2022-03-31-accounts

Annual report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2022

Contents

Foreword	1
Welcome	2
Trustees Report(Incorporating the strategic report)	6
Financial statements	44
Independent examiner’s report	45
Statement of financial activities	46
Balance sheet	47
Cash flow statement	49
Notes to the cash flow statement	50
Notes to the financial statements	51
Structure, governance and management	64
Reference and administration	68

Foreword

“We have made such

positive steps so far. There is a long road ahead, but we now understand our son and that is worth the world.”

by Alex’s mum

Our journey with Alex has been a rollercoaster. He never seemed to be content, everything felt like a battle. He wasn’t really speaking but it was never flagged up to us. He would drop to the floor silently, as if you had taken his legs away and only get up when he was ready.

Alex has become much calmer. He is managing his feelings so much better, and we have only had two big meltdowns since the assessment, when it was at least daily before. He has started to tolerate his brother better and they’ve started playing alongside each other - so magical to see. He is sleeping much more soundly and beginning to describe how his body feels when he isn’t feeling happy or calm.

He started school in September 2020 and we were worried how he would cope. We were still concerned about his speech and that he had missed preschool due to the pandemic. Things went downhill quickly. Alex began dropping to the floor more frequently and severely. A doctor referred him to the epilepsy department, however seizures were ruled out and we were advised to look into behavioural causes.

We have made such positive steps so far. There is a long road ahead, but we now understand our son and that is worth the world. We now feel that, as things change and new struggles come up, we have the tools to help him.

It was just constant and overwhelming. There was no obvious trigger, other than thinking it was difficulties with his speech leading to him feeling extremely frustrated. We had no idea how to handle it. We were getting deeper into a black hole, didn’t know what to do or where to go for help, or even what help to ask for. It was a chaotic mess with no obvious way out.

Eighteen months ago we fell into a very dark and scary hole. Without bibic I don’t know where we would be or where we would have gone. bibic has changed our lives so much. It’s because of them that we can enjoy our LEGO mad, water and mud loving little boy and give him the very best chance at life.

We just wanted to know how to help him as we felt it wasn’t just ‘bad’ behaviour. Then we heard about bibic. They were so lovely and so understanding. Our assessment showed that what he is able to do doesn’t match his underlying abilities. So, our thoughts that he was frustrated were correct, he has a lot trapped inside.

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The therapy plan gave us what we had hoped for five long years. We finally had the tools to help our son understand himself.

It was enlightening and empowering. Our Therapist also helped with a meeting at school so they could put things in place to support him.

Welcome

from the Chair of Trustees by Laura Voyle

I’m delighted to introduce bibic’s Annual Report, published in our 50[th] anniversary year. A milestone year for us as a charity, but sadly also the year that bibic really experienced how great the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been on children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs. We received more enquiries for our support than ever before and heard heart-breaking stories from desperate families who had nowhere else to turn.

The impact of the virus on staff and families, as well as the associated restrictions and changes to routine and support, have both increased demand and simultaneously required us to adapt, be flexible and support new ways of working.

In the last year, we have helped over 500 children and young adults, plus their parents/carers and siblings. A remarkable achievement and one that I would like to share my deep gratitude to the team at bibic for delivering. They have continued to show complete dedication to our families through hard work, compassion and adaptability. Whatever challenges have surfaced, they have responded with positivity and supported our families during a time when demand for our services has been unprecedented.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of trusts and foundations, support from corporates and our wonderful supporters, as well as donations through gifts in wills, we have maintained our fundraising income. Without their support, bibic would not be able to do this vital work.

A huge thank you is also owed to our amazing network of volunteers, who gave their time and skills for free. They are an inspiration. This includes the members of the Board, to whom I owe my thanks for their continued dedication to our work and collective mission.

We know the difference our work makes to our families. Our therapy improves the lives of the children and young adults through the development of cognition, communication, motor skills, speech and language. But more than this, our team’s wider support reduces anxiety, depression, self-harm, aggression and suicidal thoughts, reduces school exclusions and improves educational attainment and life chances. It improves social inclusion and family life. We hear feedback from families every day that bibic has given them renewed hope and confidence for their futures. In this, our 50[th] anniversary year, we have worked hard to capture this within our 50 years of bibic Impact Report , published alongside this Annual Report.

We know the coming year will be tough. The wider economic climate is already having an impact on the fundraising landscape and our waiting lists continue to grow. But the evidence of positive change we see every day drives us forward. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we will continue to transform lives.

Laura Voyle , Chair of the Trustees

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Message from the Managing Director by Pip Buckley

Children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs and their families have faced intensified difficulties during the pandemic. Our waiting lists are higher than ever as the disruption to family life continues to be felt. We have added even more flexible interim support for families while they wait to be seen, new digital information resources and new live interactive Q&A sessions.

Our waiting list remains high, from a pre-pandemic 10 weeks in March 2020 to 46 weeks by March 2022. This represents almost ten months that children and young adults need to wait for support to understand themselves better and for their families to have strategies to help them. Ten months that families may be living in crisis, facing the fear and uncertainty about their child’s future.

As always, our small but ambitious organisation relies completely on our donors and supporters. Our very small fundraising team, still facing challenges in raising money, grabbed every opportunity during the year. We rely on your donations. Without you bibic would not exist.

This, our 50[th] Anniversary year, has seen us refresh our brand so we can better communicate what we do and what we stand for. We have also enhanced our monitoring and evaluation processes so that the unique insight of families and the outcomes of our therapy can directly shape decision-making and help us be transparent and accountable to our supporters. This work has also helped us produce a “50 years of bibic Impact Report” which provides a real insight into the difference we make. We are ready for our future, transforming families’ lives for the next 50 years.

We’ve supported more than 20,000 children and young adults over the last five decades. This year we moved into a bigger space for families within the National Centre. We now have additional therapy rooms and facilities that are more appropriate for

younger children and those with more profound disabilities. We also have a larger family room, a bigger and better equipped sensory room and more privacy for families. It has been wonderful to see them enjoy this new space and our therapy team flourish within it.

Our waiting list keeps increasing at pace. We are under no illusions that fundraising will continue to be challenging in the year ahead. We not only need to maintain our current level of support, but we need to sustainably grow fundraising income so that we can recruit more Therapists to support more families and reduce the wait they need to endure. To this end we are developing a new Five-Year Plan for sustainable growth.

Without our supporters, bibic couldn’t continue to do what we do. We are deeply grateful to our wide family of donors, supporters and friends. This report gives you an honest and full overview of what you’ve helped us to achieve this year, what’s gone less well and what we’ve learned along the way. You can hear directly from our bibic families about how you have made a difference - and what a difference that has been. Thank you.

Pip Buckley , Managing Director

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An invaluable few days spent
with our bibic Therapist. She
really helped us understand
our child and we left feeling
energised with great strategies
to use going forward.
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Who we are and how we make a difference

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Our purpose

What we do

Why we exist

We offer holistic therapy to children and young adults with neurological, behavioural and developmental challenges, enabling them to understand themselves and the world around them. We champion their perspective, helping others to see it too. Together we transform families’ lives so they can thrive.

Children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs are often unsupported and excluded from society because there is a lack of understanding about their needs and how they can be met. At bibic, we passionately believe that every child and young adult deserves to thrive, contribute in their community and live happy lives.

here to help them overcome their challenges. Our holistic assessments and therapy are both bespoke to each child or young adult and as individual as they are.

We support the whole family, not just the child or young adult we are working with. Families can find themselves in crisis. We stand by their side to help them understand their child’s needs, empowering them with strategies to support their daily life and long-term development.

Increasingly we see children and young adults with less understood, hidden health or behavioural needs as well as those with profound disabilities or special educational needs. With or without a diagnosis, we’re

Our values

Transformative: We recommend small changes which are achievable and make a big difference. We explore all aspects of the individual’s development so that we can unpick the foundation of the causes of their challenges and provide strategies that can enable them to thrive.

As part of our brand refresh in our 50th year, we have refined what bibic stands for. We are:

Holistic: Delivering a blend of sensory, cognitive, emotional, developmental and physical exercises that support a child or young adult’s specific needs. We go 360 degrees and are here for the whole family.

Progressive: We offer support with or without diagnosis. We find the answers families are searching for and explain them in terms that everyone can understand and no question is too silly. Always learning and always improving.

Nurturing: It’s what we do best. We know that the child/young adult and their family can experience intense stress, isolation and exhaustion. We stand by their side to help them understand their specific needs, empowering them with strategies to support daily life and long-term development.

Public benefit statement

The Trustees confirm that they have paid due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit under the Charities Act 2011. In particular, they consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives of the charity and are satisfied that all activities continue to be related to its purpose as set out in the governing document. The charity exists to benefit children and young adults with a wide range of additional needs and disabilities and their families. Our public benefit is best understood through the words of the families themselves and we have shared as many as possible with you within this report.

bibic are the only UK organisation providing such individualised and holistic therapy. We look at the whole person during assessment to create a holistic therapy plan which supports a child or young adult’s specific needs. This includes a blend of sensory, cognitive, behavioural, emotional, developmental and physical exercises as well as strategies to help at school, at home and when out and about.

Children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs often have multiple diagnoses or difficulties, one concealing another or with symptoms overlapping, which requires specialist and comprehensive therapy. Our “whole person” approach delivers more effective and lasting positive outcomes.

