland Sense Scotland have had another record year of Fundraising with over £1.7 million received for revenue and project funding, and also our capital campaign from TouchBase. Money has come from a large number of sources including Individuals, Trusts, Foundations and Grant makers and Companies.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Trading 2005/06 was a challenging year for Sense Trading and indeed a difficult year for charity retailing as a whole. The broad retail environment has been and continues to be a challenging one and in charity retailing the sector faces increased competition from ‘value for money retailers’ and rising costs. As a consequence, Sense Trading made the decision to restructure with the intention of reducing costs, while at the same time creating a more effective structure to address the difficult retailing climate. However, the year did see significant successes in niche business activity, such as eBay, Books & Music and furniture. One new shop was opened during the year, Willenhall in Coventry, which surpassed its sales expectations. During the year, and as part of restructuring, many new core sales initiatives were put in place in order to improve future sales. What is particularly pleasing to report is that by the end of the year sales initiatives, restructuring and cost savings had brought the department back in line with budget level performance. This has ensured that Sense Trading will continue to operate at the top of the Charity Retailing Sector, thus securing continued high levels of income for Sense.

Our plans for the future

Sense Much of our work in 2006-2007 will focus upon putting the individual ﬁrst – implementing and promoting the person centred approach for deafblind people, and a customer-focused culture within Sense. By the end of the year we will have developed mechanisms that enable us to identify the impact we have on the lives of individuals that we support. We have also planned: ●

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We will also be: ●

Nine artistic activities where deafblind people will be able to use their creative talents to express themselves in written or other media. Thirty six activities that will provide opportunities for deafblind people to increase their range of friends and acquaintances. ●

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The launch of ‘Fill in the Gaps’ – a three year campaign that aims to raise awareness of the needs of older people with sight and hearing difﬁculties, especially amongst service providers. Teachers in the South East will beneﬁt from the development of teacher support networks. Sense Cymru will hold a national education conference and two meetings of an educational network. One of the Sense regions will provide a specialist assessment service to support deafblind children to learn through ICT.

The Autumn issue of Talking Sense will focus on young people who will have a key role in developing material for this issue. We will also support young deafblind people to get involved in public life and the planning and delivery of public services.

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responding to consultations on the Mental Capacity Act and working on how implementation will affect deafblind people. A new government-funded Sense project will develop training for advocates who may support deafblind people and there will be work in one of the Sense regions to promote the needs of deafblind people to advocacy organisations. creating opportunities for learning about deafblindness. For example, our Research and Practice Development team will complete the Deafblind Worlds project, disseminate its ﬁndings and contribute to brain imaging research into deafness in relation to BSL and hand-over-hand communications. leading a national project developing quality standards for cochlear implants with deafblind children and young people. One of Sense’s regions will provide a specialist assessment service to enable deafblind children to learn using ICT.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Shout about success

There has been increased recognition of the importance of knowing and understanding the impact that we are having on our beneﬁciaries – deafblind children and adults and their families and the professionals who support them.

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This involves getting feedback from our beneﬁciaries by asking speciﬁc questions that can be collated to provide numerical information – plus open questions that provide stories and feedback from the individual’s perspective. This information enables us to “shout about our successes”, make better decisions to improve services and plan for the future. We have been working with three other voluntary organisations – Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Norwood, Macmillan Cancer Care – and Compass Partnership to improve our focus on impact, and promotion of our achievements. Our pilot projects to collect information on the impact of activities are producing exciting results which will be disseminated across the organisation in the near future.

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100% of carers felt that the holiday gave them a valuable break. 100% were conﬁdent in the holidays team and were able to relax during the week. 94% said it enabled them to spend more time with their partner or other children. 76% said they enjoyed the week because their life was not ruled by appointments/ medication/feeds etc.

Some of the comments we received:

“Sense really take holiday makers interests to heart and make sure they cater for them. I had two lovely lads looking after me which is good as I’m pretty lively myself. I ate really well and did new things. I love having new adventures.” “Feeling Barbara’s place was empty but

Pilot project – Sense holiday programme Sense’s holiday programme was one of the pilot projects. We asked what difference did the holidays make to holidaymakers and their families? – and received the following answers: ●

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87% of holidaymakers enjoyed the holiday a lot, 9% quite a lot and 4% found it OK. 94% of holidaymakers enjoyed being with the volunteers.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

making sure that she is safe in good hands and enjoying her time. This was making me happy too.” As part of Shout About Success we are also planning to improve our data collection and knowledge management systems. Implementation will be partly dependent on improvements to IT systems. Our intention is that the impact we have on the people we serve will determine our strategic and operational planning processes in the future.

Our plans for the future

Sense Scotland ●

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We are delighted with our continuing partnership with a number of local authorities. This has resulted in new services opening in Highland Region and the opening of the Dundee respite service. The new resource TouchBase has been in planning and now development since 2003. We are continuing to plan for this major resource, which will be opening in early 2007. TouchBase as well as providing for head ofﬁce functions will incorporate a number of direct services. We particularly note our thanks to all funders and supporters who have made this possible.

Sense International In 2006-07 we will: ●

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Increase the number of deafblind people we are reaching throughout the world. Work to ensure the sustainability of local projects by investing in local capacity development. Continue to decentralise programme management. Lobby and advocate for the ofﬁcial recognition of deafblindness in the countries where we work. Develop partnerships with more international and local NGOs and encourage them to address the needs of deafblind people. Regularly review performance and structures, ensuring that we remain cost-effective and efﬁcient, maximising the outcome of every pound raised.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Working in partnership

Sense works with a wide range of partner organisations at both national and international level. It is a member of a number of umbrella bodies, including UK Council on Deafness and Vision 2020, the infrastructure bodies for organisations working in the ﬁeld of deafness and visual impairment respectively. And we belong to the Council for Disabled Children, the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group and Social Care Employers Consortium. Achievements this year include: ●

After years of campaigning by Sense and other members of the Making Decisions Alliance the Mental Capacity Act became law. This changes how decisions are made on behalf of people who can’t decide for themselves. It will mean that people will be supported to make decisions and that when others make decisions on behalf of someone else, rights, responsibilities and processes are clear. In particular Sense was involved in ensuring that the need for communication support and some commitment to advocacy were included within the Act.

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We are part of a consortium that developed and is delivering the Deafblind Diploma, which is now validated by the University of Birmingham. Partners are Sense Scotland, Deafblind UK, Deafblind Scotland, the Council for Advancement in Communication with Deaf People and the RNIB. On an international level we play an active part in the European Deafblind Network (EDBN) and Deafblind International (DbI). For example, Sense’s Chief Executive Tony Best leads the DbI strategy group, and Eileen Boothroyd, Education Ofﬁcer, edits its magazine, DbI Review. Next year, Sense’s partnership with Lega del Filo D’Oro, a deafblind organisation from Italy, will enable us to be more effective and inﬂuential within the European Parliament. Our three year campaign focusing on the needs of older people who are losing sight and hearing – Fill in the Gaps – is being supported by Age Concern and Help the Aged.

Sense and others campaigned for the Mental Capacity Act which offers protection for people who are unable to make decisions for themselves.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Governance and internal control

Structure of governance The maximum number of members on Council (Sense’s Board of Trustees, who are also directors for the purposes of company law) is twenty-six. The Association (Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association – Company no. 1825301) elects up to sixteen members of Council and Council appoints up to ten members by co-option. Any member of Council appointed by co-option holds office until the following Annual General Meeting and is eligible for re-election by Council or by the Association. No person who is not a member of the Association is eligible to hold office as a member of Council. Trustees are elected by the AGM and serve for four years before standing down. They are available for re-election immediately if they have not served for more than eight years consecutively. The Chairman is elected by Trustees and also serves a fouryear term of office. There is one Vice Chairman. Council meets four times a year and Trustees are expected to attend all Council meetings. The Chairman’s Group is a sub-committee of Council, which has delegated responsibility for the selection, appointment and development of Trustees. It aims to select people with relevant knowledge, skills and experience, optimising relationships between Trustees and staff through the Council-management link scheme. An annual skills audit is carried out following the AGM to identify any skills gaps in Council. Training is given to ensure that those gaps are covered. New Trustees are required to undertake an induction programme and undergo a structured introduction to the operation of the Association.

Responsibilities of Council Company and charity law requires Council to prepare financial statements for each financial year that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and the group and of the surplus or deficit of the group for that period. In preparing those financial statements, Council has: ●

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Selected suitable accounting policies and then applied them consistently. Made judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. Stated whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the ﬁnancial statements. Prepared the ﬁnancial statements on the going concern basis.

