North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity - Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23

Trustee's Annual Report

The Corporate Trustee presents the North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity Annual Report together with the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023. Independent examination of the annual report and accounts was undertaken by the Charity’s auditor.

The Charity’s annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in section 13 to the accounts.  They comply with the deed of trust, the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2009 and the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practise (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). The Charity’s report and accounts include all the separately established funds for which the North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity is the sole beneficiary.

Foreword by the Chairman of Charitable Funds Committee of the North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity

Welcome to the North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity Annual Report for 2022/23. Our charity supports the services provided by our two acute hospitals, the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven, for the benefit of NHS patients, their families and communities.

Thanks to the generosity and kindness of our donors, our Charity is in a healthy position with a balance of £2.478 million. We will continue to invest in our facilities, patient services and our staff to improve the safety and quality of the care we provide.

Over the last year our investment generated £60 thousand and we have been grateful for £209 thousand in generous donations from individuals, companies and grants. We have also received £168 thousand in legacies. We will remember Sydney Mounsey, John Peter Wilson, Mable Pollock, Alan Spiers and Barbara Rome whose kindness in death means they live on in our memory through the care we provide to others. 

Through this generosity, our Charity has been able to improve patient care by investing in medical equipment that the Trust would otherwise be unable to afford. This year we have invested £228 thousand in new equipment for our theatres and Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) department at the West Cumberland Hospital. This will hugely benefit patients requiring treatment for prostate enlargement and gallbladder removal, and improve access to ultrasound diagnostics in SDEC to allow patients to go home on the same day without the need for an overnight stay. We have also purchased motobed bikes for our community services, TVs for our renal unit at the Cumberland infirmary and cot beds for our Special Care Baby unit.

In total, we have made grants of £480 thousand on medical equipment, staff education and training, and patient welfare and amenities.

None of this would be possible without the kindness of our donors. A heartfelt thank you to you all.

Looking ahead, we are exploring ways to engage more effectively with staff, patients and their families and to support them in their fundraising efforts. We have revamped our website, and launched a Facebook page to share news about fundraising activity and the investment we have made through our charity funds. In the year ahead we will launch a partnership scheme to give local businesses and other organisations a platform to support their NHS.

The NHS today faces many challenges and the support of our Charities has never been more important. However, the generosity and support we see from our donors and fundraisers means that we can face the future with optimism, and take great pride in the contribution we make to our NHS. 

Philip Kane,
Chair of the Charitable Funds Committee

Date: 6 December 2023

Who we are

North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity (‘the Charity’) is a registered charity (registered charity number: 1059946). We exist to raise funds and receive donations for the benefit of the NHS. For us this is the patients of the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital. By securing donations, legacies, and sponsorship, the Charity can provide the ‘icing on the cake’ to make a real difference for patients, their families and the staff who look after them. Providing both general and specialist care, the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital are key partners in fulfilling our charitable aims. We would like you to support us in our crucial work so please read on and let us tell you more about ourselves, what we do, what we have achieved and how we go about spending the money given to us.

Charity details

Charity Name: North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity

Registered Charity Number: 1059946

Principal Office:

North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity
Executive Director of Finance
c/o NHS Finance
Parkhouse Building South
Baron Way
Kingmoor Business Park
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA6 4SJ

The Charity was established under the Umbrella Charity Model by a declaration of trust dated 29 October 1996, as amended by the supplemental deed dated 28 January 2003 and by supplemental deed dated 6 October 2009.

The Charity has a Corporate Trustee which was North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust up until 30 September 2019. On 1 October 2019 the North Cumbria University Hospital NHS Trust was acquired by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation which was renamed as North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust on the same date.

The transaction took place under Section 56A of the National Health Service Act 2006 and the transaction agreement made provision for the charitable funds of North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust to be transferred as part of the transaction. Therefore, since 1 October 2019 the corporate trustee has been North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Our mission

By raising new money and careful management of our existing funds, North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity provides a public benefit by making grants to North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust. The object of the Charity is as follows:

The Trustee shall hold the charitable fund upon trust to apply the income and at their discretion, as far as may be permissible, the capital, for any charitable purpose or purposes relating to the National Health Service.