This core service represents 80% of the work we do

Our core service:

Full assessment, bespoke therapy programme and support package

bibic’s detailed report helps families access further support from the NHS, local authorities, at nursery, school or college and through other organisations

Day 1

• Our Therapist works closely with the child or young adult to carry out a wide range of tests, screeners, exercises and observations. They listen carefully to the whole family’s concerns, to get a good understanding of their challenges and needs. They then create an individualised developmental therapy programme that supports the child or young adult’s specific needs.

Every full assessment package costs around £2,085 . The family is asked to contribute £600 and bibic fundraises the remaining £1,485

Day 2

• On day two, we empower parents and carers to become the therapist by explaining the therapy plan, training and supporting them to deliver it at home.

65% of the children and young adults we support have no diagnosis

Keyworking

• We stay in close contact for an agreed time period, providing ongoing support with regular scheduled calls whenever they need to lean on us. We formally evaluate progress at three and six months and introduce new therapies and strategies regularly to keep pace with their development.

We have a special fund to help cover the £600 contribution for families with a low income, keeping true to our founding vision of never turning away a child or young adult who needs our support. Thanks to the support of several donors, including Irwin Mitchell LLP and Somerset Community Foundation (Wessex Water Community Fund), this year our fee-waiver fund helped nine families access crucial support.

Ongoing

• After six months, they are invited back for a reassessment and further support if needed. Our new post-service support sessions and bespoke consultations now support families more flexibly. We often continue supporting children, young adults and their families for many years.

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Our other services

We also deliver a range of other therapeutic services that are often packaged together to provide bespoke and flexible support. As with our core service, many are now available via video call if the family prefers, except for the dyslexia and Irlen Syndrome screeners and Johansen Individualised Auditory Stimulation.

Short assessments

Screeners

Our Therapists carry out screening tests for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia and Sensory Processing Disorder. Our detailed reports can be instrumental in helping families get a diagnosis.

We offer short assessments, each lasting between three hours to one day, to look at a specific issue around behaviour, wellbeing, early years development or sensory processing. Therapists listen carefully to the parents/carers and their child, carrying out relevant screeners and observations. They then provide individualised strategies and a report which can be used to help access additional support or be used as diagnostic evidence.

We also conduct specialist Irlen Syndrome screeners to assess visual perception processing which can affect an individual’s ability to read or write. It can also cause light sensitivity, fatigue, headaches as well as difficulties with depth perception, behaviour and gross motor skills.

Johansen Individualised Auditory Stimulation (JIAS)

This six to eighteen month programme involves listening to specifically composed synthesised music that is proven to stimulate the neural pathways of the brain that deal with language and auditory information. Many individuals see improvements in noise sensitivity, expressive language, processing speed, word finding skills as well as memory, listening, concentration, language comprehension and self-esteem.

“Thanks to you he has finally got an ASD diagnosis and we have now secured an EHCP! We can’t thank you enough for your report and all your hard work.”

“We’ve gone from having a child that hates school, feels useless and worthless and is on the brink of permanent exclusion to one that is happy, confident, proud, better accepted and loving school so much that he can recognise his potential and wants to excel.”

Training seminars and webinars

These sessions bring together both parents/ carers and professionals, covering topics such as managing extreme behaviour, sensory processing, developing independence, working memory and processing. They help increase understanding of the needs of children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs and how best to meet them. We also provide bespoke training for other organisations such as schools, voluntary organisations and prisons.

School Liaison

bibic Therapists often liaise directly with professionals at nursery, school or college about an individual child or young adult. This may include joining families for meetings with teachers or attending Educational Health and Care Plan and multidisciplinary meetings. We also visit schools to carry out our full assessment for a child within the classroom setting if that is where they are experiencing significant difficulties. We can also assess whole class groups to support teachers in managing and supporting the whole group’s sensory needs.

This crucial support helps families access more support for their child and helps teaching staff to better understand the child’s needs so they can enable them to thrive and reach their potential.

Additional support

Parents, or a young adult themselves, can book regular or ad hoc telephone or video consultations with a Therapist to discuss specific issues in depth and support their ongoing development.

Our post-diagnosis support sessions provide specific strategies for children and young adults who have been given a diagnosis.

Our Support and Advice Line (SAL) provides immediate telephone, text and email support for parents, carers and teachers, or a young adult themselves. Whether it is for advice with day-to-day concerns, handling behaviours and meltdowns, questions about our therapies or signposting other support, we are here when they need us.

Our post-service support sessions deliver a flexible service for families that have completed their six months of key working support after a full assessment, but who do not need a re-assessment and a further key working period.

This year we began to deliver interactive, live online Q&A sessions to provide regular and free access to Therapist support. These sessions provide immediate support for families on our waiting list or those who are currently working with a Therapist. They will also give us a platform to significantly increase our reach, accessibility and impact with more families across the UK.

“The work we do at bibic is invaluable to those who we support. We change the outcomes for many people on a daily basis. Small changes can have big and everlasting results. This is not just a job to me it is a sense of purpose and a privilege. I couldn’t ask for better role.”

Jess , Developmental Therapist

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Who we support

bibic support children and young adults (aged 6 months to 25 years) with a vast range of disabilities and additional needs. In 2021/22 this included over 50 different diagnoses or suspected diagnoses, including but not limited to acquired brain injury, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Global Development Delay, Cerebral Palsy, Down’s Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia.

“For the first time in seven years, I feel listened to and validated as a parent. I cannot recommend you enough. You were amazing for my son and also for me. We felt comfortable and validated from the very beginning.”

Their needs are often complex, with symptoms or difficulties overlapping. Some have profound and multiple neurological disabilities and others have difficulties that severely impact their daily lives. We increasingly see children and young adults with less understood, hidden difficulties such as behavioural, sensory, developmental, communication or mental health difficulties caused by untreated or unmanaged conditions.

Many parents cannot get their concerns heard and come to us desperate for help for their children and young adults. They describe intense family stress, exhaustion, social isolation, sibling neglect and parental separation. Our holistic approach extends to our support to the whole family, not just the child or young adult. The wellbeing of the whole family is at the heart of our approach.

children and young 504 adults were supported in 2021-22

During each year we not only support the families who come to us for one of our services, but also families we have already worked with who are still receiving key working support after an assessment during the previous year. This year we have directly helped a total of 2,091 people.

504 children and young adults 918 parents and carers 669 siblings

Note: Our previous Annual Report’s figures included only children and young adults who received their first service within the year. We recognised that this does not accurately reflect our impact. The figures above now include those who are still receiving key working support after their full assessment in the previous period.

65% of the children and young adults we support come to us without a diagnosis

Girls tend to present in wider ranging/subtle ways, particularly for Autism Spectrum Disorder. They tend to mask behaviours and have better social integration skills. Early intervention is vital, and we work with healthcare and education professionals to help improve early identification.

“We arrived feeling deflated and left feeling optimistic for the future”

We support children and young adults right across the UK

The average age we support is 9 years old. Most children we support are aged 6-10 years old

59% of the children 41% are female and young adults we supported are male

85% live within in the South West near our National Centre in Somerset and we see clusters in areas of deprivation and urban areas

Freddie’s big milestone

Our therapy team were so happy to receive this message from Freddie’s Mum:

“I have to share some news with you that I know you will appreciate as much as we do. You have known Freddie for years and will know how much he loves music, in particular Ed Sheeran. In a heat of the moment impulse buy last year I bought some tickets to a live gig. As it got nearer the time, I began to panic because of all the old memories of taking Freddie anywhere (not even on anything this scale). It would always just end with us both crying and leaving early.

Well, this amazing boy that you have helped support for all of these years, the boy who at one point couldn’t leave the house, couldn’t have visitors around and god forbid I ever needed to get petrol with him in the car, this amazing boy - he managed a four-hour car journey, 20 minute walk in the rain through a strange city, entered a busy loud arena with 60,000+ people and watched Ed Sheeran live. And more importantly showed genuine emotion - he was just loving it.

I am so proud of what we (us and bibic) have achieved with him. I still keep crying with joy and happiness. I had to share this with you because you will “get it” and every now and then you need a reminder of just how amazing your job is and what you actually do for people. I just wanted you to know that I will be forever grateful for supporting me to get Freddie to where he is today.”

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Activities delivered this year

This year saw a 53% increase in enquiries with 1,059 families getting in touch to discuss our support. The waiting list for a full assessment had increased to 46 weeks at year end (10 weeks in March 2020).

We delivered 356 assessments and other services

260 of these were our full assessments - a 35% increase on the previous year

The demand for our services far outstrips our current capacity. Our greatest strategic challenge is to sustainably grow fundraising income to recruit more Therapists so that we can support more families and reduce the wait they need to endure.

Enquiries received

404 families in 2019/20 691 families in 2020/21

19 children and young adults had a re-assessment and a further six months of key working support after their initial full assessment, therapy and support.

17 children and young adults benefited from the powerful intervention provided by Johansen Individualised Auditory Stimulation and 21 were able to benefit from our Irlen Syndrome screener.

1,059 families in 2021/22

Our full assessment, therapeutic and ongoing support programme represents around 80% of what we do

We are so grateful to BBC Children in Need who have funded a Therapist’s salary over the last three years. In this last year, their support has enabled Claire to support 107 children, young adults and their families. “We’re delighted to be funding bibic in Somerset to deliver crucial therapy and support to children and young adults facing disadvantage across the UK and make a positive difference to their lives.” Lisa Bedding, Head of the South of England, BBC Children in Need

60 children and young adults were helped through our other services. These include our oneday assessments, screeners, consultations, post-service and post-diagnosis sessions, as well as our shorter assessments focused on wellbeing, behavioural, early years development and sensory needs.