Council is responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the ﬁnancial position of the charity and the group and enable it to ensure that the ﬁnancial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. It is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

So far as each Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charity’s auditors are unaware, and each Trustee has taken all the steps that he/she ought to have taken as a Trustee in order to make himself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s auditors are aware of that information.

For detailed information on the speciﬁc governance arrangements and processes for Sense Scotland and Sense International, please see their respective Annual Reports and Accounts.

Committees

Council has overall responsibility for ensuring that the charity has appropriate systems of control, ﬁnancial and otherwise. The systems of internal control are designed to provide reasonable assurance against material misstatement or loss. They include:

The Chairman’s Group comprises the Chairman, the Vice Chairman, the Chief Executive and two other Trustees. Its main areas of activity are the selection and appointment of Trustees, optimising relationships between Trustees and the executive body, planning the work of Council meetings and overseeing the recruitment, management and appraisal of the Chief Executive. The Finance Committee’s main purpose is to provide information to Council on all matters relating to the ﬁnancial health of the organisation. It comprises up to eight members, half of whom must be Trustees. It is chaired by the Honorary Treasurer and membership includes the Director of Finance. The Chairman and Chief Executive of Sense are ex-ofﬁcio members.

Internal Financial Control

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The Audit Committee has the role of managing the charity’s relationships with its external and internal auditors and reports to Council on the satisfactory performance of the auditors. All members are also serving Finance Committee members, however executive ofﬁcers are not permitted to sit on the Committee.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

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A five year strategic plan and an annual budget and operational plan approved by Council. A number of matters are specifically reserved for Council’s approval. There is a clear organisational structure, described in an internal document entitled “working arrangements”, with appropriate lines for reporting. Regular consideration by Council of financial results, variance from budgets, non-financial performance indicators and benchmarking reviews. The development of policy documents covering all major strategic and operational activities. These are reviewed with appropriate regularity and consultation. Scrutiny and approval of all capital projects over £25k by the Corporate Management Team, which meets regularly and also examines reports showing performance against business plan.

●

The Finance Committee considers investment strategy and monitors investment performance. Internal audit reviews the whole system of internal controls. It also enjoys unrestricted access to all books, records and explanations required. The Head of Internal Audit’s independence is assured and set out in an Internal Audit Charter, with direct access to Council via the Honorary Treasurer and the Audit Committee, who receive all internal audit reports.

Risk identiﬁcation and assessment processes have been embedded within the normal operating activities of managers throughout Sense as part of the operational plan process. This ensures that key risks are regularly reviewed, monitored and reported on. Key potential risk areas that have featured on the Critical Action List for 2005/6 with some notes about how we have mitigated these risks, are: ●

Identification and management of risks Council has delegated day to day responsibility for the management of risks to the Corporate Management Team. The Audit Committee is responsible for overseeing the establishment and maintenance of good practice in this area and for reporting on it to Council at each of its regular meetings. A formal risk management process has been developed to assess business risks and implement risk management strategies. Management is responsible for the identification and assessment of risk and reporting on its work to the Audit Committee. Management is also responsible for developing risk mitigation strategies and controls and, where required, implementing action to minimise or reduce risk to acceptable levels. The Corporate Management Team leads this process by selecting the most significant risks, known as the Critical Action List, and monitoring them, receiving reports at its monthly face to face meetings.

●

Agreement of fee increases with purchasing authorities – this issue has affected us for some years now and problems have been escalated to senior management. Loss making services have been selected for speciﬁc action. We have also become much better at identifying where needs of individuals who use our services change, resulting in increased costs: we have subsequently taken early action to have fees uplifted. Loss of income due to voids in residential services – a level of voids has been allowed for in budgets and a management team has been receiving reports on a monthly basis to ensure this target is achieved. Recruitment and retention of appropriate skilled staff members – we have improved monitoring of market salaries and taken action to increase salary levels in geographical areas where we fall behind. Residential properties continuing to meet the needs of the current group of people who use the service and those who will join us in future – we have audited the buildings we currently occupy and are developing a refurbishment and replacement programme that will take effect over the next ﬁve years.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Financial Review

●

Implementation of strategies that ensure the safety of electronic data and the equipment used to transmit and store it – we have contractual arrangements with IT service providers, retained skilled in-house IT staff members and established disaster recovery arrangements.

Financial review 2005/6

Pension fund – the Finance Committee has established a sub-committee to examine the current funding position and explore other options.

Charitable expenditure for 2005/6 was £50.7m making it the highest sum we have ever spent in a single year. It was 11% higher than the previous year’s charitable expenditure of £45.6m.

Net trading income targets – we have monitored shop performance closely and taken action to restructure the operation. Compliance with Health and Safety legislation – we have set up a health and safety committee and introduced new policies and structures to ensure workplaces are regularly audited and individual responsibilities are clearly understood.

Expenditure

Most of our expenditure is on Work with Adults. Services in this category relate largely to residential and day care facilities and are funded through allowances and fees paid by local authorities. Expenditure this year increased by £2.9m, and totalled £33.6m. The cost of our work with Children and Older People both increased, reaching £1.4m and £741k respectively. We spent an extra £1.6m on Residential and Community work in Scotland where expenditure reached £12.1m. Our International work of £1.01m was up by £94k on the previous year. Work on Campaigning and Awareness cost £884k, an increase on last year’s £710k, and we spent £423k on Publicity, an increase of £48k. We spent £394k on quality improvements and staff development, an increase of £7k on the previous year. Governance costs of £53k were £4k more than last year.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Income Total income amounted to £64.2m, an increase of almost £6m (10%) over the previous year’s total of £58.3m. £4.8m of this increase came from fees and allowances, paid by statutory authorities, which raised £45.4m in total. This was due mainly to an increased number of people receiving residential and day services but also as a result of increases to a number of existing fees that were necessary to bring them into line with current costs. Income from fundraising and legacies reached £7.4m, exceeding last year’s by £633k, representing a sustained growth in voluntary income. 2006 has been a difﬁcult year for charity shops and ours were no exception. Despite this, a modest increase in our shops sales of £170k lifted them to almost £8.2m. Sources of Income 2006 £64.2m

2005 £58.3m

50,000

of the scheme for 2005/6 was £2,058,000 and the total deficit to date is £9.07m. The actuaries calculate how much we need to pay into the scheme each year to eliminate the deficit and ensure that sufficient funds are available to meet pension payments when they become payable. We ensure these payments are made. We closed our defined benefits superannuation scheme to new entrants in 2003 and replaced it with a defined contribution scheme. The Statement of Financial Activities shows an overall positive net movement in funds for the year of £935,934. This was made up of positive movement in restricted and endowment funds of £1.476m and negative movement in unrestricted funds of £540k. The superannuation scheme deficit has been charged to the unrestricted funds. Operationally, we have controlled our finances very well, ensuring that expenditure was budgeted, affordable and within our income. Unfortunately, the actuarial loss on the valuation of our superannuation scheme, which is wholly out of our control, has had this adverse effect on our unrestricted funds.

45,000 40,000

£,000

35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Fees & Allowances

Grants

Fundraising & Legacies

Shops

Other

In accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 17 ‘Retirement benefits’ (FRS17) we have built the results of the defined benefits superannuation scheme into the annual accounts this year. The actuarial loss on valuation

During the next ﬁnancial year we are planning to open a new Centre in London that will provide purpose-designed facilities for deafblind people to meet in and work from. We are designing the interior to make it fully accessible to deafblind people and other disabled people, and the local authority has expressed an interest in working with us to make access routes to the building deafblind friendly. From the Centre we will provide the services we already provide from our ofﬁce in Finsbury Park. The new facility will create the opportunity to set up new services that we are unable to deliver from the current building.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Reserves In line with the Charity Commission’s recommendations (CC19) on what is a reasonable level of reserves, the Trustees have agreed short and long-term targets. Currently Sense’s average expenditure is a little over £5m a month, of which almost £3.7m relates to salaries and employment costs. Over twothirds of the income we need to fund this expenditure comes through fees we charge to local authorities. It takes an average of six and a half weeks after the expenditure has been spent before we receive payment. Consequently we must have a short term reserve equivalent to this level of turnover to enable us to meet our monthly commitments. Current cash and investment levels largely represent £5m working capital and amounts held in anticipation of the new London Centre which we plan to acquire in the Summer of 2006. Our long-term reserve is needed to meet our obligations to the people who use our services and to our staff should we suffer a signiﬁcant ﬁnancial downturn. In light of this the Trustees have agreed an additional target of 12.5 weeks, making our total target equal to 19 weeks turnover.