Charitable funds received by the Charity are accepted and held and administered as funds held on trust for purposes relating to the health service in accordance with the National Health Service Act 1977 and the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990. These funds are held on trust by the corporate body. The members of the Charitable Funds Committee confirm that they have referred to the guidance provided by the Charity Commission on public benefit when reviewing aims and objectives, when planning future activities and in setting the grant making policy for the year.

The Charity supports projects and interventions that improve patient experience, enhance services, improve patients’ overall health, and support the wellbeing and development of NHS staff. The Charity covers the costs for items such as specialist equipment and projects such as staff wellbeing initiatives and health education which are not covered by NHS core funding.

Grants to the Trust are made in accordance with charity law, our constitution and the wishes and directions of donors. In making grants, we endeavour to reflect the wishes of patients and staff by directing funds towards areas they tell us are most in need. During the year 2022/23 grants totalling £480 thousand (2021/22: £329 thousand) were made.

What we have achieved

The Charitable Funds Committee keeps the spirit of “public benefit” at the forefront of its decision making and encourages applications for grants to support patient centred initiatives. During 2022/23 the Committee approved a small number of bids for expenditure of more than £20,000. This included approving the following grants: 

• £104 thousand to purchase a Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate machine (HoLEP) state of the art equipment for theatres at the West Cumberland Hospital to enable minimally invasive surgical treatment for men with prostate enlargement;
• £76 thousand for a laparoscopic ultrasound scanner to be used in Theatres whilst removing a patient’s gallbladder which has multiple benefits including reduced procedure time, reduced radiation for patients and staff and less likelihood of complications; and
• £48 thousand for a PX ultrasound system for Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) at WCH which will enable clinicians to have access to ultrasound diagnostics which improves their ability to discharge patients on the day of presentation, reduce the number of unnecessary overnight admissions and improve patient outcomes.

By funding services and equipment we can help our staff to provide care to their patients which goes beyond that which NCIC is funded by the government to provide.

We assist patients from every walk of life, irrespective of race, creed, ethnicity or personal circumstances. We put this aim into practice by helping the patients, their families and carers, and visitors to the hospital by:

• Enhancing the care our hospitals can offer through new equipment and building improvements to deliver better facilities.
• Investment in the people who work for NCIC to ensure the best care for our patients, their families and visitors.
• Providing direct support to patients by way of information, enhanced support and better facilities.

Highlights from public benefit

The work of the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital can only be supported through the ongoing generosity of our donors. During the year, the Charity has continued to benefit from legacies and donations from both individuals and companies.

These are an invaluable source of funds used to purchase additional goods and services that are not able to be provided by core NHS funds. Here are just some of the donations we received and only a small representation of the support the Charity receives from the community.

Whitehaven Rugby Club raised £2,532.25 for the Stroke Fund. Pictured above.

The Charity is most grateful to all supporters for their contributions.

Modana Morgan Aged 11 walked 100 miles to raise £315 for the children’s diabetes fund. He did this for his friends Alfie Scott and Jessica Todhunter who are insulin dependent and visit the ward regularly.

£1,000 was raised at the funeral of Ronald (Ted) Poole for the Henderson Suite to thank the staff for looking caring for Ted through his Chemo. Ted always had a smile and a chuckle with the staff.

Shepley Engineering donated £250 to the West Cumberland Hospital children’s ward instead of sending Christmas cards to their suppliers.

Freda Hislop and Janice Aitken raised £195 through a quiz for the Ophthalmology service at the Cumberland Infirmary .

Allen Hyde donated £100 to West Cumberland Hospital Intensive Treatment Unit in memory of his wife Marian as a token of thanks for the care she received.

Keith Beattie donated £25 to the Henderson Suite to wish the staff a good Christmas.

Ann Conway’s family and Friends donated £50 to West Cumberland Hospital Intensive Treatment Unit

£3,680 was raised in memory of baby Millie Harrison, for the Cumberland Infirmary Special Care Baby Unit, from the sale of Texel Lambs

Mr Troll donated £1,500 to the Stroke department for gym equipment at Cleator Moor,  after he had a stroke following a road traffic accident.

Carlisle Citadel Welfare Club donated £500 to the Cumberland Infirmary children’s ward.

Mr Bratby donated £400 to the Cumberland Infirmary Urology service to thank Dr Mom and the nurses for giving him a good quality of life.