A further 425 people participated in bibic training sessions

Our therapy team spoke with 41 families through our Support and Advice Line

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How we measure success

How we make a difference

Children and young adults experience wide ranging difficulties, thus the outcomes from our therapy are diverse. They include:

• Improved social and community acceptance and integration

• Enhanced family cohesion

• Reduced anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsions, hyperactivity, self-harm, aggression and suicidal thoughts

• Improved likelihood of diagnosis through bibic’s detailed reports

• Improved access support from local authorities, the NHS, nurseries, schools and colleges through bibic’s liaison.

• Improved self-esteem, confidence, self-awareness and independence

• Reduced school exclusion and refusal

• Our new Theory of Change outlines how the services we deliver result in an increased understanding about each individual’s specific needs and how this contributes to the intended outcomes and our sustained impact goal:

• Improved cognitive, comprehension and communication skills

• Increased concentration, engagement and attainment at school

Children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs are included in and contribute to society, live happy lives and achieve their full potential.

• Improved gross and fine motor skills, movement coordination, physical strength and speech and language

• Improved functional behaviours such as those that affect sleep, eating and toileting

Over the last 50 years, our Therapists have supported more than 20,000 children, young adults and their families.

• Greater ability to form and maintain social relationships

What parents and carers told us

96%

agree or strongly agree

that bibic helped them better understand their child and their needs

85% said that the goals set during their child’s assessment had been achieved

83% feel that their child is happier after bibic’s support

89%

think that the school

better understand their child’s needs after bibic’s support

81% think that bibic’s support helped them to get a diagnosis for their child

74% think that their child had improved self-esteem after bibic’s support

agree or 88% strongly agree that bibic’s support helped to reduce family stress

In 2021 we greatly enhanced our monitoring and evaluation processes, informed by a new theory of change. We are now getting better response rates and higher quality data and feedback. These new systems also more effectively involve children and young adults (if developmentally able), especially younger children.

We use robust, nationally recognised tools to capture evidence of the difference we make. These tools measure changes in wellbeing, independence, engagement with education, behaviour and family stress. They allow us to gain real depth of understanding and regular monitoring enables new exercises and strategies to be introduced in line with the child or young adult’s development.

Our new approach includes:

• Goal Based Outcomes (GBOs): A ten-point scale outcome measure for children and young adults with additional needs/disabilities. Goals are identified at assessment and measured at least twice afterwards.

• Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQs): A standardised and recommended measure for children’s anxiety, conduct, hyperactivity, peer relationships and prosocial behaviour. SDQs are used at the point of assessment and before the key working period ends, with different versions for parents/carers and children or young adults of different ages).

• Parent/carer and children/young adult surveys: Different versions of surveys which provide a baseline from initial assessment and after six months.

• Experience of service questionnaire: To capture feedback about the experience of bibic after assessment, with different versions for the parents/carers and the child or young adult.

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Families at our heart

We are embedded in our community. We proactively involve families in consultations, surveys, parent forums and informal conversations. This helps us gain their perspectives on different issues and ensures we place the child or young adult and their family at the very heart of bibic. Their unique insight, and the results of our monitoring and evaluation work, directly shape our strategic and operational decision making, including the services we deliver and how we deliver them.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

We don’t just accept difference - we value it, celebrate it, nurture it and thrive from it. This extends through our approach to therapy, employment, volunteering, fundraising and marketing. Our assessments and therapeutic support are as individual as each child or young adult. We have a high proportion of staff and volunteers with lived experience of having a child with disabilities and additional needs and 32% of staff declaring they live with a disability.

Our Board has a 50:50 gender split and one Trustee (25%) has an ethnic minority background. Two Trustees (50%) have lived experience; one has a diagnosed condition that affected their childhood, and one is a parent of children with additional needs. In addition, one Trustee is a paediatrician. At the end of the year, we began recruitment for four new Trustees due to recent vacancies and a plan to expand the Board; we aim for at least one new Trustee to bring lived experience.

We continually assess the potential barriers to access for diverse groups, particularly low-income families, those from ethnic minority backgrounds, girls/young women and teenagers/young adults. We amplify the voice of children, young adults and families in our digital and printed media; we believe that sharing real stories helps others feel seen when they identify with an individual, helping break down psychological barriers to access.

COVID-19

As the impact of the pandemic continued deep into 2021 and 2022, bibic gradually increased the number of families we had at the National Centre in line with changing restrictions and our own Covid-19 measures. All outreach work in the family home, in schools and in pop-up clinics remained halted. Our team met frequently via video call to ensure we were maintaining the same level of communication and wellbeing support across the therapy team and wider organisational team, before we could get back to the National Centre in any great number.

We maintained close contact with families, listened carefully and increased provision of the services introduced at the start of the pandemic that provided more immediate, flexible support and targeted therapeutic strategies. We learned from early pandemic experiences and moved adeptly to ensure we continued to support families as well as address the escalating and specific problems that they were experiencing.

In April 2021, we were just emerging into another post-lockdown world following lengthy school closures. During this last year, we have seen more children than ever school-refusing, being on reduced timetables and being de-registered from school completely and moved into home schooling. During the height of the pandemic 1/5 of children with special educational needs and disabilities were not in school or on part-time/irregular timetables. For some, this is because their needs could not be met within new rules. For others it may be because additional support they rely on is reduced/removed or due to anxiety/school refusal.

“When I joined bibic, I quickly saw how the children and their families benefit from the assessment and support. Giving families answers and a better understanding of their child is worth so much. It is so important to look at them as a whole person as there is always a reason for what we see.”

Clare , Developmental Therapist

Digital services

Digital services, introduced at the start of the pandemic, continued to be vital alongside face-to face services as we slowly increased capacity back to normal level at the National Centre as restrictions eased. After engaging with families to evaluate the digital services, we made these a permanent option and began to examine the development of flexible packages of wider support and intervention through digital platforms.

Whilst most families still choose face to face assessments, the digital option will increase accessibility for families who live further away or for whom the challenge of travelling with their child, or costs of travel and accommodation are prohibitive. Our evaluations also showed that digital assessments can allow Therapists to observe more natural behaviours, particularly for children who are stressed/anxious in unfamiliar environments. This may mean assessments become more effective in certain scenarios, allowing for more impactful therapeutic intervention.

A disproportionate impact

The long-term impact of the pandemic, lockdowns and school closures has left ever more families seeking support and this has contributed directly to a dramatic increase in enquiries alongside increased public awareness and an unprecedented number of recommendations given by families who feel bibic’s unique holistic therapeutic approach has been transformational.

The pandemic has disproportionately affected children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs, and their families. Studies show the impact on their education, health/wellbeing and social development is likely to be long-term.

70% of bibic parents and carers say the pandemic has intensified their child’s difficulties. This includes behaviours such as severe meltdowns, self-harm, aggression, and obsessive compulsions together with developmental difficulties (communication, sleep, learning, toileting) and mental health challenges (severe anxiety, depression).

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Kenzie walked miles4bibic

Mackenzie aimed to walk 50 miles over the 6-week school summer holidays to raise money for bibic.

He signed up to take part in bibic’s 2021 fundraising challenge miles4bibic which aimed to harness the benefits of movement and encouraged people to take on a distance-based challenge to raise money. The challenge saw children and adults covering their miles by running, walking, hopping, cycling, scooting or in their wheelchair. Movement forms one of the key elements of the holistic therapy at bibic. Running regulates the sensory system, walking on rough terrain boosts working memory and skipping improves coordination.

In 2019 he often appeared very anxious or angry with the world around him. I was already aware of bibic via my own work connections and one day happened to have a tour of bibic’s facilities and got chatting to the lovely member of staff who was showing me around. I shared some of our observations regarding Kenzie and our bibic journey began!

Kenzie smashed his £150 target and raised £380 for bibic. Not only that, he smashed his mileage target, clocking up 19.5 miles on holiday in Cornwall in the last week of his challenge - taking the total to 109.5 miles!

Their assessment tools enabled us to identify that he has sensory processing difficulties and a high likelihood of being on the Autistic spectrum, the latter now awaiting NHS diagnosis.

“Target well and truly smashed. Well done Kenzie we’re very proud! From Mummy and Daddy”

“When Mackenzie started school in 2018 some of his uniqueness became more apparent and it was noticeable that he seemed to struggle with some environments or activities. Kenzie had been born 16 weeks early at 23 weeks plus 6 days gestation, and it was difficult to determine if things were simply due to delayed development, associated with his prematurity, or if something else was contributing.

As a family our learning curve around different behavioural strategies and various tools and techniques to help Kenzie enjoy the world around him and for everyone in his world to better understand his needs has been steep. With bibic’s help we now understand ‘our normal’ and by implementing their advice Kenzie’s behaviour significantly improved.

We also now understand why certain things or reactions happen and are far better equipped to mitigate them or deal with them in a way which keeps everyone and everything calm and happy!”

Kenzie’s Mum

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of families think
that bibic’s support
88%
has helped reduce
family stress
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Our goals and the people that helped us meet them

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Progress against strategic objectives

Goal 1 Support more families

families to bibic; this ensures our reports will be used as evidence to help support children and young adults to access statutory support through Educational, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

Priority actions

What we didn’t achieve and lessons learned

• Review and implement efficiencies in delivery of therapy.

• Simplify services portfolio to deliver clear and bespoke offers to families.

• Explored external accreditation, but learned that our unique mission, vision and holistic approach is the most important focus for bibic families so we can provide the most transformative developmental therapy possible and fill gaps in provision by other statutory and community organisations.

• Achieve external service accreditation.

• Develop digital training offer.

Achievements

• Supported 504 children and young adults during the year (213 reported in 2020/21, see note on page 11, the comparable figure would be 310, representing a 63% increase).