At 31 March 2006 our 19 weeks target was £23.4m. We are currently £12.2m below this target. Our unrestricted cash reserve was £11.2m, arrived at as follows: £’000 Cash at bank per Balance Sheet Fixed Asset investments Current Asset investments

5,836 3 7,311 13,150

Less cash included above that was donated for restricted use (see note 18) 1,913 Total unrestricted cash

11,237

Policy Statement Sense will ensure that procedures are in place that aim to achieve, and then maintain, sufficient unrestricted reserves (a) adequate for its working capital needs and to enable it to cope with foreseen and unforeseen crises, budget variances and fluctuations, growth in demand for its services and reduction in charitable income, and, (b) to replace tangible fixed assets as they wear out.

Achieving and maintaining desired levels of reserves We are working towards our calculated reserves target in respect of (a) above by placing all unrestricted legacy income directly into reserves together with a proportion of any operational surpluses made.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

The asset replacement reserve referred to in (b) above will be credited each year with a sum equivalent to annual depreciation. The reserves policy will be examined annually to ensure that it is still appropriate, as will reserve targets and the methods in use to achieve and maintain them.

Investment strategy Sense wishes to avoid unethical investments that are in conﬂict with its charitable objectives. It avoids investing in companies with a known association with products that produce disabilities. Cash reserves are held in high interest paying accounts through which we endeavour to maximise our returns and cash in our current accounts is invested on the overnight money market.

In addition, Sense West, East, Southeast and North, together with Finsbury Park and Northern Ireland, have staff consultative forums and similar facilities are being developed across the remainder of the organisation.

Insurance The charity effected an insurance policy to indemnify the Trustees and senior ofﬁcers against the consequences of any neglect or default on their part, at a cost of £14,175 (2005 – £13,100).

Auditors A resolution to reappoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors to the company will be proposed at the annual general meeting. By Order of Council and signed on its behalf

Employees Sense has adopted a formal Equal Opportunities Policy. The policy is reviewed regularly and all employees are welcome to make suggestions for improvements.

Dr A B Best Secretary 12 July 2006

Employees are kept fully informed of all factors affecting the performance of the association and any other matters likely to be of concern to them as employees through written and face to face staff brieﬁngs, our intranet and newsletters. Employees are encouraged to present their suggestions and views at regular one to one meetings with their line managers and through implementation of an issues policy. A survey of staff is conducted each year to help improve the ways we communicate.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Independent auditors’ report to the Trustees of Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association We have audited the financial statements of Sense for the year ended 31 March 2006 which comprise the consolidated statement of financial activities, the balance sheets, the summary consolidated income and expenditure account, the consolidated cash flow statement and the related notes, which have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the statement of accounting policies.

Respective responsibilities of Trustees and auditors The Trustees are also directors of Sense for the purposes of Company Law. As described in the Statement of Council’s Responsibilities the Trustees are responsible for preparing the ﬁnancial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Our responsibility is to audit the ﬁnancial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. This report, including the opinion, has been prepared for and only for the company’s members as a body in accordance with Section 235 of the Companies Act 1985 and for no other purpose. We do not, in giving this opinion, accept or assume any responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may come save where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985. We report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the Trustees’ Report is consistent with the financial statements. We also report to you, if in our opinion, the charitable company has not kept proper accounting records, if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit, or if information specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration and transactions is not disclosed. We read other information contained in the Annual Report, and consider whether it is consistent with the audited financial statements. This other information comprises only the Trustees’ Report. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial statements. Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.

Basis of opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the charitable company’s circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the financial statements.

Opinion In our opinion: ● the ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view, in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the group at 31 March 2006 and of the net incoming resources, including its income and expenditure, and cash ﬂows of the group for the year then ended; ●

●

and the ﬁnancial statements have been properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985,and the information given in the Trustees’ Report is consistent with the ﬁnancial statements.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors Hull 12 July 2006

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Consolidated statement of ﬁnancial activities for the year ended 31 March 2006 Note

General Funds £

Designated Funds £

Total 2006 £

Total 2005 (as restated) £

5,822,731

5,500,810

Restricted Endowment Funds funds £ £

Incoming resources Incoming resources from generated funds Fundraising income

4,057,231

97,354 1,668,146

Legacies receivable

1,488,643

161,324

1,649,967

1,337,951

Shops income

8,173,028

1,797

8,174,825

8,004,659

Investment income

512,094

367

512,461

402,540

Other income

115,099

66,998

37,467

219,564

301,161

Incoming resources from charitable activities Fees and allowances

45,151,984

Grants receivable

817,841

Net gain on disposal of ﬁxed assets

Total incoming resources 60,315,920

11,857

191,378

104,639 1,552,309 -

- 45,355,219 40,573,320 -

2,474,789

1,987,392

215,358

283,012 3,610,624

- 64,209,556 58,323,191

Resources expended Cost of generating funds:

Fundraising costs

2,600,799

173,051

100,432

2,874,282

2,791,322

Shops costs

7,528,458

70,114

30,000

7,628,572

7,110,695

10,129,257

243,165

130,432

- 10,502,854

9,902,017

32,817,227

245,815

568,963

1,195,339

5,713

246,039

1,447,091

1,379,345

602,506

993

137,352

740,851

628,570

11,583,109

28,126

505,429

- 12,116,664 10,440,327

International work

148,946

865,859

1,014,805

920,570

Campaigns and awareness

649,528

2,592

231,394

883,514

709,888

Total cost of generating funds Charitable activities:

Work with adults Work with children Work with older people Work in Scotland

sense annual report & accounts 2006

8,623 33,640,628 30,758,637

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Note

General Designated Funds Funds £ £

Restricted Endowment Funds funds £ £

Total 2006 £

Total 2005 (as restated) £

Publicity

422,777

204

422,981

374,098

Quality and staff development

359,120

2,929

31,860

393,909

386,518

53,096

49,019

Governance

47,831,648

286,372 2,586,896

8,623 50,713,539 45,646,972

57,960,905

529,537

2,717,328

8,623 61,216,393 55,548,989

Net incoming resources/ (resources expended) before transfers

2,355,015

(246,525)

893,296

Transfers between funds

1,102,621 (1,694,118)

Net incoming resources/ (resources expended) before revaluations

Total resources expended

(8,623)

2,993,163

2,774,202

720,416 (128,919)

3,457,636 (1,940,643) 1,613,712 (137,542)

2,993,163

2,774,202

Gains and losses on revaluation and disposal of investment assets

771

Actuarial loss on deﬁned beneﬁt pension scheme

(2,058,000)

- (2,058,000)

(499,000)

Net movements in funds

1,400,407 (1,940,643) 1,613,712 (137,542)

Fund balances brought forward at 1 April 2005

(150,746) 6,470,495 5,998,577

636,673 12,954,999 10,679,797

1,249,661

499,131 13,890,933 12,954,999

Fund balances carried forward at 31 March 2006

17, 18

4,529,852

7,612,289

935,934

2,275,202

The notes on pages 37 to 60 form part of these accounts. The group has no other recognised gains and losses other than those included in the results above, and, therefore, no separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has been presented. All incoming resources and resources expended are derived from continuing activities. sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Consolidated balance sheet as at 31 March 2006 Note

31 March 2006 £

31 March 2005 (as restated) £

11 12

15,345,227 2,875

14,070,912 1,840

15,348,102

14,072,752

50,827 4,940,067 7,310,778 5,835,814

89,793 5,742,750 4,467,800 6,330,501

18,137,486

16,630,844

(7,467,091)

(7,381,326)

Fixed assets Tangible assets Investments Current assets Stocks of goods for resale Debtors Investments Cash at bank and in hand

13 12

Creditors (amounts falling due within one year)

Net current assets

10,670,395

9,249,518

Total assets less current liabilities Creditors (amounts falling due after more than one year)

26,018,497

23,322,270

(3,056,564)

(3,107,271)

22,961,933

20,214,999

(9,071,000)

(7,260,000)

13,890,933

12,954,999

7,612,289 499,131

5,998,577 636,673

10,320,661 (9,071,000)

7,109,254 (7,260,000)

1,249,661 4,529,852

(150,746) 6,470,495

5,779,513

6,319,749

13,890,933

12,954,999

Net assets excluding pension liability Deﬁned beneﬁt pension scheme liability

Net assets including pension liability Reserves Restricted funds Endowment funds Unrestricted funds Free reserve Pension reserve General funds Designated funds

17,18 17,18

Total unrestricted funds Total funds The notes on pages 37 to 60 form part of these accounts. Richard Monaghan Treasurer Approved by Council on 12 July 2006

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Company balance sheet as at 31 March 2006 Fixed assets Tangible assets Investments Current assets Stocks of goods for resale Debtors Investments Cash at bank and in hand Creditors (amounts falling due within one year)

Note

31 March 2006 £

31 March 2005 £

11 12

11,423,405 32,875

11,209,870 31,840

11,456,280

11,241,710

50,828 3,588,201 7,309,096 3,648,256

89,793 3,893,438 4,466,118 4,586,718

14,596,381

13,036,067

(6,435,597)

(6,366,795)

8,160,784

6,669,272

19,617,064

17,910,982

(2,038,737)

(2,314,022)

17,578,327

15,596,960

17,18 17,18

4,664,880 499,131

3,883,105 507,754

17,18 17,18

3,597,850 8,816,466

4,862,945 6,343,156

17,578,327

15,596,960

13 12

Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Creditors (amounts falling due after more than one year)

Net assets Reserves Restricted funds Endowment funds Unrestricted funds Designated funds General funds Total funds The notes on pages 37 to 60 form part of these accounts.

