empower Giving every young person the chance to choose EMPOWER (BRAINTREE DISTRICT) Trustees report and accounts For the year ended 31st March 2025 Registered charity number 1073418 Church House . St. Michaels Lane . Braintree . Essex . CM7 1 EY w.empowerschools.org.uk EMPOWER (Braintree District) Index to accounts Legal and administrative details page 3 Report of the trustees pages 4 to 6 Independent examiner's report page 7 Statement of assets & liabilities page 8 Receipts and payments account page 9 EMPOWER (Braintree District) Legal and Administrative Details for the year ended 31st March 2025 Registered charity number 1073418 Trustees David Bland Barry Cheesman Denise Cheesman Andrew Knight Cathy Mann Irene Webber Director Matt Ager Registered address St. Michaels Church House St. Michaels Lane Braintree Essex CM7 1EY Bankers Natwest Independent Examiner N K Smith 19 Highbury Way Great Cornard Sudbury Suffolk C010 OHE EMPOWER (Braintree District) Report of the trustees for the year ended 31st March 2025 The Trustees present their annual report for the year ended 31 st March 2025. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Charities Act and the statement of recommended practice 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities" Structure Governance and Management The Charity was registered in January 1999. The Charity was renamed EMPOWER (Braintree District) during the year to more appropriately define its aims in supporting both students and schools. Under the constitution the power to appoint Trustees, of which there shall be at least three, is vested in the existing Trustees. The trustees who served during the year were: David Bland Barry Cheesman Denise Cheesman Andrew Knight Cathy Mann Irene Webber Summary of Objectives The objects of the Trust are.. to advance the Christian faith particularly amongst children and young people in the schools, colleges and other educational establishments in Braintree and the surrounding area. to advance education in the said locality. b) Public benefit The Trustees have had regard to the public benefit general guidance issued by the Charity Commission. In this respect, we are committed to providing services on a fair and equitable basis, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, lifestyle, sex, sexuality, physicallmental disability, offending background or any other factor. Furthermore, we believe that the range of services delivered demonstrate the clear and obvious public benefit of our activities. Activities Over the past twelve months, Empower has continued to work in the primary and secondary schools around the Braintree and Halstead areas. The work consisted of: Assemblies Over the year, the Empower team presented to 40+ schools (roughly 7,500 children), typically every six weeks. Topics covered a wide range of issues, presenting Christian values at their core in a relevant educational style. Lessons Mostly taking the form of interview-style lessons, our secondary schools team worked closely with RE Departments to aid GCSE students through Years 10 and 11, along with helping to cover modules on Christianity for younger years. Lessons of a similar delivery were presented to the Braintree area primary schools, with both primary and secondary school team members collaborating on topics related to Creation and Science. Such is the popularity of Empower's delivery of lessons, this opened up opportunities for a number of projects which are outlined in this report. Lunch Clubs These continue to be popular in a number of primary schools, so much that registers and a queuing system have been implemented in some cases. The weekly secondary school club at Notley High continues to see a regular weekly attendance of around 20 students spanning all year groups. A further weekly lunch club was established at Tabor Academy which is proving to be popular with a number of students from different year groups. The content of the groups varies between schools, some having a more laid-back content while others have specific Christianity-focused activities. In all of them, the team embraces the opportunity to engage in conversation with students who attend, and teachers who may be present. Mentoring Empower's demand for mentoring in secondary schools has increased year on year due to the raised awareness of mental and emotional distress being experienced by many young people. For this past year, the charity has mentored around 200 young people across five secondary schools, ranging from regular weekly sessions for those battling ongoing issues {eg trauma at home, behavioural difficulties, poor mental health) to times spent with those in a brief season of difficulty (eg exam worries, transition to a new school). We were most grateful to receive some new funding for our work in Halstead which enabled us to employ an additional part time mentor to work specifically in that area. We have also extended our mentoring offer to include group bike maintenance sessions for secondary school boys.. This was well received by