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← Home-Start North Wiltshire

2024-03-31-accounts

Home-Start North Wiltshire Annual Report and Accounts 2023-2024

About Home-Start North Wiltshire (HSNW) ........................................................................................... 3 There For Parents When They Need Us Most .................................................................................... 3 Our Mission ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Constitution ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Board of Trustees April 2023 - March 2024 ............................................................................................ 4 Committees ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Designated Trustees .............................................................................................................................. 4 Staff Team 2023-2024............................................................................................................................. 4 Chair’s Annual Report ............................................................................................................................ 5 Supporting Families ........................................................................................................................... 5 Volunteers........................................................................................................................................... 5 The Team ............................................................................................................................................ 6 Income Generation ............................................................................................................................ 6 Governance and Trustees .................................................................................................................. 7 Team Report ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Staff Team .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Referrals into the Service ................................................................................................................... 8 Initial Visit Data and Family Demographics ...................................................................................... 8 Group Support .................................................................................................................................. 11 Safeguarding Families...................................................................................................................... 11 Life Events ........................................................................................................................................ 11 Making a Difference .............................................................................................................................. 12 Family Case Study 1 ......................................................................................................................... 12 Family Quotes....................................................................................................................................... 12 Volunteers......................................................................................................................................... 13 Fundraising and Promotions ............................................................................................................... 14 Family Fund ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Partner Updates ............................................................................................................................... 14 Social Media Online and Promotional Activity ................................................................................ 14 Evaluation Report 2023 .................................................................................................................... 14 Thank You ............................................................................................................................................. 15 ACCOUNTS 2023-2024 ......................................................................................................................... 17 Treasurers Report................................................................................................................................. 18 Independent Examiner’s Report .......................................................................................................... 20

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About Home-Start North Wiltshire (HSNW)

We are a registered charity, based in Wiltshire. We support local families from all backgrounds, through their most challenging times.

Being a parent has never been easy. It can be lonely, frustrating, heart-breaking and overwhelming. Life-changing events can happen to anyone.

All parents struggle at one time or another. We are there to support families through their toughest times.

Families we help may be facing challenges such as:

There For Parents When They Need Us Most

We have a wonderful, committed team of volunteers who visit families once a week, in their own homes, for 2-3 hours. They aim to build family resilience, confidence and wellbeing. Our volunteers offer no judgement; just compassionate, confidential help and support.

Our Mission

We offer non-judgemental support, friendship and practical help to parents with young children. We train and supervise volunteers to visit families at home, or support them through group activities, working together in an informal, flexible and confidential way. We work with families at times of difficulty to promote family resilience and improve children’s life chances; our aim is to empower parents to give their children the best possible start in life.

Constitution

We are a Company Limited by Guarantee – Registration Number 5208226 – governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association (incorporated on 17.08.04) and have a Charity Registration Number: 1106736. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member.

Registered Office: Unit 1, Fordbrook Business Centre, Pewsey, SN9 5NU

E: hello@homestartnorthwiltshire.org.uk T: 01672 569457 W: www.homestartnorthwiltshire.org.uk

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Board of Trustees April 2023 - March 2024

Chair Clare Messenger Treasurer Marcia Johnson
Trustee Sheree Whorlow Trustee Jo Owen-Jones_(Chair to Aug 2023)_
Trustee Wendy Stuart Trustee Lois Smith
Trustee Lt Col Mick Haynes Trustee Kristy Green
Trustee Susan Pitcher_(retired May 2023)_Trustee Cindy Ervine_(joined Nov 2023)_
Trustee Jason Waters

We are seeking to appoint new trustees, up to a maximum of twelve. Applicants should have a motivation to support children, young families, and the voluntary sector. We are particularly seeking skills and experience in marketing and developing supporter relationships; life experience and local working knowledge of Swindon. We particularly encourage applications from people from black, minority ethnic, and LGBTQIA+ communities, as we want our board to be representative of the families we support. Successful candidates will be co-opted and come up for election at the next AGM. Induction and further training opportunities are provided. Full details are available on request.

Committees

There are two sub-committees, which meet regularly and report to the Board:

Human Resources (HR) Committee – Chair – Sheree Whorlow

Finance and Fundraising (F & F) Committee – Chair – Marcia Johnson

Designated Trustees

Data Protection - Wendy Stuart; Health and Safety - Mick Haynes; Safeguarding - Jo Owen-Jones

Staff Team 2023-2024

Scheme Managers (job share) Tania Rackham Scheme Manager (job share) Julie Boyle (joined July 2023) & Lisa Kinnaird (retired June 2023) Family Support Organisers Caz Flippance, Tanya Dale, Aisling Hunt Sally Green and Jane Carter (also Rapid Response Worker) Senior Administrator Dawn Wilson Data Analyst (for Lamplight) Sam Check Finance Officer Frank Pessell Fundraiser & Community Joanne Kent Engagement

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Chair’s Annual Report

This year has yet again seen some impressive results, from securing funding from the National Lottery Community Fund for three years, developing our group support model to reach more families, providing support to 241 families through home visiting and group work, to welcoming new faces to the Home-Start North Wiltshire (HSNW) team through volunteers, staff and trustees.

This is my first year as Chair, taking over the position from Jo Owen-Jones in August 2023. I would like to take this opportunity to formally thank Jo for seven years as Chair, for her leadership and achievements. She has successfully developed the Board, recruiting a number of trustees over the years, and has seen the organisation through Covid and the remote support and ways of working that were needed to continue as a charity, supporting families through such a difficult period. We are grateful that Jo has continued as our Safeguarding Lead Trustee, so we are still benefiting from her knowledge and expertise.