Richard Monaghan Treasurer Approved by Council on 12 July 2006

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Summary consolidated income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 March 2006 2006 £

2005 (as restated) £

63,697,095 (61,207,770)

57,705,293 (55,540,366)

Operating surplus Gain on disposal of ﬁxed assets Interest receivable

2,489,325 512,461

2,164,927 215,358 402,540

Net income for the year

3,001,786

2,782,825

Income of continuing operations Total expenditure of continuing operations

The consolidated income and expenditure account is presented in order to ensure compliance with the Companies Act 1985. A detailed analysis of income and expenditure by source is provided in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities. All incoming resources and resources expended are derived from continuing activities. The Summary Income and Expenditure Account is derived from the Statement of Financial Activities on pages 28 and 29 which, together with the notes to the accounts on pages 37 to 60 provides full information on the movements during the year on all the Association’s funds. The notes on pages 37 to 60 form part of these accounts.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Consolidated cash ﬂow statement for the year ended 31 March 2006 Note

2006 £

2005 £

Net cash inflow from operating activities 22 Returns on investment and servicing of finance Interest received Interest paid Interest element of finance lease payments

5,106,234

5,146,462

512,461 (229,009) (55,604)

402,540 (262,019) (40,113)

227,848

100,408

Capital expenditure Purchase of tangible fixed assets Sale of tangible fixed assets Management of liquid resources Investments in bank deposits Purchase of investments Sale of investments Financing New bank loans Other loans Bank and other loans repaid New finance leases Capital element of finance lease payments (Decrease) in cash

23,24

(2,994,937) 12,932

(1,997,712) 564,478

(2,982,005)

(1,433,234)

(2,842,978) (264) -

(4,467,198) 35,071

(2,843,242)

(4,432,127)

150,000 34,000 (264,449) 397,957 (321,030)

226,000 30,000 (764,830) 438,841 (255,720)

(3,522)

(325,709)

(494,687)

(944,200)

The notes on pages 37 to 60 form part of these accounts.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Accounting policies The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention as modiﬁed by the revaluation of certain assets and in accordance with applicable accounting standards and legislation. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP 2005), “Accounting and Reporting by Charities”. The ﬁgures contained in the consolidated accounts relate to all activities both national and international and include those of the charity and its wholly owned charitable subsidiaries: The Royal School for Deaf Children (Birmingham), Sense Scotland, Sense International, Coventry Society for the Blind together with the results of Helping Sense Limited, its wholly owned non-charitable subsidiary. The undertakings are consolidated on a line by line basis.

Changes in accounting policies The charity has adopted the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP 2005) and FRS 17 ‘Retirement benefits’ in these financial statements for the first time. The adoption of SORP 2005 and FRS 17 represent changes in accounting policies and the comparative figures have been restated accordingly. The adoption of SORP 2005 has involved the re-analysis of certain items of expenditure, primarily support costs. This re-analysis has had no impact on the net incoming resources for the year ended 31 March 2005 or the total funds at 31 March 2005. The effect of the change in accounting policy to adopt FRS 17 was to decrease incoming resources, by £1,281,000 (2005 – decrease of £146,000) and to decrease the net movement in funds by £3,339,000 (2005 – £645,000). The funds at 31 March 2005 reduced from £20,214,999 by £7,260,000 to £12,954,999. The funds at 31 March 2004 reduced from £17,294,797 by £6,615,000 to £10,679,797.

Incoming resources All incoming resources are included in the SOFA when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantiﬁed with reasonable accuracy. For legacies, entitlement is the earlier of the charity being notiﬁed of an impending distribution or the legacy being received.

Resources expended All expenditure, including any irrecoverable VAT, is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classiﬁed under headings that aggregate all costs related to that category. Support costs have been apportioned to the relevant charitable activity on the basis of salary costs incurred.

Governance costs Governance costs include internal and external audit, strategic costs and Trustees’ expenses.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Fundraising proceeds Voluntary income is accounted for when received. Non-cash donations, other than goods donated for sale through our shops, are stated at an estimate of their value to the Association.

Fundraising events and activities Fundraising costs are accrued when incurred.

Depreciation Using the following methods, depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost of tangible ﬁxed assets over their estimated useful economic lives at the following annual rates: In equal annual instalments: Freehold buildings

- 2%

Short leasehold properties and long leasehold improvements

- over the remaining life of the lease

Furniture, ﬁxtures and ﬁttings - 25% Motor vehicles

- 25%

Freehold land is not depreciated. Individual ﬁxed assets costing £500 or more are capitalised at cost.

Leases Assets acquired under finance leases and hire purchase contracts are included under fixed assets in the balance sheet and depreciated as indicated above. The related liability for the capital element is included in creditors and the interest element, which is calculated on the basis of the amount of borrowing outstanding, is charged to the statement of financial activities in the period to which it relates. Operating lease rentals are charged to the statement of financial activities in the period in which they are incurred.

Stocks Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value and consist of craftworks produced by the association’s service users, collection bags for donated goods and new goods bought for resale.

Recognition of liabilities Liabilities are recognised when an obligation arises to transfer economic beneﬁts as a result of past transactions or events.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Group pension costs FRS 17 has been adopted in full in the current year in respect of the London Pension Funds Authority Superannuation Scheme, a defined benefit pension scheme. As a result the regular service cost of providing retirement benefits to employees, the full cost or gain of providing amendments to benefits in respect of past service, income representing the expected return on assets of the fund and a cost representing the interest on the liabilities are charged to the statement of financial activities in the year. Differences between actual and expected returns on assets during the year, together with differences arising from changes in assumptions underlying the present value of scheme liabilities and experience gains and losses arising on scheme liabilities are also recognised in the statement of financial activities. The difference between the market value of assets and the present value of liabilities is shown as a net liability on the balance sheet.

Company pension costs The company is a participating employer in a defined benefit pension scheme covering the majority of its employees. The contributions payable by the company are accounted for as if the scheme were a defined contribution scheme.

Investments The quoted securities are valued at market value based on the mid-point of the quotation in the Stock Exchange Daily Ofﬁcial list or similar recognised market value. Realised and unrealised gains and losses on sale or revaluation of investments are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period in which they arise.

