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2021-03-31-accounts

BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 2021

BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31 MARCH 2021

CHARITY REGISTRATION No: 1076217 COMPANY REGISTRATION No: 3750656

Tim D Miller MA ACMA CGMA

105 Redhatch Drive, Earley, Reading, RG6 5QN

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BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 2021

CONTENTS

Pages 2 - 8 Report of the Directors

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BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 2021

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

CHARITY NUMBER 1076217

COMPANY REGISTRATION 3750656 NUMBER START OF FINANCIAL YEAR 1 APRIL 2020 END OF FINANCIAL YEAR 31 MARCH 2021 DIRECTORS AT YEAR END Richard Flemming Chair Sandra Stubbs Margaret Collum Adam Bermange Treasurer Connor O’Connor REGISTERED ADDRESS 40 Caversham Road Reading, RG1 7EB DATE OF 12 April 1999 INCORPORATION GOVERNING Memorandum and Articles of Association DOCUMENT BANKERS CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling Kent, ME19 4JQ INDEPENDENT Tim D Miller MA ACMA CGMA EXAMINER 105 Redhatch Drive, Earley, Reading, RG6 5QN OBJECTS The relief of school age and pre-school age children and adults suffering from autism, autisticrelated problems and challenging behaviour, resident in Berkshire.

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BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 2021

Structure, Governance and Management:

The Berkshire Autistic Society (Autism Berkshire) is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, both under the name of Berkshire Autistic Society, working name Autism Berkshire. Our office is located at 40 Caversham Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 7EB. The governing documents are Memorandum and Articles of Association incorporated on 12/04/1999 and amended by special resolution dated 13/10/2015, to update our articles to the 2012 model articles published by the Charity Commission.

During the year we had one full-time member of staff and 18 part-time members of staff and 6 regular volunteers. All staff, both paid and volunteers, receive appropriate induction training and ongoing refresher training as required.

We are well supported in our work by our Trustees, staff and volunteers, some of whom have personal experience of living with a person with autism. Volunteers undertake a wide variety of activities, including regular work in the office, fundraising, helping at events and attending meetings of area forums and partnership boards in local authority areas across Berkshire on behalf of the society.

Objectives and Activities:

Our mission is to help and support anyone living with autism in Berkshire. We aim to enhance the current provision of services and support, with the purpose of improving the quality of life of people with autism and giving them maximum independence.

We do this by:

• Providing information and advice through a helpline, events, workshops, outreach, publications and newsletters;

• Providing autism-specific training and support;

• Working with education, health, emergency and employment services and the six main local authorities in Berkshire to deliver autism-appropriate services;

• Raising awareness in the wider community to promote greater understanding of autism.

We are frequently consulted by Local Authorities and the NHS about autism services within the

county.

We support children, young people and adults and their parents and carers, from when concerns are initially raised, to when they are placed on the waiting list for an autism assessment, after diagnosis, and life beyond. You do not need a formal diagnosis of autism to be supported by Autism Berkshire.

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BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 2021

Achievements and Performance:

2020-21 proved to be among the most challenging in the 30 years since the formation of the society in 1990. The coronavirus pandemic drove a radical rethink of how advice and support services could be delivered, while changes in NHS autism support arrangements in Berkshire meant a reshaping of Autism Berkshire’s operations.

Reacting to the initial lockdown in March 2020, the charity, quickly began to develop alternative ways of working to maintain support services. Home working became the norm for most staff, while others were placed on furlough.

The Benefits Service switched to online video appointments with clients from the first week of April, and extra pages were added to the website to outline what advice and support was available from the charity, plus links to information for parents and carers about other sources of support, help with home-schooling and leisure activities for children and families to enjoy at home.

Autism advice workshops and courses were quickly reshaped for online delivery using Zoom and Microsoft Teams, with a programme of online sessions for parents and carers launched in midApril.

