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2023-03-31-accounts

Charity number: 1136594 Families and Babies Trustees, report and financial statements For th• year •nded 31 March 2023

FAMILIES AND BABIES CONTENTS Pa9e Ch•rlty inforniatlon Tru$t808' r•port Indepond•nt •xamln•rf• report Stat•m•nt of fln4n¢lal 4¢tlvltkn• Bal•nc• 8h•ot Statsrn•nt of Caih Flow• 10 Not•• to th• Iln•ncl•l •tsl•ment•

FAMILIES AND BABIES CHARITY INFORMATION FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 Truste8s Elaine Ethvards Noel Edwards (Appointed 4 September 20231 Dulani Ruwanmali Mendis Scott (Appointed 4 Septemter 2023) Mthael Hudson Wayne Ga￿th Rushton Lorraine Carter Lthws Waddington R•gl•torod Charlty Numb 1136594 Addre•• 222r224 Tonge Moor Road 8otton BL2 2HN Ind•p•nd•nt Ex•mln•r Philip Dawson Dawson & Co Suite 9, Rockfield HI￿88 512 Darwen Ro&1 Bromley Cross 8olton Lancashire 8L7 9DX B•nk•rn HSBC Bank 5 Great Underbank StrKkpcKt Cheshire SK1 1LH

FAMILIES AND BABIES TRUSTEES. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 The Trustees pTrsent their annual feport together with the finanual statements of Families and Babies IFABI for the year ended 31 March 2023. The Trustees confirm that the annual report and financial statements of the charity comply with the Charitses Act 2011. and Reporting by Charitses.. Stsiement ol Reeommended Practice applicable to charities p￿parIng their accounts in accordan￿ with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021 October 2019 Slructuro, governanc• and man•gom•nt CONSTITUTION The Charity is governed by a Trust deed dated W October 2021. the chanty is in the process of updating and reviewing the document. METHOD OF APPOINTMENT OR ELECTION OF TRUSTEES There musl be al least three Trustees. Apart from the first Trustees, every Trustee musl be appointed, for a lerm of 4 years, by a resolutson of the Tfustees passed at a special meebng. In selecting Individuals for appointment as Trustees. the Trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and expenence naeded for the effective administration of thè Charity. POLicies ADOPTED FOR THE INDUCTION AND TRAINING OF TRUSTEES The Charity adopts a policy where Tnjstees are provided with a copy of the Trust Deed and the latest a¢¢ounls and annual report. Also provided are Links to the Chanties Commission website which include, but are not restricted to, the Essential Trustee Guide. Objoctlves and A¢tlvttl•• The objects of the charity are'.- 1. To advance and promote the phys&?1 and psychological health of mthers and chikI￿n through the provision of support education and training regarding breastfeeding 2. To advance the educabon and promote the goc*J heallh of children under the age of five ye8fS, their families and carers. In parti¢ulai bul not exclusively by the provision of advance, support training and supporting research Into healthy eating The charity aims to support hearth and well-b8ing in children and famil￿ in the UK. The charity provides peer support services offering evidence based Infomial￿n aThJ support lo help improve health and well-being within families. This year Chanty has been providing services across the country within 4 areas.. i Lancashire • Wakefield Distri Dor$el County • Bolton Within our 3 Commissioned a￿aS we have service level agreements in place which set out the aims and objectives we are targeted to meeL Bollon is managed by the charrty confomiing to community grants and trustee leadership.

