2025-03-31-accounts

1

2024|2025 ANNUAL REPORT

Tania & Richard Cheale p.17 Tryst

2 2

contents

www.scascharity.org.uk

South Central Ambulance Charity	page 3
Objectives and activities	page 4
Fundraising standards information	page 6
Public Benefit	page 6
Structure, Governance & Management	page 7
Achievements and Performance	page 8
Our Volunteers	page 8
Conference and Awards	page 12
One Big Thank You	page 13
Financial Review	page 15
Income	page 15
CPR-A-Thon	Page 16
Community Fundraising	Page 18
How We Spent Our Funds	Page 21
Projects Supporting Staff	Page 22
Mental Health & Wellbeing	Page 23
Community First Responder &
Co-Responder Programme	Page 23
Central Charity Costs	Page 24
Charity Reserves Policy	page 14
Trustees Responsibility Statement	page 26
Independent Examiner’s Report finances	page 27 page 28
Notes to the Accounts	Page 31

The photo below is from a training exercise

Registered Charity No: 1049778

3

South Central Ambulance Charity ANNUAL REPORT 2024-2025

Introduction

This annual report has been prepared in accordance with the following directions: Charity SORP (FRS 102); Charities Act 2011

Registered Address

The registered address of the Charity is Unit 7-8 Talisman Business Centre, Talisman Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire OX26 6HR.

South Central Ambulance Charity raises funds to support South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS). All the monies raised by our Charity are used to fund services, projects and equipment that is not supplied by Government NHS funding. Without the money we raise, people in our communities would have to wait longer for help which could affect their recovery. The Charity works across Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

Trustee

The Trustee of the Charity is South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. The Directors of the Foundation Trust are also charged with the management of the Charity.

The Directors of the Charity were as follows:

Chairman and Non Executive Directors

Professor Sir Keith Willett CBE Les Broude Ian Green OBE Michael McEnaney Sumit Biswas (Until 30/06/2025)

Nigel Chapman (Until 28/02/2025) Dr Dhammika Perera (Until 31/03/2025) Katie Kapernaros (Appointed 01/07/2024) Harbhajan Singh Brar (Appointed 19/03/2025)

Executive Directors

David Eltringham Stuart Rees (Appointed 01/11/2024) Paul Kempster Professor Helen Young Mike Murphy (Until 30/09/2024) Dr John Black Melanie Saunders (Until 30/11/2024) Natasha Dymond (01/12/2024 – 24/06/2025) Daryl Lutchmaya (Until 30/9/2024) Jamie O’Callaghan (03/07/2024 – 01/12/2024) Rebecca Southall (Appointed 1/12/2024) Mark Ainsworth (Appointed 01/04/2025) Duncan Robertson (Appointed 23/07/2024) Craig Ellis

Chief Executive SCAS FT Chief Finance Officer Chief Transformation Officer Chief Nurse Chief Strategy Officer Chief Medical Officer Chief People Officer Interim Chief People Officer Chief Governance Officer Interim Chief Governance Officer Chief Governance Officer Executive Director of Operations Chief Paramedic Chief Digital Officer

Key Management Personnel

Vanessa Casey

Bankers to the Charity

Independent Examiners

Chief Executive

Lloyds Bank PLC High Street, Winchester, Hants

Wenn Townsend, 30 St Giles’ Oxford OX1 3LE

Funds Held

These arise primarily as a result of donations from members of the public, from those who have used the ambulance service, companies and other organisations. The main purpose for the use of these donations is for any charitable purposes relating to the general or specific purposes of South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (including for the benefit of both patients and staff) or to purposes relating to the service. In administering the funds of the Charity, the Trustees aim to provide public benefit in buying essential equipment, supporting our Community First Responders and Co-Responders and improving staff facilities and welfare.

Statement of Financial Activities

During the year, income of £368k (2023-2024 £1,598k) was received and £674k (2023-2024 £847k) was expended. The balance carried forward for all funds totalled £850k (2023-2024 £1,156k).

South Central Ambulance Charity 4 Objectives and activities

Our Purpose

To support the work of South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) as it delivers exceptional care and improves positive outcomes for the people and patients in our local community.

Our Vision

Inspiring people to volunteer, donate or fundraise for us to ensure we are always here serving patients, their families and our wider communities when they need us.

Our Core Values

Our values are at the heart of everything we do. They are what drive us and we work tirelessly to uphold them in all we do, every day.

Community – working together as a dedicated community of volunteers, we take exceptional pride in the work we do and the difference we make to the lives of those we serve in our communities.

Care – valuing everyone we work with and support, showing them compassion and empathy, and treating them with the dignity, kindness and respect they deserve.

Transformation – Utilising our professional, fully trained volunteers to have greater patient impact and enhance lives.

Innovation – Being at the forefront of trialling new initiatives for our volunteers to support the delivery of best practice patient care.

5

South Central Ambulance Charity Objectives and activities it ' . “al

Our Charity supports our community of volunteers who make a meaningful difference to the health, wellbeing and safety of their neighbours – those who live and work in the local areas we serve. Thanks to generous donations from our supporters, we help SCAS go further by providing programmes, training and services to support the crucial work of South Central Ambulance Service.

This includes:

Providing equipment, uniform and training for our Volunteer Community Responders so they can deliver vital firstresponse care to the sick and injured.

Supporting the physical wellbeing and mental health of all our staff and volunteers.

Supporting our other cohorts of volunteers including Patient Transport Volunteers who convey patients to non-emergency medical appointments; Patient Safety Partners; Charity Volunteers and our Patient Panel Volunteers.

Delivering our volunteer strategy and creating new and fulfilling volunteer roles.

6

South Central Ambulance Charity Objectives and activities

Fundraising standards information

The Charity utilises a range of fundraising activities working alongside our Trust staff and volunteer colleagues. During the year the Charity has continued to work with Remarkable Partnerships to develop wider engagement with corporate partners.

The Charity works very closely with our volunteer community supporting those who raise funds in aid of the Charity. The Charity is involved in regular meetings and offers fundraising advice, materials and support for all our volunteers. The Charity creates and provides marketing materials to engage and inform our local communities and these are available to our volunteer fundraisers.

South Central Ambulance Charity is a member of the Fundraising Regulator and NHS Charities Together. As such, it conforms to the code of conduct set out by these organisations. The Charity strives to ensure that all supporters and donors are treated fairly and with respect. Our supporters enable the Charity to make a

significant positive impact on patient care and aims to regularly update supporters on our work through our Charity website, www.scascharity. org.uk and our social media channels. We take care to thank all individuals and organisations for their support and to protect individuals’ privacy. Full details can be found in our privacy policy. We are aware of our responsibility in protecting vulnerable people when fundraising and have a vulnerable person’s policy in place. We have a clear complaints policy. The day-today management of the Charity is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, Vanessa Casey. There were no complaints received relating to the Charity this year.