Autism Berkshire became the first organisation in the country approved by the National Autistic Society to deliver its Teen Life course for parents of 10 to 16-year-olds online. Autism Berkshire’s Training and Family Support Lead Julia Cox, who had adapted the course, then advised other licensed trainers around the country who were making the move to online delivery.

A pleasing development was that many parents who joined online workshops said that it was the first time they had been able to attend, in part thanks to having greater control over their time through working from home.

During the year, the NAS EarlyBird Plus course for parents of children in primary school was added to the range of support available for parents and carers, along with new workshops about Food Refusal and Autism in Girls.

To help families struggling with the effects of the repeated coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, a new Wellbeing & Autism course was developed, supported by Reading Borough Council’s New Directions community learning service. And a weekly online get-together for parents and carers, the Friday Lunch Break, proved popular after its launch in January.

The Bear With Me and 197 Club adult social groups switched to meeting online due to closures of their regular venues and social distancing rules, though numbers taking part were down on normal meetings, as many members found the online format difficult, but contact with them was maintained by email and phone.

A summer picnic for Bear With Me members hosted by Beech Lodge School, just outside Maidenhead, was the only face-to-face activity of 2020-21, though many members met Helen Harris and her son Scott, who co-ordinate the group, just before Christmas to collect seasonal goody bags.

Autistic adults were also able to benefit from online learning, with a Chop & Chat course to develop cooking and social skills delivered online in early 2021.

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BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 2021

Providing leisure activities for children and young people proved a challenge, with all activities suspended at the start of the pandemic. An exemption in Government guidance, allowing activities for disabled children later in 2020, allowed resumption of some trampolining sessions for children and young people, with the help of the coaching team at Bracknell Trampoline Centre but other activities remained suspended, pending a review of provision post-pandemic.

To help families of autistic and ADHD children to prepare for the return to school in September 2020 after several months of disrupted education, Autism Berkshire worked with other local and Berkshire’s two NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups to create a leaflet featuring top tips to support children’s self-esteem, boost social skills and re-establish routines.

The leaflet was designed by Eden Sinclair, an autistic graduate in graphic communication. She also designed an Autism Berkshire face covering exemption card, for autistic people who needed to show that they were covered by Government guidance allowing some disabled people go without a face mask in shops and on public transport during the pandemic.

Eden was also responsible creating a new look for the Berkshire Autism Alert Card, 10 years after its launch. The project was supported by a grant from the Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner’s Office. Cardholders can now choose to share some information with about their autism and support needs, to help police and other emergency service staff to provide appropriate assistance when they are shown an alert card. The new design and a publicity campaign in conjunction with Thames Valley Police in early 2021 helped drive a surge in applications, with more than 200 issued in the first quarter of 2021, taking the number in use past 2,000 by the end of March.

With social distancing restrictions ruling out holding a public meeting, the charity’s annual meeting was held online in November, with the spotlight on the Benefits Service, which helps autistic people and their families with applications for welfare benefits and offers advice and support for appeals. Demand for help from the service was lower than in the previous year, but clients received more than £150,000 in benefits and back payments during the period.

During the course of the year, Autism Berkshire took part in two tenders to deliver autism advice and support services for the families of children and young people on behalf of the East Berkshire and Berkshire West NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups, bidding in partnership with Parenting Special Children.

While the Berkshire West contract was secured, in East Berkshire a private contractor was awarded the work. After running some workshops on its behalf in the last quarter of 2020, it was decided to end this arrangement, reducing Autism Berkshire’s activities in the Bracknell Forest, Slough and Windsor & Maidenhead council areas.

The Berkshire West Autism & ADHD Support Service was launched at the start of 2021, to help autistic children & young people and their families in Reading, Wokingham and West Berkshire. The service provides enhanced advice, workshops and courses to families of children & young people aged between 5 and 25 who have a diagnosis of autism and/or ADHD, or are on the Berkshire CAMHS waiting lists for assessment, building on the two charities’ previous work on behalf of the CCG.