• All school observations / assessments and outreach in the family home or pop-up clinics remained paused due to the pandemic.

• We trialled delivery of short online seminars which proved more accessible.

• Revisited risk management of school observations/ assessments and outreach services and their delivery, with the result was that we would restart observations and assessments in schools. As we have eased out of the pandemic, we have started up home assessments again and further outreach.

By 2023, we still need to…

• Build relationships with medical / educational professionals and offer free consultations to their users.

• Made digital assessments and services a permanent option for families and started work to look at the development of digital services in the future.

• Review potential to deliver school enrichment days following our action plan. We will encourage schools to engage with bibic and pilot supporting pupils and students that may need it locally.

• Completed a comprehensive project to develop and enhance monitoring and evaluation processes.

• Use our enhanced family engagement and monitoring and evaluation data as a platform for continually improving the services and support we provide.

• Built a direct service for young adults, alongside support for parents and carers.

• Introduced post-service support sessions for families who need extended key working support after 6 months.

• Further develop free information resources provided through content on digital platforms to extend reach. Measure and evaluate this area of our work to gain a better understanding impact.

• Recruited and trained two additional Therapists to expand the therapy team to seven.

• Delivered year one of the new marketing strategy, including growing social media reach and began delivering accessible digital resources and live interactive Q&As designed to reach wider audiences.

• Continue to develop and enhance working relationships with NHS partners so that we can encourage referrals and buy in from NHS colleagues. This will impact on bibic reports being used for evidence for diagnosis and EHCPs across the country, and encourages NHS use of our training, seminars and Q&As.

• Recognised as a recommended specialist service across numerous Local Authorities who signpost

Goal 2 Grow sustainable income

Priority actions

• Diversify fundraising and build sustainable income.

• Review commissioned and commercial income opportunities.

• Develop marketing and communications plan.

Achievements

• Recruited a new part-time Head of Fundraising and Marketing to strategically develop and effectively coordinate these two crucial areas of work.

• Developed a marketing strategy and fundraising strategy that aim to 1. increase the diversity and sustainability of our voluntary income; 2. enable bibic to achieve sustainable long term income growth so that we can increase capacity to meet demand; 3. Increase our profile and reach with families that would benefit from our support.

• Recruited a Marketing and Communications Officer to deliver the agreed plan to support both fundraising income generation and service delivery. This included developing new digital therapeutic content to reach wider audiences.

• We reviewed the charity’s brand to improve understanding of what we do/our impact as well as become more inclusive – and now we have a new brand!

What we didn’t achieve and lessons learned

• We reviewed commercial income opportunities and the decision was taken to not progress with these plans due to the resourcing risk. This will be revisited in future years.

• Budgeted fundraising income growth was not achieved, presenting a challenge in addressing our greatest current strategic issue - increasing our financial resilience so that we can recruit more Therapists to meet the exceptional demand. We had healthy reserves from the previous year (200k) so invested this into growth

• With £55k of multi-year grants ending in Spring 2022, we were unable to secure similar funding during the year to increase our resilience whilst we waited to reapply to these funders. Whilst our financial position remained sound at year end, this security is at risk should further multi-year grants not be secured and the likelihood of further therapy team expansion is reduced without income growth.

By 2023, we still need to…

• Deliver on the fundraising strategy to incrementally and sustainable grow income over the next three years to meet current projected expenditure, as well as enable further planned Therapist recruitment.

• Carefully monitor demand and fundraising performance so that we can continually consider the pace at which we can sustainably increase therapy capacity.

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Goal 3 Maximise value of resources

Priority actions

• Develop leadership and senior expertise.

• Review estate resource effectiveness.

• Establish collaborative partnerships with charities.

Achievements

• Opened a larger therapy suite in a building within the same complex which has additional therapy rooms to cater for a greater number of families on site and facilities that are more appropriate for younger children and those with more profound disabilities. We also have a larger family room, bigger and better equipped sensory room and more privacy for families.

• Developed our approach to Rota management to help mitigate the risk of Covid-19 related sickness within families and the therapy team on service delivery, so that further negative impact on the waiting list was minimised.

• Developed the senior management team structure to better support the operational delivery of the organisation and enable the Managing Director to focus on long-term strategic development

• Several formal collaborations were developed with complementary organisations including Ups and Downs Southwest, Headway, Bridging the Gap and local parent forums.

What we didn’t achieve and lessons learned

We had planned to utilise the outdoor space that adjoins our new therapy suite to create a sensory garden to give families a space to relax and an alternative space within which to work with children and young adults during assessment. This was not possible for a myriad of reasons, so instead we adapted to use the internal space more flexibly.

By 2023, we still need to…

• Review skills and diversity of the Trustee Board and recruit additional members to ensure the voice of the service-user is incorporated into decision making and bibic benefits from wider experience and more diverse perspectives. We will achieve this via a Forum plus recruitment plan.

• Identify and develop more collaborative partnerships with complementary organisations that can enhance organisational effectiveness and support mutual service-users.

• Complete Five-Year plan for sustainable growth, incorporating Fundraising and Communications.

• Maintained low staff turnover, retaining our expert and highly qualified and trained staff.

• Finalist in the 2022 Somerset Business Awards, Charity of the Year category which recognised the high standard of bibic’s governance, management, use of fundraising income, contribution of volunteers and sustained impact.

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A special thank you to our bibic families

Fundraising for a small charity is never easy.

Running a small charity with such great ambition is only possible thanks to the people and organisations who help fund our work and the volunteers who dedicate time and energy.

We need to say a heartfelt thank you to the families who allow us to share their stories on our website, in our appeals or on social media, and to those who agree for their children to be included in our Sponsor a bibic Child regular giving programme. The special gift of your stories makes a huge difference in letting our supporters know how their donation has helped transform a child or young adult’s life, whilst also helping us reach families who may desperately need support.

Fundraising

Thank you, to those we have mentioned throughout this report and so many others. The staff and volunteers at bibic work tirelessly to raise money to provide our expert therapeutic intervention and to make sure that no family who needs us is ever turned away. Income from fundraising helps ensure we can keep our family contribution as small as possible, as well as provide fee waivers to low-income families.

£89k

was raised this year from individuals

£20k

was raised by businesses who have donated funds or whose staff have raised money.

£13k

raised through the fundraising activities of our community supporters.

£146k

was received from people who chose to remember bibic in their will.

Almost £116k

was received from grant-making organisations.

We are deeply grateful for this support which represents a significant percentage of our fundraising income. We are so thankful to each and every charitable trust and foundation that they entrust bibic to spend their funds in a way that makes a real and lasting difference.

Special thanks

go to BBC Children in Need, Garfield Weston Foundation, The National Lottery Community Fund and many others.

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Our volunteers

We cannot express how grateful we are for the time, energy and expertise given by every single volunteer. This year, we had 13 volunteers gave the gift of time to support bibic. It is testament to the passion and dedication of our staff, that they also volunteer in their spare time.

Whether by helping Therapists during assessments, supporting music therapy, helping with the all-important admin, taking photographs or picking up collection tins - every person brings something special and they are an integral part of the bibic family. We have been pleased to start welcoming volunteers back into our National Centre having paused this due to the pandemic. Particular thanks go our Trustees, who give considerable time to their voluntary roles on the Board and have helped steer bibic through challenging times with skill, commitment and passion.

The value of the contribution of volunteers is not reflected in our financial reports, however they bring an immeasurable amount of added value to bibic - fresh perspectives, energy and skill, whilst ensuring we can be as cost effective as possible.

“I’m only 16 so haven’t had a lot of work experience, but volunteering here has given me an opportunity to grow in confidence and gain skills which will help my future career.

bibic gave me the opportunity to do Level 1-3 in Makaton and I particularly enjoy being given the responsibility to help with assessments as I hope to work with children in the future. The team have been so supportive and welcoming and always have an action plan ready for me when I come.”

Our long-serving Patron steps down

“I have just retired from the NHS and want to give something back into the community now I had more time. bibic immediately came to mind. The team are very friendly and welcoming. I find everyone here, without exception, very helpful and willing to explain anything. I thoroughly enjoy my time here and hope I make even a small difference.”

Tony and Jane Brett and their family started supporting bibic over forty years ago, in the early years of our charity, after a friend’s son came to us for therapy and support. We are indebted to their own donations over those years and the time they have dedicated to inspiring others to support bibic. Tony is stepping down from his role as Patron of bibic and we will remain ever grateful to him, and to Jane, for all the incredible support and friendship they have shown us over the years.

Margaret , Volunteer

“Tony has been a Patron who has been at the very forefront of bibic’s work. He has championed our charity and the voices of children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs. Words cannot express how grateful we are for so many years of dedication.”

“I joined bibic as a volunteer so I could get experience in working with children as I want to study Speech and Language Therapy. From the moment I started, the team gave me lots of training opportunities which has helped me to develop new skills and gain more confidence. The work bibic do is so important and unique. I feel privileged to have contributed to such an amazing charity.”

“We have been involved with bibic for over forty years after a friend’s son received support here. We were delighted to have helped celebrate the 50[th] Anniversary year with them this year. We’ve long seen the life changing support they provide and have been proud to help through fundraising and spreading awareness of their therapy and their work. As we step down we know that bibic will continue to support families when they need it most and will be there for them over the next 50 years and beyond.”

Pip Buckley , Managing Director

Grace , Volunteer

Tony Brett

Amelia, Student Placement

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----- Start of picture text -----
bibic helped us to identify
ways to support our daughter.
We are so grateful for all their
expertise. We feel less alone on
our journey now.
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Financial review, risk and future plans

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Financial performance

In April 2021, the impact of a year of repeated lockdowns was felt by our small charity with the continued reduction in fundraising events and activities.