Supporting Families

HSNW’s purpose is to support families and help children get the best possible start in life. Our core delivery support is through home visiting and group work. We have supported 241 families during the year; these included 125 through home visits, with 14 provided with extended support, and 102 attending our groups. We have seen an increase in the number of self-referrals from families, which now account for 24% of the referrals. We are encouraged by the fact that families self-refer, as this is an indication that our support is becoming known, and families feel able to approach us. The top reasons for a referral remain the same, coping with mental health, self-esteem, feeling isolated, coping with physical health, and managing children’s behaviour. We are encouraged to see that through our evaluation process overall 89% of families reported an improvement in these areas following our support.

In order to attract new investment from our funders, and to accommodate more families through the year, we have needed to change the way we deliver groups this year. The groups now provide a programme of support for one or two terms dependent on the needs of the family. The programme of support is tailored to the specific needs of the group such as budgeting, cooking on a budget and encouraging learning through play. The programme will therefore be different for each cohort but will still retain some more traditional style friendship café sessions. This model was introduced in January 2024, and we look forward to sharing the evaluation of it next year.

The successful bid to the National Lottery Community Fund has enabled us to progress support at Swindon following the pilot last year. Initially we offered support through groups, but this has not been as popular as we would have anticipated. Following recommendations from the team in January 2024 we will focus on building relationships with referrers and offer individual support to families. We are committed to developing support in Swindon and will continue to find the most appropriate model.

Volunteers

Volunteer recruitment has continued to be a priority, and three Volunteer Preparation Courses were run in August 2023, October 2023 and February 2024. Twenty-one volunteers attended these courses, and it is encouraging to see that we are still attracting new volunteers, as this is crucial for the continued success of the charity. At the end of March 2024, we had 47 active volunteers; I am extremely grateful for the time and commitment that our volunteers give to support our families.

Ongoing support and training for existing volunteers is provided through peer groups and regular 1-2-1s being embedded by the Family Support Organisers (FSOs). In addition to this, by means of

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keeping in touch and saying thank you to the volunteers a number of informal events were organised by Jo Kent and Dawn Wilson. This year included coffee mornings for our supporters and a garden party at Huish Manor Farm in June 2023. In 2024 the coffee mornings for prospective volunteers were extended to include current volunteers and friends of HSNW; a great way to support and share the good work that is being done. To round off 2023 a Christmas party was organised by Jane Carter, one of our FSOs.

The Team

We have had a few staff changes during the year, including saying farewell to Lisa Kinnaird, one of our managers. I want to thank Lisa for her enthusiasm and leadership covering a period of maternity leave and then staying on as part of a job share. Lisa joined the team in the latter part of the pandemic and continued to support staff through this difficult period of adjustment to support families virtually and later through the implementation of the friendship cafés. She will be greatly missed.

We have been very lucky to welcome Julie Boyle to the team in July 2024. Julie brings with her a wealth of experience in volunteer recruitment and training, mental health, management, budgeting and fundraising within the charity sector. The manager job share continues to work well, and the charity is seeing the benefit. One of Julie’s achievements this year was to lead on the development of the Equality, Equity, Diversity Plan. I am pleased that we now have this in place as we renew our commitment to this important area. As Julie leads on service delivery, Tania Rackham continues to lead the business development area focusing on income generation, finance management support and data collection.

We also said goodbye to Aisling Hunt who has been one of our FSOs for three years. Aisling left to spend more time with her family, and we wish her well and a big thank you for her hard work in supporting families and volunteers, and particularly for her expert delivery of the Volunteer Preparation courses.

Two of our existing FSOs have increased their hours, which has enabled us to maintain continuity of support to volunteers and families whilst retaining and building on our existing expertise.

Income Generation

As a charity we are completely reliant on income generation through fundraising and bid writing. We are delighted to have been successful for a third time to the National Lottery Community Fund. This investment, worth £337,500 over the next three years (2023-2026), has put us in a good position. Although we need to find match funding, we successfully achieved this for 2023/4 and are on track for 2024/5. The expertise of our bid writers Tania Rackham and Jo Kent has been pivotal in achieving this.

This significant achievement means that we are able to continue to support families and build on new areas such as our support to Swindon, looking at different ways to support families through technology and to develop support to older children in the family.

Our thanks at this stage to our other funders during the year, including The Henry Smith Charity, Wiltshire Community Foundation, National Benevolent Charity, The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and St Jame’s Place. Whether large or small awards, we are able to allocate money to new and existing programmes of support. The flexibility of creating a Family Fund has enabled us to provide emergency support to some families at critical times, including food vouchers at Christmas 2023, and Easter 2024. It has also provided buggies, furniture, and white goods and well as sensory play toys, curtains and taxis.

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Governance and Trustees

I am pleased to say that the Board continues to grow; we welcomed this year Cindy Ervine who is a partner at a local solicitor’s firm where she is Head of Family and Thriving at Work Ambassador. Cindy brings with her experience of working with families in the legal capacity and has already supported the team by sharing her knowledge at a Peer Group.

The current Board has a range and wealth of experience with backgrounds in finance, statutory health, education, and care services for children, legal, finance, business and the armed services. In addition to attending board meetings and development days, the trustees are members of our two current committees: HR and Finance and Fundraising. My thanks go to all the trustees for their hard work, especially Marcia Johnson for her continued hard work as treasurer and chair of the finance committee, Sheree Whorlow as chair of the HR committee and dealing with HR issues, Wendy Stuart who has produced the updated the Strategic Plan this year, and Jo Owen-Jones as Safeguarding lead.

The main role of the board is one of governance and we are grateful for the support we get from the team, led by our Managers Tania and Julie, providing us with regular and detailed reports on supporting families, safeguarding, volunteers, risk management, finance and progress on fundraising. A special thank you also to Dawn as our senior administrator for her continued support to the board and to the charity as a whole.

Sadly Susan Pitcher, one of our Trustees stepped down in the summer due to health reasons. We would like to formally thank Susan for her dedicated support to the charity for over two years.