Public Benefit

The Board confirms that it has paid due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. The Board ensures that all funds are used to best effect in the interest of the Trust’s patients, staff and volunteers.

7

South Central Ambulance Charity Objectives and activities

Structure, Governance and Management

The Trust Board delegates responsibility to the Charitable Funds Committee (CFC) who ensure there is appropriate governance over the activities of the Charity and the stewardship of the charity’s assets. The Chief Finance Officer and the SCAS Charity CEO, supported by senior management, are responsible for developing the Charity strategy and recommending it to the Charitable Funds Committee. It is then recommended to the Board for approval and implementation.

South Central Ambulance Charity was first constituted in 1995 for charitable services supporting the National Health Service wholly or mainly for the Two Shires Ambulance Service. This was amended in 2016 when the Trust became South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

The Charity has a single Corporate Trustee, the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Board. The Trust Board, as Corporate Trustee, is ultimately accountable for charitable funds donated to the Charity. The Corporate Trustee and individual Trustees of SCAS are responsible for controlling the management and administration of the Charity and have a collective responsibility for the Charity. Trustees perform their duties considering statutory rules, Charity Commission guidance and the Charity Governance Code.

The Trustees have been appointed under section 11 of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990. The members of the NHS Trust Board who served during the financial year as Trustees and on the dates of the Financial Statements approval are listed in this annual report. The recruitment and induction of Non-Executive Directors to the Board is undertaken in accordance with the policies of South Central Ambulance Service, which is also responsible for remuneration.

The Charitable Funds Committee of the SCAS Board meet on a quarterly basis. The Committee is chaired by a Non-Executive Director who until February 2025 was Nigel Chapman. Following the end of Nigel’s term of office, Professor Sir Keith Willett CBE took up the role as interim Chair until the appointment of Ruth Williams who will take up her role in May 2025. The CFC was attended by other Non-Executive and Executive Directors. The Charity CEO, Head of Community Engagement and Training, Chief Finance Officer, Charity Finance Manager and the CFR Governor also attend these meetings. SCAS Governors are invited to attend as observers.

The Charity’s risk register is reviewed at each meeting and the reserves policy and terms of reference are reviewed each year. The Committee also review and agree spending priorities, income generation targets and applications for internal grants to be made by the Charity. There is a scheme of delegation in place.

Vanessa Casey Chief Executive as

Professor Sir Keith Willett CBE SCAS Chair & Interim Chair, Charitable Funds Committee

8

Achievements and Performance Our Volunteers

Community First Responders and Co-Responders

Our Community First Responders and CoResponders are trained to respond to specific life-threatening emergencies where patients may be suffering from (for example) a cardiac arrest, chest pains, breathing difficulties or a stroke. The ability of our Responders to be at a patient’s side to commence life-saving treatment, often within a few minutes and prior to our first ambulance response arriving, makes a positive contribution and impact on patient outcomes as well as the overall performance of the Trust. In the past twelve months key ambulance quality indicators, such as return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in cardiac arrests, stroke care and out of hospital cardiac arrest survival to discharge have all been positively impacted on by our volunteers.

SCAS continues to provide healthcare and allied health services to the communities it serves. The Trust is committed to investing in its local areas to help build a better, more resilient society. We achieve this by continuing to invest in our communities through recruiting, training and developing a diverse team of community-based volunteers who work side by side with our frontline staff to deliver care in medical emergencies.

During 2024-2025 SCAS had 790 active Community First Responders (CFRs) and Co-Responders utilising 460 primary medical response kits. This is a 10%

increase on the previous year. We will usually deploy a volunteer responder within a three-mile radius of their location; however, we will also look to deploy volunteers proactively to cover an area within SCAS in a response vehicle depending on where our clinical coordination centres need them most. Throughout the year, our CFRs and CoResponders from the military, police and fire and rescue services have attended 33,890 emergency 999 incidents which is over 3,000 more than the previous year.

Community First Responders (CFRs) play a vital role in delivering immediate care within their local areas, arriving first on scene at 70% of Category 1 incidents to which they were deployed over the past year. Their rapid response ensures that a trained volunteer reaches life-threatening emergencies, on average, 30 seconds ahead of the frontline ambulance crew. This crucial time advantage allows CFRs to begin patient assessment and initiate support measures without delay.

For our most critically ill patients, these 30 seconds can significantly enhance their chances of survival.

Community first responders Fire Co-Responders Military and police Co-Responders Total Incidents	25,897 2,941 5,052 33,890*

* The total figures includes incidents where multiple responders were on scene to the same incident.

9

Achievements and Performance Our Volunteers

Training

On joining the Trust our responders undertake a nationally recognised and accredited Level 3 Award in Ambulance First Responder on Scene.

This is a five-day course covering key modules to ensure they are both competent and confident in responding to patients. We continue to train our experienced responders to enable them to attend our non-injury falls and concern for welfare incidents. This group of responders are sent to calls which have been clinically assessed by paramedics, or nurses within our clinical coordination centres

and identified as patients who are non-injured and only have a requirement for moving and handling. They will also be deployed to silent alarm calls from care lines, where we need to respond but not necessarily with an emergency ambulance. More recently they have been deployed to other low acuity calls and have been successful in utilising the GoodSam on scene live link where the clinician within the control room can see the patient via a video link. They instruct the responder to take a full set of observations and are then able to determine whether ongoing care is required deploying the correct resource as needed.

10

Achievements and Performance

Low Acuity Calls

From 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 those trained, attended 4,585 low acuity calls.

This deployment model assists the Trust and our patients by only sending a frontline resource if necessary. Evidence and research show that elderly and frail patients who may have been at risk of having a long wait for an emergency ambulance response for a non-injury fall will, in some cases, be able to be seen more quickly by our volunteer responders and mobilised off the floor. This is particularly beneficial, not just because it ensures more clinically crewed ambulances and rapid response cars are available for patients suffering life-threatening emergencies, but also because it is proven that detriment to the patient increases every hour that a frail and/or elderly patient is left on the floor without medical intervention.

Other Volunteer Cohorts

Patient Transport Volunteers

As we worked towards two of our PTS area contracts ending at the start of the next financial year recruitment slowed down while the team ensured all those leaving or moving into Hampshire or Milton Keynes, were well supported. Two of our Patient Transport Volunteers were shortlisted for a BBC Make A Difference Award which was a great achievement.

Charity & Lunchtime Volunteers

A flexible opportunity was launched during the year for people wanting to support us but only able to give a small amount of time rather than a regular commitment. We have begun to grow this team with volunteers sharing social media posts or collating lists of businesses who would be willing to host a Charity collection tin.

Patient Safety Partner Volunteers

Towards the end of the financial year, we introduced a new volunteer programme.