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BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE) REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 2021

Demand for support surged in the first quarter of 2021, in part due to the third coronavirus pandemic lockdown and associated school closures. During this period, Autism Berkshire’s family support team had 998 individual contacts with families in the three council areas and assisted 40% more families during this period than in the first quarter of 2020, at a time when they were also delivering services in East Berkshire. Some autism advice workshops were run twice to meet the demand for places.

Community fundraising was hit hard by the pandemic, with many events cancelled, including the Reading and Bracknell Half-Marathons, which runners regularly use to raise funds for us in sponsorship.

However, staff at LEO Pharma UK & Ireland, based in Hurley, near Maidenhead, and at business telecoms company ComXo in Datchet, near Windsor, were among those who came up with ways to raise funds for us online and in the workplace during the year and a number of individual donations, large and small, were received, including £4,000 from the West Berkshire Crematorium in Thatcham.

Applications to local and national grant-making bodies for help from Covid emergency funding schemes, to fund both general expenditure and key projects, were successful. The charity also benefited from a Government grant scheme, as well as claiming Gift Aid proceeds linked to donations.

The family and friends of the late Nancy England, an assistant tutor on our community education courses who died at the start of 2020, donated more than £6,000 in her memory, which will be used to fund art and creative activities for autistic children during school holidays. Nancy was a teacher at schools in Maidenhead for many years.

The success of the changes to online working due to COVID 19 was recognised in March 2021, with the award of a National Census 2021 Purple Plaque to the charity’s Chief Executive Officer, Jane Stanford-Beale, for her contribution to the community during the coronavirus pandemic.

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BERKSHIRE AUTIS71C soaETY (A COMPANY UMITED BY GUARApifEE) REPORT OF THE D]RE￿OR5 FOR THE YEAR ENi%D MARCH 2021 Statement of Directors. Responsibilities- The direLtors are satisfied that lor the year endaj 31 March 2021 the tharitable C¢Jmpany was entitled to exemption from the requirement to obtain an audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 and that no member or members have required the company to obtsin an audtl of its accounts for the year in question in accordan￿ wrth section 476 of the Act. However, in accordance with Se￿lOn 145 of the Charities Acl 2011, the aCC￿nts have be8n examined by an Independent Examiner whose report appears on page 9. The directors are responsible for preparing Ihe report and financial statements wi accordan￿ wlth applicable law aThJ r8gulation& Company law requires the directors to prware finanaal statements for each finan¢ial year. UTrJer that law the directors have elected 10 prepare the financial ststements in accordance V￿th United Kingdom Gen61ally Accepled Accounting Practice (Financial Reporting Standard 102 and appliL2ble law). UNJer company law the directors must not approve the financial ststements unless they are salisfied that they give a true and fair view ol the stste of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that periTrJ. In preparing these financk21 statements. the directors are required to: select suitable accounting policies and appty them consislenty. make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; slate whettrer applicable UK Acc(MJnting Standards have been folbwed. subject to any mat8rial departures disdosed and explained in the financial stslerrEnts and prepare the finanaal ststements on the going ￿n￿rn basis unS8ss it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business. The directors are responsible for keeping adequate a(￿oUnting records that are suffioent to show and explain the company's transactions and disctose with reasonable accuracy at any time thè financial position ol the company arffl enable them to ensure that the finanGxal statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They a￿ also ￿Sponsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hen￿ for tsking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregulartties. Berkshire Autistic So(iety is a public benefft entity. Approved by the Directors on 03 September 2021 Signed on their behalf by Director and Chair of Trustees: Rithard Flemming