Every two years we complete an evaluation report; this was originally started to help inform bid writing and to update our funders on the outcome of the projects they have funded, and it has undoubtedly contributed to the success of our bid applications. The reports have been expertly written by Alison Millett. Alison has tirelessly supported the charity initially as a Trustee and then as Joint Chair from 2012 to 2016. Following on from her retirement as a Trustee in 2020 she continued as an Advisor to the Board on evaluation and writing the evaluation reports. Alison is now stepping down from this role; we are hugely grateful to her, her expertise and guidance for which she will be greatly missed, we wish her well for the future.

AGM 2023

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Team Report

Staff Team

This year we have made changes to our group support, to meet the requirements of our funders to provide short term group support. With this in mind the team have worked hard to develop a model that would retain all the positive benefits of the groups – bringing families together, building confidence and providing a space for families to seek support from our wonderful team of staff and volunteers. The groups now run termly and as we move into the next terms we will continue to review how they are working and if they are meeting the needs of our families. We have taken a lot of learning from these changes around how we seek input from our families and volunteers when there are changes that will affect how we deliver services.

As a team we have been working to develop our volunteer processes so that our volunteers feel well supported. This has included increasing the frequency of 121 sessions, so our volunteers have regular discussions with their line manager. Feedback we have received so far has been positive around this change. As we move into the next year we will continue to work on our processes to help ensure our volunteers feel valued and fully supported.

We have continued to identify and apply for additional funding to support our work and have secured a number of grants to support our work. Including our family fund which we use to support families with purchases of items, such as pushchairs, cots etc.

Referrals into the Service

This year has seen an increase in our referrals, we have received 125 referrals, of which 72 families received home visiting support and a further five are waiting for their initial visit. We also carried forward with us 53 families into this year, in order to continue to provide their support. In total, we have supported 125 families through our home visiting service (which is an increase from 107 families supported through home visiting the previous year). Our currently open case load at year end is 48 active families that the team and volunteers continue to work with.

Over the year, 102 families have attended our group sessions, with 72 families attending more than once. Groups have been run from Tidworth, Devizes and Swindon. The number of families attending groups has almost doubled compared with the previous year.

There were 21 families who received both home visiting and group support.

Across the families we have given support to there were 372 children, a significant increase from the 2022-23 period, where we supported 182 families and 326 children.

Referrals came from a number of sources including Health Visitors, Children’s Centres, Army Welfare Service, Family Support Services, Social Prescribers, Perinatal Health Teams, another Home-Start service, and self-referrals. Our largest source of referrals this year have come from self-referrals, which we hope reflects that families feel comfortable to reach out to us and that services are sharing who we are with families that may benefit from our services.

Initial Visit Data and Family Demographics

The top three family circumstances at the point of referral were:

  1. Lack of Support Network

  2. Mental Health Issues

  3. Lone Parent

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The majority of families supported lived in social housing. This year we have seen a decrease in families that have access to a vehicle. There has also been a decrease in families where at least one family member is working full time, and an increase in families with part time working and not currently working. We have seen an increase in families in receipt of Universal Credit. Of note the number of families appearing to have complex needs has also increased, from 21% to 30%. Families that have 5 or more needs are identified as complex.

Coping Score’s taken at Initial Visits show the following areas score least well:

Home Visiting Outcomes

Each family referred into Home-Start is allocated a Family Support Organiser, who completes an initial visit with the family to establish what support they would like. Following this a family is matched with a volunteer who provides weekly support, normally for up to six months. There are times where a family may need support more urgently than we are able to match them with a volunteer, and in these circumstances, we continue to place our Rapid Response Worker with the family on a temporary basis, to ensure any immediate needs are met.

We use a coping score range of 0 – 5, with a need being indicated by a score less than, or equal to, 3. For those families where we have two or more sets of scores, the average of these show an increase in all areas, indicating that the level of support in place has helped families in the areas they found most challenging. This is really promising and reflects well on our service; we are offering support that meets individual family's needs.

Outcome (Score Range 0 – 5) Average
initial
score		 Average
final score		 Average %
change in
score		 Percentage of families
with
stabilised
or
increased scores
Parent's self esteem 2.4 3.0 26% 80%
Coping with own mental health 2.4 3.0 24% 81%
Coping with feeling isolated 2.6 3.3 28% 82%
Managing child's behaviour 2.9 3.5 23% 88%
Coping with own physical health 2.9 3.3 16% 77%
Coping with financial pressures 3.2 3.4 8% 72%
The day-to-day running of the house 3.2 3.8 17% 84%
Stress caused by conflict in the family 3.2 3.6 13% 80%
Coping with extra work of multiple children under 5 3.3 3.7 13% 87%
Being involved in the children's development 3.5 4.0 17% 80%
Coping with child's mental health 3.7 4.2 14% 85%
Use of other services 4.0 4.4 12% 86%
Coping with child's physical health 4.2 4.4 4% 74%

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Outcomes Where a Need is Identified

The top five needs identified by families are the same as in the average outcomes table above. Of note, coping with own physical health is identified as a need by 72% of families, although only 12% have physical difficulties identified as a circumstance at their referral. These results reflect very positively on the effectiveness of our home visiting support; our volunteers are able to work with families on the areas important to them.

Although price inflation has fallen this year, it is unlikely this drop will be noticed by families still struggling with energy and food costs. ‘Coping with financial pressures’ has increased as an identified need with our families, from 47% in 2022/23 to 56% this year. In order to support families with the cost of living, we continue to use our Family Fund to provide essentials such as supermarket vouchers, food boxes, buggies, cots etc. This help supports the overall wellbeing of families.