235,834 hours were given by our volunteers 6,162 hours of Charity support 187,345 hours spent responding to patients 42,224 patient transport driving hours 102 hours of patient panel volunteering

We were pleased to work with the Patient Safety Team to recruit three patient safety partner volunteers. These volunteers have become an important part of the overall Patient Safety Team at SCAS.

Patient Panel Volunteers

This year the Patient Panel celebrated their oneyear anniversary. The Patient Panel gives members of the public a voice and an opportunity to influence service developments and improvements. Initially focusing on two categories, mental health and learning disability, volunteers work in collaboration with SCAS Governors and the Charity. Patient Panel Volunteers have used at least one of our services and have lived experiences either themselves or via their relative or someone they care for. They have supported with feedback on the use of ambulance care and supported the development of several easy read documents. They have also created a communications booklet which is used by staff and volunteers alike. The Charity was pleased to fund the cost of printing the booklet.

The top five motivations for our volunteers are:

• To make a difference

• To give something back

• To support their local community

• To help others

• To gain experience

11

Achievements and Performance

Basic Life Saving Awareness

The Community Engagement and Training Team work closely with the Charity to support our volunteer responders to carry out basic life saving awareness sessions across our communities.

Last year our volunteers continued to offer sessions in their areas and 1227 people were trained in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillator awareness.

The annual Restart A Heart Day in October saw 41 schools take part with 7919 students being trained to save a life.

This year saw the launch of a new volunteering programme, Patient Safety Partners, alongside a more strategic approach to CFR recruitment ensuring we can both strengthen the support we provide in our local communities and continue to fund vital equipment needed to deliver those services.

Data is now submitted to NHS England quarterly to record the number of active and non-active volunteers; the total number of hours spent volunteering as well as demographic statistics reflecting our commitment to transparency and impact.

Volunteer Recruitment & Retention

Volunteering across SCAS has continued to progress and grow with important support from the Charity both in terms of funding and recruitment support.

Assemble Database

Our volunteer management system, Assemble, continues to grow and improve, with national developments underway, we look forward to further supporting our volunteers, achieving our aims and objectives and recording and reporting data around volunteering.

This year we recruited 275 new volunteers - 219 Community First Responders & Co Responders

16 Patient Transport Volunteers 27 Patient Panel Volunteers 10 Charity Volunteers 3 Patient Safety Partner Volunteers

We published 96 volunteer opportunities and received 391 applications.

Achievements and Performance CONFERENCE AND AWARDS

12 I,

Volunteer Conference 2024

A highlight of our year is the annual volunteer conference, which was very well received. Opened by SCAS CEO David Eltringham, the day included an introduction to providing critical care in the community by our colleagues from Thames Valley Air Ambulance, an interactive, fun quiz around the Charity as well as a session from SCAS’s Research team on current research projects. Breakout sessions included sessions around the role of the specialist paramedic; understanding the management of wounds in a pre-hospital setting as well as communicating with patients with learning disabilities and understanding how we can adapt patient care to meet those with learning disabilities and neurodiversity.

Awards

For the second year of our volunteer awards, celebrating outstanding achievements, the winners were announced at the volunteer conference. Inspiring citations were read out and the following volunteer achievements were celebrated:

Rising Star Alex Harrison (Oxfordshire)

Responder of the Year James Clarke (Oxfordshire)

Student of the Year Jasmine Waran (West Hampshire)

Fundraiser of the Year Carol Carter (East Hampshire)

Patient Transport Volunteer of the Year Bob Edwards (Thames Valley)

Team of the Year Oxfordshire Events CFRs

Outstanding Contribution James MacKeddie (Buckinghamshire)

We are grateful to Room for Reward for donating overnight stays for all our winners. We continue to value, recognise and thank all of our volunteers and our High Five Awards enable us to celebrate individual contributions throughout the year with volunteers and staff able to nominate volunteers for a High Five.

13

Achievements and Performance ONE BIG THANK YOU for CFR James MacKeddie

In November a group of staff and volunteers headed to BBC Cardiff to film a very special segment for BBC 1’s One Show.

The One Big Thank You is the programme’s series thanking individuals for the extraordinary things they do in their community. Now it was the turn to thank our very own CFR James MacKeddie.

James’s fellow CFR Steve Hickman takes up the story…

“It is not every day you get a cryptic email from the CEO of the charity asking when it would be convenient to call. The call started with ‘what I am going to tell you is confidential and only I and one other person know about this’. Now I am feeling the pressure!! For the next six months... lots of meetings and planning.

Keeping a secret for six months organising a BBC One Show Big Thank nearly finished me off as James and I message every day and do many

events and buddy shifts together, but it was all worth it to pull off an amazing surprise for my incredible friend and colleague, James.

Having to go and spend a day having a BBC film crew interviewing me about why James deserved a One Big Thank You was exciting and nerve racking having never been filmed before. The question of why James deserved the award was very easy to answer. James’s dedication and the commitment he puts into being a Community First Responder is without question one of the best I have seen. He always puts himself forward to support events and the challenges he put himself through to raise money for the charity is outstanding. James is so very humble, and he needs a cheerleader which is a role as a friend and his coordinator I take on very happily.

James’s story….

It’s not every day you find yourself on the One Show. Less so when you think you are with the Casualty team to help develop a new Community First Responder character.

14

Achievements and Performance ONE BIG THANK YOU for CFR James MacKeddie

I’ve been a Community First Responder for three years and never anticipated the opportunities and experiences volunteering in the community would provide me within such a short period of time. I joined to be a contributing member in my local community, to learn and use life skills that are as valid in my own life and day job, as they are when on call for South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. In doing so, I’m much more aware of the culture and traditions of Newport Pagnell and Olney, the scheme I am a member of, and this broadened my knowledge of local areas and I now know if the worst happens wherever I am, I have first class training and experiences to fall back on.

Travelling to Cardiff I was under the impression I was to assist the Casualty TV show production team to develop a new CFR or Community First Responder character. I want everyone who watches programmes involving the Ambulance Service, whether fictional or non-fictional, to know about the volunteers that make up Community First Responders and how we assist in responding to

999 calls. So, after a brief tour, it was a real surprise to see my Community Engagement and Training Officer, the CEO of South Central Ambulance Charity who fund our training, equipment, uniform and more, along with fellow CFRs also present. I still didn’t twig what was going on, I thought they were here to help! Never had I imagined a One Big Thank You was coming my way and as much as it’s aimed at the individual, I see this for all Community First Responders who give up their free time to help strangers on the worst days of their lives.

15

financial review income

Staff and Volunteers across SCAS have continued to support the Charity in raising our profile and securing donations. Income has remained fairly static from last year.