Independent examinerf5 report to the trustee5 of erkshire Autstic Socie I report on the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 March 2021. which are set out on pages 10 to 13. Respectlve responslbllltles of trustees and emamlner The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company lawl are responslble for the preparatlon of the accounts. The trustees consider that an audlt ts not required for th55 year under sectlon 144121 of the Charltles Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an Independent examlnatlon 15 needed. Having Satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audlt under company law and is eli8ible for independent examlnation. it is my responslbillty to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act to follow the procedures laid down in the 8eneral Directions 8r¥en by the Chaiity Commission under section 14515llbl of the 2011 Act • to state whether particular matters have come to my attention Basls of Independent examlnerfs report My examlnatlon was carrled out In accordance wlth the 8eneral Directions 8lven by the Charlty CommlssS0n. An examlnatlon includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charlty and a comparlson of the accounts presented wlth those records. It also Includes consideratKin of any unusual item5 or disclosures in the accounts, and seekln8 explanatlons from you as trustees conceming any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provlde all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opSnlon Is Blven as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair vie and the report is limited to those matters set out in the next statement. Independent examlnerf$ st•tsment In connection with my examlnation. no matter has come to my attention: 111 which 8ives me reasonable cause to belleve that In any materlal respe¢t the requirements: to keep accounting ￿CordS in accordance with sertion 386 of the Compans Act 2006 and; to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records. Comp￿ with the accountin8 requirements of sectK>n 396 of the Companies Act 2Crf)6 and with the methods and prlnciples of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounlin8 and Reportin8 by Charlties have not been met or 121 to which, in my opin*on, attention should be drawn in order to enabte a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached Name: rim D Miller MAACMA CGMA Relevant professional qualification or trfxly: Chartered Instrtute of Management Accountsnts Add￿$$. 105 Redhatch Drive, Earley, Readin& RG6 5QN 14 September 2021

BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY

Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account)

for the year ended 31 March 2021

Unrestricted
Notes
Funds
£
Incoming Resources
Incoming Resources from Generated Funds
Grants
18,500
Govt - Small Business Grant
10,000
Govt - Cronavirus Job Retention Scheme
33,210
Membership subscriptions
7,576
Donations
15,174
Fundraising and Collections
3,702
Training Courses
-
Bank Interest
65
Incoming Resources from Charitable
1
-
Activities
Total Incoming Resources
88,227
Resources Expended
Fundraising Trading Costs
2,162
Charitable Activities
3a
83,718
Governance
3b
2,045
Total Resources Expended
87,925
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources
302
Total Funds Brought Forward
77,431
Total funds Carried Forward
77,733		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
-
-
7,112
-
-
-
143,936
151,048
-
151,048
-
151,048
-
-
-		 Total
2020/2021
£
18,500
10,000
33,210
7,576
22,286
3,702
-
65
143,936
239,275
2,162
234,766
2,045
238,973
302
77,431
77,733		 Total
2019/2020
£
22,850
-
-
7,441
20,903
16,642
1,220
182
128,734
197,972
6,542
238,495
2,335
247,372
(49,400)
126,831
77,431

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BERKSHIRE AUTISTIC SOCIETY

Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2021

Current Assets
Debtors
Prepayments
Cash at Bank and in Hand
Total Current Assets
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
Creditors
Accruals
HMRC PAYE/NI
Deferred Income
1
Total Current Liabilities
Total Assets less Current Liabilities
NET ASSETS
General Funds
Restricted Funds
Total Funds		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
0
0
85,610
85,610
115
5,107
2,655
-
7,877
77,733
77,733
77,733		 Restricted
Funds
£
1,000
0
80,088
81,088
312
6,554
-
74,222
81,088
0
0		 31/03/2021
£
1,000
0
165,698
166,698
427
11,661
2,655
74,222
88,965
77,733
77,733
77,733		 31/03/2020
£
1,275
2,609
145,033
148,917
287
32,525
3,152
35,522
71,486
77,431
77,431
77,431

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Notes forming part of the financial statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021

