2022-08-31-accounts - Freeflow Counselling Services

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Freeflow Counselling Services

Charity Number 1077053

Annual Report and Financial Statements

Year ended 31st August 2022

Freeflow Counselling Services

Reference and administrative details

Trustees	Mrs Kathryn Addison
	Mr Gordon Howley
	Mrs Lindsay Backhouse
Chief Executive Officer	Ms Edel McGinn
Principal address	E L V S Resource Centre
	62-64 Yorkshire Street
	BURNLEY
	Lancashire
	BB11 2BT
Bankers	Unity Trust Bank PLC
	Nine Brindleyplace
	Birmingham
	B1 2HB
Registered Charity Number	1077053
Independent Examiner	M R Heaton FCCA FCIE DChA
	KM
	1stFloor, Block C
	The Wharf
	Manchester Road
	Burnley
	Lancashire BB11 1JG

FREEFLOW COUNSELLING SERVICES

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 August 2022.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

To provide emotional and mental health support by the provision of counselling and supportive help to those in need. To empower people to take control of their own lives and to make choices about their own direction. To give support and information to those who ask for help. To recruit and maintain appropriately trained counsellors and offer ongoing support and liaison with other training and supervision agencies.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The trustees confirm that we have paid due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit reporting in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

Freeflow continues to provide a free, confidential counselling service for men and women aged 16+. The service is going from strength to strength, and we are having excellent feedback from both service users and professionals.

We continue to take many referrals from various organisations throughout the community but encourage more self-referrals as this encourages the client to take responsibility for their therapy and reduces the amount of DNA’s.

We currently have 3 bilingual counsellors and a team of 15 volunteer counsellors. We have seen a huge increase in requests for placements as we are the only local service offering face to face counselling. At the end of August 2022 we had 53 clients on our waiting list - significantly higher than previous years due to an increased demand to deal with Covid related issues.

Our main achievements during the year include:-

The ongoing attainment of the Schools Counselling Service. We have Counselling contracts with 18 local primary and secondary schools. These contracts range from 3 hrs per week to 42 hrs per week, combined we offer over 152 hours per week. This work continues to subsidise Freeflow, pay the school counselling team and their manager/supervisor. The school team maintained the restrictions implemented last year to enable them to continue offering such a valuable service. We contracted with new schools due to our commitment to face to face work. Our manager, Edel, continued to adapt risk assessments to enable this work to continue. We also continued to offer the free service face to face throughout the year. Again, Edel continued to adapt and monitor risk assessments to support this work.

We continue to offer IAPT work to support the local ICS in partnership with Lancashire Women Centre. Despite the continued impact of covid closure we surpassed the target set for the year. We saw a total of 338 clients rather than the agreed 250. The ICS commended this achievement as did our partners. Subsequently they agreed to recontract and increased our target for 2022-2023.

FREEFLOW COUNSELLING SERVICES

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (continued)

This is of huge importance as it enables Freeflow to continue offering the free service to the community.

We currently have a passionate and committed team of 10 school counsellors and an equally dedicated hardworking team of 15 volunteer counsellors. Each of these counsellors deserve praise and recognition for the way they have continued to adapt their work during the continued restrictions. 2 have yet to return due to medical reasons but the rest of our team continued to prioritise the needs of our clients. Freeflow continues to thrive due to this admirable commitment.

Edel continues to review and update our policies and procedures to ensure Freeflow works within the expected guidelines of the NHS. This has been of more significance during the pandemic to ensure we could continue our support.

Edel and Judith Watson continually develop new assessment/monitoring sheets to help acquire the necessary data for the NHS for every client we complete a client assessment form which informs us: age, location, ethnicity, referral source, GP, physical and emotional health, dependent children/ older relatives, financial situation, employment, issues with drugs/alcohol and indication of issues. We also have a system in place to evaluate the counselling from the client’s point of view; each client is asked to provide feedback on the service received, with the option of complete anonymity. These feedback sheets are closely monitored by the manager and are used to improve the service. These evaluations indicate that the service is highly appreciated and beneficial to the service users. Edel continues to maintain close links with other counselling services throughout the district.

FREEFLOW COUNSELLING SERVICES

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (continued)

25[TH] ANNIVERSARY

Our biggest success of this year is that this is our 25[th] anniversary so have included an update of the last 25 years from the charity executive director Edel McGinn

25 years ago this August, Freeflow Counselling Service embarked on its journey to support those in need of mental health support, throughout Burnley & Pendle

Our track record spans back 25 year’s but our mission remains the same: We want to give members of our community the opportunity to access free counselling/mental health support. We also want to support local people in their counselling training by offering placements

In 1997 our journey began with the need for both a free counselling service for women aged 16+ and a need for placements for trainee counsellors.

Fast forward 25 years and our charity has grown monumentally.

Highlights-

In 2000 we moved into BPRVCS and are now the longest established residents in the building. We continued to offer placements and free counselling to women throughout the local area.