Pam Boundy donated £354 in memory of her husband Alan to the Cumberland Infirmary Intensive Treatment Unit to thank the staff for caring for Alan with a special mention to Kimo Katie for her support at the difficult time.

Lorraine, Keith and family donated £90 for the Cumberland Infirmary Intensive Treatment Unit instead of flowers at their mum Elsie Mary Murphy’s funeral. They said the staff tried their very best for Elsie during her short stay in September 2022.

£1,600 was raised in memory of Paula Hewitson for West Cumberland Hospital breast care unit by Team 13 who held a bike riding event.

Drainwise donated £50 to the Cumberland Infirmary breast care unit. They asked each team member to nominate a charity and Monty chose our charity to receive some Christmas cheer.

A Soul and Motown night raised £632, held at the Carlisle Soul Club, for breast cancer treatment.

Linda Cass raised £3,035 for the Cumberland Infirmary breast unit after an evening selling raffle tickets at the White Star Club.

Coronary Care received £132 in memory of Shirley turner instead of flowers at her funeral.

In memory of Terence John Atkinson, £100 was donated to West Cumberland Hospital Intensive Treatment Unit who passed away in April 2022 after spending a couple of weeks on Intensive Treatment Unit. His sister Irene said Terry was everyone’s best mate and Terry himself expressed to his sister how much kindness and devotion he received from the nursing staff and how grateful he was for all they did for him.

Mr Gray donated £100 to the West Cumberland Hospital general fund after a short stay. He stated he used NHS pyjamas and toiletries and wished to contribute towards the cost of these.

Mary Hanson donated £20 to the West Cumberland Hospital breast unit to thank the team for the prosthesis “great fit”.

£100 was donated by Ms Foster to West Cumberland Hospital general fund to thank the nurses “who are doing a great job in looking after people".

The Cumbria County Darts team raised £310 for the Breast Unit. They all wore pink in memory of Michelle Black who played for the team for a number of years and they had a whip round whilst playing in a darts final.

Trust Board

The Charity‘s corporate trustee is North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC). NCIC is led by a Trust Board made up of executive and non executive directors. Executive directors are responsible for the operational management of the Trust whilst non executive directors make sure the Board act in the interests of our patients and community.

The members of the Trust Board who served during the financial year are shown in the table on the next page. Unless otherwise noted, the Directors were in post for the 12 month period to 31 March 2023 and up until the point at which the accounts were adopted.

Trustees

The Charity’s trustee has delegated its powers and functions to the Charitable Funds Committee. The Charitable Funds Committee administer the funds held in trust by the Charity in accordance with any statutory or other legal requirements or best practice required by the Charities Commission on behalf of the Corporate Trustee.

The affairs of the Charity are conducted at quarterly Charitable Funds sub-committee meetings, with a report of the meetings presented to the Trust Board. 

The Charitable Funds Committee is responsible for the overall management of the charitable fund. The Committee is required to: 

• Control, manage and monitor the use of the fund’s resources.
• Provide support, guidance and encouragement for all its income raising activities whilst managing and monitoring the receipt of all income.
• Ensure that the approved Investment Policy by the NHS Foundation Trust Board as Corporate Trustee is adhered to and that performance is continually reviewed whilst being aware of ethical considerations.
• Keep the Trust Board fully informed on the activity, performance and risks of the Charity.
• The Executive Director of Finance is the responsible executive officer. The accounting records and the day to day administration of the funds are dealt with by the Trust’s Finance Department located at the Charity’s registered address above.

Governance is maintained by various policies and procedures, in particular the Charitable Fund’s Governing Document. Members of the Charitable Funds Committee are not individual trustees under Charity Law but act as agents on behalf of the Corporate Trustee.

The members of the Charitable Funds Committee in 2022/23 were:

Non Executive Directors 

Attendance includes where the Executive Director has been represented at the meeting by their Deputy Director.

Medical Representatives

Nursing Representatives 

Our Advisors

The Charitable Funds Committee is also assisted by professional advisors as detailed below:

Independent Examiners

Dodd & Co Limited
FIFTEEN Rosehill
Montgomery Way
Rosehill Estate
Carlisle
CA1 2RW

Solicitors

Ward Hadaway,
102 Quayside
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 3DX

Bankers

c/o NatWest Bank
280 Bishopsgate
London
C2M 4RB

How we funded our work, our achievements and our performance

The total net assets of the Charity as at 31 March 2023 of £2.478 million (31 March 2022: £2.586 million) are divided as follows:

• Restricted Funds (Special Purpose Charities)
   £0.796 million (31 March 2022: £1.004 million)

• Unrestricted Funds (General Purpose Charities)
  £1.682 million (31 March 2022: £1.582 million).