FAMILIES AND BABIES TRUSTEES. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 ACTIVITIES FOR ACHIEVING OBJECTIVES A¢hl•v•m•nts and performanc• GOING CONCERN After making appropriate enquiries, the trustees have a reasonable expectstion that the chadty has adequate resources to continue in operat￿nal existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason they continue 10 adopt the going concem basis in preparing the financial statements. Further detsils regarding the adoption of the going concern basis can be found in the A¢counling PolKYdS. REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES This is the 131n year as a cttarity providing breastleeding peer Support to mothers and their families and our team of staff and volunteers continue to show passion and dedication lo their roles We have maintsined our support services across all our commissioned areas this year and have seen both staff and volunleef teams grow bigger increasing our FA8 family All staff across the charity have once again Completed thè NHS Data Protection training in addition lo breastteeding upJale training and safeguarding training lo ensure we offer the best possible support to lamilies. FA8 has continued lo offer a digital service even as restrictions were lifted as we rewgnise that parents may strll feel uncertain about mixing with others with small babies and also that the￿ are other reasons for not accessing face lo fa¢0 $UPFQrt. Our managem8nl team have worked hard to increase the visibilty of FAB over the past 12 months and lo explore new income streams in order lo increase the level of support we are able to offer. Our online antenatal course was developed and has teen rolled out in our Gommissioned areas and beyond. Overvlew of our eomml88lonod aroai 2022-2023 FA8 are proud of the passion and ded￿tIOn shown by all our stsff and volunteers and would like lo thank every one of them for the ongoing SUPFQrt they have provided to new families. In recognition of this FAB were able to fund a place al the UNICEF virtual conference for every member of peer support stsff. Dorn•t This year we have faced the challenge of no longer being the commissioned service for Dorset. This meant a significant shift in the groups and support we were offenng and the challenge of finding new venues for group5. Only three groups now remain in Children Centres. with the rest being in a mix of Church Halls, Community Cenlres and Community Cafes We We￿ able to negotiate free spaces for all of the groups. including opening two new groups in Ringwood and Ve￿￿￿J, areas where FAB have not offered support previously. We have continued to develop and strengthen our online presence through both Facetook and Instagram. Our closed Facebook group now has ovef 2200 member and is a source of t<Jlh practical breastfeed1ng support and social interactions for familEs. With the increased numbers accessing face to face support. we decided to lessen Facebook Room availability, now offering this service three momings a week instead of five. We do still have faMil￿S using thi$ option for SLSPPOrt alongside our face-to-tsce supp)rt. We have relumed to Communty Events and a￿ building support here, where Children's Cenlres are limited.

FAMILIES AND BABIES TRUSTEES. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 We remained flexible in our approach to support in order that we can reach as many families as possible across Dorsel and BCP. Over Ihe past 12 months we wekomed 3 new staff members to our Dorset team to help support in groups and via social media increasing our online presenc to include Instagram as well as Facebook. We currently have 38 aclive peers and 1 Meet and Greet Volunteer. Thirteen volunteers completed training in 2022-2023. 12 volunteers moved to support wlh Bfftl Many of th8se volunteers are supporting at facevlopface groups each week as well as through the closed F8¢ebcok support group. There ar& Currently a furthor 14 volunteers ifttorested in training to support with FA8 Dorset W•k•fl•ld This year FAB has continued lo support mums in Wakefield wrth 1467 breasrfeeding women being supported by the service. Since Covid restrict￿n$ were lifted we have b¢en supporting mLsms 1-1 in home visits, 470 familie5 have ￿CeiVed a total of 630 home visits. Vve have been working hard on thè matemity ward. running 8 groups a week. and running thè helpline with Ihe help of our volunteers. We were excitèd to have our contract with Wakefield ujuncil renewed for al least another 3 years enabling us to provide support to mums within the community. We are also pleased lo announce our ¢onta¢t at Pinderfields has been renewed for another 12 months enabling us to provide support in the first hours following birth to help gel breastfeeding off lo a gocy Slart. This has had a positsve impact on the community support we provide as mums have an introduction lo the seNice alongside intensive breastfeeding support before they leave hospital and often need less intense support once home. We have welcomed 5 newly trained breastfeeding SUPFQrters tt) the team and also recruited a business administralion apprenlice. Charlotte, Tammy. and Larissa have joined as peer SLbPPOrters and are doing fantastr¢ work. Aleks has joined as our apprenli¢e and has been a fantast￿ addrtKJn supporting admin work, dats reports'ng and even designing a cover for our new notebook$1 Staff and volunleers have completed all mandatory training modules, in addits'on to the mandatory modules peer supporters have completed ICON training. We also had, Cheryl, Natalie. Lucy and Karina move on to beCOff￿ mth¥rfes. We wish them lols of luck in the future and look foThvard to working along¥de them in their new roles. 8 new volunteer peer supporter5 have completed their trainin9 in order to be ab￿ to support rtrew mums on the helpline and at groups. Throughout the year we were incredibly lucky to have a team of dedicated volunteers who Committed lo the helpline and some of o¢Jr groups offering extra support and a fnendty ear. mums found It useful to have extrg time lo chat.