Outcome
NEED
IDENTIFIED
No
of
families
NEED
IDENTIFIED
%
NEED FULLY
MET
increase %
NEED
PARTIALLY
MET
stable%
TOTAL
Increase
or stable %		 Outcome
NEED
IDENTIFIED
No
of
families
NEED
IDENTIFIED
%
NEED FULLY
MET
increase %
NEED
PARTIALLY
MET
stable%
TOTAL
Increase
or stable %		 Outcome
NEED
IDENTIFIED
No
of
families
NEED
IDENTIFIED
%
NEED FULLY
MET
increase %
NEED
PARTIALLY
MET
stable%
TOTAL
Increase
or stable %		 Outcome
NEED
IDENTIFIED
No
of
families
NEED
IDENTIFIED
%
NEED FULLY
MET
increase %
NEED
PARTIALLY
MET
stable%
TOTAL
Increase
or stable %		 Outcome
NEED
IDENTIFIED
No
of
families
NEED
IDENTIFIED
%
NEED FULLY
MET
increase %
NEED
PARTIALLY
MET
stable%
TOTAL
Increase
or stable %		 Outcome
NEED
IDENTIFIED
No
of
families
NEED
IDENTIFIED
%
NEED FULLY
MET
increase %
NEED
PARTIALLY
MET
stable%
TOTAL
Increase
or stable %
Coping with own mental health 66 92% 61% 26% 86%
Coping with feeling isolated 60 83% 62% 20% 82%
Parents self esteem 60 83% 65% 22% 87%
Coping with own physical health 52 72% 73% 19% 92%
Managing Children's behaviour 49 68% 67% 33% 100%
The day to day running of the house 43 60% 67% 30% 98%
Stress caused by conflict in the family 41 57% 68% 27% 95%
Coping
with
financial
pressures/household budget		 40 56% 60% 30% 90%
Coping with extra work of multiple
children under 5		 37 51% 70% 16% 86%
Coping with child's mental health 29 40% 79% 17% 97%
Being
involved
in
children's
development		 25 35% 96% 4% 100%
Use of other services 19 26% 74% 16% 89%
Coping with child's physical health 12 17% 92% 8% 100%
**Average ** 72% 21% 92%

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Group Support

The response to our groups in Tidworth and Devizes has been overwhelmingly positive. At the beginning of support, 76% of families said they felt isolated, and 88% said that they had joined the group to help with their own emotional wellbeing and mental health. At the end of 12 weeks, 90% felt less isolated or lonely, 95% had made new friends and 100% had been helped with their emotional wellbeing.

Safeguarding Families

For some families there may be additional factors that increase the level of risk and concern around safeguarding. Our Family Support Organisers will work alongside the family and volunteer when concerns are raised, to ensure the right support is in place and where necessary, that information is passed to other agencies to ensure families are safeguarded from harm.

Internally we record these concerns on a Record of Concern and Action (RoCA). During the past year, 18 families who have since completed their support had a RoCA in place. Four of these families were closed whilst the family received support and interventions with Children’s Services. At the end of the year, seven active families had a RoCA in place.

Life Events

Life can throw unexpected challenges, and we have supported families through a number of unexpected life events during the course of their support, including bereavement, relationship changes, housing changes, domestic abuse, illness, changes in employment status, and reduced income. We know that life events can create additional needs, and we work with families to find ways to work through these changes. We also identify other agencies that can offer support to families during these times, such as Wiltshire Citizen’s Advice, Wiltshire Money, Army Welfare Service and Fear Free etc.

Devizes Group 2023

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Making a Difference

Family Case Study 1

When Home-Start volunteer, Pat, met mum, she was feeling incredibly isolated. She had recently joined her husband in the UK with their 4-year-old and was adjusting to life far away from family and friends. The family lived in a rural part of Wiltshire, which was especially hard for mum because she lacked her own transport - exacerbating feelings of isolation. Dad worked long hours. It was a challenging time.

Pat visited weekly, giving mum emotional support, and helping her get out of the house. Pat helped mum explore the local town; she seemed nervous venturing from the main street, so they discovered new areas together. They also went to cafes together to help mum feel more confident going on her own - a big thing when you feel alone.

Mum sometimes struggled with her son’s behaviour, but Pat helped guide her though, offering tips and role modelled parenting techniques. “There was a time when my child was having a tantrum and I saw how she dealt with him, I had a ‘me moment’…maybe my approach is wrong, she showed me how to look at things differently.” (Mum)

When support ended, the family were in a much better place. They moved from the countryside to town, mum had got a job and was enjoying meeting new people. Mum was coping better all round. Volunteer, Pat, reflected, “It was very tough for them actually and they have done extremely well considering the enormous change they experienced, the change of culture and climate (it was so cold for them!). In time, when they are settled some more, I am sure they will fly.”

Looking back, Mum says things are ‘much improved’ on the difficult time when they met HomeStart. “I had the best volunteer; she was very supportive. Pat would call for me, I was so excited to get out of the house. My husband worked all the time, time was very tough for us … It was heaven sent to me. I was in a terrible place mentally … I was crying a lot, and she helped me. She gave me the confidence to go out. She helped me get out of a dark hole mentally … Pat is a lovely lady.”

Family Quotes

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Volunteers

We have been incredibly fortunate to have 47 volunteers working with our families through home visiting and group support this year. We are truly grateful for the support they give to our families and could not do it without their hard work and dedication!

Preparation Courses

We trained four new volunteers on our August 2023 Volunteer Preparation Course, ten on our Autumn Preparation course in Devizes, and seven on the most recent course in Rushall. In total we have trained 21 new volunteers over the past year.

Volunteers hear about us through a variety of ways, including word of mouth, via friends who worked for Home-Start as staff or volunteers, or from their past employment (e.g. health visitor, nurse, education, child psychiatry). A number of other volunteers responded to posters or flyers they had seen, and some saw adverts or posts on social media. This reflects that continuing to advertise and promote our volunteer opportunities across a variety of platforms is key to reaching more people. We have developed a marketing plan to help support us with this in the coming year. Our two most recent Friends of Home-Start coffee mornings have also seen success; 19 guests engaged with the Devizes event, and nine with the Marlborough event, where we welcomed two new volunteer recruits.

Volunteer Numbers

We have 47 active home visiting and group volunteers (four supporting groups only), up from 37 at the end of September. There are four regular volunteers for the Devizes group, and two regular volunteers for the Tidworth group. We currently have 12 volunteers resting.

