ASSIST (Fallowfield & Withington Neighbourhood Care Group) Registered Charity Number: 1062675 TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2025 Charity Registration Number: 1062675
Contents MEMBERS OF THE BOARD AND PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS............ NOTE FROM OUR CHAIR... TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT..... ... Structure, Governan and Management.............. Objectives, Aims and Activities . Review of Achievements and Performance for the Year................ Trustees, responsibilities in relation to the financial statements... Independent examiner's report to the Trustees of Assist. Receipts and Payments Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025 ... Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31 March 2025.. Notes to the financial statements. .10 .12 .13
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD AND PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS Registered Charity Name ASSIST Registered Charity Number 1062675 Registered Office 439 Wilmslow Road Withington Manchester M20 4AN Trustees Mrs B Aston (Chair) Ms P Cotterill Ms S Gunawardena (Secretary) Cllr G White Mr D Lamb Mrs J Kirkby Mrs V Wharmby (Treasurer) Ms Meena Shah Emma Horridge Gemma Glennon Chair Mrs B Aston from 15th November 2023 Deputy Chair Ms P Cotterill from 15th November 2023 Secretary & Deputy Chair Ms S Gunawardena Bankers Co-operative Bank PO Box Skelmersdale WN8 61D Independent Examiner Beyond Profit Ltd G104 Bolton Arena Arena Approach Horwich Bolton BL6 6LB
NOTE FROM OUR CHAIR Time flies when we're having fun, and we've had another successful year at Withington Assist. Membership continues to grow and we now have 235 local people who use our services and we are lucky to have 54 kind volunteers, always willing to help We have also welcomed a new member of staff, Mark Thomas, who has joined as an Outreach Worker and Befriender, to support those living in the community who are unable to come and see us in person. The befriending service was evaluated by an independent consultant and l am pleased to say the results demonstrated it provides an important lifeline to those who are socially isolated. Overall, the outcomes, on a small budget, are very good and this important work needs to continue. You can also meet Mark at the Tuesday Lunch Club, join in with the Bingo and hopefully listen to Mark call your winning number. Amelia continues in her role as the Coordinator and Jamila as the Activities and Admin worker and you can find them in the office, if you need their assistance. Long standing members of our team also include Debra who is the Positive Living Coach and Exercise Instructor, Ruby. For those of you who attend the Tuesday Lunch Club, you will know how valuable Debbie the cook is, as we couldn't do it without her. I would just like to offer condolences from all at Withington Assist to Debbie, whose mother sadly passed away in August. The members of the board of trustees remains the same and we are grateful for all their hard work and dedication, attending meetings and supporting staff and volunteers. I would like to thank Vicky, Sarala, Jacqueline, Pip, Gavin, Meena, David, Emma and Gemma for their continued support as Chair. I have been really pleased to hear how everyone has enjoyed the day trips this year and hope the trip to see the colourful, Blackpool illuminations. on the 4th of December, is also a success. The new drop-in advice session to help members wtth forms, benefits and admin, that can become so difficult with older age, has been warmly welcomed and been very successful. This support is offered by Jamila, in the office on a Friday, so do go along if you need any help. Withington Assist is an important asset in our community and hopefully members feel a sense of belonging and look foNdard to our events. I hope there is something for everyone to enjoy but do approach staff or the board of trustees if you have new ideas. Remember, you can turn up to a group and everyone is made to feel welcome and there is always someone to chat to. Once again I'd like to thank the staff and volunteers who continue to make such a difference to people's lives and to the elderly members themselves who come together to make Withington Assist the wonderful pla it is. Barbara Aston, Chair, Board of Trustees
TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT Structure, Governance and Management Governing Document ASSIST is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission on 5th June 1997 under reference 1062675. A revised constitution was prodUd and adopted at the Annual General Meeting on 20th November 2012. Recruitment and Training of Trustees We invite potential trustees to an interview. take up referenS and conduct a DBS check. Induction takes the form of a visit to the Offi to see how the organisation works and asking them to complete some reading around the roles and duties of trustees. Most of our trustees are involved as volunteers in a practical role within the organisation. Trustees are appointed by the Executive Committee at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The members elect from the Executive Committee, a Chairperson, a Secretary and a Treasurer who hold Offi until the next AGM. Organisational Management The organisation is run by its board of trustees who meet bi-monthly. The organisation employs a Co-ordinator, an Administration and Activities Assistant, an Outreach worker, and a Cook. These part time workers support around 50 volunteers to run various groups, activities and services. Public Benefit In planning and delivering our services and activities the Trustees of Assist confirm that they have complied with the duty In Section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance by the Charity Commission in delivering the activities undertaken by the Charity. Assist is required, under its Constitution, to provide serrfis and assistance to those persons in need by reason of poverty, sickness, age or disability. Assists, activities as described in this report are considered to meet the public benefit requirement as specified in the Charities Act 2011. Risk Management The major risks to which the charity is exposed, as identified by the Trustees, have been reviewed and systems established to mitigate these risks. We make sure our fInanS are sufficient to cover our outgoings and apply for grants and encourage donations as appropriate. We also ensure we have the correct levels of insurance cover and have a risk register that we review regularly at trustee meetings.
Objectives, Aims and Activities Charitsble Objectives The Charitable Objectives of Assist are set out in the constitution. Assist is a neighbourhood care group which recruits, trains and supports volunteers to provide simple, practical help to older people in need in Withington, Old Moat and Fallowfield area. Principal Activities Our main aims continue to be to reduce social isolation and loneliness, improve mental wellbeing, and to help older people remain in their own homes. We provide social groups, offer volunteer lifts, help with practical and admin tasks, and also seek to provide our frailer, more isolated members with volunteer "befrienders" or a visit from our outreach worker, as well as support from telephone befrienders. Rpview of Achievements and Performance for the Year Looking back over our achievements and performance, this year has been as busy and successful as any other in the organisations, impressive 55-year history, with social groups continuing to be well attended and the membership consistently growing, with 230 members at the time of writing. We give sincere and grateful thanks to the volunteers that enable us to run so many groups across the month, giving people lifts in, making teas, serving lunches, taking registers, setting up rooms. It is important to note that it is not just the practical help that makes Assist such a special pla for so many, it is the kindness, patience and good humour of those who attend. It is remembering and lebrating people's birthdays, asking after people who are unwell, taking the time to listen, sharing stories and jokes. We are here to cheer people up, to help people feel part of a community and to empower people to feel able to cope with the challenges that growing older can present, and feedback and attendance rates show us that we are meeting our aim. Alongside the classic social groups of lunch club. exercise classes, coffee group, walking and talking group, film club, tea and talks, digital drop in, positive living, snooker, and trips to simply cycling, the gardening servi, volunteer lifts and practical support with odd jobs, emergency shopping, administration advice, we have also been working hard to adapt and develop to meet the shifting needs of our older population. In May 2024, supported by a one-off donation from Burton House Trust, we have been able to introduce a new paid worker to the assist team, our Outreach worker, Mark Thomas. The role involves visiting people in their homes who are facing additional challenges that make it difficult for them to join in Assist's or supporting people who need extra support to attend. This has enabled us to work with more complex referrals and support older people suffering from social isolation and loneliness who would othep¥vise be unable to connect with Assist. Connecting with around 15 people a week, we are very pleased with the impact Marks, work is having, as demonstrated in an impact report (available to download from the Assist website). We are sourcing further funding to continue and extend the outreach worker offer.
Another important addition to our work that we are very proud of, has come in the form of our new citizens, advi style weekly drop in. Supported by a grant from Manchester City Council. we have been extremely pleased to increase our offer to older people living locally by providing a Cost-of-living drop in each week, supporting people with applying for benefits, pension credit, reducing household bills, completing forms and accessing further help where available. To deliver this work, we have increased the hours of our admin and activities worker, Jamila Naseem, capitalising on her skills as a trained solicitor. We are very grateful to her commitment and skill, with over 40 people having benefited from the work so far. Further to this, using a grant from the MCC'S Food Insecurity fund, we have been able to continue our commitment to subsidising our lunch club, keeping donation suggestions low and providing freelnominal fee lunches for attendees who benefit from that option. The important thing is that people attend, and we are able to remove any financial barriers to enable that to happen. We were also successful in securing a grant from In Our Nature fund, enabling us to team up with Withington Baths and Ladybarn Community hub to see the return of the blister pack recycling scheme. and a collaboration with Care and Repair to share tips on heating the home, saving energy, sign up for a free heating, health check, draught excluders, radiator programming and bleeding. Working with outside partners to provide additional services and signposting has continued, including visits from the Falls team. Age UK, GMP Scam awareness team, local Fire service, Be Smoke Free, Citizen's advice, Healthwatch to share information and take referrals. In other news, we continued with our commitment to providing days trips out, with much appreciated visits to Southport (such a lot of rain to fall on one day.. but still greatly enjoyed), Morecambe, Chester (bit cold but very Christmassy), Ye Olde Cocke in Didsbury and Oswaldtwistle Mill. For some who join, the trips with Assist are some of the only - if not, the only, trips out of Manchester they will now take in a year. It is a privilege to spend a day away and we are proud to ensure at least one trip away per quarter is arranged with volunteers on hand to push wheelchairs and lend an arm. Closer to home, we also supported our older people to access some of the arts, culture and green spaces that the city has to offer, with trips to the Martin Harris Centre, Manchester Museum, Bridgewater Hall, Fog Lane park and the RNCM. Running accessible, reliable and consistent services that run all year round- including get togethers during the Christmas break, have given us a reputation in the neighbourhood for an organisation that can be trusted. and we receive referrals from social services, mental health teams, GPS, social prescribers, family, neighbours and word of mouth, enabling to reach those who most need us. Long may this continue. Operational Performance We are pleased to have been able to continue supporting our members and volunteers, and on 31 St March 2025, we had 228 members on our books, and 51 volunteers.
Financial Review Our main Sour of funding is Manchester City Council. We have continued to apply for grants and seek donations to supplement our main grant to support and develop our activities. Additional grants and donations have come from Manchester Active, Manchester City council neighbourhood investment fund, Co op community fund, Big Lottery, the Manchester Local Care Organisation (NHS), Macc, Nisa, Salford Walking and Wheeling Fund, In Our Nature, MCC Cost of Living fund and MCC Food insecurity fund. Members remain generous, and we are very grateful for their donations. Reserves We have a reserves policy within our financial policy, and currently hold reserves of £39,000, which equates to 10 months of running costs. The reserves are in place to cover our statutory obligations, redundancy and contingency should a situation occur where our income is affected, or our costs increase. We have reviewed our reserves policy this year to ensure it accurately meets the needs of the organisation and will continue to annually review the figures to ensure we are in line with our policy. The reserves of the charity at the 31 March 2025 were £98,101. Of this, £73,308 were unrestricted reserves. This report was approved by the Board of Trustees on 2 2 ,13. Icand signed on their behalf: Barbara Aston Chair of Board
Trustees, responsibilities in relation to the financial ststements The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees, Report and the financial statements in accordan with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practi) The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP. make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent., state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures that must be disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 , the applicable Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations and the provisions of the Trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Approved by the Trustees on 11. l o, I S and signed on their behalf by.. Barbara Aston Chair of Board
Independent examiner's report to the Trustees of Assist I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Assist (the Charity) for the year ended 31 March 2025. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act., or The accounts do not accord with those records. 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. Emma Willder, FCMA, CGMA, CG(Affiliated) Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountsnts Date: 23 October 2025 Beyond Profit Ltd F114 Bolton Arena Arena Approach Horwich Bolton BL6 6LB 10
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