2022-03-31-accounts

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BEAM (A company limited by guarantee)

Report and financial statements for the year ended 31[st] March 2022.

Charity number: 1097322 Company Number: 4495170

Page 3. Reference and administrative information

Page 4. Objects

Page 7. This year’s activity and events. Page 12. Statement of financial activities and notes

The Management Committee presents its directors’ rep0rt and audited financial statements for the year ended 31[st] march 2022.

Reference and administrative information

Charity Name Beam Staffs Charity registration number 1097322 Company registration number 4495170 Registered office and operational address Unit No 1 The Mills Mill Street Stafford ST16 2QZ

Management Committee

Mr Ian Mason Chair Mr David Moreton Honorary Secretary Mr David Bailey Mr Stephen Fletcher Mrs Haylee Fletcher Mr Simon Mountford Mr Roy Parker – Co-opted November 2021

Secretary

Mr Mike Howell

Staff Team

Mr Mike Howell Chief Officer

Benefits Support Service

Ms Nadina Binns Senior Welfare Benefits Advice Officer Ms Julieanne Roberts Welfare benefits Advisor

Building Better Opportunities

Mrs Karin Hall Employability Officer Mrs Janine Davies Mental Health and Wellbeing Officer Mr Desmond Brumley Mental Health and Wellbeing Officer

Financial Inspector

Mr Malcolm Kidd

Bankers

Unity Trust Bank Nine Brindleyplace Birmingham B1 2HB

Mrs Nadia Coupland

Accountant

OBJECTS

The objects of the Society as set out in the memorandum of association are: -

The relief of people with a learning disability, in particular by the provision of help and support for them and for their families, dependants and carers, for the public benefit.
To provide or assist in the provision of facilities for the recreation or other leisure time occupation for people who have need thereof by reason of learning disability with the object of improving their condition of life.

“Learning disability” means any developmental disability of the mind and any associated condition howsoever caused and whether mild, moderate or severe.

In order to attain its objects but not for any other purpose the society may (but need not):

Increase public awareness and understanding of the abilities of people with a learning disability, their problems and needs and those of their families, dependents and carers in order to assist their integration into society.
Encourage mutual help and co-operation between families, dependants and carers of people with learning disabilities (particularly within the geographical vicinity of the society) and also between them and other agencies and individual who work for them.
Co-operate with other charities, voluntary bodies and statutory authorities operating in furtherance of the objects of the Society or of similar charitable objects and exchange information and advice with them.
Raise funds and ask for and receive contributions (including subscriptions, legacies, grants and other gifts) provided that in raising funds the Society shall not undertake and permanent activities of a trading nature except those allowed by charity law.
Invest the money of the Society not immediately required for its purposes in or upon such investments, securities or properties as may be thought fit.

Employ such staff as are necessary for the proper pursuit of the objects upon such terms as to remuneration and otherwise as the Executive Committee shall decide provided that no paid member of staff shall be a member of the Executive Committee.
Appoint and constitute an advisory committee of people with a learning disability and such other advisory committees as the Executive Committee shall think fit.
Borrow or raise money in such manner and upon such terms as the Society shall think fit and may, for the purposes of securing any debt or other obligation of the Society, mortgage or charge all or part of the property of the Society.
Buy, take on lease or in exchange any building and/or land and maintain and equip such buildings and/or land for use and sell, lease or otherwise dispose of them subject to complying with such conditions and obtaining such consents as may be required by charity law
Undertake or accept any trusts or obligations.
Do all such other lawful things as shall further the attainment of the objects of the Society

Objectives

The objectives of the charity are to make sure that people with a learning disability living in Stafford and South Staffordshire have the same opportunity as everyone else to be a fully inclusive member of their community as they possibly can.

We aim to reduce a person’s potential for being marginalised and discriminated against because they have a disability.
We aim to see our clients are fairly and equitably represented in areas of life and living that the non-disabled community will have a better chance of achieving in. For example, this could be employment, housing, personal health, benefits entitlement, social life and education.

Ensuring our work delivers its aims

We will consult with our users about the things we plan to do and the projects we plan to deliver. They will tell us what they think we need to do. Each project will have its own set of outcomes, outputs or results that are usually required for funding purposes. These activities are regularly reviewed by the Management Committee to ensure that our funded activities are consistent with our aims. Also, Trustees will consider our forward plans to ensure that the same tie up is present going forward as it

does for past achievements, therefore ensuring that planned activities contribute to the agreed aims and objectives.

The focus of our work

The main objectives for the year continued to be those mentioned above. The strategies that we have used to achieve these objectives were: -

In response to the Social Welfare legislation to ensure that our clients get the support they need in being able to respond to the changes to their benefits regime.
For many complex reasons our clients are seriously underrepresented in being able to find employment. We have helped many people with learning disabilities get closer to the job market.
Beam has, with the employability program, introduced a specific service for people who have a mental health issue they need support with.
All beam staff have attended training courses on many different aspects of good practice in service delivery and how the job changes with the introduction of new legislation.
We have, as much as possible, worked in partnership with likeminded organisations as a means of accessing the widest range of services that can be linked to the needs of our clients.