Garden Party 2023

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Fundraising and Promotions

Family Fund

In total last year, we spent nearly £9,000 within our Family Fund (including £2,500 on supermarket vouchers over Christmas 2023). Essential items purchased included curtains, furniture, a car seat, a table, stairgates, and a double buggy; the majority of requests have been for emergency food provision. We continue to work closely with partners and help families access free or low-cost resources where possible.

Contributions from Wiltshire Community Foundation, Waitrose Community, Tesco Community Fund and the National Benevolent Charity will be added to our Family Fund for next year so we can continue to support families in this way.

Partner Updates

Social Media Online and Promotional Activity

Evaluation Report 2023

Our evaluation report for 2024 has been published by Dr Alison Millett and is available on our website. This provides an in-depth overview and analysis of our service and outlines next steps.

The report is available to download here: - https://homestartnorthwiltshire.org.uk/wp - - content/uploads/2024/06/Evaluation Report 2024.pdf or by post on request. ~~SO~~

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Thank You

We would like to give a huge shout of thanks to all who support us through Localgiving and Payroll Giving. To all of our wonderful volunteers and trustees who donate their expenses. To all of those listed below and our anonymous donors that have supported us over the year. The support you give supports us to continue to deliver support to local famlies. Thank You!

Adey JF and MB National Lottery Community Fund
Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust Pewsey Co-op
Children in Need Pewsey Rugby Club
Co-op Community Fund Preshute Evening Group
Dawn Wilson P & J Noble
Devizes Lions R & J Owen-Jones
East Kennet Carol Singers Sara Holden
F Pessell St George’s Church, Preshute
HJ & EJ O’Regan St Peter’s and St Pauls
HSUK Government Loneliness Covid 19 Fund Tesco Bags of Help
J & K Saunders The Henry Smith Charity
Jean Rickard Waitrose Marlborough
Marlborough Lions Wiltshire & Swindon Community Foundation
Morrisons

Thank you to all of our partners and referrers we have worked closely with over the year:

Army Welfare Service Green Machine Computers Ltd
Home-Start South Wiltshire The Rise Trust
Home-Start UK Unit Welfare Officers
Parent Support Advisers HCRG Care Group
Spurgeons Children’s Charity Wiltshire Public Health

And finally a thank you to all those companies and individuals who donated time or other resources to our organisation and the families we support.

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ACCOUNTS 2023-2024 ME STIRT North Wiltshire 17

Treasurers Report

The Independent Examiner’s Report and Annual Accounts give a full and detailed picture of the income and expenditure of Home-Start North Wiltshire for the year ending 31st March 2024. The division of the expenditure between charitable activities and governance shows that 2.6% of our income was spent on the latter.

A successful application for £337,500 over 3 years starting July 2023 was made to The National Lottery Community Fund. This combined with an ongoing three-year grant from the Henry Smith Covid 19 Long Term Support Fund, and a three year Grant from the Henry Smith Charity provided the majority of the income for the year.

Additional Income came from National Benevolent Charity, Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation and grants from Home-Start UK as well as from small donations and fundraising. These included donations from Devizes Lions, Tesco and Waitrose.

Some of this additional income enabled us to support families by offering help when they struggled to purchase essential items, fund outings, provide activity packs for children and Christmas packs to families.

Expenditure exceeded income but this was covered by restricted funds carried forward from the previous year.

The Balance Sheet at 31st March 2024 shows assets less current liabilities of £108,450 (£116,251 in 2022/2023). Some of this money is in restricted funds and must be used to support the projects for which the grants were awarded.

As well as the Lottery Grant HSNW has been awarded a three-year grant by Children in Need & these combined with the ongoing Henry Smith Grants and grants from Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation, St James Place and HSUK Army Central Fund means that the scheme has a firm financial basis for 2024/2025 although additional funds are still needed.

HSNW holds sufficient funds in reserve so that if there was a sudden loss of Grant Funding there would not be an abrupt cessation of support to vulnerable families. Money is also held to cover a contingent liability to TPT, HSNW’s Pension Provider.

We would like to thank all our Funders and everyone else who has supported the scheme.

Exemption from the appointment of auditors

For the year ending 31 March 2024 the Company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477(2) of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

Marcia Johnson Honorary Treasurer

This report was approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by _______ | Date: 2[nd] October 2024

COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER

05208226

ENGLAND & WALES

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER

1106736

HOME-START NORTH WILTSHIRE

COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE

ACCOUNTS

31 MARCH 2024

19

Independent Examiner's Report CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Sectson A Independent Examiner's Report R•port to th• HOME START ￿)RTh WILV6HIRE 31 MARCH 2024 11CfjT&3 Conyiny no.: 0520 18to33 Cryy fry y¢¥ 3110W2024" . ba•ls ol r•port ccffipry th• purpcws ol ¢cxnpwry Iw), you • re%￿n1b1+ for th• Havty ¥i8W the acuurrts ￿ tho nat Twul￿] to be ￿dited fi)r urAkn P•1 16 of 21￿ Ad and eltrJW• for s a8 wried out under 145 of IM Charttie8 Ac 2011 2011 W. In cwrylNd nry ex8ninth, I have fc4kn¥ed the ty the Chwty 8•¢*x 1445){b) otii 2011 A( SORP {FR8102). PARS DIANA J FLM>IES , FCCA CtrWRLTON &4KER LTD. 7.7c SNUFF STREET. DEVIZES. SN10 1CKI 20

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES - Year Ended 31 March 2024

