Annual Report for Charity Commission 2020
Structure, Governance and Management:
Membership of the Trust: Trustees and year of appointment are as follows,
Miss Janet Cox 2017 Mr John Creasey 2017 (Chair from September 2018) Miss Heidi Fletcher 2017 (Vice Chair from September 2018) Mrs Marie Mead 2012 (Secretary) Mrs Deborah Nicholls 2019 (Appointed in March) Mrs Jane Spencer 2017 Dr. John Stafford 1990 (Assistant Treasurer from April 2020) Mrs Jacqueline Vickers 2015 (Treasurer from April 2020)
Employees of the Trust:
Mrs Jo-Ann Gaunt primary schools worker appointed 01/01/2002 Mrs Trish Horwood primary schools worker appointed 01/01/2017 Mrs Becky Guynn primary schools worker appointed 01/09/2019
Objectives and Activities: a Covid 19 year
The stated aim of the Trust is: The advancement of the Christian Religion among young people in the Bedford Area, particularly in schools, in conjunction with local churches and volunteers.
In a normal year, throughout each term, our schools’ workers would have been in different schools, working with pupils and staff to help broaden their awareness and knowledge of the Christian faith. However, on 23[rd] March, 2020, when the country went into Covid 19 lock-down, this all came to an abrupt halt; school attendance stopped and access into schools for our three workers was prohibited.
As a Christian organisation, our desire to empower children and young people to achieve their full spiritual, moral, social and cultural appeared impossible. For 30 years our workers had taken the Gospel message into schools unhindered.
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How would they now be able to deliver Impact’s range of activities to children and young people if there was nobody in school?
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How would they be able to continue building positive and appropriate relationships with schools whilst respecting diversity and differences across all faiths if they were closed?
Achievements and Performance: a remarkable year of appreciation!
Whilst the traditional work of Impact was greatly appreciated by pupils and staff in both community and independent schools throughout the first three months of 2020, through speedy adaptation and skilful use of modern technology, schools and churches alike were even more appreciative of the materials they were provided with by our three schools workers throughout the remaining 9 months of the year. On requesting and receiving written feedback as to the value of the material sent out electronically to both schools and churches, trustees and workers have been encouraged to receive overwhelming support from teachers and staff – assuring us that, when their school doors re-open to visitors, our schools workers will be warmly invited back in.
Core Activities and Materials: they haven’t changed
Working from home from the beginning of April 2020, our schools workers made contact with all the schools they had previously gone into - the majority of them having benefited from Impact workers taking assemblies, helping to run Christian Unions, voluntary lunchtime / after school clubs, as well as taking RE lessons – and offered them a programme of material that would be provided electronically. The schools that had invited in volunteer teams to deliver “ Open the Book bible storytelling assemblies” – a Bible Society resource often set up by schools workers but run independently of Impact – were equally pleased to receive Bible stories electronically, acted out by volunteers under Covid restrictions. The core material previously presented in schools by our Impact workers hadn’t changed, but the method of delivery had – drastically.
Special Projects: unfortunately cancelled
In a “normal year” the following activities would have been carried out by our schools’ workers – often with the help and support of our volunteers and / or in conjunction with Scripture Union – but all had to “put on hold” due to Covid restrictions.
Creative Prayer: Godly Play: Prayer Spaces: Self Esteem and Relationship sessions: Life Path: Footsteps of Bunyan:
Seasonal Activities: disappointments and a success!!!
In 2020, and for the same reason as that for Special Projects, Covid restrictions, all but one of our Seasonal Activities were cancelled.
Easter Experience and Christmas Activity Days were each put on hold – but Barn Nativity wasn’t.
Barn Nativity is a storytelling enactment of the biblical account of the birth of Jesus. It is set in a large local garden, where adult volunteers take the key roles and the children walk from scene to scene. Nearly 500 children, staff and adult helpers from local lower schools would usually experience this dramatised version of the First Christmas in the first week of December. In previous years there have been 17 “presentations” in the week, including two floodlit ones held on Friday evening, and the response from all who have attended has been exceptionally positive.
Whilst the speed with which “lock-down” was introduced in March 2020 precluded Impact from preparing an electronic presentation of the Easter Experience, reduced Covid restrictions later in the year allowed the workers and a team of volunteers to video the Barn Nativity and to issue it to schools and churches in advance of Christmas 2020. And what a success it was!!!
Schools and churches were thrilled to receive a copy and it was viewed by thousands of local children and adults, as well as many others world wide.
With Barn Nativity having been such a successful video presentation, there is now the question of how to proceed with Seasonal Activities in the coming years.
Church and Volunteer Communications: necessary even more than before
As mentioned above, over the whole of 2020, the schools’ workers have been in regular contact with the churches they are involved with, all of varying Christian denominations, with a view to ensuring that the material they have produced and issued is relevant and appropriate. This has involved them in a considerable number of “Zoom” meetings with youth workers, church leaders and volunteers. In addition,and to ensure that our volunteers and supporters are kept fully aware of what our schools’ workers are doing, we have continued to send out our newsletter once a term, plus an email up-date once a month – including our prayer requests.
As a small Christian charity our volunteers and supporters are very important to us and keeping in touch with them is essential. It is their prayers and financial support that have enabled us to continue our work in schools for nearly 30 years.
Training and Reviews: more than ever before
During the year, the schools’ workers have each carried out a variety of on-line training courses. They have been encouraged to look for relevant courses and seminars that will be of benefit to their work in the future, post pandemic. At the same time they have been asked to record and score each seminar / course they have carried out, to determine which ones have been of value and which ones haven’t. This it is hoped, will ensure that any future training will be appropriate to their work.