The agility and innovation of the therapy team in the previous year in adapting to the closure of the Therapy Centre meant that the therapy income stayed as steady as it could.

The effect of the pandemic on voluntary income continued throughout 2021/22 and, whilst our community, corporate and events income remains behind pre-pandemic levels, we finished the year feeling very grateful that income from trusts and foundations, individual giving and legacies was strong.

The strong financial position is testament to the unwavering dedication of the therapy team, the sheer energy of our fundraisers, the resilience of our core team and the agility and strength of leadership from the Managing Director.

However, we are acutely aware that the stronger income streams are highly unlikely to remain at the same level in 2022/23 and we have already strengthened our small fundraising team to increase the diversity and sustainability of voluntary income to improve our financial resilience going forward. Our prime focus is to ensure that service capacity can not only be maintained, but to expand, to meet the increased demand from families needing our unique therapeutic intervention and ongoing support.

Total income for the year was £555k (2020/21: £619k). Income from donations and legacies amounted to £386k (2020/21: £485k), income from charitable activities (therapy related income) amounted to £168k (2020/21: £107k) and other income was £1k (2020/21: £27k).

Total expenditure for the year was £619k (2020/21: £419k). This resulted in an operational deficit of -£64k (2020/21: £200k surplus). This was principally due to grants income performing below budget which was, to some extent, balanced by a large legacy received.

How we spent the money

Charitable activities £389k (2020/21: £249k) Raising funds £188k (2020/21: £137k)

Where our income

came from

Grants £116k (2020/21: £285k) Donations £89k (2020/21: £98k) Community £13k (2020/21: £20k) Corporate £23k (2020/21: £15k) Legacies £146k (2020/21: £68k) Therapy £168k (2020/21: £107k) Total £555k (2020/21 £619k)

Governance/other costs £42k (2020/21: £33k)

Total expenditure Operational deficit Total income for the year £619k £64k 2020/21 2020/21 2020/21 £555k £619k £419k £200k Surplus

----- Start of picture text -----
Other income
£1k
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Income from donations and legacies

Income from charitable activities (therapy related income) £168k 2020/21 £107k

£386k

----- Start of picture text -----
2020/21
£26k
----- End of picture text -----

2020/21 £485k

Total £619k (2020/21: £419k)

The Trustees aim to increase the proportion of spend on charitable activities by improving fundraising performance, including increasing return on investment of specific fundraising activities, supported by enhanced marketing and communications. Some progress has been seen this year and plans are in place to further improve the ratio in 2022/23, whilst maintaining investment in fundraising to grow income.

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Reserves

The Trustees maintain unrestricted funds to reduce dependency on any of the charity’s income streams, particularly fundraised income which is subject to fluctuation. The charity is committed to the children, young adults and families who receive support for a minimum of six months, but often many years. The Trustees therefore feel it is important to maintain free reserves at a level which ensures continuity of bibic’s unique service and to fund projects that improve services.

The reserves policy had a rigorous review within the previous year. It has been developed on the basis of the inherent level of risk within our business model. This model delivers high committed costs/low flexible costs, alongside a blend of unpredictable fundraised income and sustainable therapy income. The Trustees review the policy annually; taking into consideration the principal risks faced by the charity and their mitigations together with likely projected income and expenditure. As a result of this work, the Trustees considered that the current reserves policy was still satisfactory and they aim to maintain a target range of free reserves of between six and eight months of annual budgeted operating costs, which represents £282k to £376k.

At 31 March 2022, total funds held amounted to £436k (2020/21: £500k). Of these, restricted funds were £44k (2020/21: £61k) and designated funds were £108k (2020/21: £160k). The charity’s free reserves were £284k (2020/21: £279k).

----- Start of picture text -----
10.1%
24.8%
65.1%
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Free reserves comprise the total funds available to the charity, less those reserves whose uses are restricted or designated for specific purposes.

Restricted funds are those that must be spent in accordance with the donor’s specific instructions or which have been raised by the charity for a specific purpose. Information about restricted funds is at note 18 in the financial statements. Each restricted gift has a timescale for spend, usually within 12 months. The charity operates a detailed restricted funds register to track and report spend against each gift.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds that have been put aside by the Trustees for planned activities. Designations for potential exit costs amount to £73k. Designations for planned activities amount to £35k and include staff training and a monitoring and evaluation project. With the exception of exit costs, it is the Trustees intention that designated funds are spent within a period of 12-36 months, as appropriate for the planned activity.

The charity is facing a continued period of uncertainty and the aim of many of the designated projects is to improve efficiency and performance to provide enhanced services and facilities to the children, young adults and families. Free reserves are in place to protect the charity and will be used to cushion the effect of the expected fall in fundraised income in the short to medium term so as to ensure the continuity of services. We are also investing in strategic planning to support the sustainable growth of our service.

The Trustees will continue to consider the balance of risk and thus the level of free reserves appropriate for the needs of the charity in light of forecasts and future requirements. The charity’s position against the reserves policy is monitored by the senior management team and Trustees on a bi-monthly basis.

Safeguarding

We see our safeguarding responsibility as an absolute priority. Our approach moves beyond looking out for the children and young adults we support; it extends to their families, our supporters and donors, our volunteers, our staff and everyone we come into contact with through our work.

Pip Buckley (Managing Director) is our safeguarding lead, supported by Chelsey Oxley (Therapy Manager) as deputy lead; both have completed full training. Chair of Trustees, Laura Voyle, provides safeguarding leadership at Board level.

The pandemic increased the risk of safeguarding concerns for children and young adults and their families. Some of this has been due to wellbeing and mental health challenges. Family surveys showed that stress in the family home increased. Children and young adults’ challenging or negative behaviours, that could cause harm to themselves or others, also increased. We recognise that the element of our services that are now delivered digitally present new challenges on picking up on safeguarding concerns.

During the year, we:

• Continued to review safeguarding frequently in team meetings, supervision sessions and at Board meetings;

• Continued to assess risk as we moved through the pandemic, regularly updating and reinforcing safeguarding measures with the whole team;

• Delivered annual update training for all bibic staff and trained new staff joining the charity;

• Managed, reviewed and reported to Trustees five (2020/21: five) cases of concern within families and zero (2020/21: zero) cases of concern in other groups (e.g. donors, staff, volunteers). Zero (2020/21: zero) incidents were reported to the Charity Commission or Police;

• Provided additional support to fourteen families (2020/21: ten) via extra key working sessions, liaison with social workers etc. to help prevent escalation to a level of concern.

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Risk

Nature of risk

Current economic environment impacting on bibic’s ability to meet fundraising targets.

The Trustees are responsible for regularly reviewing and assessing (and planning for the management of) risks and uncertainties that may have a significant impact on the charity’s operations, thus beneficiaries. bibic operates a detailed risk register to review the strategic, operational and project related risks the charity may face; the likelihood/impact of those risks and the mitigation controls/plans in place in line with CC26 guidance issued by the Charity Commission.

The risk register is reviewed and assessed monthly by the senior management team and quarterly by the Board. A full review is conducted annually by the Board. Significant new risks or those which have increased in likelihood/impact are promptly brought

to the attention of the Board by the Managing Director. The charity encourages all employees to be actively engaged in risk identification and risk management activity. The Trustees consider that the principal risks and uncertainties are:

Nature of risk

Increasing enquiries impacting on time frame for managing enquiries, telephone interviews and bookings of assessments/other services, resulting in longer response times/ waiting lists which delays support for children, young adults and their families.

Control plans

• Deliver a fundraising strategy which increases the diversity of the income portfolio to provide greater resilience and that develops income streams which could:

• Increase the proportion of sustainable income (e.g., multi-year grants and regular giving);

• Give the greatest return of investment (e.g., trusts/foundations and major donor fundraising);

• Hold opportunity for growth (individual giving and community fundraising).

• Invest in the fundraising and marketing team to increase skills and knowledge, whilst maintaining

up-to-date knowledge of fundraising and charity sector trends and best practice.

• Review team structure to ensure resource is best placed/sufficient to successfully deliver the strategy.

Further commentary

• The Trustees recognise the next few years may be impacted by ongoing economic challenges, particularly affecting the disposable income of individual and regular donors. They also recognise the increased competitiveness of applying for funding from grant-making organisations and that this may affect this income stream longer-term.

Nature of risk

Control plans

Further commentary

Whilst capacity was increased during this financial year through the recruitment of two additional Therapists, the number of enquiries have continued to rise. The leadership team and Trustees still have significant concerns over reputational damage if bibic cannot effectively manage the number of enquiries and have long waiting times.

• Recruit a second Family Services Coordinator.

• Deliver regular enquiry ‘pushes’ by dedicating additional resource at peak times.

• Place a hold on new enquiries in the month of August to catch-up on backlog.

• Assess ability to recruit further Therapists to increase capacity and speed up support.

Nature of risk

Staff sickness or family sickness due to Covid-19 or other sickness requiring rearrangement of bookings at short notice.

Control plans

• Ensure there is appropriate cover and Rota

sickness slots so that, in the event of no Therapist cover, families can move to another date within a four-week period.

• Proactively support staff wellbeing at work, including careful management of the Rota to reduce the potential for stress or mental health related sickness.

• Engage former bibic Therapists to step back in, where possible, to provide additional support.

• Procedure for staff who have Covid-19 to ensure they do not enter the National Centre for a minimum of 5 days (working from home if possible or sick leave) to reduce the risk of spreading the infection.