Unrestricted Unrestricted Restricted Restricted NCLF Total
Funds		 Total
Funds
Lottery
Funds Funds Funds 2024 2023
Note £ £ £ £ £
INCOME
Grants and
Donations
2		 7,307 136,542 93,500 237,349 224,096
Income from
Investments
3		 5301 0 0 5,301 1938
TOTAL INCOME 12,608 136,542 93,500 242,650 226,034
EXPENDITURE
Charitable
activities
4		 (1,122) 133,280 111,839 243,997 230,026
Governance costs
5		 0 3,915 2,539 6,454 5,988
TOTAL
EXPENDITURE		 (1,122) 137,195 114,378 250,451 236,014
13,730 (653) (20,878) (7,801) (9,980)
NET
INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)
TRANSFERS BETWEEN 0 0 0 0 0
FUNDS
NET MOVEMENT
IN FUNDS		 13,730 (653) (20,878) (7,801) (9,980)
Reconciliation of
Funds
Funds brought
Forward		 63,423 12,725 40,103 116,251 126,231
FUNDS CARRIED
FORWARD		 77,153 12,072 19,225 108,450 116,251

21

BALANCE SHEET - as at 31 March 2024

31.03.24 31.03.23
Note £ £
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors 8 1,583 5,438
Cash at Bank and in hand 197,405 173,405
198,988 178,843
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year 9 74,811 41,416
NET CURRENT ASSETS 124,177 137,427
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 124,177 137,427
PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES
Other provisions (existing) 10 15,334 20,335
NPV of deficit recovery contributions 11 393 841
NET ASSETS 108,450 116,251
FUNDS
Restricted 12 31,297 52,828
Unrestricted 13 77,153 63,423
108,450 116,251

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to small companies within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006, Charities SORP FRS102.

For the year ending 31 March 2024 the Company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006.

The members have not required the Company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Directors acknowledge their responsibilities for:

The accounts on pages 18 to 33 were approved by the Board of Trustees on: October 2[nd] 2024

Marcia Johnson, Treasurer and Trustee`

22

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Year ended 31 March 2024

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (Charities SORP FRS102) and the Charities Act 2006.

Going concern

Sources of substantial funding for the charity continue, so the trustees are confident that the charity will be able to continue as a going concern for the following twelve months.

Donations

Grants and donations are allocated to income in the accounting period to which the funds relate. They are recognised as soon as the Charity is informed, they are due and receivable. Tax recoverable on Gift Aid donations is recognised when the donation is recognised.

Fixed assets

It is the policy of the charity to write off in the year of purchase any individual item of equipment costing less than £2,000. Items of equipment costing in excess of £2,000 and considered to be worth more than that at the Balance Sheet date, will be capitalised and depreciated at rates to be determined at the time.

Governance costs

Governance costs are made up of Management Committee expenses, Consultancy Fees, Independent Examination expenses, Book Keeping and Accountancy costs, and staff costs relating to Quality Assurance compliance.

Pension costs – current service

The Charity operates a money purchase (defined contribution) pension scheme for the benefit of its current employees who wish to join and become members. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Home-Start North Wiltshire. Contributions are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period in which they fall due. Home-Start North Wiltshire and the members each paid contributions at the rate of 5% during the accounting period to The Pensions Trust. There were no unpaid contributions at the balance sheet date.

Pension provision – past service

SCHEME: TPT Retirement Solutions – The Growth Plan

The company participates in the scheme, a multi-employer scheme which provides benefits to some 950 non-associated participating employers. The scheme is a defined benefit scheme in the UK. It is not possible for the company to obtain sufficient information to enable it to account for the scheme as a defined benefit scheme. Therefore it accounts for the scheme as a defined contribution scheme.

The scheme is subject to the funding legislation outlined in the Pensions Act 2004 which came into force on 30 December 2005. This, together with documents issued by the Pensions Regulator and Technical Actuarial Standards issued by the Financial Reporting

23

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

The scheme is subject to the funding legislation outlined in the Pensions Act 2004 which came into force on 30 December 2005. This, together with documents issued by the Pensions Regulator and Technical Actuarial Standards issued by the Financial Reporting Council, set out the framework for funding defined benefit occupational pension schemes in the UK.

The scheme is classified as a 'last-man standing arrangement'. Therefore the company is potentially liable for other participating employers' obligations if those employers are unable to meet their share of the scheme deficit following withdrawal from the scheme. Participating employers are legally required to meet their share of the scheme deficit on an annuity purchase basis on withdrawal from the scheme.

A full actuarial valuation for the scheme was carried out at 30 September 2020. This valuation showed assets of £800.3m, liabilities of £831.9m and a deficit of £31.6m. To eliminate this funding shortfall, the Trustee has asked the participating employers to pay additional contributions to the scheme as follows:

Deficit contributions

From 1 April 2022 to 31 January 2025: £3,312,000 per annum (payable monthly)

Unless a concession has been agreed with the Trustee the term to 31 January 2025 applies.

Note that the scheme’s previous valuation was carried out with an effective date of 30 September 2017. This valuation showed assets of £794.9m, liabilities of £926.4m and a deficit of £131.5m. To eliminate this funding shortfall, the Trustee asked the participating employers to pay additional contributions to the scheme as follows:

Deficit contributions

£11,243,000 per annum (payable monthly From 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2025: and increasing by 3% each on 1st April)

The recovery plan contributions are allocated to each participating employer in line with their estimated share of the Series 1 and Series 2 scheme liabilities.

Where the scheme is in deficit and where the company has agreed to a deficit funding arrangement the company recognises a liability for this obligation. The amount recognised is the net present value of the deficit reduction contributions payable under the agreement that relates to the deficit. The present value is calculated using the discount rate detailed in these disclosures. The unwinding of the discount rate is recognised as a finance cost.

24

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

PRESENT VALUES OF PROVISION

RECONCILIATION OF OPENING AND CLOSING PROVISIONS

RECONCILIATION OF OPENING AND CLOSING PROVISIONS
Period Ending Period Ending
31-Mar-24 31-Mar-23
(£s) (£s)
Provision at start of period 841 1,318
Unwinding of the discount factor (interest expense) 32 25
Deficit contribution paid (480) (480)
Remeasurements - impact of any change in assumptions 0 (22)
Remeasurements - amendments to the contribution schedule - -
Provision at end of period 393 841

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE IMPACT

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE IMPACT
Period Ending Period Ending
31-Mar-24 31-Mar-23
(£s) (£s)
Interest expense 32 25
Remeasurements – impact of any change in assumptions 0 (22)
Remeasurements – amendments to the contribution schedule - 0
Contributions paid in respect of future service* * *
Costs recognised in income and expenditure account * *

*includes defined contribution schemes and future service contributions (i.e. excluding any deficit reduction payments) to defined benefit schemes which are treated as defined contribution schemes. To be completed by the company.

ASSUMPTIONS

31-Mar-24 31-Mar-23 31-Mar-22
% per annum % per annum % per annum
Rate of discount 5.31 5.52 2.35

The discount rates shown above are the equivalent single discount rates which, when used to discount the future recovery plan contributions due, would give the same results as using a full AA corporate bond yield curve to discount the same recovery plan contributions.

25

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

The following schedule details the deficit contributions agreed between the company and the scheme at each year end period:

DEFICIT CONTRIBUTIONS SCHEDULE

DEFICIT CONTRIBUTIONS SCHEDULE
Year ending 31-Mar-24
31-Mar-23
31-Mar-22
(£s)
(£s)
(£s)
Year 1 480
480
480
Year 2 480
480
Year 3 -
400
Year 4 -
-
Year 5 -
-
-
Year 6 -
-
-
Year 7 -
-
-
Year 8 -
-
-
Year 9 -
-
-
Year 10 -
-
-
Year 11 -
-
-
Year 12 -
-
-
Year 13 -
-
-
Year 14 -
-
-
Year 15 -
-
-
Year 16 -
-
-
Year 17 -
-
-
Year 18 -
-
-
Year 19 -
-
-

The company must recognise a liability measured as the present value of the contributions payable that arise from the deficit recovery agreement and the resulting expense in the income and expenditure account i.e. the unwinding of the discount rate as a finance cost in the period in which it arises.

It is these contributions that have been used to derive the company's balance sheet liability

26

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

2. GRANTS AND
DONATIONS
Unrestricte
d		 2. GRANTS AND
DONATIONS
Unrestricte
d		 Restricted Lottery Total Funds
2024		 Total Funds
2024		 Total Funds
Funds Funds Fund 2023
£ £ £ £ £
National Lottery
Communities Fund
(GST)		 - -
93,500
-
39,100
-
60,000
6,750
2,500
10,000
5,500
2,500
-
67
1,125
8,000
1,000
7,307		 110,000
National Lottery
Communities Fund		 - 93,500 -
Swindon Borough
Council (pilot)		 - 25,000
Henry Smith Charity
CLSG		 39,100 32,000
Children in Need - 6,000
Henry Smith Charity
-		 60,000 15,000
Wiltshire Community
Foundation		 6,750 5,000
HSUK Army Central
Fund
-		 2,500 3,000
National Benevolent
Charity		 10,000
Armed Forces
Covenant Fund Trust		 5,500 4,500
HSUK Empowering
Woman
-		 2,500 4,200
Co-Operative
Communities Fund
-		 - 3,948
Families Fund General
-		 67 2,326
Families Fund
Tesco Community Fund		 1,125 1,500
Families Fund Wiltshire Charity
Community Foundation		 8,000 1,500
Families Fund Waitrose
Community fund		 - 1,000 1,350
Other Donations 7,307 - 8,771
- -
7,307 136,542 93,500 237,349 224,096

27

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

3. INVESTMENT INCOME Unrestricted Restricted Lottery Total
Funds		 Total
Funds
Funds Funds Fund 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £
General Fund
Interest receivable 5301 0 0 5301 1938
4. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON
CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
3. INVESTMENT INCOME 3. INVESTMENT INCOME Unrestricted Unrestricted Restricted Restricted Restricted Lottery Lottery Lottery Lottery Total
Funds		 Total
Funds		 Total
Funds
Funds Funds Fund 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £
General Fund
Interest receivable 5301 0 0 5301 1938
4. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON
CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
Unrestricted
Restricted
Both*
Lottery**		 Total
Funds		 Total Funds
Funds
Funds
Funds		 2024 2023
£
£
£		 £ £
Employment costs
(Note 6)		 (4,968)
92,290
83,450
4,575
1,951
360
252
50
22
4,388
2,454
763
60
150
107
11,434
50
196
5,434
6,723
9,633
1,342
1,064
794
1,245
2,327
1,752
1,809
800
3,269
1,180
2,143
3,478
887
2,533		 170,772
6,526
612
50
6,864
823
257
11,484
5,630
16,356
2,406
794
3,572
3,561
4,069
3,323
3,478
3,420		 166,920
Staff travel & general
expenses		 5,015
1,537
-
6,935
769
-
6,205
2,792
15,998
1,820
261
1,716
2,636
3,735
3,371
5,470
4,847
Staff training
Staff recruitment
Volunteer travel &
general expenses
Volunteer training
General Expenses (including
Fund Raising)
Families fund
expenses
Friendship Café
Rent and rates
Insurance
Covid & Cleaning
Costs
Printing. Post and
stationery
Advertising and
promotion
Service charges
(Affiliation fees)
Telephone, internet
and fax
Resilience building
Equipment Software
(1,122)
133,280
111,839		 243,997 230,026