Overall the net assets reduced by £108,000 due to an excess of expenditure over income of £86,000 and a loss on investments of £22,000 (2021/22: reduction of £27,000).

Money received

The following graph illustrates the breakdown of the total income received in the 2022/23 financial year. The total value of donations received in 2022/23 was £147,000 (2021/22: £292,000) of which £130,000 was from individuals (2021/22: £192,000), £17k from companies (2021/22: £95k). The Charity received £62k from grants (2021/22: £5k).

Where our income has come from:

• 38% has come from legacies
• 14% has come from investments
• 14% has come from grants
• 34% has come from donations

Grants received were as follows:

• £58,025 from NHS Charities Together
• £1,823 from Walk the Walk
• £1,312 from Morrisons Foundation
• £1,000 Tesco Community Grants Team

The NHS Charities Together Grant was the first instalment of the Recovery Grant awarded to support our staff’s recovery from the COVID pandemic. We were awarded £154,000 in total to support a number of projects including a wellbeing programme and mental health awareness and training sessions.

The value of legacies in 2022/23 was £168,000 (2021/22: £71,000). Listed below are the legacies received or notified to the Charity between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 and the areas that have benefitted:

Investment income was £60,000 in 2022/23 (2021/22: £22,000).

Money spent

Of the total expenditure of £518,000 in 2022/23 (2021/22: £366,000), expenditure on direct charitable activity was £480,000 (2021/22: £329,000) spent across a range of programmes from education and training to medical equipment. The monies spent were used to purchase additional goods and services not normally provided by, or in addition to, the normal NHS service that benefit staff and patients. 

Where we spent money

• 66% on medical equipment
• 8% on furniture and equipment
• 7% on education and training
• 7% on governance costs
• 6% on patient amenities
• 3% on salary grants
• 2% on staff amenities and functions
• 1% information technology

Patient Care Equipment

In 2022/23 grants totalling £389k were made relating to medical and surgical equipment, furniture, information technology equipment and minor building works, (2021/22: £172k). These grants are used for improvement in the quality of care and comfort of patients by the provision of services or facilities not normally provided by, or in addition to, the normal NHS service.

Key items purchased by the Charity in 2022/23 were as follows:

Services at the West Cumberland Hospital have benefitted from the late Mr Leonard Atkinson’s generous legacy which has enabled many of the items listed above to be purchased. Patients are benefitting from an improved experience, improved outcomes, earlier diagnosis, less invasive procedures, less risk of complications and, for many, treatment closer to home.

Patients Welfare and Amenities

During 2022/23, grants totalling £31,000 (2021/22: £25,000) were awarded to help improve the quality of care received by patients through the provision of services and facilities not normally provided for, or in addition to, the normal NHS service and include the Trust’s Healing Arts programme.

Staff Education and Training

In 2022/23 grants totalling £36,000 (2021/22: £26,000) were made to enable staff to attend health related courses, conferences and books to further develop their clinical knowledge and skills.

Staff Welfare and Amenities

The grants given for staff welfare and amenities in 2022/23 amounted to £9,000 (2021/22: £86,000). The staff welfare and amenities included a grant to fund healthy treats for staff which help to strengthen the staff’s morale and their capacity to serve patients well.

Salary Grants

Salary grants of £15,000 were awarded in 2022/23 (2021/22:£20k) to support the Healing Arts programme and the Staff Health and Wellbeing team.

A Big Thank You

On behalf of the patients and staff who have benefitted from improved services and facilities as a result of the many donations and legacies received, the Corporate Trustee would like to thank all our donors for the generous support over the past year.

Our Future Plans

During the year, the Charitable Funds Committee have approved a proposal to revitalise our charitable activity for the benefit of our staff and patients. As we were not successful in appointing to our Charity Fundraising Lead, our communications team are leading on developing a sustainable solution to reinvigorate the charity brand.

A charitable funds strategy is being developed and will be implemented in a more phased way over three years with a communications and marketing plan to complement this. 

