The Squad Trustees Annual Report 2022 - 2023
This report is designed to supplement the legal and financial information contained in the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023 by providing a summary of the activities and achievements of The Squad Club during this period.
The Squad provides people with learning disabilities access to a fun and social environment, whilst supporting them towards fulfilling their true potential. It is an organisation with a difference, embracing and promoting social inclusion and choice. Our beneficiaries (known as ‘Members’) are encouraged to try new activities and learn new skills, helping them to be better equipped to tackle life’s challenges. We believe our members are The Squad’s greatest assets,we encourage them to help run the clubs and support them in having a voice, both within the organisation and in their local communities.
Overview for the year
The Squad has been successful in efforts to generate fundraising revenue through various channels, namely grant funding and corporate fundraising, against a backdrop of challenging circumstances across the charity sector following the end of the pandemic. This has enabled the charity to operate with a stable financial platform for the immediate term and continue to build our reserves while continuing to deliver valuable services to our members. The Trustees and all of our team continue to work hard to ensure that this can continue.
Whilst this annual report only covers the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, we think it’s important to report on the ongoing impact to The Squad following the coronavirus pandemic and how we have responded as restrictions were lifted in the UK. Despite social distancing and test and trace restrictions being lifted across the UK, our members and their families and carers are still at greater risk than the general public with regards to which continues to concern our members and their families. To address these concerns, we have continued to put the safety of our members, staff and volunteers, as well as the wider community, first in everything we do as a charity.
We have worked to ensure we maintain the best experience possible for our members and volunteers, whilst being proactive in advertising our sessions to new members and volunteers who may benefit from becoming part of The Squad.
Overall, FY22-23 has seen the charity return closer to pre-pandemic operations as we work with our members to help them become more confident and for the charity to continue offering our members as many diverse and beneficial experiences and services as possible.
The charity would not be able to operate without our incredible staff and volunteers, who go above and beyond to ensure our members have a consistently beneficial experience and enjoy every moment of their time with The Squad.
Squad Juniors Club
Juniors Club is for young people aged 13-25. During this period we ran 41 sessions with an average of 21 young people attending each session, supported by a core group of 7 volunteers.
The purpose of the club is to meet the needs of young people and ensure there are activities that they want to be involved and engage with.
We organise three different activities for each weekly session each with a different focus, such as health, creativity and discussion-based activities.
The development we saw this year was the continued focus on members having their voices heard and being able to impact their club. This is demonstrated by our development programme and activities throughout the year.
Our creative sessions focus on arts and crafts, and STEAM activities, these sessions focus on young people's development as outlined by The Young Foundation Framework of Outcomes. We have seen increased development in their ability to think and be creative, their confidence and determination with their work and what they are doing as well as the ability to manage their feelings when struggling to understand or work together. Some of the activities include creating photo frames, candles, calming jars and flower arranging. These activities are very much enjoyed by our members.
Health sessions have a mix of activities such as cooking, meal planning, sports, exercise and life skills development. This year we have had some tutor led sessions, which have been a hit with the young people, with over 90% wanting the drama/dance teacher to return. This year we asked our members how many of them engage in over 2 hours a week of exercise and we found only 50% of the group engage in this, which is a reminder of the importance of ensuring we have sports and training as a regular session.
Our focus will continue to ensure our members' voices are heard, their opinions listened to and action being taken based on what they want. We have run sessions which have reviewed previous terms, planned the next term, created social media posts, and discussed the progress of the club and where we see it going.
Sense Charity found that 7 in 10 young people with disabilities suffer from loneliness. The importance of our club nights is seen in the relationships that are developed during our youth club. It extends beyond our Thursday evenings, to friendships in school, meeting on the weekends with parents and having someone to speak to. Knowing they have a strong friendship group at the club is extremely important. Alongside this, it also provides respite support for carers and parents.
This year has been a great year and we look forward to the coming year, with some new members joining and some new activities coming up.
Squad Vets Club
The Vets Club is for members aged 25+ and is a well-established and supportive service for its members, which aims to create opportunities for members to socialise in the community and with their peers.
The Vets Club Leader, supported by a team of volunteers, continued to create opportunities for its members to socialise with peers in a welcoming environment. We believe that living with a learning disability should not stop anyone from leading an active and enjoyable life. Therefore our programme contains a great mix of activities, and we ensure that each club night provides members with an opportunity to experience or to learn something meaningful. With sessions fully in-person during this financial year, the Vets were able to return to carefully tailored activities in the community much more frequently, which we know provides significant benefits to our members, enabling them to experience new things and feel more independent. The activities were tailored to provide a balance of recreational, but also
educational and culturally enriching activities.