The economic climate has impacted fundraising across the UK and like many other charities we have had to take some difficult steps to ensure we can get back on course. Fundraised income (excluding legacies) dropped by 7% on the previous year. We were fortunate to receive a significant legacy gift in 2023-2024 which enabled the Charity to build its reserves providing assurance for continued funding of essential projects to support SCAS staff and volunteers into the future.

Staff and volunteers across SCAS have continued to support the Charity in raising our profile and securing donations. We are incredibly grateful to our volunteers, supporters, community groups and organisations who have raised funds for us this year.

Tania and Richard Cheale

October was a particularly busy month for us with Tania and Richard setting out on their ambitious fundraiser to support the Charity. It all began on 29 April 2024 when Richard woke with chest pains. Believing it was indigestion, he headed downstairs, only to collapse and suffer a sudden cardiac arrest. Richard’s wife Tania immediately phoned 999 and started CPR which she continued for 12 minutes until the first responders arrived. Another 18 minutes of compressions and the use of a defibrillator and Richard’s heart was restarted. A LUCAS device was then fitted to enable the crew to get Richard to hospital as

quickly as possible. Richard was in a coma and remained in hospital for two weeks.

Richard and Tania are incredibly grateful for the support they received from SCAS and Tania decided to embark on a personal challenge to walk the 96 mile length of the Kennet & Avon Canal. Completing the challenge in only 3.5 days. Richard, along with SCAS staff and volunteers, joined Tania along the route as well as attending the fun days organised at the Rose & Thistle pub either side of the walk. Tania and Richard aimed to raise enough to enable the Charity to purchase another LUCAS 3 device for the teams at SCAS. LUCAS devices are mechanical CPR machines which enable a patient to receive continual CPR for long periods of time, while in transit to hospital and until transferred to the care of the Emergency Department. Our Community First Responders also attended Davison House in Reading where both Tania and Richard worked to deliver CPR awareness sessions for employees.

Tania and Richard hit their goal raising over £10,000. Their fundraising challenge was also supported by the Reading Professionals Foundation who raised a further £5,000 for the Charity at their Christmas event in December.

16

financial review CPR-A-Thon

CFR Tony Larks once again rose to the challenge, along with colleagues from Tanium, to organise a second 24-hour CPR-A-Thon.

After saying ‘never again’ following the inaugural marathon back in 2022, the team from Tanium decided it was time to test their resolve. With a renewed vigour the team set themselves a £12,000 target, determined to beat their previous achievement.

Thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment from everyone involved and the support from Tanium, the team raised an amazing £14,000! Young

Harry Harding, whose mum’s colleagues took part in the challenge decided to do his bit by taking on his own challenge while the family were on holiday in Majorca. Harry swam a 200m open water swim, followed by a 1km run and raised £706. An incredible achievement by everyone who took part. Many thanks to the team from Tanium and all those who supported the event including Fidget & Bob who generously provided food for all those taking part.

17

financial review community fundraising

Community fundraising organised and supported by our volunteers remains an important source of income and awareness for the Charity. During the year volunteers organised a number of collections at Tesco stores across Hampshire and Oxfordshire and raised a total of £10,072 thanks to the generosity of customers.

In August we were invited back to Ascot Racecourse to collect at the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup and concert with The Sugababes. Our Charity team and volunteers raised a fantastic £2,241 and are most grateful to the continued opportunity provided by Ascot Racecourse.

Individual fundraisers rose to their own personal challenges during the year with CFR Nick Clarke raising £1,724 from taking part in the 24-hour National Time Trial Championships, finishing 25th overall. An incredible achievement in its own right, but Nick carried out the challenge on a Brompton! Nick completed his task just nine months after he was hit by a car driver while riding his Brompton folding bike, leaving him scared to ride on open roads. Hit from behind in October, as he was turning into a layby, Nick broke his arm in five places, his leg, ribs and was unable to walk again until the following January. That Brompton was, of course, written off but Nick purchased a new 12 speed model with plans for the future only to find that every time he got back on his bike, he was terrified. Nick decided to ride his Brompton in the 24hr time trial to encourage him to get back on his bike and train. Nick rode 367 miles and not only raised an amazing amount of money but also regained his confidence.

18

financial review community fundraising

A group of staff from Basingstoke Ambulance Station took on the Basingstoke Half Marathon in October. The team were keen to take part in an event where they could come together and support each other with a different challenge outside of work. Seeing this as a team building exercise with a wide range of running experiences getting involved to raise money. Some of the more experienced runners in the group took on the extra challenge of running in uniform! The team raised £2,495 . Staff in Basingstoke were on a roll this year with four of our Emergency Care Assistants (ECAs) walking 100 Km from London to Brighton. Jamie, David, Poppy and Simon completed the walk in 26 hours. A tough challenge but by supporting each other to keep going they were able to get over the line.

Drawing on the mindset of being a frontline worker and putting themselves through the emotional and physical discomfort to raise a fantastic £1,592 .

Alton resident Ash Wilmott secured a place in the London Marathon in April and raised £1,234 . We now look forward to 2026 when we have four members of our staff and volunteer team running in support of the Charity. The first of four years where we have guaranteed places in this prestigious event.

Brothers Harry & Josh Edwards raised over £500 completing the Blenheim Palace Triathlon. CFR Josh decided to take on the challenge and when Harry heard about it he wanted to join!

19

financial review community fundraising

Caroline Bentley raised £1,040 climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in memory of her late dad. SCAS’s Patient Transport Service had taken her dad to and from dialysis appointments for many years and this was Caroline’s way to say thank you.

A Group of staff from SCAS’s Education Team, The Green Team, took on the national 3 Peaks Challenge in June. Their aim was to complete Ben Nevis (1345m); Scafell Pike (978m) and Snowdon (1085m) in under 24 hours. Climbing through rain, sleet & snow and navigating road closures and blocked roads they completed the challenge in 24 hours and 50 minutes. The team said this was the hardest single thing they have ever done but they gave it their all. We are incredibly grateful for their perseverance and for pushing themselves beyond their limits to support the challenge. The team raised an amazing £1,395.

Winslow Concert Band in Bucks hosted a series of concerts during the year playing in local supermarkets, joining staff and volunteers at the Milton Keynes Blue Light Hub Family Day in August and concerts in their local community raising a fantastic £1,544 .

Other events included attending Hurst Show in Berkshire raising £1,444 .

20

financial review community fundraising

The Community Engagement and Training Team have continued to support events by providing first aid cover and we are grateful to all our Community First Responders and Co-Responders for supporting these events. This is an additional way for us to support our local communities and the team provided cover at a number of events including Fairford Airshow; Bloxham Steam & Country Fair, military family days; carnivals, fetes and fairs. First aid cover at events generates income for the Charity as well as providing an important service for local event organisers.

Over the year these events generated £28,000 for the Charity.

