The Charity Registration Number is :- 1033117
Surviving Christmas
Report and Accounts
31 March 2025
Surviving Christmas
Report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025
Contents
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Trustees' Annual Report | 1 |
| Chair's Report | 2 - 3 |
| Independent Examiners Report | 4 |
| Funds Statements:- | |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 5 |
| Balance sheet | 6 |
Surviving Christmas Trustees' Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2025
The Trustees present their Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025.
Reference and administrative details
The charity name.
The legal name of the charity is:- Surviving Christmas
The charity's areas operation and UK charitable registration.
The charity is registered in England & Wales with the Charity Commission in England & Wales (CCEW) with charity number 1033117
The trustees are all individuals.
| The Trustees in office as at 31 March 2024:- | The Trustees in office as at 31 March 2024:- | |
|---|---|---|
| Sue Peck Trevor Morgan |
MeganNugent | Meghan Skinner |
| Rebecca Hall Sara Fox-Peters |
Caroline Kennedy Samantha Moss |
Adam Newington Jan Murphy |
| Angus Peters | Lionell Parr |
Trustees discuss suitable Surviving Christmas members bearing in mind the legal rules on eligibility, skills and knowledge, who are approached and if the member is in agreement the reccomnendation is taken to general committee for proposal. The member is given induction material including the governing document, accounts and previous meetings minutes.
Structure, governance and management of the charity
The Trustees meet monthly during each year to discuss the performance of the Charity and make decisions as appropriate.
The charity's financial position at the end of the year ended 31 March 2025
The financial position of the charity at 31 March 2025 and comparatives for the prior period, as more fully detailed in the accounts, can be summarised as follows:-
Net expenditure
2025 £ (285)
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities Act 2011 and the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Notwithstanding the explicit requirement in the extant statutory regulations,the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the SORP 2005, in view of the fact that the SORP 2005 has been withdrawn, the Trustees determined to interpret this responsibility as requiring them to follow current best practice and prepare the accounts according to the FRS 102 SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities) 2015 (as amended by the Bulletin issued in February 2016) .
The law requires that the trustees must not approve the accounts unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the surplus or deficit of the charity for the year.
Mrs S Peck
Treasurer
10th November 2025
1
Surviving Christmas
Chair's Annual Report 31 March 2025
Hamper Pack Project : 15-20 December
The Project actually began long before we packed the hampers – first, we had to find a new venue as the Salvation army (where we had been ensconced for over a decade) made it financially impossible for us to use their facilities at a cost of £4000 for the 8 days we required.
Fortunately, it did not take us long to find a new ‘home’ and this year we were hosted by Battle Abbey School, in the beautiful grounds of Battle Abbey.
The nominations from local agencies came through with 851 requests for hampers for families in need in the Hastings and Rother Districts.
We could not deliver this campaign successfully without the active involvement of our volunteers and our partnership agencies with support for the deliveries. Our heartfelt thanks to you all.
An important part of the hamper project are the supermarket collections, the food and donations collected allowed us to pack an extra 53 hampers for which we had not budgeted. Late nominations and emergencies are to be expected.
At Battle Abbey we encountered another difficulty – access to the Abbey meant that our suppliers lorries could not deliver the food via the low portcullis. We arranged separate transport and delivery of 19 pallets and many volunteers arrived to manually carry the goods into the Abbey. Our thanks to Trustees, Volunteers and the Hailsham Young Farmers for their help setting the happy tone for the whole of the 2024 campaign.
The hamper packing week went very well indeed with the support of corporate volunteers from Balfour Beatty, Littlewoods Fencing, Triangle Fire systems and the Department of Work and Pensions Universal Credit Team, along with our steadfast regular volunteers and trustees.
We were supported again by SAICA in Reading with the provision of our hamper boxes which were collected the week before the packing began by our Trustee team.
We also received non-perishable food donations from schools, churches, local businesses and individuals which boosted our food supplies and added even more Christmas cheer to our hampers. Tesco kindly donated bags for life which were used to make up two bags of food for our homeless or transient clients without cooking facilities.
Over 1000 new toys were included in the hampers for the families with children and More Radio generously included us in their toy appeal. This, together with toyand purchases made it possible to ensure every child had a surprise on hamper delivery day.
Santa’s Grotto : 21 December
Our Grotto, this year, was also in a new venue, His Place Community Church in Hastings – we invited, by flyer in each hamper, all children of those families nominated to bring their children along to meet our Santa. Our volunteers erected a Grotto and the children were given a christmas present and a chocolate selection box along with a ‘lucky dip’ of little toys, games and books. This was a huge success.
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Surviving Christmas
Chair's Annual Report 31 March 2025
We were also joined after lunch, by Rosie the Little Grey Pony – the children were allowed to stroke her and were fascinated to have a live little horse in the Grotto with Santa.
Christmas and Boxing Day 2024
A team of volunteers went to His Place on Christmas Eve to set up the dining and serving areas making it festive and jolly. Both days saw volunteers and guests chatting, eating, playing board games, watching movies, joining in the entertainment, dancing and celebrating Christmas. We also had hairdressers on hand who were kept very busy, an optician and medical assistance.
100 lunches were served on Christmas Day and 110 on Boxing Day to the homeless, disabled, elderly and lonely. We thank our chef and Trustee Adam Newington, Hastings Catering College, Carrolls Greengrocery, Appleyards the Butchers for all their input with fresh, good quality ingredients.
We continue to be successful due to the hard work and dedication of the lead volunteers, local agencies, supporting organisations and the Trustees. The website team from FreshOnline are an invaluable source as they have supported our charity with the maintenance of our website, and continue to offer free guidance and support.
Our thanks to Angus Peters of Red Mist Services for all the print support and our accountants O’Connor & Co.
Susan Peck Chairman Surviving Christmas
10th November 2025
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Surviving Christmas
Independent Examiner's Report 31 March 2025
I report on the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 31st March 2025, which are set out on pages 5 and 6.
Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner
The Charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. You consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:
-
examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
-
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
-
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention."
Basis of Independent Examiners Report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission.An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity 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 you as 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 Examiners Report
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements:
-
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act
-
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records, comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act
have not been met; or
(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Miss Y O'Connor Accountant, FCCA 10th November 2025
O'Connor & Co Accountants Limuted 13 Meads Street Eastbourne East Sussex BN20 7QY
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Surviving Christmas - Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2025
Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2025
| Income & Endowments from: Bank Interest Business Donations Charity Giving Church Donations Club and Society Donations Collections/Tins Fundraising Events Individual Donations School Donations Gift Aid Sundry Income Total income Expenditure on: Catering Costs Removal Costs Equipment Purchased Waste Disposal Fundraising Event Expenditure Hampers Insurance Postage Advertising and Website Computer Equipment and Software Staff Costs Stationery and Printing Sundries Telephone Bank fees Utensil Hire Vehicle Costs Venue and Kitchen Hire Total expenditure Net expenditure for the year Transfers between funds Net income after transfers Reconciliation of funds:- Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward Net movement in funds |
Current year Unrestricted Funds 2025 £ 4 523 12,436 2,711 200 5,000 300 1,661 12,726 5,282 339 |
Current year Restricted Funds 2025 £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Current year Total Funds 2025 £ 523 12,436 2,711 200 5,000 300 1,661 12,726 5,282 339 - 41,178 357 1,020 3,822 - 560 32,546 495 87 - 313 287 755 - 28 25 - 168 1,000 41,463 (285) - (285) (285) 68,704 68,419 |
Prior Year Total Funds 2024 £ 54 13,871 1,620 1,384 1,350 874 585 5,717 5,158 233 - |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41,178 | 30,846 | |||
| 357 1,020 3,822 - 560 32,546 495 87 - 313 287 755 28 25 - 168 1,000 |
368 - 2,342 574 - 22,750 408 60 - 311 918 219 41 57 70 278 190 2,500 |
|||
| 41,463 | 31,086 | |||
| (285) | (240) - |
|||
| (285) | (240) | |||
| (285) | (240) 68,944 |
|||
| (285) | 68,704 |
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Surviving Christmas - Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2025
| Fixed assets Tangible assets Current assets Gift Aid Receivable Prepayments Cash at bank and in hand Total current assets Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets The total net assets of the charity |
339 60 68,020 |
2025 £ - 68,419 68,419 |
231 60 68,413 |
2024 £ - 68,704 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68,419 - |
68,704 - |
|||
| 68,704 |
The total net assets of the charity are funded by the funds of the charity, as follows:-
Restricted funds
| Restricted Funds Unrestricted Funds Unrestricted Revenue Funds Total charity funds |
- | - - 68,419 68,419 |
- | - 68,704 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68,419 | 68,704 | |||
| 68,704 |
The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of charity legislation with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
Mrs S Peck Chairman and Treasurer Approved by the board of trustees on 10th November 2025
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