Fund accounting General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes. Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purposes. Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with speciﬁc instructions imposed by the 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 fund. Endowment funds represent those assets which must be held permanently by the charity, principally properties. Any capital gains or losses arising form part of the fund. Depreciation of the properties is charged against the fund. Investment income and gains are allocated to the appropriate fund.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Notes to the ﬁnancial statements for the year ended 31 March 2006 1 Sense – Grants receivable

2006 £

2005 £

Barnet Supporting People

52,607

Big Lottery Fund (towards extension of Mallusk Nursery) (CE/2/013089015)

28,556

Big Lottery Fund (towards ICT advancement) (E/CLL/2001/1849)

30,717

Big Lottery Fund (towards ICT trainers) East Region (E/CLL/2001/2436)

2,273

Big Lottery Fund (towards NE development worker post) (MJ/1/010037265)

16,285

32,114

Big Lottery Fund (towards NW development worker post) (MJ/1/010036845)

30,112

29,288

2,996

20,143

182,155

114,956

Big Lottery Fund (towards the See Me, Hear Me Project) (MK/1/010075203)

44,918

44,998

Birmingham Supporting People Team

41,603

80,979

Cambridgeshire Learning Skills Council (towards local initiative)

24,333

Carmarthenshire County Council (towards regional services)

11,763

Deafblind Worlds Project Funding

21,022

Denbighshire County Council (towards Assessment and Awareness Training)

6,665

8,280

10,347

24,877

8,750

10,042

29,016

20,000

29,522

28,175

14,429

27,646

2,060

9,936

Hertfordshire County Council (Supporting People Grant)

9,171

Homeﬁrst Nursery Placements

4,147

Kent County Council

14,200

15,711

Lancashire County Council Development Ofﬁcer

17,880

31,753

Learning Skills Council/Big Lottery Fund/UFI Grant (towards ICT Centre)

17,983

Learning Skills Council (towards staff training)

39,126

Lincolnshire County Council (towards Intervenor Services)

18,929

26,999

528,715

708,747

Big Lottery Fund (towards the Karten Centre) (E/CLL/2001/1462) Big Lottery Fund (towards the National Collaborative Usher Study) (RG/1/010038519)

Department for Trade and Industry Department of Health – Technology Advisory Project Department of Health (towards Asian Outreach) Devon Supporting People Grant DFES (towards implementation of Deafblind Guidance in relation to children) DFES (towards Young Sense Project) East Anglian (Outreach Project) Foyle Health and Social Services (towards Foyle RAS) Gwynedd and Ynys Mons Hertfordshire County Council (Jenny Chapman House)

Learning Skills Council (TEC legacy)

Lincolnshire County Council Childrens Fund carried forward

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006 2006 £

2005 £

528,715

708,747

Lincolnshire County Council Childrens Fund

39,248

Lincolnshire County Council Supporting People (Longhurst)

48,371

Lincolnshire Deafblind

18,929

18,500

Lincolnshire Social Services (towards provision of Intervenor Service)

63,657

62,040

Nene Housing Society Ltd

23,071

New Woodlands Centre

29,239

NI Housing Exec

24,126

27,414

Norfolk County Council Outreach Grant

92,532

8,901

Norfolk Social Services

78,315

Northern Ireland DHSS (towards Services in Northern Ireland – Core Grant)

22,573

21,916

7,829

7,508

4,250

5,986

5,854

33,425

33,000

Skills for Care (towards staff training)

7,725

Skills for Care (towards staff training)

79,425

South Gloucestershire (Capital Grant)

9,015

2,987

South Lincolnshire County Council

10,003

Suffolk County Council (in support of Befriender Services)

42,343

4,100

13,399

69,617

TOPPS (towards staff training)

24,450

TOPPS (towards Training Strategy Implementation)

4,575

Toucan Europe Ltd Grant

6,914

UK Council on Deafness

4,265

93,596

50,960

3,416

6,266

226

9,508

1,247,728

1,187,523

2006 £

2005 £

Big Lottery (towards advisory services)

37,636

36,564

Community Fund (Healthy Living Centre with Deafblind Scotland)

62,608

57,983

3,000

brought forward

Norfolk Social Services – Supporting People for 55 Shipdham Road

Oxfordshire County Council Pembrokeshire CL Rotherham Supporting People Grant Sandwell Borough Council (towards cost of Project Worker)

South Gloucestershire Childrens Services Grant

Suffolk Social Services (towards Volunteer Befriender Scheme) Suffolk Supporting People Grant

Welsh National Assembly (towards Organisational Development – Core Grant) Worcestershire County Council (towards Worcester Guide Help Scheme) Worcestershire County Council Supporting People Others All grants given for a speciﬁc purpose have been expended entirely on that purpose.

Sense Scotland – grants receivable

Department of Trade and Industry (Partners in Communication Project)

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006 2006 £

2005 £

European Union Culture 2000 (Expressions Unlimited)

20,000

Glasgow City Council (towards children and families Nuremburg visit)

2,000

147,198

143,050

23,000

7,382

250,000

Scottish Executive (towards voluntary sector training)

26,250

95,000

Scottish Executive Health Department (towards Services)

16,500

Scottish Executive SWSI (Section 9 and 10)

72,840

Scottish Local Authorities and Health Boards (towards Services)

29,416

30,988

West Dumbartonshire Council (Out and About Project)

52,248

38,930

1,626

266

719,322

524,503

2006 £

2005 £

117,318

109,403

138,998

97,767

Department for International Development (East Africa)

98,675

Department for International Development (towards NGO’s Learning From Each Other – India)

43,192

37,000

NHS Greater Glasgow (Innovation Projects) Scottish Arts Council (National Lottery Grant) Scottish Executive (Futurebuilders Grant)

Others All grants given for a speciﬁc purpose have been expended entirely on that purpose.

Sense International – grants receivable Big Lottery Fund (towards access to Education for deafblind children in India) Big Lottery Fund (towards Schemes in Latin America) Department for International Development (Latin America)

European Commission Europe Aid Cooperation Ofﬁce (strengthening Deafblind Peoples’ Groups in Russia)

(8,654)

Isle of Man, Overseas Aid Committee (education for deafblind children in Romania)

5,000

7,500

States of Jersey, Overseas Aid Committee (pre-school intervention for deafblind children)

34,850

States of Jersey, Overseas Aid Committee (employment opportunities for young deafblind adults, Latin America)

32,732

States of Jersey, Overseas Aid Committee (development of skills for teachers of deafblind children, Romania)

30,312

Canadian International Development Agency

9,125

DFID/Poorest Area Civil Society Scheme (PACS)

18,642

Asian Development Bank

1,350

National Authority for Handicapped Persons (NAPH)

9,895

507,739

275,366

2,474,789

1,987,392

Isle of Man, Overseas Aid Committee (community based support for deafblind children in Tamil Nadu, India)

All grants given for a speciﬁc purpose have been expended entirely on that purpose. Total grants receivable

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

2 Investment income

Bank interest

2006 £

2005 £

512,461

402,540

3 Other income Other income is derived mainly from rental of accommodation and facilities made available to other organisations and charities mainly concerned with sensory impairment.

4 Expenditure Direct costs £

Support costs £

Total 2006 £

Fundraising

2,726,587

147,695

2,874,282

2,791,322

Trading

7,574,787

53,785

7,628,572

7,110,695

Working with adults

31,831,524

1,809,104

33,640,628

30,758,637

Work with children

1,362,167

84,924

1,447,091

1,379,345

Work with older people

705,491

35,360

740,851

628,570

Campaigning and awareness raising

835,724

47,790

883,514

709,888

Publicity

404,231

18,750

422,981

374,098

Quality and staff development

380,800

13,109

393,909

386,518

11,308,975

807,689

12,116,664

10,440,327

1,014,805

920,570

53,096

49,019

58,198,187

3,018,206

61,216,393

55,548,989

Work in Scotland International work Governance

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Total 2005 (as restated)£

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Breakdown of support costs apportioned Human Facilities Management resources £ £ £

Finance and IT £

Communication £

Total Total 2005 2006 £ (as restated)£

17,094

33,988

41,215

45,504

9,894

147,695

151,172

53,785

45,967

Work with adults

306,125

247,876

535,308

542,619

177,176 1,809,104

1,749,399

Work with children

14,370

11,636

25,129

25,472

8,317

84,924

78,545

Work with older people

5,983

4,845

10,463

10,606

3,463

35,360

31,408

Campaigning and awareness raising

8,087

6,548

14,141

14,334

4,680

47,790

40,785

Publicity

3,173

2,569

5,548

5,624

1,836

18,750

17,151

Quality and staff development

2,218

1,796

3,879

3,932

1,284

13,109

13,929

348,633

195,937

263,119

807,689

847,006

357,050

657,891

885,405

911,210

206,650 3,018,206

2,975,362

Fundraising Trading

Work in Scotland

Support costs have been apportioned on the basis of salary costs. Analysis of governance costs Internal audit External audit fees Strategic management costs Quality audit Trustees expenses AGM costs Professional fees

2006 £

2005 (as restated)£

5,972 33,283 5,750 6,282 752 1,057

5,799 29,918 5,750 1,647 5,463 442 -

53,096

49,019

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

5 Gains/(losses) on tangible ﬁxed assets and investments 2006 £

2005 £

215,358

Realised gain/(loss) disclosed in the consolidated statement of financial activities: Gain on sale of tangible fixed assets stated as incoming resources Loss on sale of tangible fixed assets included in resources expended Unrealised gain/(loss) on revaluation of listed investments

(291,156)

(137,855)

(291,156)

77,503

771

2006 £

2005 (as restated)£

33,283

29,918

1,123,943 292,591 1,367,387 229,009 55,604 140,000

1,062,863 253,464 1,826,946 262,019 40,113 141,000

2006 £

2005 (as restated)£

36,857,719 2,943,749 1,307,707 2,763,754

33,392,649 2,512,955 1,124,873 2,611,210

43,872,929

39,641,687

6 Net movement in funds The net movement in funds is stated after charging:

Auditors’ remuneration – audit services Depreciation - owned assets - hire purchase and finance leased assets Operating lease rentals Interest payable on bank loans Interest payable on finance leases Other finance charge – pension scheme

7 Employees’ remuneration

Wages and salaries Social security costs Other pension costs Agency labour

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

The average number of persons employed by the association was 2,694 (2005: 2,497). 4 employees earned between £60,001 and £70,000, 1 employee earned between £70,001 and £80,000 and 1 employee earned between £80,001 and £90,000. All higher paid employees are members of the deﬁned beneﬁt scheme.