Unrestricted
Funds
£
3
Resources Expended
a)
Charitable Activities
Payroll Costs
2
98,534
Sub-Contracted Providers
660
Venue Hire
183
Refreshment Costs
-
Travel
34
Leaflets & Promotional Materials
774
Other Activity Costs
0
Premises
20,055
Insurance
1,638
Telephone
433
Printing,Postage,Stationery
1,401
IT & Web Services
4,390
Small Fixtures Replacement
289
DBS Fees
-
Staff Recruitment & Training
2,849
Subscriptions & Licenses
195
Bank & Fundraising Collection Fees
641
Overhead allocation
(48,358)
83,718
b)
Governance Costs
Legal fees
300
Governance Costs
745
Independent Examiners Fee
1,000
2,045		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
3
Resources Expended
a)
Charitable Activities
Payroll Costs
2
98,534
Sub-Contracted Providers
660
Venue Hire
183
Refreshment Costs
-
Travel
34
Leaflets & Promotional Materials
774
Other Activity Costs
0
Premises
20,055
Insurance
1,638
Telephone
433
Printing,Postage,Stationery
1,401
IT & Web Services
4,390
Small Fixtures Replacement
289
DBS Fees
-
Staff Recruitment & Training
2,849
Subscriptions & Licenses
195
Bank & Fundraising Collection Fees
641
Overhead allocation
(48,358)
83,718
b)
Governance Costs
Legal fees
300
Governance Costs
745
Independent Examiners Fee
1,000
2,045		 Restricted
Funds
£		 Total
2020/2021
£		 Total
2019/2020
£
157,400
19,958
9,910
1,836
7,700
3,467
1,834
23,070
1,563
762
3,064
2,792
636
328
3,400
80
695
-
98,534
660
183
-
34
774
0
20,055
1,638
433
1,401
4,390		 75,250
13,144
1,820
-
240
3,648
1,514
-
-
132
408
1,086		 173,785
13,804
2,003
-
274
4,422
1,514
20,055
1,638
565
1,809
5,476
289 5,250 5,539
-
2,849
195
641
(48,358)		 50
147
-
-
48,358		 50
2,996
195
641
-
83,718
300
745
1,000
2,045		 151,048
-
-
-
-		 234,766
300
745
1,000
2,045
238,495
-
1,335
1,000
2,335

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1 Incoming Resources from Charitable Activities (Restricted)

2020/2021
£
Deferred Income brought forward @ 1st April, 2020
35,522
Income Received
182,636
Deferred Income carried forward @ 31st March, 202
74,222
Income Released to Income & Expenditure
143,936		 2019/2020
£
6,038
158,218
35,522
128,734

We also gratefully acknowledge grants or donations over £250 from the following sponsors:-

Paypal Giving Fund
Albert Hunt Trust Peter Baker Foundation
Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust Postcode Community Trust
BBC Children in Need Reading Borough Council - ACLF
Berkshire Community Foundation Reading St Laurence Church Charities
Bracknell Town Council Reading Voluntary Action - Vaccine Support Grant
British Science Association Richard Flemming
Charities Aid Foundation Rory Smyth
Co-op Local Community Fund Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
Crowthorne Parish Council RVA/Berks West NHS CCG - Community Grants - BAMER
Gerald Palmer Eling Trust Sir Jules Thorn Trust - Ann Rylands Grants
Henry Smith Charity Slough Council for Voluntary Service - SPACE
Sylvia Waddilove Foundation
LEO Pharma UK. Maidenhead Tesco Bags of Help
Louis Baylis Charitable Trust (Maidenhead Advertise TK Maxx
Matthew Wells - In Memoriam Waitrose
Morrisons Foundation West Berkshire Council - Community Learning Fund
Nancy England - In Memoriam West Berkshire Crematorium
National Lottery Community Fund Covid grant William Grant & Sons
Nicola Tanner Wokingham Without Parish Council

2 Staff Costs and Numbers

Gross Salaries and Wages
Employers' National Insurance Costs
Redundancy Costs
Pension Contributions
Allocated to Fund Raising
Average full time equivalent of employees engaged:
Activities in furtherance of organisation's objects		 2020/2021
£
161,961
7,953
1,054
2,817
173,784
0
173,785
2020/2021
4.72		 2019/2020
£
150,589
6,441
-
2,198
159,228
(1,828)
157,400
2019/2020
5.35

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000. Staff are paid through the PAYE system.

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