Spring term 2022 included a London river boat tour, flower arranging and food tasting, plus a weekend day trip to RHS Wisley Gardens.
Activities in the Autumn 2022 term included a cultural/educational visit to the Shree Ghanaphathy Temple in Wimbledon Village, a tea tasting evening, and football themed physical and artistic sessions.
The Winter 2022 term included FIFA World Cup themed activities and quizzes, a group concert, Winter arts & crafts, and a group Christmas dinner. Activities in the Spring 2023 term included supported visits to the Whitechapel Gallery, The Wellcome Collection ‘In Plain Sight’ exhibition, Open Mic Night at a local Merton pub, and a visit to the cinema. The Vets also celebrated Shrove Tuesday and learned how to make their own pancakes alongside volunteers, as well as visiting Battersea Power Station and participating in a group Zumba class.
The Squad would not be able to exist without the support from the dedicated volunteer teams. We want to say an enormous thank you to our Vets volunteers who make the Squad so special, giving everything to ensure our members have the best experience in every interaction with the charity and creating a unique community for our members that empowers them to be confident, independent, and to have fun.
Finances
The Board of Trustees takes its obligations to responsibly manage our finances very seriously.
During the 2022- 23 financial year our plans around income generation continue to suffer post covid and with the subsequent cost of living crisis, as such, both these scenarios create a very challenging environment for charities of all types and have impacted both our ability to fundraise.
However, we have been successful in securing income via charitable grants and through a corporate partnership where The Squad was nominated as corporate charity for a business whose employees fundraised for us throughout the year. We are immensely grateful to all those who have supported us during this very challenging period.
Conclusion
More than anything else, we are delighted to see The Squad’s membership continue to enjoy the services that we provide and to give continued excellent feedback regarding the impact that the charity has on their lives and wellbeing.
We would like to take this opportunity to formally thank the Club Leaders of the Juniors and Vets Clubs and our dedicated volunteers, for their continued hard work and support. Finally and most importantly, to our members, who continue to provide the inspiration and motivation to help us grow and succeed.
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The Squad Club 1094398
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period 01/04/2022 31/03/2023
To
from
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Grants - Juniors Restricted - 17,500 - 17,500 10,000
Grants - Vets Restricted - 5,115 - 5,115 -
Grants - Unrestricted - - - - 6,500
Membership Subscriptions 1,347 - - 1,347 1,069
Donations 9,443 - - 9,443 3,673
Giftaid 1,276 - - 1,276 -
Interest Income 253 - - 253 6
Other 131 - - 131 219
Sub total (Gross income for
12,450 22,615 - 35,065 21,467
AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 12,450 22,615 - 35,065 21,467
A3 Payments
Overheads (Legal, accounting &
insurance) 3,010 - - 3,010 3,137
Memberships & Marketing 207 - - 207 203
Rent 1,053 1,053 - 2,106 1,782
Salaries - Juniors Club - 6,605 - 6,605 6,656
Salaries - Vets Club 1,490 5,115 - 6,605 6,656
Salaries - General - - - - -
Juniors Club Expenses (inc Bus) - 2,647 - 2,647 2,824
Vets Club Expenses 833 - - 833 308
Other Expenses 727 - - 727 478
Sub total [ 7,320 ] 15,420 - 22,740 22,044
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
Security Safe 582 - - 582 290
- - - -
Sub total [ 582 ] - - 582 290
Total payments 7,902 15,420 - 23,322 22,334
Net of receipts/(payments) 4,548 7,195 - 11,743 - 867
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 29,763 4,617 - 34,380 35,247
Cash funds this year end 34,311 11,812 - 46,123 34,380
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CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
30/01/2024
1
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at | the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
R Isman Signature P Catt PAYE/NIC Payable Details Details None CAF Accounts Paypal Petty Cash Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Giftaid unclaimed Details None |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 30,263 11,812 3,440 - 608 - 34,311 11,812 OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 960 - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) 660 - - - - Print Name Philip Catt Renaud Isman |
Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - |
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - - - - - When due (optional) Date of approval 30-Jan-24 30-Jan-24 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
30/01/2024
2
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ members of The Squad Club On accounts for the year 31 March 2023 Charity no 1094398 ended (if any) Set out on pages Included in the CC16a accounts pages and the Trustees annual report
(
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/03/2023.
- Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report 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 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 which gives 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 order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: Martin Davies Date: 30 January 2024 Name: Martin Davies Relevant professional FCA qualification(s) or body The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) (if any):
Address: A3 Broomsleigh Business Park Worsley Bridge Road Lonon SE26 5BN
October 2018
1
IER
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
N/A
October 2018
2
IER