8 Remuneration of members of council As required by the Charities Act, members of Council received no remuneration. Members of Council received £6,282 (2005: £5,463) in respect of reimbursement of expenses incurred. The charity effected an insurance policy to indemnify the Trustees and senior ofﬁcers against the consequences of any neglect or default on their part, at a cost of £14,175 (2005 – £13,100).

9 Pensions The Association participates in the London Pension Funds Authority Superannuation Scheme (LPFA) providing benefits based on final pensionable pay. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the participating employers, being mainly invested in equity investments and Government Securities. The most recent triennial valuation was as at 31 March 2004. For the period to 31 March 2008 contributions to the pension scheme are at the rate of 14.1% of pensionable salaries. Financial assumptions The financial assumptions used to calculate the Scheme liabilities under FRS 17 are as follows: At 31 March 2006 % pa

At 31 March 2005 % pa

At 31 March 2004 % pa

3.1 4.6 3.1 4.9

2.9 4.4 2.9 5.4

2.9 4.4 2.9 5.5

Rate of inﬂation Rate of increase in salaries Rate of increase for pensions in payment Discount rate

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Scheme assets and expected rate of return The assets in respect of the Active membership of Sense and the expected rates of return were: Long term return expected at 31 March 2006 % Equities Target return funds/Bonds Alternative assets/Property Cash

Value at 31 March 2006 £’000

Long term return expected at 31 March 2005 %

Value at 31 March 2005 £’000

Long term return expected at 31 March 2004 %

Value at 31 March 2004 £’000

7.3

11,740

7.7

10,616

7.7

9,819

6.0

3,547

4.8

1,454

5.1

1,497

6.5 4.6

2,196 1,144

5.7 4.8

959 451

6.5 4.0

449 189

6.8

18,627

7.1

13,480

7.3

11,954

The following amounts at 31 March 2006 were measured in accordance with the requirements of FRS 17: 2006 £’000

2005 £’000

Total market value of assets Present value of Scheme liabilities

18,627 27,698

13,480 20,740

Net pension liability

(9,071)

(7,260)

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

The following components of the pensions charge have been recognised in the statement of ﬁnancial activities in the year to 31 March 2006: 2006 £’000

2005 £’000

1,079 62

1,078 -

1,141

1,078

1,158 (1,018)

1,059 (918)

Amounts charged to the statement of financial activities: Current service cost Curtailment and Settlements Other finance cost: Interest cost Expected return on assets Net charge to other finance cost Total statement of financial activities charge

140

141

1,281

1,219

Actuarial gain/(loss) recognised: Actual return less expected return on pension scheme assets Experience (gain)/loss on pension scheme liabilities Change in ﬁnancial assumptions underlying the present value of the scheme liabilities

2,312 (99)

355 (363)

(4,271)

(491)

Total actuarial loss recognised

(2,058)

(499)

2006

2005

(2,312) 12.4%

(355) 2.6%

Experience (gain)/loss on scheme liabilities: Amount (£’000) % of Scheme liabilities at end of year

99 0.4%

363 1.8%

Total actuarial (gain)/loss recognised in the SOFA: Amount (£’000) % of Scheme liabilities at end of year

2,058 7.4%

499 2.4%

History of experience gains and losses (Gain)/loss on scheme assets: Amount (£’000) % of Scheme assets at end of year

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Analysis of movement in deﬁcit:

Year ended 31 March 2006 £’000

Year ended 31 March 2005 £000

Deﬁcit at beginning of year Contributions paid Current service cost Curtailments and settlements Other ﬁnance charge Actuarial losses

(7,260) 1,528 (1,079) (62) (140) (2,058)

(6,615) 1,073 (1,078) (141) (499)

Deﬁcit at end of year

(9,071)

(7,260)

The contributions payable by Sense (the Company) to the LPFA are accounted for as if the scheme were a defined contribution scheme, as Sense (the Company) is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities in the scheme. In addition, Sense has 13 staff members of the Department of Education and Science Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and one staff member is in a personal scheme. Both attract employers’ contributions. Under definitions set out in Financial Reporting Standard 17 Retirement Benefits, the TPS is a multi-employer pension scheme. The company is unable to identify its share of the underlying (notional) assets and liabilities of the scheme. Accordingly, the company has taken advantage of the exemption in FRS 17 and has accounted for the contributions to the scheme as if it was a defined contribution scheme.

10 Company Statement of Financial Activities As permitted by section 230 of the Companies Act 1985, and by paragraph 397 of the Statement of Recommended Practice 2005, the Company’s Statement of Financial Activities has not been included within these ﬁnancial statements. The Company’s gross income for the year was £48,062,258 (2005: £44,609,066) and its net incoming resources for the year were £1,980,596 (2005: £2,227,920). The Company made an unrealised gain on investments of £771 (2005: £Nil). The Company’s net increase in funds was £1,981,367 (2005: £2,227,920).

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

11 Tangible assets Group

Long leasehold improvements £

Short leasehold improvements £

Furniture ﬁxtures & ﬁttings £

577,338 -

1,329,963 29,057 (332,140)

7,155,743 765,101 (437,410)

2,443,468 22,925,770 451,009 2,994,937 (169,619) (1,139,270)

577,338

1,026,880

7,483,434

2,724,858 24,781,437

681,638

115,312

514,474

5,905,976

1,637,458

151,131 (16,651)

15,986 -

330,269 (245,633)

816,118

131,298

599,110

6,003,060

At 31 March 2006 12,152,809

446,040

427,770

1,480,374

838,234 15,345,227

At 31 March 2005 10,737,620

462,026

815,489

1,249,767

806,010 14,070,912

Freehold property £

Motor vehicles £

Total £

Cost At 1 April 2005 Additions Disposals

11,419,258 1,749,770 (200,101)

At 31 March 2006 12,968,927 Depreciation At 1 April 2005 Charge for the year Disposals At 31 March 2006

506,072 (408,988)

413,076 (163,910) 1,886,624

8,854,858 1,416,534 (835,182) 9,436,210

Net book amounts

Fixed assets include assets acquired under hire purchase agreements. The gross book value of these assets is £1,345,250 (2005: £1,153,672), the net book value is £753,164 (2005: £682,395).

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Company

Short leasehold improvements £

Furniture ﬁxtures & ﬁttings £

955,186 23,837 (332,140)

6,219,618 706,112 (413,996)

2,122,157 18,722,514 451,009 1,804,610 (151,509) (1,097,746)

646,883

6,511,734

2,421,657

19,429,378

681,638

214,763

5,273,354

1,342,889

7,512,644

151,131 (16,651)

298,897 (245,633)

816,118

268,027

5,329,498

1,592,330

8,005,973

At 31 March 2006 9,032,986

378,856

1,182,236

829,327

11,423,405

At 31 March 2005

740,423

946,264

Freehold property £

Long leasehold improvements £

Motor vehicles £

Total £

Cost At 1 April 2005 Additions Disposals

9,425,553 623,652 (200,101)

At 31 March 2006 9,849,104 Depreciation At 1 April 2005 Charge for the year Disposals At 31 March 2006

447,394 (391,250)

395,241 (145,800)

1,292,663 (799,334)

Net book amounts

8,743,915

779,268 11,209,870

Fixed assets include assets acquired under hire purchase agreements. The gross book value of these assets is £1,345,250 (2005: £1,153,672), the net book value is £753,164 (2005: £682,395).