FAMILIES AND BABIES TRUSTEES. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 We have also received funding from Start for Life via Wakefiekl Counal lo fvnd new positsons, Community and Family Hub Nehvork Lead for UNICEF Baby Friendly Inibatsve and a Targeted Peer supporter. These positions are going to be imperabve lo make sure every family is able lo access the infomiatson,. support and help they need in hoswtal and communty sethngs. We are currenuy recfuiting to these posts. working towards UNICEF Baby Friendly Accredrtation alongside the Early Help Hubs is exciting and something we are really Icoking forward to. L•Trca•hlr• This year we have focused on streamlining our service and ulilizing our volunteers. as we expect an increase in service users, once we have all the Informatton sharing agreements in place at the five hospitsl trusts over Lancashire. We have also focused on promoting and proteth'ng breastteeding by attending events and working closely with many partners. We are looking forward lo being out and about in local communities attending events and meeting new peopSe. We plan to InC￿aSe our team of volunteers with a fccus on b￿aStleedIng promotion and education. We have retumed to a115 hospital trusts supwfb'ng new mums face to face, and in support groups FAB Lancashire is proud lo have worked closely with our infant feeding colleagues in Community to contribute lo the area retaining the UNICEF Breastfeeding Friendly Initiative Gold Standard. All our teams have annual audits and montttly training to ensure they are giving the correct information lo mums and their wider families We have recruited 15 new volunteers, who are currently volunteering in a vari8ty of ways including breastteeding support group5. helpline calls and on our 5 hosprtal wards. The followng data has been obtained from our database using data from babies who were bom from 1 February 2022 10 the 18th February 2023 Thgse babies would have rexhed 6 weeks by the 1$1 April 2023. Total number of mums that have used our servta - 3511 Total numter of mums exclusively breastleeding at 48hrs - 1861 Total nurn￿r of mums giving any breast milk at 48hrs - 2877 Total number of mums exclusively breastfeeding at 6 weeks - 1267 Total number of mums giving any breast milk at 6 weeks - 2040 Total numtef of mums who have received a 111 home visit's- 1300 Total number of mums who receNed subsequent home visit's - 349 Our social media has continued to grow allowing u5 to supwrt more families FAB Instagram is growing steadily wrth a following of 1.208 peop FAB Facebook page followers are totalling 7.010 FAB Lancs ck)sed Facebook Group members are now at 4.537 We have answered 5178 helpline calls wh￿h equates to over 213 hours of voluntary helpline support.