How our activities deliver public benefit

Our main activities and who we support are described below. All our charitable activities focus on the needs of people with learning disabilities and are undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit.

Our services, who used them and how did they benefit?

The number of people with a learning disability in the area beam works in is far in excess of the number of people we support. There are no accurate statistics that show how many people live in Stafford and South Staffordshire who have a learning disability; the best we have is an estimate that 2.1% of the population fall into this category. This means that in Stafford Borough alone 2,803 individuals are potential clients, a number far beyond the total amount of people we could support during a year.

This year’s activity and events

Give me some credit – a lottery funded project.

Beam’s benefits advice service continued throughout the year in its normal high demand and high paced style. This project is Reaching Communities funded until July 2023.

We now have 206 clients registered on the program, some active, some dormant and most being supported multiple times with a wide variety of benefits and money related concerns. This number of clients suggests that beam will have no problem achieving the program outcomes and targets.

Beam has completed 180 Personal Independence Payments applications. This has led to 55 Mandatory Reconsiderations and 19 tribunal appearances. 171 (or 83%) of the applications Beam made were successful.
Beam has completed 118 Employment Support Allowance applications. 106 (or 51%) of these were successful.

Supporting people with help to register and maintain a Universal Credits account is a significant feature of the project. To date 84 (or 41%) of clients have been supported in this way. This is important because it shows that less than half of our clients have been migrated over to Universal Credits to date and with the transition role out continuing into future years it means this support will continue to be requested.

Beam has kept a record of other areas of support that clients have been provided with. This is because when people come to us asking for help with their benefits and we subsequently find that other linked and associated issues require resolving as part of the process of ensuring that the persons benefits are running smoothly. This is a small sample of where this additional help has been required and provided.

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Area of Support % Area of support %
Housing Benefit 61 Council Tax 66
Debt management 40 Bus Pass application 76
Social prescribing referral 46 Water Scheme application 52
Severe Disability Premium 47 Social Care referral 32
Pensions 9 Warm homes discount 14
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Health Support

Unfortunately, due to funding considerations Beam has had to withdraw the support we provided to clients who need help with attending health appointments. Beam knows how important this is to people and we will having a fresh look at how we can reinstate this service next year.

Building Better Opportunities (BBO)

We are very pleased that our links with the Building Better Opportunities program were enhanced when the employment support hub decided to relocate themselves within Beam’s office. As a partner within the delivery of this program we are pleased to help ensure that for the people of Stafford the support hub is accessible. Beam has also been pleased to support the program with accommodation for advocates when they are meeting with participants and where the benefits support team have become involved.

The resource to support people with mental health concerns was also strengthened with the addition of a second mental health and wellbeing support worker and a series of workshops were provided for clients who needed support in this respect.

Employment Support Project

A regular situation we came across while delivering BBO was where a client would have found a job- or job-related opportunity only for things to go wrong for them and then have to leave. Importantly, in these circumstances you cannot return to BBO.

Therefore, Beam began to look for the means to help people with a learning disability who found themselves in this situation. Grants became available, through Staffordshire Community Foundations European Social Fund community grants scheme to do exactly this. Following a successful application Beam was pleased to be able to establish a program that supported a group of eight people who needed additional support to find work. The program ran for 6 months from November 2021 until April 2022 and we helped 4 of our participants find a job.

The group met every month to share experiences and meet with their support worker. Beam provided specialist training in areas around CV writing, job applications, using IT to find jobs and interview skills.

The picture here shows the ESF employability project team working to create CV’s and apply for jobs. Working with partner groups.

We are most pleased that we have been able to link with Mental Health Matters and Staffordshire Adults Autistic Society. These partners have helped us to strengthen the support we provide to clients through referring to these specialist services.

Financial Review

Beam has faced a similar funding landscape that many other voluntary and community groups have. The sector is seeing the continued reduction of funding being made available from grant giving trusts and government grants. In addition, we have seen more groups bidding for a smaller pot therefore making the chance of a successful bid being far less than it ever has been before. We have seen the amount of money available from Government contracts to be more than before but even that now is beginning to decline.

Beam accepts the principle that it needs to improve its ability to successfully bid into the tender system and address the issue that the tender process works more in favour of the larger groups than the smaller ones (like beam). Also, we accept the view that beam needs to develop ways to generate its own trading income as part of the strategy to financially survive. We see the financial future as one where you should spread your income sources across a range of activities thus avoiding the “all your eggs in one basket” situation. We want to avoid the scenario where if funding from one source either is withdrawn or comes to an end then we will have a problem rather than a crisis.

Investment Policy

The significant reduction in interest rates has meant that no interest was being paid on our instant access deposit account. After some searching for a suitable provider Beam’s trustees decided that £200,000 of the reserves would be transferred to The Community Foundation of Staffordshire under a Held Fund Agreement to be invested on Beam’s behalf.

After the completion of a due diligence exercise Beam’s trustees felt that this was the best way of ensuring that interest received is maximised.

Principle Funding Sources

Beam’s principal funding sources continues to be from Reaching Communities and Building Better Opportunities. These services will continue to run until July 2023 and June 2023 respectively and therefore provide a reasonable level of core funding continuity.

Reserves Policy

Beams trustees have reviewed their reserves policy during the year and made the following allocations to designated funds.

A designated fund of £99,918 to cover the lease costs and running costs on its existing premises. This fund also covers redundancy costs for all staff in the event of an emergency unexpected shutdown.
A designated fund of £141,372 that provides twelve months running costs as a contingency against an unexpected loss of core funding.

Future Plans

Having established and furnished the office to provide an excellent working environment for staff and a venue that clients will find comfortable, beam’s plans are now focused around: -

Longer term financial stability to include a reduction in grant dependency and a development of self-generated income
Ensuring the services we provided are those our clients require.
Looking at the viability of new services and enterprises
Developing staff skills.
Considering our status as a charity
Attracting more trustees.

Cranfield Trust

The Cranfield Trust provides pro-bono support and free service for charity leaders to achieve their vision and ambition. Beam have been introduced to them by The Lloyds Foundation. The Cranfield Trust has very kindly agreed to support beam as we move from a position of assured funding to one where 12 months into the future the stability of income is reduced.

A plan has been agreed that will address three areas of development.

How to develop the skills to bid for Local Authority Contracts.
How to generate our own income to provide unrestricted funds
Does the governance model of a changing organisation need to be updated?

Governing document

Beam’s governing documents comprise of memorandum of Association and Articles of Association.

Recruitment and appointment of the directors

The business plan has a section on how and when the trustees will review its membership, carryout a skills analysis and recruit members who have the skills to support the service.

Organisational Structure

Beam is a Registered Charity and a Company Limited by Guarantee. Our internal structure can be shown by the following diagram: -

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Board of Trustees
Chief Officer
Benefits Advice Service Building Better
Senior Welfare Benefits
Officer
Employability Mental Health Mental Health
Welfare Benefits Support Officer Support Worker Support Worker
Officer
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Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2021 Section A Income and expenditure

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N Unrestric Restricte Endowme Total Prior
ot ted d Income nt Funds Funds £ year
e Funds £ Funds £ £ funds £
Income
Donations and 409.99 409.99 210
legacies
Charitable 1 149,635.9 149,636 148,456
activities 8
Membership and 490 490 65
subscriptions
Trading Activities 2 8,293 8,293 828
Covid job 447.50 447.50 875
retention scheme
Covid and Day 3 11,000 11,000 6,117
Care support
funding
Other 4 4,385 4,385 899
Total 19,783 154,878.4 174,662 157,450
7
Expenditure
Raising funds - - - - -
Charitable funds 5 186,682 162,342
Separate
material expense
item
Other
Total 186,682 162,342
Net income 174,662 157,450
for
reporting
period
Tax Payable
Net Income 174,662 157,450
after tax
Net gains on
investments
Net Income 174,662 157,450
Extraordinar
y Items
Transfer
between
funds
Net 6 (12,021) (4,892)
Movement
in Funds
Reconciliati
on of funds
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Total funds brought forward Total funds 265,564 277,649 carried forward

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2019 Section B Balance Sheet

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N Unrestric Restricte Endowme Total Prior
ot ted d Income nt Funds Funds £ year
e Funds £ Funds £ £ funds £
Fixed
Assets
Intangible assets
Tangible assets
Heritage assets
Investments
Total Fixed 266,947 277,989
Assets
Current
Assets
Creditors 3716 728
Debtors 2,333 2,968
Investments 200,000
Cash at bank & 65,564
in hand
Total 265,564 277,649
Current
Assets
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Notes to the accounts

Income

The £149,636 is represented by £64,000 received from Building Better Opportunities, £64,896 received from Reaching Communities, £2,000 received from The Bailey Thomas Trust and £18,739.98 received from The Community Foundation of Staffordshire as an ESF Community Grant.
The income of £8,293 recorded as trading activities represents events and activities Beam has provided for partner organisations.
Throughout the year Beam received a number of payments from Staffordshire County Council that helped us offset the additional costs

and losses that were incurred in reducing the impact of the Covid virus and in particular omicron.

£4,385 is shown as income under “other”. £3,859 was received from Awards 4 All (National Lottery) as a grant which enabled Beam to replace laptop computers and mobile phones. £290 was received from the Ruth Dickson trust to purchase a client for a washer. The remainder of this income is bank interest.

Expenditure

The annual expenses of £186,682 are represented as follows: -
Salaries £146,864
Travelling Expenses £3,876  Communications £1,340  Depreciation £4,661  Office costs £7,688  Rent and service charge £20,007  Accounts and payroll £1,363  Items for clients £883

Value added Tax

During the year Beam continued to submit VAT returns. In all cases the net result is that VAT is returned to us.

Financial Summary

Beam is reporting an annual deficit of £12,021. During the year trustees took the decision to extend the funding of one post by allocating £9,000 of reserve funds to ensure the vital health support service was preserved.

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