Further commentary

Staff sickness has been historically low, however Covid-19 has increased this risk and has caused an even more significant impact this year, than in the previous year.

• Develop a new wellbeing policy to enhance support for staff.

Safeguarding issue resulting in harm to vulnerable child or adult

• Safeguarding process and procedures regularly reviewed and effectively implemented.

Control plans

• All staff safeguarding trained, with updates every two years.

• Ongoing relationships in place with Social Care, NHS and other relevant services.

• Lead, Deputy Lead and Trustee Lead for safeguarding and child protection in place.

Further commentary

Safeguarding is a principal part of bibic’s work which is taken very seriously. Ongoing reviews of policies and practices will continue to take place to ensure that safeguarding is included in every agenda including team meetings, management meetings, one-to-ones and at Board meetings.

• A second Deputy Lead to be added within the therapy team as the team grows.

• Set up of a new Safeguarding panel and regular safeguarding meetings to review and assess risk.

Nature of risk

Data breach

• External training and guidance available and used when required via a qualified provider.

Control plans

• All staff GDPR trained to basic level.

• Data protection policy and procedures in place and reviewed annually.

Further commentary

A full data protection review was completed during the year and one DPO role allocated in-house. The Trustees are reviewing whether a second DPO is needed.

• Allocation of a GDPR lead (Head of Fundraising and Marketing) who will be trained at DPO level to ensure bibic is compliant across every area of our work.

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Future plans

Monitoring and Evaluation

Strengthening and expansion of the therapy team

The impact of the pandemic, together with an increase in bibic’s profile and word of mouth recommendations, has resulted in a dramatic increase in enquiries and the waiting time for a full assessment. The longer the wait, the higher the risks for the young adult and family; including school exclusion, parental separation, developmental regression/inhibition, self-harm/harm to others and suicidal thoughts or actions. During 2021 we recruited two Therapists to speed up access (including Natalie, who was previously our Family Services Coordinator) and, in late 2022, we plan to recruit two more Therapists to create a team of nine, subject to fundraising performance.

“Moving into a Therapist position from my Family Service Coordinator role has given me new perspectives on the difference bibic makes. As the Family Service Coordinator, I was the first point of contact for families and listened to their worries and struggles.

Now, having trained as a Therapist, I am able to build relationships with families and support them in gaining a better understanding of their child and their needs, as well as a sense of relief that their worries have finally been heard. bibic have also provided me with a better understanding of myself, supported me and helped me gain acceptance of my own difficulties.”

Increase fundraising sustainability and diversity

The expansion of the therapy team will increase annual expenditure. Projections currently indicate that income will not keep pace, particularly within the cost-of-living crisis and economic context, and demand for our services continues to rise. To address this, the fundraising strategy has been refreshed and will be implemented from 2022/23.

We aim to reduce reliance on any one income stream, whilst also simplifying and prioritising fundraising activity which has the greatest growth potential or activity which could provide sustainable income but is currently underdeveloped, such as legacy giving and regular giving. We will also be particularly focused on identifying and securing multi-year grants. Whilst we feel very fortunate to have loyal donors who have stood by bibic for many years, we need to increase our profile within new audiences to be able to grow our income long-term.

Deliver a new

marketing strategy

With a very small team at bibic, having a strategic approach to marketing and communications has often been challenging. Our Marketing and Communications Executive and Head of Fundraising and Marketing will deliver a new strategy which aims to:

• Increase brand recognition, understanding of our work and the difference we make.

• Support fundraising income growth.

• Increase free access to therapeutic information and support through digital investment.

This year we began the crucial work of enhancing our approach to monitoring and evaluation. The tools we now use to measure individual outcomes are more robust and will provide more and better data to shape decision making. They will also enable bibic to uphold our pledge of being accountable and transparent with our donors and funders, enabling us to further improve our reporting and communications which share the difference that their gifts have made.

As part of our 50th anniversary programme of activity and informed by our work on improving monitoring and evaluation, we have put together a “50 years of bibic Impact Report”. This will be launched in Autumn 2022 and share data, stories and quotes to provide a real insight into how bibic’s developmental therapy transforms the lives of children and young adults.

Our 50[th] anniversary

As we approach our 50th anniversary in June 2022, we are celebrating five decades of supporting 20,000+ children and young adults to overcome their challenges and reach their full potential with a year of gratitude and stories. bibic’s life changing therapy and support has only been possible thanks to our supporters and funders, and we look forward to saying ‘thank you’.

Clinics

Our pop-up assessment clinics across the UK have been paused during the pandemic. These enabled us to provide our services and support for families who live long distances from our National Centre and for whom the challenges associated with travelling were a barrier to access.

These clinics were held in geographical areas identified with the greatest need; this included areas where we have seen significant clusters of enquiries, areas of deprivation, or areas which have a higherthan-average number of children and young adults with an Education, Health and Care Plan. We hope to be able to reinstate this service next year.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

We strive to continually improve our approach and have identified and prioritised specific areas for development in future periods. We are developing both our understanding of and our practical work towards embedding a new EDI policy within our team. Future plans include:

• Developing organisational understanding of EDI concepts informed by the Managing Director’s training through the NCVO and ACEVO.

• Developing recruitment processes for staff and volunteers to improve access within new communities.

• Enhancing family engagement processes with a formal forum to give a stronger voice to the community we support.

• Expand awareness of our work outside of the Southwest to ensure that we are accessible for families that need us, particularly within deprived and urban areas.

• Review of our website, social media and marketing collateral to ensure they are accessible, include diverse stories and imagery, have descriptions on photos, that the colours, fonts, sizing and navigation comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and that the language used is inclusive.

• The development and application of our new bibic branding that is more diverse and inclusive.

Natalie , Developmental Therapist

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For the first time in seven years, I feel listened to and validated as a parent.

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Financial statements

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Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of bibic

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of bibic (‘the Company’)

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2022.

Responsibilities and basis of repor t

As the charity’s trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2022

Independent Examiner: Dick Maule FCA The Cross House, South Woodchester, Gloucestershire GL5 5EL

Report of the trustees, incorporating a strategic report, approved by order of the board of trustees, as the company directors, on 26[th] September 2022 and signed on the board’s behalf by:

Laura Voyle Trustee

Independent examiner’s statement

Since your charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a listed body. I can confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a registered member of ICAEW which is one of the listed bodies.

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

1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

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

3. The accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act 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; or

4. The accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities (applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)).

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.

Dick Maule FCA Independent Examiner 26th September 2022

Statement of Financial Activities

(Incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account) for the Year Ended 31 March 2022

						2022	2021
		Notes	Unrestricted funds (£)	Designated funds (£)	Restricted funds (£)	Total funds (£)	Total funds (£)
	Income and
	endowments from
	Donations and legacies	2	287,050	-	98,595	385,645	485,422
	Charitable Activities	5	-	-	-	-	-
	Therapy provision		168,211	-	-	168,211	106,666
	Other trading activities	3	1,448	-	-	1,448	8,971
	Investment income Other income Total	4 6	17 - 456,726	- - -	- - 98,595	17 - 555,321	96 18,256 619,411
	Expenditure on
	Raising funds	7	152,098	34,083	1,699	187,880	136,561
	Charitable Activities	8
	Therapy provision		169,442	63,867	108,181	341,490	249,557
	Governance costs		32,312	8,667	1,700	42,679	33,365
	Therapy support		43,285	-	4,382	47,667	-
	Total		397,137	106,617	115,962	619,716	419,483
	Net income/ (expenditure)		59,589	(106,617)	(17,367)	(64,395)	199,928
	Transfers between funds	18	(54,322)	54,322	-	-	-
	Net movement in funds		5,267	(52,295)	(17,367)	(64,395)	199,928
	Reconciliation of funds
	Total funds brought forward		278,642	160,000	61,283	499,925	299,997
	Total funds carried
	forward		283,909	107,705	43,916	435,530	499,925

46

45

Balance Sheet

31 March 2022

31 March 2022
					2022	2021
		Unrestricted	Designated	Restricted	Total	Total
	Notes	funds (£)	funds (£)	funds (£)	funds (£)	funds (£)
Fixed assets
Tangible assets	15	48,080	-	5,054	53,134	23,711
Current assets
Debtors	16	133,837	-	-	133,837	55,097
Prepayments and accrued income		14,778	-	4,387	19,165	15,857
Cash at bank		292,584	115,205	34,475	442,264	469,216
Total		441,199	115,205	38,862	595,266	540,170
Creditors
Amounts falling due within one year	17	(205,370)	(7,500)	-	(212,870)	(63,956)
Net current assets		235,829	107,705	38,862	382,396	476,214
Total assets less
current liabilities		283,909	107,705	43,916	435,530	499,925
Net assets		283,909	107,705	43,916	435,530	499,925
Funds	18				-	-
Unrestricted funds					391,614	438,642
Restricted funds					43,916	61,283
Total funds					435,530	499,925

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2022.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for

• (a) Ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

• (b) Preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

• The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 26[th] September 2022 and signed on the board’s behalf by:

Laura Voyle Trustee

48

Cash Flow Statement

for the Year Ended 31 March 2022

Cash Flow Statement f h Y Edd Mh
or te ear ne 31 arc 2022
	2022	2021
Notes	Total funds (£)	Total funds (£)
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations 1	13,481	202,998
Net cash provided by operating activities	13,481	202,998
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of tangible fixed assets	(40,450)	(9,297)
Sale of tangible fixed assets	-	1
Interest received	17	96
Net cash used in investing activities	(40,433)	(9,200)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period	(26,952)	193,798
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period	469,216	275,418
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period	442,264	469,216

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Notes to the Cash Flow Statement

for the Year Ended 31 March 2022

for the Year Ended 31 March 2022
	2022	2021
	Total funds (£)	Total funds (£)
1. Reconciliation of net (expenditure)/income
to net cash flow from operating activities
Net (expenditure)/income for the reporting period (as per the Statement of Financial Activities)	(64,395)	199,928
Adjustments for:
Depreciation charges	11,027	4,532
Loss on disposal of fixed assets	-	141
Interest received	(17)	(96)
Increase in debtors	(82,048)	(14,361)
Increase in creditors	148,914	12,854
Net cash provided by operations	13,481	202,998
2. Analysis of changes in net funds	At 1.4.21 (£) Cash flow (£) At 31.3.22 (£)
Net cash	469,216 (26,952) 442,264
Cash at bank	469,216 (26,952) 442,264
Total	469,216 (26,952) 442,264

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Year Ended 31 March 2022

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) ‘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 (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)’, Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SOFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others are apportioned on an appropriate basis.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

	in accordance with
Improvements to property	- theproperty
Plant and machinery	- 10% on cost
Fixtures and fittings	- at varying rates on cost
Computer equipment	- 33% on cost

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Income received by way of donations and gifts is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable.