the participating school which paved the way for a second visit later in the year. As a result, we will be offering it to additional schools in the coming year. Project: A-cross The World Returning for its fifteenth year, A-cross The World (ATW) was presented in its traditional face-to-face format to all the local primary schools in the Halstead area and North Braintree. ATW was a well-organised exploration of different representations of the cross by Christian communities around the world. Schools were pleased to see the lessons achieve many objectives laid out by the Department for Education and are keen to host this project again in the future. Project: Anam Cara We delivered our Anam Cara reflection room project into a local Halstead Area secondary school during Summer 2024. Using a classroom space for an entire week, Anam Cara had a number of 'stations' that students could visit during their planned lesson, all intended to evoke personal reflection. As has been the case in previous schools, the project proved to be hugely successful for the week and has prompted interest from other schools who hope to host the project in the coming year. Project: GSUS Live After a three-year wait, Empower was privileged to host the GSUS Live project in three local secondary schools. The interactive classroom sessions took students on a tour of three significant life issues, offering advice to computer characters to help prompt a positive outcome. Empower has hosted the project on a number of occasion and hopes to be able to have a return visit from GSUS Live in a few years. Other Projects Our primary schools team delivered an effective series of modules on Creation during the Spring Term in addition to expanding on other lessons topics throughout the year. Staffing The appointment of our new Halstead focussed secondary schools mentor in September 2024 substantially increased our mentoring capacity in the area. We are delighted to say that we have just been advised that additional funding has secured their employment for another 12 months. Trustees We are delighted that Cathy Mann agreed to rejoin the Board of Trustees during the year. As a retired headteacher, she brings very valuable experience to the Board and additional support to primary schools workers in particular. Funders The Trustees are so grateful to all those individuals and groups that have made this important work possible. Whilst every supporter is vital to our work, we acknowledge specifically the support of.. The Saffron Community fund, via The Essex Community Foundation The Little Braxted Community and Educational Trust, via The Essex Community Foundation The Hinckford Deanery The Bishop Radford Trust The Dulverton Trust, vis The Essex Community Foundation Risk Management The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Trust is exposed and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to major risks. The reserves of the Trust are maintained at a level which will support the continuance of the activities for a minimum of three months. We consider this report to be an accurate and fair account of the Charity's activities during the 2024125 financial year. O behalf of the Trustees, Barry Cheesma Independent examiner's report on the accounts to the trustees of EMPOWER (Braintree District) on accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity ('the Trust.) for the year ended 31 March 2025. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's 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 charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5){b) of the Act. Independent examinerfs statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which give me cause to believe that, in any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting 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. N K Smith FCA 19 Highbury Way, Great Cornard, Sudbury, Suffolk, C010 OHE 11 July 2025 EMPOWER (Braintree District) (charity no 1073418) STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES 31 MARCH 2025 2025 2024 Current assets Bank accounts 50,140 26,825 Unrestricted f unds Brought forward Net results Carried forward 26,825 23,315 50,140 38,274 -11,449 26,825 Signed by one trustee on behalf of all the trustees: Signature: A. Print name: IRL TrJi< M. knlA6*kll EMPOWER (Braintree District) RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 2025 2024 Income Donations Gift aided Churches Business Schools Personal 20,416 15,091 4,560 9,202 4,842 54,111 14,520 15,437 4,560 650 6,278 41,445 Other Grants received Miscellaneous Tax refund Interest 21,500 5,202 5,019 798 86,630 3,500 3,148 3,764 388 52,245 Expenditure Salaries Schools work Office expenses Sundry expenses Accountancy Employees, expenses Pension cost 54,534 2,013 1,739 1,577 490 1,583 1,379 63,315 56,990 1,935 1,338 59 460 1,487 1,425 63,694 Net results 23,315 -11,449 Note Grants received consist of the following: Great Yeldham PCC Essex Community Foundation The John James Charity Rank Foundation 15,500 6,000 2,000 1,500 3,500 21,500