Our Finances
Annual Report 2025
Our financial year runs to the 31st March. The latest accounts available are for the year to 31st March 2025. You can download the full report here.
Financial highlights (with previous year’s figures in brackets)
Income: £2,310,116 (£2,252,102)
Expenditure: £2,251,477 (£2,248,247)
Where did the money come from?
Voluntary donations: £82,991 (£5,012)
Investment income: £4,296 (£1,416)
Charitable activities: £2,203,880 (£2,231,992)
Other: £18,949 (£13,681)
What did we spend it on?
Raising Funds: £7,587 (£7,809 )
Charitable Activities: £2,243,890 (£2,240,437)
Report of our Chair, Jan Prior
Do we do what we say we do?
The Board of Trustees spent time in 2024 reviewing our Memorandum and Articles to ensure that they were still appropriate and fit for purpose. Do we do what they say we do and how? SoLO certainly tries, if not always succeeding all the time, no-one’s perfect! I particularly focus on ‘enabling our service users to be strectched, challenged and take risks’.
As we audit support plans and risk assessments, it’s clear that the focus is on enabling rather than disabling and giving opportunities with risks being carefully mitigated. I bump into happy service users integrating into the community, being as independent as possible doing day to day activities as well as one off highlights. As I pop into services I’m greeted with a warm, welcoming atmosphere with lots of activities going on and often the waft of delicious smells from cooking experiences. I see children happily engaged in their onsite or offsite activities and recall how much I as a parent, valued the break that gave me from the rigorous demands as a parent/carer.
To enable our service users to be stretched, challenged and take risks I reflect on the financial challenges which face the Board and the whole SoLO team. We value staff and support the ongoing increases in Minimum Wage as our support workers are key to delivery of our vision. However, the impact of the additional funding required to cover NI increases as well have caused heartache and the Board have to take managed financial risks to cover these and the challenge to bring in additional funding to SoLO.
The Board was delighted to welcome two new Trustees in July 2024, both parents of Service Users, Zusana Vesela and Stephanie Jackson. As their sons grow, and their needs develop it’s so valuable to have their input into strategic decisions to take SoLO forward to its next quarter century.
My thanks as always to all the Trustees for their commitment and contributions and to the Senior Leadership Team who with all staff have worked very hard through 24/25 to achieve what we say we do.