The James Cowper Kreston Foundation awarded a grant to enable us to purchase three new defibrillators in the Reading area. This has been the continuation of providing new defibrillators for our responders to replace older models. These new defibs are critically important for the treatment of patients and offer the best possible chance of survival. Technology in defibrillators has moved on significantly over the last ten years and these new units have a faster analysis to shock time so a shock can be delivered as quickly as possible, terminating the life-threatening arrhythmia. With almost 25% of our volunteers still using the older models this is an ongoing priority. 2025 will see us roll out a further 100 of these new defibs and continue to prioritise our funding to support the full roll out for all our CFRs. Helping Hands Charity Shop in Tadley also supported our defibrillator replacement programme

funding a new defib for our Tadley responders and NATS awarded us funding for a new defibrillator for our CFRs in Hampshire.

Other grants were received from The Wessex Lodge of Fidelity No 8681; Masonic Charitable Foundation and Parish Councils in Burghfield; Padworth; Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor; Appleton with Eaton; Shellingford; Edlesborough and Rotherfield Greys. These local parish councils in our counties support the ongoing costs of providing Community First Responders in their locality. Many make annual donations which enable us to continue providing new equipment, recruit new responders and to ensure they have the training, uniform and support they need.

The SCAS BASICs team were delighted to be awarded a generous grant from Helipad Help which enabled the team to purchase a second response car to attend patients across Hampshire. This extra resource will allow the team to reach more people in critical need of pre-hospital enhanced care, further strengthening the service’s ability to support patients in their time of greatest need. The car, which is specially equipped for pre-hospital emergency care, will be staffed on a voluntary basis by experienced clinicians trained in delivering enhanced care at the scene of serious incidents.

As always there are too many individuals, organisations and community groups to mention but we thank them all for their ongoing support, commitment to learning CPR and interest in our Charity.

21

financial review How We Spent our Funds

The Charity continues to fully fund our Community First Responder and Co-Responder programme covering all uniform, equipment and running costs for this vital service across our local communities. Our total expenditure this year was ~~:~~ £669,000 Our Direct Costs were (62%) £417,000 which included £225,000 for vehicles & equipment for our CFRs and £167,000 on grants and projects including £50,000 of internal grants for staff projects across SCAS. ~~a~~ The Charity spent (26%) £175,000 £77,000 was spent on support costs included £153,000 of management (12%) recharge costs from SCAS. on generating funds. a

22

financial review

Projects Supporting Staff

Legacy income enabled us to introduce an internal grants programme for our staff and we were delighted to award £50k of funding to support eighteen projects across SCAS.

Our internal grants supported our various staff networks including the Women’s Network to provide banner dispensers and free sanitary products for staff across our various ambulance stations and call centres; funding of the Unity in Diversity: Empowering Every Voice event for staff as well as enabling the LGBT+ Network to purchase epaulettes for members, supporting the teams presence at Pride events and enabling some of the group to attend the National Ambulance LGBT+ Conference. Our Freedom to Speak Up Team (FTSU) were able to host a Championing Leaders event and our Communications team created a new leaflet to support members of the public who stop to help at a traumatic incident.

Staff in the Clinical Coordination Centre in Bicester set up a running club to get fit and to enjoy training together and taking part in running events. Our support enabled them to purchase running vests and reflective slap bands for all their runners. Later in the year the team signed up to run various distances at the Southampton Marathon to raise money for the Charity.

Simulation training equipment at High Wycombe and Adderbury

stations has enabled staff to create scenarios for training and development sessions as well as providing staff with a safe place to practise and hone their skills in a supportive environment. This has provided staff and volunteers with access to equipment to aid in their continued professional development to expand their knowledge base and confidence.

We continued to support staff with refreshments to support them during handover delays. At the end of the year, we were particularly pleased to provide refreshments for our staff working Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Items of furniture, garden furniture and soft furnishings to improve some of our working environments across SCAS made up the remainder of grants.

23

financial review

Mental Health and Wellbeing

During the year we continued to fund the Health and Wellbeing Coordinator in Patient Transport Services (PTS) for the remaining six months of the twelve-month secondment. This post was funded last year by NHS Charities Together. During that time key data was unlocked to enable not only better reporting on staff sickness but also to ensure welfare calls are undertaken and staff are appropriately supported. Strategies for improved communications were put in place to ensure health and wellbeing information and support was more accessible. As a result of this the Health and Wellbeing Team is seeing an increased level of engagement from the PTS team.

The Charity supported SCAS with its aim of developing and embedding an organisational baby loss policy and framework to support bereaved parents. Funding a two-year project, working with Tommy’s, the project will also train employees and support people who have suffered from baby loss. The toolkit was launched during the year and staff joined a webinar during SCAS’s Wellbeing Week. Following on from this the Health and Wellbeing Team have hosted a

number of drop-in sessions to ask questions around any aspect of parenting at work. The baby loss policy is being written and will become available in the next financial year.

Community First Responder and Co-Responder Programme

We continued this year to fund equipment, vehicles and uniforms for all our responders and supported the recruitment of new volunteers. Eight additional lifting cushions and two Raiser chairs were added to enable more volunteers to respond to low acuity calls safely lifting elderly and vulnerable people off the floor after a noninjury fall. We also continued to replace aging defibrillators with new Zoll models.

Deploying our CFRs to incidents is crucial and the provision of smartphones enables the National Mobilisation Application (NMA) to be used. While the hardware has previously been purchased the line rental of these devices is an ongoing expense for the Charity. Volunteer expenses for those using their own vehicles to respond as well as the maintenance of our vehicle fleet are also key areas of expenditure.

24

financial review

Central Charity Costs

The Charity continues to carefully manage administration expenditure, but essential costs associated with fundraising and marketing as well as audit and legal fees are necessary to ensure the efficient running of the Charity.

Our staff salaries represented 32% of our overall expenditure.

The Charity has no directly employed staff, but six members of staff were employed by SCAS to work for the Charity during the year. Costs of five of these employees are recharged to the Charity. One member of staff is directly funded by the Trust. Staff are paid on the same terms and conditions as other NHS employees. Remuneration of these employees is reviewed annually and increased in line with nationally agreed increases in pay scales.

Charity Reserves Policy

Reserves are defined by the Charity Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) as ‘that part of a Charity’s unrestricted fund that is freely available to be spend on any of the Charity’s purposes’.

It is important to maintain a sufficient, but not excessive level of reserves to allow us to meet our running costs, including the volunteer responder programme, and ensure continuity in our level of support for frontline services to patients in the event of a significant downturn in income or change in our financial circumstances.

The Charity’s reserves policy states that funds equivalent to six months running cost of the Charity should be maintained to ensure normal operating activities can continue. In addition, funding to cover twelve months cost of our volunteer responder programme should be retained to ensure patient care is not impacted in the event of a reduction in income.