In 2006 I took over the service with a colleague as it was forcing closure. We then opened the service to men and to the wider community to incorporate Rossendale, Hyndburn and The Ribble Valley

In 2007 we supported the Children’s Trust in delivering a children and young people counselling service throughout Lancashire

In 2009 we received lottery funding to offer free counselling to all local high schools for 3 years

In 2012 many schools continued these contracts – we are currently in 19 schools

2014 I began managing the service alone with the support of Judith our data manager and the continued support of our trustees

2014 we signed a contract with the East Lancs Clinical Commissioning group to support them on the IAPT service

2017 we began offering couples counselling and a low-cost affordable counselling service

2018 we began offering family counselling

2022 we began supporting Burnley Council on their decluttering campaign

2022 plans in progress to offer a free counselling service in collaboration with The Hub Padiham

We are now the longest established counselling and mental health charity in the area consistently supporting members of the community aged 5 upwards. On average we offer counselling and mental health support to approximately 1000 members of the community each year.

FREEFLOW COUNSELLING SERVICES

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (continued)

We know that our work makes a difference not only to the children and adults who access our support but also their families and the wider community. We are immensely proud of the amazing referral network that we’ve established over the last 25 years. It is our collaboration with local authorities, schools, Gp’s and other residents within BPRCVS that enables us to reach those most in need.

We think you will agree that 25 years is an amazing achievement worth celebrating

Celebration plans:

26[th] Nov am The mayor will be unveiling a plaque in BPRCVS to commemorate 25 years

26[th] Nov pm Evening meal for the team and some previous members at Bistro 192

27[th] Tree planting at a local restored woodland

Talking bench date and location to be confirmed

Donation of 500 selection boxes to our colleagues Health & Wellbeing for Children & Families

Further plans for next year are – we are to start offering free counselling from a community hub in a neighbouring town. This is to make our service more accessible. We hope that in time we will be able to do this in each area we support. We also need to secure funding to offer free counselling and family therapy to local schools that need and want our service but are unable to due to lack of finances.

THANKS

Once again, I would like to take this opportunity as chairperson to thank everyone who is involved with Freeflow for all their hard work and continued support, it is greatly appreciated. Special thanks must go to Edel for keeping Freeflow going throughout the most difficult time. She ensured all the schools honoured their contracts and in doing so the school team continued to get paid and Freeflow continued to thrive. She has supported the team throughout the pandemic despite it affecting her personally. I’d also like to thank Judith for her ongoing support to Edel to achieve the IAPT contract which enables the service to grow.

Freeflow will continue to offer young people adults, couples and families, the excellent, confidential service it is renowned for. Well done and thank you to everyone involved with Freeflow.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The receipts and payments account is on page 9. This shows an excess of receipts of £31,378. Unrestricted fund balances are £83,445 at the year end. The charity’s reserves policy is to maintain three months expenditure, which equates to approximately £46,000. The excess is held to further the work of the charity.

FREEFLOW COUNSELLING SERVICES

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (continued)

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The charity is controlled by its constitution and is an unincorporated charity. The board of Freeflow Counselling Services are elected from the membership organisations which make up the network. The board meets on a regular basis to conduct the business of the Charity.

Risk management

The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error. The charity ensures that all staff and counsellors comply with its safeguarding policy and appropriate DBS checks carried out.

Approved by the trustees on 20[th] June 2023 and signed on its behalf by:

Mrs Kathryn Addison – Trustee

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF FREEFLOW COUNSELLING SERVICES

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31[st] August 2022.

Responsibilities and basis of report

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

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

Independent examiner's statement

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 charity as required by Section 130 of the Act; or
(2) 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.

M R Heaton FCCA FCIE DChA KM, Chartered Accountants 1[st] Floor, Block C, The Wharf Manchester Road Burnley Lancashire BB11 1JG

20th June 2023

FREEFLOW COUNSELLING SERVICES

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT

Year ended 31[st] August 2022

RECEIPTS Donations School Income Miscellaneous Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Total Receipts PAYMENTS Staff costs (inc Employer NI, Pensions) Supervision Counselling fees Donation Operating costs Accountancy fees Payroll fees Total payments Net of receipts (payments) Cash funds brought forward Cash funds carried forward	Unrestricted funds (£) 31.8.22 4,806 133,288 151 76,412	Unrestricted funds (£) 31.8.22 4,806 133,288 151 76,412	Unrestricted funds (£) 31.8.21 1,347 100,086 1,461 53,346
		214,657	156,240
		46,347 8,300 108,735 163,382 663 17,938 1,080 216	51,467 6,205 87,245 144,917 620 8,792 1,080 186
		183,279	155,595

		31,378	645

		52,067	51,422

		83,445	52,067

FREEFLOW COUNSELLING SERVICES

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
As at 31st August 2022 CASH FUNDS Bank current account LIABILITIES Independent examination/accountancy	31.8.22 31.8.21 83,445 52,067
	1,000 1,000

These accounts were approved by the trustees on June 2023

Mrs Kathryn Addison

Trustee

FREEFLOW COUNSELLING SERVICES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1 Basis of preparation These accounts have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis in accordance with the Charities Act 2011.
2 Fund Accounting:

Unrestricted funds are those that can be expended at the discretion of the trustees in the furtherance of the objects of the charity

3 Taxation

The charity is not liable to tax on its charitable activities.

The charity is not registered for VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is included in the expense to which it relates.

4 Transactions with trustees

No remuneration nor expenses were paid to trustees or any persons connected with them during the year or previous year.