28

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

Employment costs
(Note 6)
Staff travel & general
expenses
Staff training
Staff recruitment
Volunteer travel & general
expenses
Volunteer training
Families fund
expenses
Friendship Café
Rent and rates
Insurance
Covid & Cleaning
Costs
Printing. Post and
stationery
Advertising and
promotion
Service charges
(Affiliation fees)
Telephone, internet
and fax
Equipment Software		 (GST) NCLF
Lottery
Fund
£
29,995
437
90
50
806
60
50
4,089
223
538
1,719
659
592
39,308		 NCLF Lottery
Fund
£
53,455
1,514
162
1,648
5,544
1,064
571
1,789
90
3,269
1,484
1,941
72,531		 *** Both
Lottery
Funds 2024
£**
83,450
1,951
252
50
2,454
60
50
-
9,633
1,064
794
2,327
1,809
3,269
2,143
2,533		 (GST) NCLF
Lottery
Funds 2023
£
100,354
2,044
434
-
3,641
389
-
20
9,618
1,072
246
1,090
2,124
3,735
2,350
3,622
111,839 130,739

29

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

5. GOVERNANCE
COSTS		 Unrestricted
Restricte
d
Both*
Lottery
Funds
Funds
Funds
£
£
£**
3,093
258
80
813
68
314
75
-
192
428
1,133		 Unrestricted
Restricte
d
Both*
Lottery
Funds
Funds
Funds
£
£
£**
3,093
258
80
813
68
314
75
-
192
428
1,133		 Unrestricted
Restricte
d
Both*
Lottery
Funds
Funds
Funds
£
£
£**
3,093
258
80
813
68
314
75
-
192
428
1,133		 Total Funds Total Funds Total Funds
2023
£
2,812
-
200
1,196
235
302
-
1,244
5,988
2024
£
Salaries 3,093
Consultancy fees -
Independent
examination		 258
Management
committee
expenses		 893
Management
training		 68
Governance
General		 389
Service Evaluation
Costs		 192
Bookkeeping and
accountancy		 1,561
-
-
3,915
2,539		 6,454
(GST) NCLF
Lottery
*5A. LOTTERY
GOVERNANCE COSTS		 (GST) NCLF
Lottery
NCLF Lottery		 (GST) NCLF
Lottery
Fund
Fund		 Funds 2024 Funds 2023
£
£		 £ £
Salaries -
-
258
813
68
75
192
1,133
Consultancy fees
Independent examination 258 200
Management committee
expenses		 248
565
50
18
75
192		 865
Management training 122
Governance General 279
Service Evaluation Costs
Bookkeeping and
accountancy		 305
828		 784
-
795
1,744		 2,539 2,250

30

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

6. EMPLOYMENT COSTS 2024
£
167,198
4,479
7,637
(5,480)
32
173,865
170,772
3,093
173,865		 2023
£
159,175
4,155
6,880
(480)
3
Salaries
Employer's NI
Pension expense -
current service
Pension - past service provision for pension
deficit
FRS102 - I&E finance expense re PV of pension deficit contributions
liability (Note 11)
169,732
166,920
2,812
Attributable to Charitable
activities
Attributable to
Governance
Total employment
costs		 169,732

There are no employees with emoluments exceeding £50,000

The average number of staff employed by the charity during the financial year amounted to:

2024 2024 2024 2023
Number of staff 11 11
These were all part time positions and represent:
Average number of full time equivalent positions 5.51 5.70

7. CORPORATION TAX

Home-Start North Wiltshire is a registered charity and is therefore exempt from Corporation Tax.

8. DEBTORS

8. DEBTORS
31.03.24 31.03.23
£ £
Other debtors – Gift Aid tax refund 293.77
500.00
524.13
33.50
231.20
1,582.60		 253
0
3,478
1,451
Other debtors – Grant Army Forces Covenant Fund Trust
Other debtors – Payment in Advance Computer Contract
Other debtors – Prepaid
Zoom Subscription (10 months) +
NC Ins, Ad World, PO Drop&Go
hire K&ACT(Devizes)
Other debtors – Prepaid PO Drop&Go
Accounts Receivable (Sales Ledger) 255
5,438

31

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

9. CREDITORS:Amounts falling due within one year 9. CREDITORS:Amounts falling due within one year 31.03.23
£
6,641
34,775
41,416
31.03.24
£
Creditors & accruals 8,373
66,437
Funds received in advance
74,811
10. OTHER PROVISIONS
(existing)		 31.03.24 31.03.23
£ £
Provision forpension deficit(debt on withdrawal) 15,334 20,335
15,334 20,335
11. NPV OF DEFICIT RECOVERY
CONTRIBUTIONS
31.03.24 31.03.23
£ £
Net present value 393 841
12. RESTRICTED FUNDS:
Movement in resources
Incoming Outgoing Balance at Balance at
31.03.24 31.03.23
National Lottery Community
Fund (GST)		 -
93,500
39,100
60,000
5,500
2,500
10,000
10,192
6,750
2,500		 40,103
74,242
34,789
64,066
6,811
2,500
9,002
10,810
6,750
2,500		 -









40,103
-
2,915
6,004
1,311
-
-
2,495
-
-
52,828
National Lottery Community
Fund (NLCF)		 19,258
Henry Smith Charity CLSG 7,226
Henry Smith Charity 1,938
Armed Forces Covenant Fund
Trust		 -
HSUK Army Central Fund -
National Benevolent Charity 998
Families Fund
(Tesco/Waitrose/WCF)		 1,876
Wiltshire Community Foundation -
HSUK Empowering Woman -
230,042 251,574 31,297

32

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Cont. Year ended 31 March 2024

13. UNRESTRICTED
FUNDS
Transfer
Incoming
Outgoing		 Balance at Balance at
31.03.24 31.03.23


General -
12,608
13,878		 12,153 13,423
Designated -
15,000
-		 65,000 50,000
-
27,608
13,878		 77,153 63,423
14. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS
Cash at Bank Other net Total
and in hand assets
Restricted:
National Lottery Community Fund (GST) - 0
National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) 19,258 19,258
Henry Smith Charity CLSG 7,226 7,226
Henry Smith Charity 1,938 1,938
National Benevolent Fund 998 998
Families Fund (Tesco/Waitrose/WCF) 1,876 1,876
-
General 101,108 (88,956) 12,153
Designated 50,000 15,000 65,000
182,405 (73,956) 108,450

END.

33