FAMILIES AND BABIES TRUSTEES, REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 Bolton We started to run tsvo suppjrt groups in 8ohon for br8asife8ding rnums and their partners, this was a slow start and we only got one or rnums attending, over the year we are now having around 5 or 6 mums attending the weekly groups and also using our sc¢ial medh8 Srte to gain addrtK)nal support when the groups are not running We a￿ looking to strengthen these groups in 202&2024 wth the athlrtK)n of training our volunteers in Perinatal MentAI Health lo allow then to supwrt iTrye families We will also be k¥Jking to stsrt our online Zoom gr￿p$ for mums and their partners cant attend group in the next financial year FAB Merchandl80 We have continued lo increase sales of our online merchandise ard have added online training courses as an additional way of bnnging In funding. Our peer supptytsr training and online antenatal courses are proving very popular and we hope lo continue adding new opportunib.es to our websrte We will be Iwking to increase the number of courses that we can offe( bolh pa￿ts and businesses in the cThming year P•rtnornhlp Worklng We have maintained a strong relationship with the Defence 8reastfeetJing and have so far trained another 11 womèn as peer supporters with the aim of facilitsling FAB breastfeeding groups on military bases across the country. The training of servicewomen has the added benefit of giving them the tools lo support breastteeding women when they are deployed on humanitarN?n work overseas. The Trustees have revie￿ the major nsks faced by the Charity and have put plans in place to rnitigate these risks. Flnan¢lal r•vl The financial statements show nel incoming resour￿ for the year of £43,94312022 £42,819). PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES We currentty have commissioned serVI￿S in FAB, and we are looking at ways to self-sustsin the charity so we will be in a posit￿n lo carry on suppO￿ng families RESERVES POLICY Free reserves as al 31 March 2023 were £297,553. The Charty is in the prccess of reviewing the reserves policy to ensufe that there are sufficnl funds in place to ensure that the Charity is sustainable. FUTURE PLANS The Charity plans lo continue developing services to continue to support Families. We are also looking at improving our current website and training site to help bring in more funds to sustain the charity.

FAMILIES AND BABIES TRUSTEES. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENOEO 31 MARCH 2023 We are looking to introduce a membership scheme for both famil￿ and businesses which will bring in unrestricted income for the ¢hanty lo be able to support more families PUBLIC BENEFIT We confiTh that we have Compl￿ with our duty to have due regard to the Charity Commission's public benefit guidance when exerrising any powers or dut￿ to which the gu￿anCe is relevant This report was approved by the Trustees on 27th November 2023 and Signed on their behalf by.. El•ln• Edwards Chalr of TfU•t•e•

FAMILIES AND BABIES INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 I report lo the charity tru$tee$ on my èxamination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2023 which are set out on pages 8 to 17. R￿pOnsIbIl￿1•S and ba81• of report As the charity's Iruslees you are ￿sPonSible for the pTrparatson of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 20111.the Acl'l. I report in respect of my examinat￿n of the charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Direckn"ons given by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Act. Indgp•nd•nt •xamln•rf$ stat•ment Since the charity's gross income exceeded £250.000 your examiner musl be a member of a body listed in sectlon 145 of thè Act. I confirm that our staff are qualffied to undertake the examination as qualified under the A$so¢ialion of Accounting Technicians. I have completed my examination. I conffim that no matters have come to my attenbon in connection with the èxamination giving me cause lo believe.. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by seth'on 130 of the Act.. or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records., or 3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements conceming the lomi and conlenl of a¢counls set out in the Charitie$ (Accounts and ReFQrtsl Regijlalions 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair vEw' which LS not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in conneth'on with the examination lo which allen1￿￿ should be dra in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. frZ3 on Co Ac¢ountant• Date D•

FAMILIES AND BABIES STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 Unrn6trkted Re8trl¢tod fund8 fund8 2023 2023 Total funds 2023 Total funds 2022 Note INCOME FROM Charitable aclwities Other trading acts'vities Investment income Other income 670,721 105,215 670,721 105,215 686,167 76,823 775 776 711 775 776711 22.667 785 657 TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE ON Raising funds Charitable acltvilies 41,289 691,479 41,289 691,479 47,430 695,408 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 732,768 732.768 742 838 NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 43,943 43.943 42,819 Tol81 funds al 1 April 2022 268,9C6 268,906 228,087 TOTAL FUNOS AT 31 MARCH 2023 312,849 312,849 268,906 All income and expenditurg in tho pr8vious year rèlatsd to unrestr￿ted fvnds. Th8 notes on pages 1110 17 fo￿ part of thesè financial statements.