Although not able to be carried out in the same way as in previous years, they have each taken part in trustee-led Annual Performance Reviews and reflection / retreat days are held each term.
Regular Team Meetings, each led by a trustee, have continued to be very useful in building a sense of ‘team’ and this has been essential during a year of restrictions and disruptions.
The trust is mindful of its responsibilities for the welfare of pupils, and all workers, volunteers and Trustees are DBS checked. In addition, our safeguarding strategies and policies are regularly reviewed to ensure the charity is fully up to date with current legislation. To ensure the importance of safeguarding is fully understood and appreciated by both Trustees and workers, in 2020 we have also carried out an in depth review of our existing policy, resulting in the creation of a new policy plus additional training for Trustees and workers where appropriate.
The Future: the same objective, but delivered in a different way
With the appointment of another full time lower schools Christian worker in September 2019, and with one of our other workers reducing her working week from 5 to 2 days, 2020 was always set to be a very interesting year - becoming even more interesting with the introduction of lock-down in late March 2020. Encouraged as we have been by the enthusiastic response and support received throughout the year from teachers, their helpers, clergy from varying denominations, volunteers and supporters, and in particular pupils, Impact workers have used available technologically to meet the needs of the schools they would normally go into. They have been willing to adapt and to learn new ways of presentation; they have been inventive and adventurous in the way they have carried out their work, achieving the same objective, but in a different way.
To further aid this way of working a new Social Media Policy was developed, allowing the charity to venture into new ways of contacting individuals, whilst promoting the work of Impact through on-line social media platforms, including Facebook. This has proven to be very successful and it is hoped it will be developed further in the coming year.
To further prepare Impact for it’s mission and objectives in the future, in August 2020 the Trustees and workers began to look at developing a strategic vision for Impact for the next 5 years. This will be continued throughout 2021 and will include a full review of our future aims and goals, including an appraisal of our current and future finances, existing and future ways our workers carry out their work, plus an assessment of our management needs, including how we can increase the number of trustees, volunteers and supporters we have at present. 2021 will, yet again be an exciting time for all those involved with Impact.
Financial Review
Please see Income and Expenditure Accounts and Balance Sheets attached.
Independent Examination:
The Examiner’s Report is attached.
Public Benefit:
The trustees affirm their conviction that considerable numbers of children and young people are benefiting from the above activities in line with the aims of the charity and guidelines of the Charity Commission.
John Creasey - 24.09.2021
BASCST - Receipts Payments Account 2020
| 2019 INCOME 2020 21,541.00 Gift Aid donations 19,242.00 5,241.00 Reclaimed tax 5,166.50 26,782.00 24,408.50 Regular donations: 2,134.00 Individuals 2,680.00 20,688.35 Churches 20,249.03 22,822.35 22,929.03 Occasional donations: 1,940.00 Individuals 1,180.00 400.00 Churches 625.14 2,340.00 1,805.14 HMRC Furlough Payment 3,383.96 Just Giving 2,545.79 792.77 792.77 Bank interest 757.59 1,020.00 income from events 510.00 -0.55 miscellaneous 380.00 0.00 other income 1,015.00 |
2019 INCOME 2020 21,541.00 Gift Aid donations 19,242.00 5,241.00 Reclaimed tax 5,166.50 26,782.00 24,408.50 Regular donations: 2,134.00 Individuals 2,680.00 20,688.35 Churches 20,249.03 22,822.35 22,929.03 Occasional donations: 1,940.00 Individuals 1,180.00 400.00 Churches 625.14 2,340.00 1,805.14 HMRC Furlough Payment 3,383.96 Just Giving 2,545.79 792.77 792.77 Bank interest 757.59 1,020.00 income from events 510.00 -0.55 miscellaneous 380.00 0.00 other income 1,015.00 |
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| 53,756.57 TOTAL INCOME 57,735.01 |
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| EXPENDITURE 56,231.80 Workers' salaries 48,407.21 5,277.34 Superann. 4,624.41 555.97 Employer's NI 563.27 62,065.11 53,594.89 96.36 Embedded expenses 6,468.06 Workers' expenses (Note 1) 2,830.64 1,738.76 Trust administration (Note 2) 2,284.82 |
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| 70,368.29 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 58,710.35 |
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| **-16,611.72 ** | surplus/deficit -975.34 |
| Note 1 Workers' expenses 4,302.88 Motor + travel 1,821.37 75.46 Consumeables 37.27 1,089.06 Materials 320.58 6.39 Postage 19.60 314.50 Telephone 216.62 450.00 Office heat/light allowance 380.20 229.77 Training 35.00 6,468.06 Note 2 2,830.64 Trust administration 456.00 DBS 13.00 564.85 Insurance 563.70 331.96 costs of events 184.00 74.95 gifts 28.00 123.00 Trustee expenses 475.06 158.00 Subscriptions 1,021.07 30.00 miscellaneous -0.01 1,738.76 2,284.82* |
2020_accounts_In&Exp Finala.xls
updated 15/03/2021
Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees of: Bedford Area Schools Christian Support Trust (otherwise known as BASCST and Impact), Registered Charity No. 1010472
st on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020.
Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner
The trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
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examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
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to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Charities Act), and
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to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the trustees and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:
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to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Charities Act;
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or
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2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: _______
Date: _7/3/2020___
Independent Examiner’s Name: _____Ann Wilson
Relevant professional qualification or body: FCCA Membership No. 0790187
Address: 1 Park Hill, Ampthill, Bedfordshire MK45 2LW