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

12 Investments Group Fixed asset investments: Listed in UK (at market value) Current assets investments: Bank deposit accounts

2006 £

2005 £

2,875

1,840

7,310,778

4,467,800

Movements in the value of ﬁxed asset investments listed in the UK can be explained as follows: 2006 £

2005 £

Opening market value Purchases of investments Sales of investments Unrealised gain on investments held

1,840 264 771

13,324 1,198 (12,682) -

Closing market value

2,875

1,840

Current assets investments – restricted funds and other funds for future use invested in high interest term accounts. Cash at bank and in hand – principally cash in current accounts invested overnight in interest bearing accounts with instant access. Because of the falling stock market, Council sold the portfolio of shares in 2003/4 and invested the proceeds in cash deposits. Since taking this action, investment income has risen in 2005/6 to £512,461 (2004/5 £402,540).

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Company

2006 £

2005 £

2,875

1,840

30,000

32,875

31,840

7,309,096

4,466,118

Fixed asset investments: Listed in UK (at market value) Paid up shares: 100% holding in Helping Sense Limited Current assets investments: Bank deposit accounts

Movements in the value of ﬁxed asset investments listed in the UK is the same as for the group. Sense owns 100% of the ordinary share capital of its subsidiary company Helping Sense Limited. Helping Sense Limited is incorporated in England and Wales and exists to raise funds for the charity Sense, the National Deafblind and Rubella Association. Quoted securities are represented by: 2006 £

2005 £

2,875

1,840

2006 £

2005 £

175,979 3,166,949 225,969 1,371,170

56,705 4,380,991 508,139 796,915

4,940,067

5,742,750

UK Investment trusts and unit trusts

13 Debtors Group Taxation recoverable Trade debtors Other debtors Prepayments

No amounts included above fall due after more than one year.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Company Amounts owed by group undertakings Taxation recoverable Trade debtors Other debtors Prepayments

2006 £

2005 £

312,678 175,979 1,676,586 148,591 1,274,367

141,955 56,705 2,616,998 359,171 718,609

3,588,201

3,893,438

No amounts included above fall due after more than one year.

14 Creditors (amounts falling due within one year) Group Bank loans Other loans Trade creditors Accruals and other creditors Obligations under ﬁnance lease contracts Taxation and social security Deferred income

Company Amounts owed to group undertakings Bank loans Other loans Trade creditors Accruals and other creditors Obligations under ﬁnance lease contracts Taxation and social security Deferred income

2006 £

2005 £

2,330,688 22,652 972,543 2,850,012 324,977 884,408 81,811

2,348,948 12,652 1,069,586 2,811,802 269,532 768,797 100,009

7,467,091

7,381,326

2006 £

2005 £

34,965 2,299,277 12,652 969,952 2,141,016 324,977 652,758 -

33,207 2,305,948 12,652 1,067,778 2,095,155 269,532 577,320 5,203

6,435,597

6,366,795

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

15 Creditors (amounts falling due after more than one year) Group Bank loans Other loans Obligations under ﬁnance lease contracts (repayable within four years)

Company Bank loans Other loans Obligations under ﬁnance lease contracts (repayable within four years)

2006 £

2005 £

2,452,616 166,186

2,539,805 151,186

437,762

416,280

3,056,564

3,107,271

2006 £

2005 £

1,488,789 112,186

1,776,556 121,186

437,762

416,280

2,038,737

2,314,022

Other than a loan of £1.95m repayable within one year, the bank loans are repayable by annual instalments plus variable rate interest. The loans were obtained for the purchase of, and are secured by, a first charge over the freehold properties at, 11-13 Clifton Terrace, London; 122 Westgate, Wakefield; 21a and 21b Johnson Avenue, Spalding; 30 Norbins Road, Glastonbury; 36 Market Road, Market Deeping; Applemead House, Station Road, Whimple; 35 & 37 Britannia Road, Kingswood, Bristol; 5 Seafield Road, Seaton; The Old Coach House, 20 Wychall Park Grove, Kings Norton; 23 Highgate Avenue, Preston; 24-26 Bertie Ward Way, Dereham; 25 Horsegate, Deeping St James; and 43 Middlesex Street, Glasgow. The bank loan repayments for the Group fall due as follows:

Within one year Between one and two years Between two and ﬁve years Over ﬁve years

sense annual report & accounts 2006

2006 £

2005 £

2,330,688 279,765 741,486 1,431,365

2,348,948 360,097 742,273 1,437,435

4,783,304

4,888,753

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

The bank loan repayments for the Company fall due as follows:

Within one year Between one and two years Between two and ﬁve years Over ﬁve years

2006 £

2005 £

2,299,277 246,417 628,585 613,787

2,305,948 317,097 613,273 846,186

3,788,066

4,082,504

At 31 March 2006 the Association had obligations under ﬁnance leases (hire purchase agreements) as set out below: Group and Company

2006 £

2005 £

324,977 437,762

269,532 416,280

762,739

685,812

Amounts payable: Within one year In two to ﬁve years

16 Share capital The association has no share capital. The liability of the members is limited by guarantee. The members have undertaken to contribute such amount not exceeding one pound as may be required in the event of the Association being wound up.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

17 Movements in funds Group

Income, gains, losses and transfers in £

Resources expended and transfers out £

Balance at 31 March 2006 £

59,361,312

57,960,905

1,249,661

4,717,210 45,295 7,032 36,245

198,094 6,376 870 2,919

1,463,189 5,713 993 2,796

3,452,115 45,958 6,909 36,368

57,162 1,607,551

2,266 72,487

2,929 748,035

56,499 932,003

6,470,495

283,012

2,223,655

4,529,852

3,818,863 89,643 (25,401)

1,404,683 457,239 103,819

834,789 322,654 27,523

4,388,757 224,228 50,895

1,916,153 199,319

1,000 1,450,571 913,728

528,792 1,003,570

1,000 2,837,932 109,477

5,998,577

4,331,040

2,717,328

7,612,289

Endowment Working with adults

636,673

137,542

499,131

Total endowment

636,673

137,542

499,131

12,954,999

63,975,364

63,039,430

13,890,933

Balance at 1 April 2005 (as restated) £ General Total general Designated Working with adults Working with children Working with older people Campaigns and publicity Quality, training and staff development Work in Scotland Total designated Restricted Working with adults Working with children Working with older people Quality, training and staff development Work in Scotland International work Total restricted

Total funds

(150,746)

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Company Balance at 1 April 2005 £

Income, gains, losses and transfers in £

Resources expended and transfers out £

Balance at 31 March 2006 £

6,343,156

47,001,581

44,528,271

8,816,466

4,717,211 45,295 7,032 36,245

198,094 6,376 870 2,919

1,463,189 5,713 993 2,796

3,452,116 45,958 6,909 36,368

57,162

2,266

2,929

56,499

4,862,945

210,525

1,475,620

3,597,850

1,404,683 457,239 103,819

834,789 322,654 27,523

4,388,757 224,228 50,895

1,000

3,883,105

1,966,741

1,184,966

4,664,880

Endowment Working with adults

507,754

8,623

499,131

Total endowment

507,754

8,623

499,131

15,596,960

49,178,847

47,197,480

17,578,327

General Total general Designated Working with adults Working with children Working with older people Campaigns and publicity Quality, training and staff development Total designated Restricted Working with adults Working with children Working with older people Quality, training and staff development Total restricted

Total funds

3,818,863 89,643 (25,401)

Unrestricted funds Unrestricted funds are held for the general purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document. Designated funds Designated funds are unrestricted funds that the charity has earmarked for particular projects and uses in the future. Major examples are Asset Replacement funds and Cyclical Maintenance funds, which are created for the future maintenance, repair or replacement of property, equipment, vehicles and other assets necessary for the continuance of the charity’s work.

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Restricted funds Restricted funds are funds held by the charity for particular applications, specified by the donor, within the charity’s objectives, and can only be applied to those particular purposes. The restrictions may apply to income or capital or both. Many of the restricted funds are generated through Asset or Project targeted appeals. Endowment funds The Endowment fund is a restricted fund held as a capital fund for the charity’s benefit. In 2003 the Charity Commission gave its approval for Sense to relocate from its endowed property known as the Princess Royal Centre in Birmingham to other property in the area and to charge the costs of doing so to the Endowment fund. Fund transfers During the year, amounts totalling £237,000 were transferred from general fund to designated funds, earmarked for specific operational projects. £1,931,818 of designated funds have been transferred to: restricted and general funds resulting in a better representation of the organisations fund holdings. During the year, following enquiries with the Charity Commissioners, it was established that the funds of £128,919, described in the Coventry Society for the Blind accounts as endowment funds, did not have specific trusts placed upon them. The Trustees therefore determined to transfer this amount to general fund.