The target range expected for the Charity is between £300,000-£500,000. The current free reserves position at the end of 2024-2025 year is £646,000.

Risk Management

The Trustees have reviewed the major risks to which the Charity is exposed and processes and systems have been established to mitigate those risks.

The Charity’s risk register is reviewed quarterly at Charitable Funds Committee meetings. During the year, the Charity identified the following areas as those with the highest overall risk, after taking in to account the control measures and mitigation currently in place.

Fundraising Income

This year has been a particularly challenging one for fundraising and it is clear the Charity needs to constantly review and revise its income generation plans. This year we committed funding to bring on board an additional community fundraiser to work alongside our volunteer fundraisers; support fundraisers in the community and to proactively engage in fundraising initiatives across our communities. This post will come on board in March and its impact seen in the next financial year.

Corporate Fundraising

During the year we have invested in developing corporate fundraising and much of our overall income growth over the next couple of years will depend on this investment and our ability to secure corporate partnerships. We continue to develop and monitor our pipeline and initiate conversations with potential partners. We now need to develop the green shoots and to grow our pipeline of prospects to ensure maximum growth.

25

financial review

Financial Governance

The increased use of digital fundraising and the Charity’s wish to further develop this area means we must ensure all our compliance and security risks are regularly reviewed and managed. The Charity is working with SCAS’s Cyber Security team to ensure all digital platforms are appropriately managed.

Plans for the Future

Our annual plan for next year is in line with the overall five-year strategy agreed for the Charity. The focus will be on key areas of income generation and also in managing expenditure and reducing the overall deficit annual budget the Charity agreed for this year. Next year our key focus areas will be: Individual Giving – as our database of supporters grows and we have greater visibility as a Charity we will seek to introduce an annual appeal that focuses specifically on raising funds for new defibrillators and lifting cushions for use by our Community First Responders. We will continue to review, revise and reimagine how we can better utilise our digital content and how we effectively engage with our stakeholders and build support into the future.

Community & Events Fundraising

Community fundraising has always been a strong area for the Charity and with greater visibility and a more proactive approach of the team we can continue to see this area grow. With the introduction of two key events during the year to engage different audiences such as corporate supporters, we are looking to grow our reach and create new opportunities. Community Fundraisers are now working in Thames Valley and Hampshire providing better support to those in the community looking to fundraise for us as well as having a more proactive approach to various fundraising

initiatives and interaction with local community groups and local corporates.

Growing our Volunteer Cohort

We will continue to support the recruitment to a variety of volunteer roles, this means not just our frontline Community First Responders and CoResponders but working across SCAS to develop our Patient Safety and Patient Panel Volunteers and our non-emergency Patient Transport Volunteers. We will also be focusing on growing the number of dedicated fundraising volunteers to support community fundraising and seeking a social media volunteer to support this important area of work.

Corporate Fundraising

We will continue to invest in developing corporate partnerships to provide a new, sustainable income source for the Charity in the coming years.

Managing Our Expenditure

With the fundraising climate continuing to challenge our ability to grow our income we have had to make some difficult decisions around expenditure. Next year we will see our fleet of 48 dynamic response vehicles (DRVs) utilised by Community First Responders, reduced to 18. With the end of the 5-year lease of these vehicles and the increased costs to purchase or lease new or second-hand vehicles the decision has been taken to prioritise other important equipment for CFRs. We continually need to focus on managing our expenditure and ensuring we prioritise spend on items that most directly impact patient care. We will continue to work with the Community Engagement and Training Team who will be looking at a more strategic recruitment plan.

We continue to be grateful to all those who have supported us during the year. 2024-2025 has been a challenging year and we look forward to reinvigorating our fundraising in the coming year.

.

26

Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applies to charities in England & Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the Charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102);

• Make judgements and estimates;

• State whether applicable accounting standards have been followed;

• Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Charity and financial information included on the Charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdon governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Declaration

I declare, in my capacity as a member of the South Central Ambulance Charity Corporate Trustee that the trustees have approved the report above and have authorised me to sign it on their behalf.

Professor Sir Keith Willett CBE

Chair, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust and Interim Chair, Charitable Funds Committee

Date 27 November 2025

27

Independent Examiner’s Report

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of South Central Ambulance Charity

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31st March 2025 which are set out on pages 28 to 38.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:

Benjamin Hayes BSc FCA Wenn Townsend Chartered Accountants 30 St Giles’, Oxford OX1 3LE

Date 3 December 2025

28

finances

Statement of Financial Activities Year ending 31 March 2025

Note	Note			2024-25	2023-24
	Unrestricted		Restricted	Total	Total
		Funds	Funds	Funds	Funds
Incoming resources		£000	£000	£000	£000
Donations, Legacies and similar resources
Donations	2	206	5	211	196
Legacies	2	11	0	11	1,183
Grants receivable	2	5	67	72	110
Total donations and legacies		222	72	294	1,489
Operating Activities
Investment income		54	0	54	33
Other	2	19	1	20	76
Total operating activities		73	1	74	109
Total incoming resources		295	73	368	1,598
Resources expended
Activities in furtherance	3	(453)	(144)	(597)	(730)
of charity’s objectives
Costs of generating funds	4	(75)	(2)	(77)	(117)
Total resources expended		(528)	(146)	(674)	(847)
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources before transfers		(233)	(73)	(306)	751
Re-classifcation of Restricted Funds		(6)	6	0	0
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources		(239)	(67)	(306)	751
Net movement in funds		(239)	(67)	(306)	751
Fund Balances brought forward at 1 April	2024	885	271	1,156	405
Fund Balances brought forward at 31 March 2025		646	204	850	1,156

The notes at pages 31 to 38 form part of these financial statements

29

finances

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2025

	Notes	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total at 31	Total at 31
		Funds	Funds	March 2025	March 2024
		£000	£000
Current Assets
Debtors	7	55	0	55	32
Investments and deposits	6	617	204	821	1,200
Cash at bank and in hand	6	54	0	54	123
Total Current Assets		726	204	930	1,355
Current Liabilities
Creditors: Amounts falling due
within one year	8	(80)	0	(80)	(199)
Net Current Assets		646	204	850	1,156
Total Assets		646	204	850	1,156
Total Net Assets		646	204	850	1,156
Funds of the Charity
Income Funds:
Restricted	9	0	204	204	271
Unrestricted		646	0	646	885
Total Funds		646	204	850	1,156

The notes at pages 31 to 38 form part of these financial statements Signed:

Stuart Rees Chief Finance Officer Date: 27 November 2025

30

finances

Statement of Cash Flows as at 31 March 2025

	Total at 31	Total at 31
	March 2025	March 2024
	£000	£000
Cash generated from operations
Net Incoming (outgoing) resources	(306)	751
Interest from Investments	(54)	33
Increase (decrease) in creditors	(119)	23
(Increase) decrease in debtors	(23)	23
(Increase) decrease in stock	0	29
Total cash generated from operations	(502)	793
Cash fows from investing activities
Interest income	54	33
Purchase of tangible assets	0	0
Cash provided by (used in) investing activities	54	33
Increase / (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the year	(448)	826
Total cash and cash equivalents at start of the year	1,323	497
Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	875	1,323

31

finances

South Central Ambulance Charity is a charity registered in England and Wales. The address of the registered office is given in the information on page 38 of these financial statements. The nature of the charity’s operations and principal activities are detailed in the Trustees’ Report.

Notes to the Accounts

1 Accounting Policies

• 1.1 Accounting Convention

• In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historic cost convention and in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective1 January 2015), (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

Country of incorporation (England & Wales).

The principal address of the Charity is Unit 3 Bridge House, Station Yard, Thame, OX9 3UH.

South Central Ambulance Charity raises funds to support South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS). All the monies raised by our Charity are used to fund services, projects and equipment that is not supplied by Government NHS funding. Without the money we raise people in our communities would have to wait longer for help which could affect their recovery. The Charity works across Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland issued in October 2019 (FRS102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011, and UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis under the historic cost convention. The financial statements are presented in pounds sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity, and rounded to the nearest thousand pounds sterling.

• 1.2 Incoming Resources

• a) All incoming resources are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities as soon as the following three factors can be met:

• i) entitlement – arises when a particular resource is receivable or the charity’s right becomes legally enforceable;

• ii) certainty – when there is reasonable certainty that the incoming resource will be received;

• iii) measurement – when the monetary value of the incoming resources can be measured with sufficient reliability.

b) Legacies

• Legacies are accounted for as incoming resources once the receipt of the legacy becomes reasonably certain. This will be once confirmation has been received from the representatives of the estates that payment of the legacy will be made or property transferred and once all conditions attached to the legacy have been fulfilled.

1.3 Resources expended

The funds held on trust accounts are prepared in accordance with the accruals concept. All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, the amount of which can be reliably measured or estimated.

• a) Cost of generating funds

• The cost of generating funds are the costs associated with generating income for the funds held on trust.

• b) Grants payable

• Grants payable are payments, made to third parties (including NHS bodies) in the furtherance of the funds held on trust’s charitable objectives.

• c) Irrecoverable VAT

• Irrecoverable VAT is charged against the category of resources expended for which it was incurred.

32

finances

Notes to the Accounts CONTINUED

1.4 Debtors and creditors

Receivable or payable within one year of the reporting date are carried at their transaction price. Debtors and creditors that are receivable or payable in more than one year and not subject to a market rate of interest are measured at the present value of the future receipts or payment discounted at a market rate of interest.

1.5 Going Concern

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis as the trustees believe that no material uncertainties exist. The trustees have considered the level of funds held and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The budgeted income and expenditure is sufficient with the level of reserves for the charity to be able to continue as a going concern.

1.6 Structure of funds

Restricted:

These are funds that have a legal restriction (subject to a Trust) and must be spent for a specific purpose-details shown at notes 9.1.

Unrestricted:

Unless there is clear evidence of a Trust being created at the point of receipt, then the Charity Commission takes the view that donations should be classified as “unrestricted”.

In practice most donations received by the Charity are from donors expressing a desire, wish or recommendation that the Charity will use it in a certain way. Such donations are normally allocated to designated funds within the Charity’s Accounts for that purpose, but if the purpose cannot be fulfilled the Trustee’s can apply the donations for a further purpose in furtherance of the Charity’s objects, after taking all factors into consideration.

1.7 Short Term Investments

During the year 2023/24 surplus funds identified and CFC invested funds £1.2m. Current asset investments are short-term highly liquid investments and are held at fair value. These include cash on deposit and cash equivalents with a maturity of less than one year.

For the year funds were drawn from the invested fund and at the end of financial year 2024/25 the investment funds were £821k.

1.8 IFRS Implications

With the introduction of IFRS in the NHS, these accounts will still continue to be submitted to the Charity Commission. However, under IFRS, as these charitable funds are under the control of the South Central Ambulance Service Foundation NHS Trust Board as Corporate Trustee, they may have to be consolidated within the Statutory reporting of the Trust subject to materiality considerations.

1.9 Key judgements and sources of estimation uncertainty

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

33

finances

Notes to the Accounts CONTINUED

2 Details of Material Incoming Resources

2.1 Incoming Resources
		Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Total
		Funds	Funds	2024-25	2023-24
				Funds	Funds
		£000	£000	£000	£000
Donations and Legacies
Donations received		206	5	211	196
Legacies received		11	0	11	1,183
Grants received	2	5	67	72	110
Sub-total		222	72	294	1,489
Other
Investment income		54	0	54	33
Gift Aid		10	0	10	2
One-off income		6	0	6	69
Merchandise sales		0	1	1	5
Other		3	0	3	0
Sub-total		73	1	74	109
Total incoming resources		295	73	368	1,598

2.2 Grants Received and Material Grants

	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Total
	Funds	Funds	2024-25	2023-24
			Funds	Funds
	£000	£000	£000	£000
NHS Charities Together	0	0	0	50
Helipad Help	0	29	29	0
Other	5	38	43	60
Total grants received	5	67	72	110

34

finances

Notes to the Accounts CONTINUED

3 Details of Resources Expended – Activities in furtherance of charity’s objectives

3.1 Direct Costs of Charitable Expenditure

		Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Total
		Funds	Funds	2024-25	2023-24
				Funds	Funds
		£000	£000	£000	£000
Direct Costs
Equipment and vehicles		208	22	230	266
Grants and projects	3.2	50	116	**166 **	223
Future Qual training		3	0	3	3
Volunteer conference		0	6	6	8
Database costs		12	0	12	11
Fundraising Platform Fees		5	0	5	2
Sub-total		278	144	422	513
Support Costs
Management recharge costs		153	0	153	143
Independent examination fees / auditor’s fees		4	0	4	9
Miscellaneous		18	0	18	65
Subtotal		175	0	175	217
Total Charitable Costs		453	144	597	730

Included within Equipment and vehicles are vehicle running costs, uniform costs, equipment purchases and telecommunications costs for the Community First Responders and Co-Responders.

3.2 Grants

£166k was spent on grants and projects. £50k of this was from unrestricted income for the internal grants the Charity made to projects within SCAS. This included training and simulation equipment for our frontline staff £25k. £16k for our Staff; £5k to the SCAS BASICs team to support their volunteer roles and the remaining £4k was given to improve staff working conditions within ambulance stations. During the year £116k was spent from restricted grants received and includes £13k to develop the CAD to support the launch of GoodSam; £20k from the NHS Charities Together grant for the Mental Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator based in Patient Transport Services for 12 months; £50k from Helipad Help and others to support SCAS BASICs including the purchase of a new response vehicle. £9k of grants and donations to support staff were used to support our frontline teams with refreshments; £12k from the NHS Charities Together Ambulance grant funded new defibrillators and lifting cushions for use by our CFRs and the NHS Charities Together Development Grant supported the Charity to develop corporate fundraising £12k.

35

finances

Notes to the Accounts CONTINUED

4 Costs of Generating Funds

	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Total
	Funds	Funds	2024-25	2023-24
			Funds	Funds
	£000	£000	£000	£000
Promotional goods & event costs	7	2	9	16
Leafets & promotion	2	0	2	2
Management recharge – fundraisers	64	0	64	96
Website	2	0	2	3
	75	2	77	117

5 Staff Costs

There are no staff costs as no staff (2023/24: nil) are employed directly by the Charity Trustees remuneration/expenses

No remuneration or expenses were paid to any trustee in the current or preceding period

6 Analysis of Cash

6.1 Market value at 31 March

	Held	Held	2024-25	2023-24
	in UK	outside UK	Total	Total
	£000	£000	£000	£000
Cash at bank	54	0	54	123
Cash equivalents on deposit	821	0	821	1,200
	875	0	875	1,323

36

finances

Notes to the Accounts CONTINUED

7 Analysis of Receivables

7 Analysis of Receivables
7.1 Amounts falling due within one year:	31 March 2025	31 March 2024
	£000	£000
Prepayments	19	8
Accrued income	23	0
Other debtors	13	24
Total receivables	55	32

8 Analysis of Payables

8 Analysis of Payables
8.1 Amounts falling due within one year:	31 March 2025	31 March 2024
	£000	£000
Amounts due to subsidiary and associated undertakings	34	187
Other payables	46	12
Total payables falling due within one year	80	199

The amount due to subsidiary and associated undertaking is owed to South Central Ambulance Trust (SCAS). The Trust re-charges staff time spent on Charity business. Purchases are paid through the SCAS procurement system and re-charged. The above amount represents the monies due to SCAS for M12 of 2024/25.

37

finances

Notes to the Accounts CONTINUED

9 Analysis of Funds

9	Analysis of Funds	Analysis of Funds
9.1	Restricted Funds
				Balance	Incoming	Resources	Transfers To		Gains and	Balance
				31 March	Resources	Expended	Unrestricted		Losses	31 March
				2024			Funds			2025
				£000	£000	£000		£000	£000	£000
Funds
0017		Buckinghamshire CFR		1	0	0	(1)		0	0
0020		West Hampshire CFR		1	0	0	(1)		0	0
0023		LGBT		1	2	(2)	3		0	4
0032		General Restricted		28	12	(3)	0		0	37
0033		SSEN Grant		2	0	(2)	0		0	0
0034		High Wycombe Lions Donation		1	0	(1)	0		0	0
0036		Christopher Wren Lodge Donation		2	0	(2)	0		0	0
0037		NHSCT Ambulance Grant		50	0	(21)	0		0	29
0038		NHSCT Stage 2 Community	Grants	58	0	(13)	0		0	45
0039		NHSE Winter Pressures Funding		15	0	0	0		0	15
0040		NHSE/I Volunteer Development		26	0	(15)	0		0	11
0041		NHSCT Stage 3 Mental Health Grant		45	0	(20)	0		0	25
0042		Volunteer to Career Grant		3	0	0	0		0	3
0043		SCAS BASICs		7	59	(51)	5		0	20
0044		Bannister Legacy		17	0	(4)	0		0	13
0045		NHSCT Development Grant		14	0	(12)	0		0	2
Total				271	73	(146)	6		0	204
General restricted			Small donations and grants given for specifc pieces of equipment or geographical areas that are used
			to support	those areas.
NHSCT Ambulance Grant			Grant awarded to support		Community	First Responders, Out of		Hospital	Cardiac Arrest support and
			the Residential Homes project.

NHSCT Stage 2 Community Grants Grants awarded for Community First Responders, Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest support, implementation of the GoodSam app and integration with the CAD and the Residential homes project. NHSE Volunteer Development Grant Grant awarded to support welfare volunteers and volunteer development. NHSCT Mental Health Stage 3 Grant Grant awarded to fund bereavement support for staff; Sustaining Resilience at work stress management programme and to fund a one year health and wellbeing coordinator for our patient transport services department.

NHSE Winter Pressures Fund Supporting volunteering initiatives and costs that support patient care over the winter months when there is a high demand on the service. SCAS BASICs Fund Supports the SCAS BASICs volunteers to purchase equipment, vehicles and consumables. Bannister Legacy Fund Restricted legacy from the Estate of the Late John Basil Bannister who gifted a fund to support our volunteers in Chalgrove, Oxfordshire.

Traditionally the Charity received only a few restricted grants or donations so these were managed within a single central or regional restricted fund. During and after the pandemic a number of significant restricted grants and donations have been received.In order to accurately manage and report on these grants and donations we have set up a new more detailed fund structure for restricted income. Income from previous grants and donations have been transferred to these new funds as detailed above. The transfer between unrestricted funds and restricted funds was awarded via applications received for internal grants which were approved by the Charity’s Fund Committee.

38

finances

Notes to the Accounts CONTINUED

10 Related Party Transactions

During the year none of the Trustees or members of key management or parties related to them have undertaken any transactions with the South Central Ambulance Charitable Trust. No expenses or remunerations have been paid to the Trustees.

The year 2023/24 intercompany year-end balance was £184k, as at this year end balance 2024/25 the intercompany balance was £34k.

The £34k related to transactions which occured in March 2025 in SCAS which related to the Charity’s purchases which consisted of the following expenditure:

• Restricted grant expenditure £10.5k

• Staff salaries £8.7k

• CFR uniform £7.9k

• Other CFR equipment £4.2k

• CFR smartphones £2.7k

• Travel £0.8k

• Future Qual training £0.3k

• Volunteer development (Restricted)

There was a difference of £266.84 between SCAS and SCAS Charity’s intercompany accounts which relates to uniform order where the orders cost had not hit SCAS accounts in order to recharge the charity.

11 Ultimate Parent Undertaking

South Central Ambulance Charity registered charity No 1049778 is part of South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) registered No: Z9522464.

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Unit 7 - 8 Talisman Business Centre, Talisman Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX26 6HR is the NHS Ambulance Service for Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire as well as providing Patient Transport Services additionally across Surrey and Sussex.

12 Operating Leases

Total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases are as follows

	2024-25	2023-24
	£000	£000
Not later than one year	38,992	94,731
Later than one and not later than fve years	0	38,992
	38,992	133,723