Work has already been completed to update the public website charitable funds page and re-establishing a Facebook account. This will enable charitable funds activity and the routes for donations more visible to staff and our communities.

In the year ahead we will launch a partnership scheme to give local businesses and other organisations a platform to support their NHS. We will also scope future opportunities including fundraising at local events and setting up an online charity shop.

In 2024/25, we will develop a proposal to recruit to a permanent charity fundraising role so that the Charity can continue to grow and thrive to support our patients, communities and staff.

How we manage charitable funds

Our grant making policy

The Charitable Funds Committee has established its grant making policy to achieve its objectives for the public benefit to improve patient care for NHS patients. All grants made during the year were made to North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.

The Committee follows a policy of delegation of decision making on grants to hospital managers, who in turn designate fund managers as appropriate. In this way the Trust Board seeks to maximise the input of medical, nursing and other patient care staff in the utilisation of funds and to manage the corporate trusteeship within the schemes of delegation of the corporate body. Unrestricted General Purpose Funds are managed by Executive Directors who make decisions on grant making related to their sphere of responsibility. The Charitable Funds Committee monitors income and grant making.

• Fund managers are able to authorise grants up to the value of £5,000.
• For grants between £5,000 and £20,000, approval is required from both the fund manager and the Chief Executive or the Executive Director of Finance and Estates.
• For expenditure of over £20,000 the approval of the Trustee is required.

Policy guidelines have been approved by the Trustee and have been circulated to all staff members involved in the administration of Charitable Funds. These Policy guidelines are reviewed periodically by the Charitable Funds Committee.​​​​​​​

Our reserves policy

The Committee has a formal reserves policy. The main objective is to broadly ensure that income received in any one year is approximately equal to expenditure in that year, thus ensuring that reserves do not increase disproportionately over time.

Free reserves are defined as that part of the Charity’s unrestricted funds which are available after meeting liabilities and are calculated as follows:

£1,791,000 (unrestricted assets) - £109,000 (liabilities) = £1,682,000 (total reserves)

The minimum level of reserves held will be limited to the average expenditure over the previous two years to ensure that the Charity has sufficient funds to cover likely commitments over the coming year.

• Expenditure 2021/22: £397,000
• Expenditure 2022/23: £523,000
• Average expenditure: £460,000

Therefore the minimum level of reserves to be held is £460,000.

The policy will only be varied in circumstances where sufficient funds are required to meet specific objectives. Such objectives would be defined as an individual fund raising initiative or as something specifically identified in the Charity’s spending plans. Once any such objective is achieved the reserves would revert to the previously defined level.

Our funds 

North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity is an Umbrella Charity governed by Trust Deed, which comprises one unrestricted funds two restricted funds and seven restricted funds for special purposes.

Unrestricted General Purpose Funds

The Trustee has discretion to apply these funds for any purpose within the objects of the Charity. However, the Trustee has adopted a policy of designating funds within the unrestricted general funds in order to respect the wishes of the donors wherever possible. All general purpose funds which are not designated like this are recorded as General Funds, still under the unrestricted funds umbrella, and are spent as far as possible in the optimum way to further the wider objectives of the Charity.
Restricted Funds

Restricted Funds

In January 2018 the Charitable Funds Committee approved that the Healing Arts Funds could become a restricted fund in order to support applications for grants and external funding.  A new restricted fund was established in March 2021 to hold the funds for medical equipment at West Cumberland Hospital gifted to the Charity by the late Leonard Atkinson.

Restricted Funds - Special Purpose Charities

Registered under the Charitable Fund, North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity has seven separate NHS Special Purpose Charities. These share the same registered charity number as the Charitable Fund, but they are separate entities. They are all registered with the Charity Commission and their relationship with the umbrella charity is recorded.  They are governed by a Declaration of Trust. Their income can only be used for the purposes shown in their registration documents and they are listed below:

1. Carlisle Hospitals’ Radiotherapy Fund
   For any charitable purpose or purposes connected with the Radiotherapy Department at the Cumberland Infirmary.
2. Carlisle Hospitals’ CT Scanner Fund
   For the relief of sickness by the provision and maintenance of a Computed Tomography Scanner for use at the Cumberland Infirmary.
3. Carlisle Hospitals’ Children Fund
   For the relief of sickness of children who are or have been treated principally (but not exclusively) at the Cumberland Infirmary.
4. North Cumbria Acute Hospitals’ Cancer Fund
   For any charitable purpose or purposes, principally (but not exclusively) in connection with the services provided by North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust which will further the following aims:
   • The investigation of the causes of cancer and the prevention, treatment, cure and defeat of cancer in all its forms;
   • The advancement of scientific and medical education and research in topics related to cancer provided the useful results of such research must be published;
   • The furtherance of any other charitable purposes for the relief of persons suffering from cancer.
5. Carlisle Hospitals’ Breast Cancer Fund
   For any charitable purpose or purposes connected with the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of breast cancer principally (but not exclusively) at the Cumberland Infirmary.
6. Carlisle Hospitals’ Cardiology Fund
   For any charitable purpose or purposes connected with the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of disorders of the heart principally (but not exclusively) at the Cumberland Infirmary.
7. Carlisle Hospitals’ Renal Fund
   For any charitable purpose or purposes connected with the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of disorders of the kidneys principally (but not exclusively) at the Cumberland Infirmary.

Our investment policy

Our Investment Policy was established on 6th October 2009 and is reviewed annually.

The main criteria for the investments are:

• The Trustee shall seek to maximise the interest return on cash, consistent with minimising and diversifying risk, and for this purpose may make deposits with a maximum of £1 million being invested for a period no longer then twenty four months and the remainder of accounts to have withdrawal notice periods not exceeding three months.
• Deposits should be spread by counterparty subject to a maximum exposure of £750,000 per financial institution.
• The amount to be held as liquid funds shall be determined by the Trustee based on Fund Holders’ spending plans, but in any case a minimum of six months expenditure (based on average expenditure over the two previous years) shall be held in liquid funds.
• The Trustee shall maintain a list of approved banking institutions, together with the maximum deposit across all accounts (the “credit limit”) to be held with any one institution, which is £750,000.

Risk management

The Charity operates under the corporate controls assurance policies and procedures of the NHS Foundation Trust as part of its governance arrangements. The Trust has put in place as part of its risk management strategy both a risk register and a framework for the identification and minimisation of risk.  The risk register for Charitable Funds is part of the Corporate Register as the Trust is the Corporate Trustee.

Income and expenditure is monitored in total to ensure that both pending and firm financial commitments remain in line with income to avoid unforeseen calls on reserves. All expenditure is committed against funds by the appointed Fund Holders and this expenditure is applied in line with the objects of the Charity.  This expenditure is then authorised according to the Trust’s Standing Financial Instructions, Standing Orders and Charitable Fund Procedures that also comply with Charity Law. All funds are checked before a payment is made to ensure that there is money available to meet expenditure. Income and expenditure statements are sent to the individuals authorised as Fund Holders on a monthly basis. The Trustees are presented with a statement of income and expenditure and fund balances at every Committee Meeting for assurance.

The Charity benefits from the independent reviews and audits undertaken by both internal and external audit, reports from which are presented to the Trustee. The action points from such reports are applied and monitored on behalf of the Charity by the Trust’s Finance Department. Audit testing in recent years has not identified any significant financial or other losses.

Statement of trustee’s responsibilities in respect of the trustee’s annual report and accounts

Under charity law, the trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees’ annual report and accounts for each financial year which show a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the excess of expenditure over income for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, generally accepted accounting practice requires that the trustees:

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
• Make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
• State whether the recommendations of the SORP have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements

• State whether the financial statements comply with the trust deed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
• Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue its activities.

The trustees are required to act in accordance with the trust deed and the rules of the Charity, within the framework of trust law. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records, sufficient to disclose at any time, with reasonable accuracy, the financial position of the Charity at that time, and to enable the trustees to ensure that, where any statements of accounts are prepared by the trustees under section 132(1) of the Charities Act 2011, those statements of accounts comply with the requirements of regulations under that provision. The trustees have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to the trustees to safeguard the assets of the Charity and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by the Audit & Risk Committee on behalf of the Corporate Trustee on 6 December 2023 and signed on their behalf by

John Batty
Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee

Independent examiner's report to the Corporate Trustee of North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity

With grateful appreciation and special thanks to these donations received through much loved as part of their final wishes and their families:

Thank you.
North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Charity.