Income from grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, is recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant.

Income from grants, where related to performance and specific deliverables, is accounted for as the charity earns the right to consideration by its performance.

Donated services and facilities are included at the value to the charity where this can be quantified. The value of services provided by volunteers has not been included in these accounts. Income from charitable activities is accounted for when earned. Investment income is included when receivable.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the Finance Management Committee for particular purposes. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Hire purchase and leasing commitments

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company’s pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Expenditure includes any VAT that cannot be fully recovered.

Costs of generating funds comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income and the costs of trading for fundraising purposes.

Charitable expenditure comprises those cost incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and

services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

51

2. Donations and legacies	2022 (£)	2021 (£)
Donations & appeals	104,255	113,938
Gift aid	16,195	12,625
Legacies	146,644	67,695
Grants	115,895	285,187
Donated services and facilities	2,656	5,977
Total	385,645	485,422
Grants received, included in the above, are as follows:
Other grants	115,895	285,187

Included within the grants received during year ended 31 March 2021, are several grants awarded to bibic in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In total, such grants exceed £130,000.

3. Other trading activities		2022 (£)	2022 (£)		2021 (£)
Fundraising events		253			8,001
Social lotteries		1,195			970
Total		1,448			8,971
4. Investment income		2022 (£)			2021 (£)
Deposit account interest		17			96
5. Income from charitable activities	Activity		2022	(£)	2021 (£)
Therapy provision & training	Therapy provision		166,038		106,666
Exceptional items	Therapy provision		2,173		-
Total			168,211		106,666
6. Other income			2022	(£)	2021 (£)
Exceptional items			-		18,256

The exceptional item comprises funds received under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme,

administered by HM Revenue & Customs, in respect of the furloughing of some staff for some months during Spring / Summer 2020 resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

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7. Raising funds
Raising donations and legacies 2022 (£) 2021 (£)
Staff costs 72,264 43,999
Sundries 54,704 59,294
Support costs 60,912 33,268
Total 187,880 136,561
Direct Costs (£) Support Costs (£)
8. Charitable activities costs (See note 9) (See note 10) Totals
Therapy provision 205,731 135,759 341,490
Governance costs - 42,679 42,679
-
Therapy support 47,667 47,667
Total 253,398 178,438 431,836
9. Direct costs of charitable activities
2022 (£) 2021 (£)
Staff costs 212,068 155,064
Sundries 35,132 12,979
Depreciation 6,198 1,749
Total 253,398 169,792
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						Information
10. Support costs		Management (£)		Finance (£)		technology (£)
Raising donations and legacies		14,773		7,744		11,732
Therapy provision		14,678		8,069		14,449
Governance costs		19,570		6,850		1,185
Total		49,021		22,663		27,366
	Human			Governance
	resources (£)		Other	(£) costs (£)		Totals (£)
Raising donations and legacies		806	25,857 -			60,912
Therapy provision		831	97,732 -			135,759
Governance costs		1,085	12,064 1,925			42,679
Total		2,722	135,653 1,925			239,350

11. Net income/(expenditure)
Net income/(expenditure) is stated after
charging/(crediting):	2022 (£)	2021 (£)
Depreciation - owned assets	11,027	4,532
Hire of plant and machinery	5,151	5,604
Other operating leases	31,973	30,541
Deficit on disposal of fixed assets	-	141

12. Trustees’ remuneration and benefits

There were no trustees’ remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2022 nor for the year ended 31 March 2021.

Trustees’ expenses

There were no trustees’ expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2022 nor for the year ended 31 March 2021.

13. Staff costs	2022 (£)	2021 (£)
Wages and salaries	323,995	232,681
Social security costs	27,388	15,235
Other pension costs	16,746	17,023
Total	368,129	264,939
The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:	2022 (£)	2021 (£)
Therapy & Therapy Support	9	7
Fundraising & Marketing	3	2
Finance & Administration	2	2
Management	1	1
Total	15	12

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000. Pension costs are allocated to activities in proportion to the related staffing costs incurred and are wholly charged to unrestricted funds.

The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2021: nil) neither were they reimbursed expenses during the year (2021: nil) No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2021: nil).

The key management personnel of the Charity comprise the trustees and the Managing Director. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the Charity were £42,000 (2021: £38,780).

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14. Comparatives for the statement of financial activities

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Income and Unrestricted Restricted
endowments from funds (£) Designated (£) funds (£) Total Funds (£)
-
Donations and legacies 312,619 172,803 485,422
Charitable activities
- -
Therapy provision 106,666 106,666
- -
Other trading activities 8,971 8,971
Investment income 96 - - 96
Other income 18,256 - - 18,256
Total 446,608 - 172,803 619,411
Expenditure on
Raising funds 105,237 21,139 10,185 136,561
Charitable activities
Therapy provision 122,978 11,159 115,420 249,557
Governance costs 4,428 1,138 27,799 33,365
Total 232,643 33,436 153,404 419,483
Net income/(expenditure) 213,965 (33,436) 19,399 199,928
Transfers between funds (143,756) 143,756 - -
Net movement in funds 70,209 110,320 19,399 199,928
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward 208,433 49,680 41,884 299,997
Total funds carried forward 278,642 160,000 61,283 499,925
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15. Fixed assets

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Plant and Fixtures Computer
Improvements machinery and fittings equipment Totals
to property (£) (£) (£) (£) (£)
Cost
At 1 April 2021 8,600 17,269 9,767 32,806 68,442
Additions 25,416 6,258 6,613 2,163 40,450
- -
Disposals (8,600) (2,468) (11,068)
At 31 March 2022 25,416 23,527 16,380 32,501 97,824
Depreciation
At 1 April 2021 8,600 5,037 6,117 24,977 44,731
Charge for year 4,078 2,120 1,499 3,330 11,027
- -
Eliminated on disposal (8,600) (2,468) (11,068)
At 31 March 2022 4,078 7,157 7,616 25,839 44,690
Net book value
At 31 March 2022 21,338 16,370 8,764 6,662 53,134
-
At 31 March 2021 12,232 3,650 7,829 23,711
16. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year 2022 (£) 2021 (£)
Trade debtors 101,104 22,364
Other debtors 32,733 32,733
Total 133,837 55,097
17. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 2022 (£) 2021 (£)
Trade creditors 8,621 4,831
Social security and other taxes 7,798 6,784
Other creditors 28,237 806
Accruals and deferred income 157,940 49,664
Accrued expenses 10,274 1,871
Total 212,870 63,956
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18. Movement in funds Net movement in Transfer between
At 1.4.21 (£) funds (£) funds (£) At 31.3.22 (£)
Unrestricted funds
General fund 278,642 59,589 (54,322) 283,909
-
Monitoring & Evaluation 16,000 (11,925) 4,075
Training new therapist 2,024 (17,824) 15,800 -
Marketing & Communication 27,130 (12,650) (3,190) 11,290
Staff training 12,000 (7,327) - 4,673
Relocate therapy suite 25,000 (24,653) - 347
Fundraising strategy &
10,500 (14,685) 10,190 6,005
programme
Other matters 1,910 (237) (1,234) 439
Exit costs 55,436 - 17,756 73,192
Update & migration of 10,000 (9,271) - 729
donor record system
-
Brand Research & Update (8,045) 15,000 6,955
Total 438,642 (47,028) - 391,614
Restricted funds
BBC Children In Need 3,217 1,274 - 4,491
Garfield Weston Foundation 16,250 (15,000) - 1,250
Others 41,082 (7,962) - 33,120
Jemima Layzell Trust 734 4,321 - 5,055
Total 61,283 (17,367) - 43,916
Total funds 499,925 (64,395) - 435,530
Net movement in funds, included
Incoming resources Resources expended Movement in funds
in the above are as follows:
(£) (£) (£)
Unrestricted funds
General fund 456,726 (397,137) 59,589
-
Monitoring & Evaluation (11,925) (11,925)
-
Training new therapist (17,824) (17,824)
-
Marketing & Communication (12,650) (12,650)
-
Staff training (7,327) (7,327)
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Net movement in funds	Incoming resources	Resources expended	Movement in funds
(continued)	(£)	(£)	(£)
Unrestricted funds
Relocate therapy suite	-	(24,653)	(24,653)
Fundraising strategy & programme	-	(14,685)	(14,685)
Other matters	-	(237)	(237)
Update & migration of donor record system	-	(9,271)	(9,271)
Brand Research & Update	-	(8,045)	(8,045)
Total	456,726	(503,754)	(47,028)
Restricted funds
BBC Children In Need	33,325	(32,051)	1,274
Garfield Weston Foundation	-	(15,000)	(15,000)
Others	55,450	(63,412)	(7,962)
Jemima Layzell Trust	9,820	(5,499)	4,321
Total	98,595	(115,962)	(17,367)
Total funds	555,321	(619,716)	(64,395)