18 Analysis of net assets between fund balances Net assets at 31 March 2006 were analysed between the funds as follows: Group

General Designated £ £

Restricted Endowment £ £

Total £

8,384,897

764,358

5,699,716

499,131

15,348,102

Current assets

12,459,419

3,765,494

1,912,573

18,137,486

Current liabilities

(7,467,091)

Long term liabilities

(3,056,564)

Pension reserve

(9,071,000)

4,529,852

7,612,289

499,131

Fixed assets

Total

1,249,661

sense annual report & accounts 2006

13,890,933

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Company

General Designated £ £

Total £

Restricted Endowment £ £

6,010,574

1,190,757

3,755,818

499,131

11,456,280

Current assets

11,280,226

2,407,093

909,062

14,596,381

Current liabilities

(6,435,597)

Long term liabilities

(2,038,737)

3,597,850

4,664,880

499,131

Fixed assets

Total

8,816,466

17,578,327

19 Capital commitments Capital expenditure authorised and contracted for but not provided for amounted to £Nil (2005: £Nil).

20 Contingent liability Contingent liabilities of £1,196,000 (2005: £1,196,000) exist relating to grants received from the Department of Health and Leeds Healthcare towards the development of 12 Hyde Close, Barnet; 138 Bradford Road, Leeds; 509 Leeds and Bradford Road, Leeds.

21 Operating lease commitments At 31 March 2006 the Association had annual commitments under non-cancellable operating leases as set out below: 2006 Group

2005

Land and buildings £

Other £

Land and buildings £

Other £

Within one year

215,009

92,477

129,813

74,888

In two to ﬁve years

823,573

133,288

652,998

115,348

1,559,633

23,706

1,449,521

28,447

2,598,215

249,471

2,232,332

218,683

Operating leases which expire:

After ﬁve years

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

2006

2005

Land and buildings £

Other £

Land and buildings £

Other £

Within one year

138,972

92,477

83,463

74,888

In two to ﬁve years

740,642

133,288

604,098

115,348

1,368,134

1,218,474

2,247,748

225,765

1,906,035

190,236

Company

Operating leases which expire:

After ﬁve years

22 Reconciliation of net incoming resources to net cash inﬂow from operating activities

Net incoming resources before revaluation

2006 £

2005 (as restated)£

2,993,163

2,774,203

Difference between pension charge and cash contributions

(247,000)

146,000

Interest received

(512,461)

(402,540)

Interest paid

284,613

302,132

Depreciation

1,416,534

1,316,327

Loss/(profit) on sale of tangible fixed assets Decrease/(increase) in stocks Decrease/(increase) in debtors Increase in creditors Net cash inflow from operating activities

sense annual report & accounts 2006

291,156

(77,502)

38,966

(16,361)

802,683

(335,665)

38,580

1,439,868

5,106,234

5,146,462

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

23 Reconciliation of net cash ﬂow to movement in net debt and liquid resources 2006 £

2005 £

(494,687)

Decrease in cash in the period Cash outﬂow/(inﬂow) from management of liquid resources

(944,200)

2,843,242

4,432,127

3,522

325,709

771

Changes resulting from cash ﬂows

2,352,848

3,813,636

Net debt and liquid resources at 1 April 2005

5,061,738

1,248,102

Net debt and liquid resources at 31 March 2006

7,414,586

5,061,738

Cash outflow/(inflow) from increase in loans and lease financing Other movement

24 Analysis of changes in net debt and liquid resources At 1 April 2005 £

Cash ﬂows £

Cash at bank and in hand

6,330,502

(494,687)

Debt due within one year

(2,361,600)

80,449

Debt due after one year

(2,690,992)

Finance leases Current asset investments Fixed asset investments

(685,812)

(76,927)

Other changes £

At 31 March 2006 £

5,835,815

(72,189)

(2,353,340)

72,189

(2,618,803)

(762,739)

4,467,800

2,842,978

7,310,778

1,840

264

771

2,875

5,061,738

2,352,077

771

7,414,586

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

25 Subsidiary Company The charity owns the whole of the issued share capital of Helping Sense Limited, a company registered in England. The subsidiary is used for non primary purpose trading activities, namely the support of shop sales of new goods and the organisation of fundraising activities. All activities have been consolidated on a line by line basis into the Statement of Financial Activities. The total net proﬁt is gifted to the charity. A summary of the results of the subsidiary for the year ended 31 March 2006 is shown below: Helping Sense Limited Turnover Cost of Sales

2006 £

2005 £

431,603

366,625

(203,549)

(156,869)

Gross Proﬁt

228,054

209,756

Operating Expenses

(93,523)

(74,796)

Net proﬁt

134,531

134,960

Assets

209,453

234,842

(179,453)

(204,842)

Liabilities Net assets

30,000

sense annual report & accounts 2006

30,000

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Major supporters Council is indebted to all donors for their support, both ﬁnancial and otherwise, without which it would not have been possible to achieve all that we did. Substantial donations have been received from the following:

Sense The Adnams Charity

The Fidelity UK Foundation

The Albert Hunt Trust

First Great Western

The Andrew Mitchell Christian Charitable Trust

Four Acre Trust

Baron Davenport’s Charity Trust BBC Children In Need Appeal BHP Billiton Plc BUPA The Blair Foundation Carillion Plc The Casey Trust CHK Charities Limited The Childwick Trust Clifford Chance The Clore Dufﬁeld Foundation The Clothworkers’ Foundation The Confederation of British Industry The Connie and Albert Taylor Charitable Trust The Constance Green Foundation Conygar Investment Company plc Cooper Gay Charitable Trust

The Garﬁeld Weston Foundation The Geoff and Fiona Squire Foundation The Harborne Parish Lands Charity Help a London Child The Homelands Charitable Trust IAB ICAP Plc The Inman Charity ITV London John Crabtree The John Pinto Foundation Johnson Matthey Plc Land Securities Plc The Lennox & Wyfold Foundation The Lillie Johnson Charitable Trust The Link Asset and Securities Co. Ltd The Lord’s Taverners

The Cotton Trust

The Marit & Hans Rausing Charitable Foundation

The Elizabeth & Prince Zaiger Trust

Marsh Ltd

EnviroStream International Ltd Ernst & Young LLP

The Merchant Taylors’ Company Charities Fund

The Eveson Charitable Trust

Michael Cornish Charitable Trust

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Council’s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

The Millichope Foundation

Sense International

The Misses C M Pearson & M V Williams Charitable Trust

Beatrice Laing Trust

Orange Plc The Orr Mackintosh Foundation The Patrick Frost Foundation The Patrick Trust The Peacock Charitable Trust The Percy Bilton Charity The Persula Foundation The Peter Harrison Foundation The Pettifer Group Pitney Bowes Inc. The Princess Anne’s Charities Quay Properties R G Hills Charitable Trust The Rank Foundation Royal Mail Group Rubicon Retail Ltd Scrivens Ltd SFIA Educational Trust The Tanner Trust The Thompson Fund The Violet Helen Dixon Charitable Trust Vision Charity The Wolfson Foundation Wragge & Co LLP

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Big Lottery Fund CfBT Comic Relief DFID Isle of Man Methodist Relief and Development Fund P&O Nedlloyd Sense UK States of Jersey Overseas Aid Commission Sterling Charitable Trust Sylvia Adams Charitable Trust Zurich Cares

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

Charity information Registered address 11-13 Clifton Terrace Finsbury Park London N4 3SR

Key management personnel

Tel: 0845 127 0060 (voice) Text: 0845 127 0062 Fax: 0845 127 0061 Email: info@sense.org.uk Website: www.sense.org.uk

M Matthews, Community Support and Information Director

Charity number: 289868 Company number: 1825301

P McCollin, Human Resources Director

Bankers National Westminster Bank plc Kings Cross Branch 266 Pentonville Road London N1 9LE

Dr. A B Best, Chief Executive D Pernak, Finance Director

G Roulstone, Children and Adult Services Director P Amadi, Fundraising Director

The above people comprised the Corporate Management Team to whom the Trustees have delegated operational decisions.

Auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Queen Victoria House Guildhall Road Hull HU1 1HH Solicitors Wilsons Steynings House Summerlock Approach Salisbury Wiltshire SP2 7RJ Insurance advisors Willis Limited Stuart House Caxton Road Fulwood Preston PR2 9RW

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006

sense annual report & accounts 2006

Sense 11- 13 Clifton Terrace Finsbury Park London N4 3SR Tel: 0845 127 0060 Fax: 0845 127 0061 Text: 0845 127 0062 Email: info@sense.org.uk Website: www.sense.org.uk Registered charity number: 289868 Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales. Company number:1825301 Patron: Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal