2021-03-31-accounts

A N N U A L R E P O R T

1st APRIL 2020 - 31st MARCH 2021

OUR PATRONS

LADY EMMA BARNARD

I am very honoured and absolutely delighted to be a Patron of the CCSS. This exceptional little charity quietly provides invaluable support and kindness, not just to the families going through the trauma of an Inquest, but also to the staff and officers of the Coroners’ Courts who are faced with such difficult and sensitive tasks every day. This has a powerful impact - hard to measure but valuable beyond words.

HHJ MARK LUCRAFT, QC

The CCSS do a first class job in assisting many through the inquest process. Their volunteers work tirelessly to help people navigate their way through what can be for some, a traumatic experience, at a time when they are still grieving. I know many Coroners welcome the

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

presence of CCSS volunteers at their courts. Sadly, the reach of the CCSS is not yet universal to all Coroners’ courts through England & Wales, but hopefully time will come when that is the case. In my time as Chief Coroner between 2016 and 2020 I was able to see the impact of the work – at inquests I conducted and in the many opportunities to meet volunteers. The Radio 4 appeal brought in much needed additional finance to support this vital work and let’s hope the CCSS goes from strength to strength.

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

JOINT CHAIRMEN’S REPORT 2020-2021

2020-2021 has been the most challenging period of our history where the country and the world suffered from a major pandemic. During this period, the two national lockdowns in England have severely impacted our charity’s services and we had to withdraw our volunteers from helping in the Courts for their own safety. No doubt, the same impact was suffered by other charities and not-for-profit organisations.

During this period, many of the Coroners’ Courts heard inquests virtually with bereaved families and witnesses ‘attending’ via a digital platform such as Teams or Zoom. We were, therefore, unable to deliver our face-to-face support. As a result of this reduced demand, we placed the majority of our staff on the Government’s Job Retention Scheme (Furlough).

Our energetic and enthusiastic staff and volunteer teams led by our Director, Beverley Radcliffe, were able to diversify and introduce other services to meet the demand during the pandemic. Although our face-to-face support was suspended, calls to our Helpline increased and we adapted our support and delivered a local Telephone Support Service (TSS) offering to talk through what to expect on the day if people were attending in person.

As well as setting up the local Telephone Support Service, the CCSS also became part of multiagency services and expanded the Helpline team to support the first Pandemic Multi-Agency Response Team (PMART). Other members of the PMART included the City of London Police, various Westminster Council Departments, the London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service, the NHS and the Metropolitan Police. The CCSS had to quickly train existing volunteers and recruit more to join the Helpline team to provide the much-needed support to callers to the PMART. During the three months of our engagement with PMART, the CCSS provided support to more than 1,500 callers.

Through the pandemic period, our Trustees met monthly through a virtual platform to regularly monitor the impact of Covid 19 on our services and how this could affect our human and financial resources. The Trustees carried out regular reviews of the Covid 19 risk assessment in order to ensure the safety of our staff and volunteers.

We hope that we will come out of the pandemic era and the lives of people will resume to their normality in the coming year. As an organisation, we will continue to monitor our activities and finances and re-build our usual face-to-face support service in the Coroners’ Courts where we help. We will also continue with our plan to expand our services in England and Wales as we manage to obtain the funding to do so.

We would not be able to sustain and improve our services without the support of our dedicated volunteers, who are the hub of our charity and, of course, our committed staff team and Trustees.

We would like to thank all our volunteers, staff and Trustees for all their support and commitment which has been ever more appreciated during this difficult year.

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

Our thanks also go to our Patrons, Lady Emma Barnard and HHJ Mark Lucraft, all our supporters and sponsors. Your help is invaluable and we look forward to continuing to work with you.

Maggie Frost and Rashid Teladia Joint Chairmen

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

DIRECTOR’S REPORT 2020-2021

Reflecting on a uniquely challenging year, one thing is clear – we have all been impacted by COVID-19 and our thoughts are with those of you who are grieving the death of people close to you.

My report to you all last year made mention of the pandemic and even then, we all knew this would be something we would all be affected by, how much though remained to be seen.

As you all know we made the very difficult decision to suspend the Service on the 13[th] March last year. This was not an easy decision to make but was an essential one and the right decision at the time with the government announcing the first national lockdown a week or so later.

This did not mean that bereaved people were going unsupported as our national Helpline continued responding to callers. This essential service was acknowledged by Professor Fiona Wilcox, Senior Coroner for the Westminster Coroner’s Court when she requested our help with COVID-19 community deaths within the London area. Professor Wilcox recognised the need for a multi-agency response to the pandemic to ensure vital services such as the emergency response and mortuary services were not put at risk of collapsing under the weight of such vast numbers of suspected COVID-19 deaths in the community. The first PMART (Pandemic Multi-Agency Response Team) was set up and the CCSS and specifically, our Helpline team, became part of this multi-agency response.

The Helpline role joined the PMART operation on the evening of the 8[th] April to help bereaved families within the community to find out which temporary mortuary the person who had died had been taken to when the family didn’t have their own funeral directors appointed and to help determine the stage the necessary paperwork was at.

We adapted our face-to-face training and trained a further thirteen volunteers online to join the existing team of thirteen and extended our Helpline opening hours to 08.00 – 20.00 seven days a week. During the time of the PMART operation, almost three months, we supported more than 1,500 callers. The extent to which the team went above and beyond should be commended and formally recognised as everyone was magnificent in responding to the call to take on additional shifts and the volume and type of calls being received felt, at times, overwhelming.

This came at the same time as the decision to furlough five of our staff team as did many other charities, many also making their staff redundant. However, we were able to maintain our staffing levels with only our Administrator having to be let go. This was a very difficult time for us all and a very different landscape to the one we left before the pandemic hit us. I would like to thank all our volunteers and staff for their complete and utter ongoing dedication to the CCSS. I am also very grateful to the Trustees who were instrumental in being financially diligent, ensuring staff jobs were saved.

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

Given how little presence we have had within the courts, we still managed to support more than 1,600 people at court and over 1,400 callers to our Helpline during the pandemic. These calls were in addition to the PMART calls.

So, whilst it has been an incredibly difficult year for everyone, we can see the glimmer of light emerging from all of the awfulness that has been thrown at us.

Through all the obstacles and challenges our staff and volunteers faced throughout the year, I am proud to say you have all risen to those challenges and overcome as many obstacles as was humanly possible. We became creative in the ways we were able to adapt our Services, maximise the benefits of digital media to hold webinars, presentations, training, team meetings and interviews and if you were like me, coming from a zero understanding of Zoom, you have now become a dab hand at it!

During the year our shared vision and purpose has been vital, it has been the glue that has kept us all together and that, when faced with adversity, we often see the very best in people. Our staff and volunteers are a constant source of inspiration and is what drives us on with our endeavours and you all truly live up to our values as you have all been so STOIC over the last year.

I would like to thank you all for your steadfast understanding and patience of the decisions we felt we needed to make in extremely uncertain and difficult times even when you may not have fully understood or agreed with them. Some of those decisions were made with little or no notice and you accepted those decisions with the knowledge that we were doing our very best for the organisation and for you as individuals in keeping you all safe and well as much as we possibly could.

As always, Robina Bush, our volunteer at Southwark compiled the monthly and annual statistics and I thank her for all her endeavours, she does a miraculous job.

Particular thanks go to Derek Winter, Senior Coroner for Sunderland and Deputy Chief Coroner for all his advice, guidance and abundance of patience! We have thrown some interesting conundrums at him this year.

Our BBC Radio 4 Appeal was an overwhelming success, raising £30,970. We thank the BBC for the opportunity to share our story and raise awareness, the donors for their generosity and of course Karen Bartram, our Presenter, for being so brave in sharing her own very personal experience of the death of her baby boy.

Where possible, we are slowly but surely beginning to resume our ‘at-court’ service where I know you all feel the most helpful and where you can often make the most impact. We will continue growing our local Telephone Support Service which sits alongside our existing Helpline. We feel all three elements of our support will give as many bereaved families and witnesses access to as much support and information as possible so they can fully participate in the proceedings.

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

During the year Samantha Shaw, Midlands Coordinator and Co-Manager of the Helpline, decided to step down from her role of more than four years. Sam continues to promote the CCSS in her new role of Coroner’s Officer. I would like to thank Sam for all her commitment and hard work during her time with us.

This year has shown me what a strong charity we are all part of and the reason it is strong is the people who hold it together. Thank you for facing the challenges life has thrown at us and for your continued dedication to the CCSS.

Beverley Radcliffe Director

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

HON. TREASURER’S REPORT For the Period 1[st] April 2020 - 31[st] March 2021

Our income and reserves sustained our support activities and adaptations necessary to safeguard the well-being of our volunteer teams, staff and court attendees during the COVID19 pandemic. These included introducing virtual working arrangements and closing our administration office.

Income

During the year, we received £475,710 from private donations, local authorities, government grants and the National Lottery. A list of donors is included in our Annual Report and this includes:

• £118,000 and £69,000 from the National Lottery and National Lottery Community Fund respectively

• £48,338 from the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

• £30,970 from our BBC Radio 4 Appeal

• £20,000 from the CHK Foundation

• £20,000 from the Linbury Trust to help fund the set-up of our service in the South West of England. This is the final amount from the donation

• £17,750 from the City Bridge Trust

• £17,356 of final funding from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation for a staff post; and

• £8,600 from The Tudor Trust to continue to fund our helpline.

Expenditure

Total costs for the year were £303,752, which included expenditure of £244,677 on staffing. The majority of other expenditure was for property, administration and our helpline which together cost £36,928.

Summary

We begin the new financial year with restricted reserves of £53,707 and general reserves of £352,741. Lower people costs, funds allocated for setting up in new courts and the timing of one-off National Lottery funding contributed to a temporary improvement in reserves. This is helping us to fund the restoration of our service and a return to opening in more courts as demand for our assistance increases.

I thank all our donors, as our ability to continue our service rests on their generosity. I am grateful to Margaret Bayman for her assistance with the accounts and everyone in our team for their assistance, patience and perseverance during this challenging year.

Chris Peaker Hon. Treasurer

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

Charity Number: 1105899

THE CORONERS’ COURTS SUPPORT SERVICE

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] MARCH 2021

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of The Coroners’ Court Support Service

I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 13 to 15.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

It is my responsibility to:

• examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act

• to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b)) of the Charities Act

• to state whether particular matters have come to my attention

Basis of independent examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records.

It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters.

The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

• (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

• to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and

• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

have not been met; or

• (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Gary Sisman ACA Red Sky House Fairclough Hall Halls Green Weston Herts, SG4 7DP

The date upon which my opinion is expressed is: 6[th] August 2021

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

CIXOllÉn e(XIRT suppo￿r 9É￿E BAL￿¢£ &IEEY a• It M•t IA•RCH 2021 11*t 2•21 J1At 2•2• 13.032 $52.912 5&5.YS 9.447 5.40e 154.C•g 6.162 12Y,795 I￿.4•7 121.9S7 £408A48 PMr4• 2.741 63.707 1oJ.I 71.>JJ 13 Annual Report l April 2020-31 March 2021

CORONEif8 couffr SUPPORT SERVICE STATEl￿T OF FINANCIAL ACTMTIES YEAR ENOED 31st IA*ACH 2021 31•t il•rch 2•21 Il¢>t•• Fwwl• Fund• 188.851 aKS.11XI 391.951 357. 79912 1.514 2.141 2.347 1317 32.th31 270.610 Xffj.11XI 475,710 182 79,912 52YJJ 192.418 244,87T 231.533 S3,K 274.137 25.705 3.767 42.99 FwKlrawJ C￿ts 9T7 5.477 •.131 7.212 97T 13.542 9.lJ1 15.922 9.138 9.138 11,705 1.575 175 1.575 H•¥)lirn ¢>)sty 8.417 7.115 is• S27 a1.060 ?22,￿ ￿,752 J53.996 e6,0 419.598 119.564 117,5981 171.968 &1 14,312 71.xts ?￿.4 50,1191 211,9•2 T•l•l É352.741 U3.707 £4CI.440 £10I1•7 £71,>)J £234.4 14 Annual Report l April 2020-31 March 2021

irt 2021 114.ffj) 17,750 aty TnJii 79,912 EX6,1 E79,912 312.Eg2 15,1•7 4.•7 215.W t72 ¥10 iopj 2.141 rij.fm r7.4 6.jjl &t56 t6.4X i•a 15 Annual Report l April 2020-31 March 2021

VOLUNTEER REPRESENTATIVES’ ANNUAL REPORT 2020 - 2021

John Pattison - North West

Volunteer Teams covered: Blackpool, Cannock, Cockermouth, Coventry, Liverpool, Newcastle, Stockport, Sunderland, Warrington.

For much of the year face-to-face contact with teams has not been possible due to Covid restrictions. With the return to courts of volunteer teams I hope to resume contact shortly.

I undertook 2 exit interviews during the year. Both the volunteers who left did so for personal reasons rather than the inactivity of their courts due to Covid. As in previous exit interviews, both leavers paid tribute to the training and support they had received.

I have also been able to participate remotely at both a training session and meeting for those volunteers who are staffing the Telephone Support Service.

During the period of the report, the Manchester Arena Inquiry has been investigating the 2017 attack. A team of volunteers, including myself, was organised by Tom North, the NW Volunteer Coordinator, to provide support for families and witnesses. Given the special and sensitive nature of the inquiry, a useful specific training day was provided for the team. After an initial period of activity, volunteers have not been able to attend sittings, although Tom is currently investigating a potential return.

Angela Salkeld - North East

Volunteer Teams covered: Bradford, Crook, Lincoln, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Northallerton, Stoke.

I have held one exit interview during the year and the volunteer left for personal family reasons. Although it has not been possible to visit any of the Courts or meet the volunteers, I have kept in touch by email and via telephone calls. Now that we are returning to help in the Courts, I hope to meet the teams again soon.

Ruth Pressley – South East

Volunteer Teams covered : Brighton, Chelmsford, City of London, Flax Bourton, Hatfield, Huntingdon, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, St. Pancras, Shrewsbury, Southwark

This year has been very different due to the Covid Pandemic. Face to face meetings with teams have not been possible, but I was able to attend the Christmas Zoom meeting with the Flax Bourton and Exeter teams. With the introduction of the Telephone Support Service, I have been involved remotely with some volunteers during their training.

I have conducted 8 exit interviews and it has been interesting to note that the reason for resignations is not due to the fact that volunteers have been unable to be in their Courts. Some Courts have had to re-locate and the travelling is an issue. I hope to have more contact with volunteers once they return to Court.

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

Laura Logan Wood – South West

Volunteer Teams covered : Ampthill, Beaconsfield, Canterbury, Crawley, Croydon, Exeter, Fulham, Ipswich, Maidstone, Reading, Truro, Walthamstow, Westminster, Woking.

I agreed to continue with the Volunteer Representative role on a temporary basis until another volunteer was identified to take up the reins. However, during this time the role was not filled, but it is hoped that another volunteer will take over next year as I have to step down from this aspect of my role due to a change in personal circumstances.

I carried out 3 exit interviews during the year, the volunteers all leaving for personal reasons.

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

COURTS WHERE THE CCSS IS HELPING MARCH 2021

Coronial Area (44) Avon Bedfordshire & Luton Berkshire Blackpool & Fylde Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Cheshire City of Brighton & Hove City of Liverpool & Wirral London City City of Sunderland City of York Cornwall and Isles of Scilly County Durham & Darlington Coventry East London Essex Exeter & Greater Devon Hertfordshire Inner London North Inner London South Inner London West Kent – Mid Kent & Medway Kent - North East Kent Leicester City & South Leicestershire Lincolnshire Manchester South Milton Keynes Newcastle upon Tyne Norfolk Northamptonshire North Northumberland North Yorkshire Oxfordshire Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin South London South Staffordshire Stoke on Trent & North Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Teeside West London West Sussex West Yorkshire (West)

Courts (63) Flax Bourton

Ampthill Reading Blackpool Beaconsfield Huntingdon & Peterborough Warrington, Crewe, Macclesfield, Chester Brighton Liverpool City of London (EC4) Sunderland York Truro Crook Coventry Walthamstow Chelmsford Exeter Hatfield St. Pancras, Poplar Southwark Westminster Maidstone Sandwich Leicester Lincoln, Boston, Stamford Stockport Milton Keynes Newcastle upon Tyne Norwich, Kings Lynn Northampton Northumberland Northallerton, Scarborough, Harrogate, Selby, Skipton Oxford Shrewsbury, Wellington Croydon Cannock, Burton on Trent, Stafford Stoke on Trent, Hanley Ipswich Woking Middlesbrough & Hartlepool Fulham Crawley Bradford, Huddersfield & Halifax

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

CORONERS COURTSUPPORTSERVICE STATISnCS 2020121 Due to Covid 19 and the subsequent court closures,it is not possible to present the annual stat15tlC5 in the usual forrnat. The attached tables give a 6eneral ovenfiew of actDiityforthe court sittings where volunteers have been able to attend. Rs Inwest Ftiends Othqr Total SvJnpostsd SwJThpDstsd Total since Attendllncqg April O Courts May O courts Jun• O Court 0 424713 0 424713 0 424713 July 1 cO￿rt 18 0 424731 August 6 Court£ 42 65 67 137 63 259 2 424990 S•pf•mb•r 7 Ctsurt£ 47 79 13 56 214 92 378 0 425368 October 2 Cvuit November 2 CoLIrt5 Dtrernbtr 6 Court5 January O Courts February O Courts March 13 Court5 Tolal 22 17 38 39 192 2 425560 21 36 23 25 19 112 7 425672 34 62 43 102 13 56 50 221 0 425893 0 425893 0 425893 70 105 io 71 250 25 89 175 539 0 427612 240 391 li 305 777 89 342 514 1719 li Courts Slttln8 May lune Cannock August Bleckpool. Brighton. Cannock. Crook. Liverpool. Southwerk September Amphtill. Bla(kpool, HatField. ￿VerpOOl. Manchester. 5hrewsbury, Wokin£ October Blackpool. Northallerton November Northallerion, Blackpool Detember Cra%￿e¥, Northampton, Shrewsbury, Warrin8ton. Wokin& Exeter, Blatkpool January February Marth Amphtill. 81a(kpool. Brighton. Canno(k. cra￿eY. Northallerton. Northampton. Northumberland. Readin& 5hrewsbury. Sunderland. Warrington Fishmongers, Hall 19 Annual Report l April 2020-31 March 2021

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Maggie Frost Rashid Teladia Dr. Chris Peaker Roey Burden Nicolas Gibbon Derek Winter

Joint Chairman & Trustee Joint Chairman & Trustee Hon. Treasurer & Trustee Hon. Secretary & Founder Trustee Trustee Advisor – Deputy Chief Coroner & Senior Coroner for the City of Sunderland

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Roey Burden Chairman Beverley Radcliffe Director Sonia Brooks Nominated member for the Coroners’ Officers & Staff Association

James Parker Ruth Pressley Laura Logan Wood Angela Salkeld John Pattison

Co-Opted member from the Chief Coroner’s Office Volunteers’ Representative South East Volunteers’ Representative South West Volunteers’ Representative North East Volunteers’ Representative North West

STAFF

Beverley Radcliffe Director Samantha Catt Northern Regional Manager, Helpline Manager & North East Coordinator Sandra Weldon Southern Regional Manager & East of England Coordinator Paul Mellish Project Manager & South East Coordinator Tom North North West Coordinator Mike Jackson South West Coordinator Liz Armer Executive Assistant Margaret Bayman Financial Administrator (Freelance)

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021

DONATIONS TO THE CORONERS’ COURTS SUPPORT SERVICE 2020-2021

TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS

CHK Foundation

City Bridge Trust The Worshipful Company of Curriers Cyril & Eve Jumbo Charitable Trust Esmee Fairbairn Foundation Henry & Elizabeth Whyte Milton Keynes Community Foundation National Lottery Community Fund National Lottery Coronavirus Community Support Fund The Linbury Trust The Rickfield Trust The Tudor Trust

CORPORATE

Local Registration Services Association sponsoring the Campaign Week Smith Brothers (Leicester) Limited Waitrose Community Matters (Altrincham, Walbrook EC4) Serjeants’ Inn Chambers sponsoring the Campaign Week

INDIVIDUALS

Anonymous donations A.Botwright BBC Radio 4 Appeal Donated expenses from our Volunteers John Padovan Juni Farmanfarmanian Robyn Steer

Many anonymous personal donations from families, witnesses and others who have attended Inquests at various Coroners Courts and wish to support the work of the CCSS.

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Annual Report 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021