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Comparatives for movement in funds

Comparatives for movement in funds
		Net movement	Transfer between	At 31.3.21
Unrestricted funds	At 1.4.20 (£)	in funds (£)	funds (£)	(£)
General fund	208,433	213,965	(143,756)	278,642
Monitoring & Evaluation	-	-	16,000	16,000
Training new therapist	-	(5,976)	8,000	2,024
Marketing & Communication	-	(5,570)	32,700	27,130
Staff training	-	-	12,000	12,000
Relocate therapy suite	-	-	25,000	25,000
Fundraising strategy & programme	-	(15,000)	25,500	10,500
Other matters	-	(6,890)	8,800	1,910
Exit costs	49,680	-	5,756	55,436
Update & migration of donor record system	-	-	10,000	10,000
Total	258,113	180,529	-	438,642

Restricted funds

BBC Children In Need	1	3,216	-	3,217
Garfield Weston Foundation	31,250	(15,000)	-	16,250
St John’s Foundation	8,557	(8,557)	-	-
Others	2,076	39,006	-	41,082
Jemima Layzell Trust	-	734	-	734
Total	41,884	19,399	-	61,283
Total funds	299,997	199,928	-	499,925

Comparative net movement in funds,	Incoming resources	Resources expended	Movement in funds
included in the above are as follows:	(£)	(£)	(£)
Unrestricted funds
General fund	446,608	(232,643)	213,965
Training new therapist	-	(5,976)	(5,976)
Marketing & Communication	-	(5,570)	(5,570)
Fundraising strategy & programme	-	(15,000)	(15,000)
Other matters	-	(6,890)	(6,890)
Total	446,608	(266,079)	180,529
Restricted funds
BBC Children In Need	36,413	(33,197)	3,216
Garfield Weston Foundation	-	(15,000)	(15,000)
St John’s Foundation	-	(8,557)	(8,557)
Others	105,227	(66,221)	39,006
CAF Resilience Fund	24,998	(24,998)	-
Jemima Layzell Trust	6,165	(5,431)	734
Total	172,803	(153,404)	19,399
Total funds	619,411	(419,483)	199,928

19. Related party disclosures

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2022.

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----- Start of picture text -----
It’s really helped me
understand myself and
that being neuro-diverse
is not a disability, it’s
actually really cool.
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Structure, governance, management and administration details

64

Structure, governance and management

The term of office is three years after which period a Trustee must seek re-appointment by the Board if they wish to continue. The usual maximum is three terms of office, unless the Board feel there is good reason to extend. New Trustees are offered a programme of induction which includes provision of a range of key documents, a tour of the National Centre, meeting with key members of staff and observing an assessment.

Constitution

bibic is a registered charity with the Charity Commission in England and Wales (charity number 1057635) and was incorporated as a private company limited by guarantee (company number 03217418) on 3 June 1996. The charity is governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association and has no share capital.

Current trustees bring a breadth of specific skills, knowledge and experience including financial management, marketing and communications, education, law, paediatric healthcare, corporate operations, mental health and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Three of our six Trustees have personal lived experience and a fourth has professional experience of working with the community we support, providing leadership with insight. At year end, the Board intended to recruit more trustees to fill current vacancies and a desire to expand to eight members, we aim for at least one new Trustee to have lived experience.

Principle object of the charity

bibic was established to reduce need and hardship among children and adults with learning difficulties and/or physical disabilities and to provide support and assistance to their families.

Governance

The Directors of the company, unless otherwise stated, are the Trustees of the registered charity. All Trustees named within this report served throughout the year and until the date this report had been signed, unless otherwise stated. The charity is organised so that the Trustees meet collectively 6 times per year to direct the management of its affairs. Strategy days and sub-committee meetings are also held periodically. On the occasion that there may be the need, the Board may hold interim meetings or increase the frequency of Board meetings to discuss/ address key issues.

Trustees are volunteers and receive no remuneration or benefits from the charity. Out-of-pocket expenses may be claimed on request.

Organisational structure: management and employees

The board delegates responsibility for the management of the charity to the Managing Director, Pip Buckley, who oversees all operational and strategic matters. Therapy services are provided under the direction of Chesley Oxley, Therapy Manager. Fundraising and marketing is driven by Jennie Jagger, Head of Fundraising and Marketing. The finance function is overseen by Philip Cullum, Finance Manager.

The Board is responsible for confirming the appointment of a new Trustee following a clear recruitment and selection policy and procedure. When recruiting new Trustees, the charity aims to attract a diverse range of candidates who have different skills. We value the benefits of having members with different backgrounds, expertise and experiences. Trustees are recruited through external advertisement and are subject to reference checks before starting with the charity.

bibic embraces diversity, recognising this brings different perspectives, ideas and knowledge, and that difference brings strength, supports staff wellbeing and engagement and helps the charity make better decisions so we can deliver our charitable aims successfully. Our aim is to create a culture which attracts diverse staff, values each person’s differences and encourages individuals to maximise their potential.

bibic is committed to the principle of equal opportunities in employment and recognises its obligations under the Equality Act 2010. The charity is an accredited Living Wage Employer and a Disability Confident Committed Employer. Health and safety are given due attention and employees are provided with appropriate training in accordance with the charity’s policies.

Senior management remuneration

Senior staff pay is externally benchmarked, set/ reviewed by the Trustees and linked to an internal performance appraisal system. No employees had employee benefits in excess of £60,000 (2021: nil). Pension costs are allocated to activities in proportion to the related staffing costs incurred and are wholly charged to unrestricted funds. The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2021: nil) neither were they reimbursed expenses during the year (2021: nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2021: nil). The key management personnel of the Charity comprise the trustees and the Managing Director. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the Charity were £42,000 (2021: £38,780)

Relationships and memberships

To support robust decision making and enable bibic to maximise outcomes for the community we support, the charity or its Managing Director are members of a number of self-regulatory and support organisations. These include the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, Fundraising Regulator, NCVO, ACEVO, ILM and Somerset Chamber of Commerce.

The charity places great importance on collaborative relationships with a vast range of other organisations (e.g., Ups and Downs Southwest, Autizma, Brainwave, Headway, local parent forums) and professionals (e.g., social services, GPs, paediatricians, teachers, speech and language therapists, youth offending team, behavioural optometrists). These relationships help raise awareness of key issues affecting mutual communities, share learning and enable families to access wider support and information.

Our fundraising standards

bibic is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and is committed to the Code of Fundraising Practice. We make sure our fundraising team are kept up to date with legislation and best practice and they support people fundraising in the community to uphold these same standards. In the last year we did not receive any complaints about our fundraising and marketing activities. In the situation that a complaint is received, we aim to review and resolve the situation in line with bibic’s complaints policies, escalating to external regulators if required.

65

Reference and administration

Charity Number

Company Number Registered Office

1057635

3217418

bibic

Old Kelways, Somerton Road Langport, Somerset TA10 9SJ

The Trustees (who are also Directors of bibic for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report (including the strategic report) and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company 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 2015 (FRS 102);

• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

• Prepare the financial statements on an going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions, disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the provision of the charity’s constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as each of the Trustees of the charity at the date of approval of this report is aware, there is no relevant audit information (information needed by the charity’s auditor in connection with preparing the audit report) of which the charitable company’s examiner is unaware. Each Trustee has taken all of the steps that they should have taken as a Trustee to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charitable company’s examiner is aware of that information.

This Trustees’ Annual Report, incorporating the strategic report, was approved by the board of Trustees on 26 September 2022 and signed on its behalf:

Laura Voyle ,

Chair of the Trustees

Directors and Trustees Appointed Resigned Role Laura Voyle 10 Jun 2016 Chair from 21 Sep 2020 Mark Campbell 28 Oct 2010 30 Sep 2021 Treasurer Emily Brett 15 Sep 2015 23 May 2022 Amit Bali 29 Nov 2017 Vice Chair Justin Singleton-Campbell 21 Aug 2019 25 July 2022 Louise Ravenscroft 26 July 2021 Treasurer from 30 Sep 2021 Ross Henley 26 July 2021

Treasurer from 30 Sep 2021

Senior Management Team

Philippa Buckley

Managing Director

Head of Fundraising and Marketing Jennie Jagger Therapy Manager Chelsey Oxley Finance Manager Philip Cullum

Appointed 24 Jan 2022

Independent Examiner

Fundraising Consultant

Dick Maule FCA The Cross House, South Woodchester, Gloucestershire GL5 5EL

Karen Edgington

Bankers

Barclays Bank Plc, 1 Church Place, London E14 5HP

CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, West Malling, Kent M19 4JU Natwest Plc, 8 York Buildings, Cornhill, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 3BU

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We have a long road ahead, but we now understand our son and that is worth the world

Painting by Nathan, aged 12: Nathan creates unique artwork using spray paint and objects such as plants, wood and paper to create a unique effect.

Designed by Amperative

Registered charity no. 1057635 Registered company no. 03217418

01458 253344 [e-mail] bibic.org.uk

Old Kelways, Somerton Road, Langport, Somerset, TA10 9SJ