FAMILIES AND BABIES BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2023 2023 2022 Note FIXED ASSETS Tangible fixed assets 15,296 19,324 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 20.024 20.025 Cash in hand 324.412 281.711 344.439 301,736 CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year 46,883 52,1S4 NET CURRENT ASSErs 297.553 249,582 TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 312.849 268,906 312,849 268,906 CHARITY FUNDS Unroslri¢ted funds Reslricled funds 11 312.849 268,906 TOTAL FUNDSIIDEFICIT} 312,849 268,906 The financial statements wefe approved by the Trustees on 27th November 2023 and signad on their behalf, by.. Elaine Edwards m￿haeL Hudson l assets and liabilities relate lo unrestr￿ted funds. The notes on pages 11 to 17 lom part of these finanual Ststetrthts. 10-

FAMILIES AND BABIES STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 2023 2022 Cash flows frorn op8rntlng actlvttl Net incomellexpenditurel for the year 43,943 42,819 Depreciation Decreaselllncreasel in debtors IDecreas8llln¢￿a$e in creditors 4,028 5,203 7,523 7,$40 {5,2711 Net cash inllowlloutn¢)wl from oporntlng activiti08 42,701 63,085 Cash flow8 from Inv•stlng actlvStl•• Purchase of fixed assets 110,8391 N•t c••h u•ed In Invostlng actlvlll Net Incr•is• In c••h •Trd cash •qulv•l•nts In th• reporting perlod 42.701 52,246 Cash and cash aquivalents al 1 April 2022 281,711 229,48S Cash and cash equivalents al 31 March 2023 324,412 281 711

FAMILIES AND BABIES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 ACCOUNTING POLICIES The principal accounting policies adopted. judgements and key sources of estsmatyon uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows". 8•si8 of proparatson of flnanclal •tatements The financial ststemenls have been p￿pared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities." Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and RepublK of Ireland IFRS 102IIOclober 20191. the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republi¢ of Ireland IFRS 1021 and the Companies A¢t 20C6. Families and Babies meets the definibon of a publ￿ benefft entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilitie5 are initially recognised at hiStorKal cost or transaction value un￿sS otherwise staled in the relevant accounting policy note. The accounts (financial statements} have been prepared to give a'lrue and fairf VEW and have departed from thè Cttarilies IAccounls and Reports) Regulations 2008 only lo the extent required to provide a'lrue and fairf ¥￿w. This departure has involved following the Accounbng and Reporting by Charrties". Statement of Recommended Pract￿ applicable lo charibes prepanng their accounts in a¢cordan¢e with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republ￿ of I￿land IFRS 1021 rather than the Accounting and Reporting by Charities.. Stalemanl of Recommended Practice effective from 1 April 2005 whi¢h h8$ since been withdrawn. Prnparntlon ol th• a¢counts on • golng conc•m b*sl8 The tNstees assess whether the use of going concem is appropriate. e whether there are any material uncertainties related lo events or conditions that may cast signthcant doubt on the ability of the charity to ntinue as a going concern. The trustees make this assessment in respect of a period of at least one year from the dale of aulhorisalion for issue of the attounts The trustees have concluded that the charity has adequate resources lo continue in operational existence for the foreseeable lulure and there a￿ no material uncertaint￿$ about the charity's abilrty lo continue as a going concern Thus they continue to adopt the going concem basis of accounting in preparing the a¢￿unts. Fund a¢¢ountlng General funds are unrestricted furKls whth are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes. Restricted funds are fursds which are lo b& used in accordance with speciffic restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the Charity for particular purposes. The costs of raising and administering such funds are charged against the Specific fvnd. In¢omlng r•8ourco8 These are included in the Statement of Financial ACtNIt￿ ISOFAI when.. the charity becomes entitled to the resour￿5.. the Iruslees are virtually certain they will receive the resour¢&$." and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability 12-

FAMILIES AND BABIES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Conlinu￿) Incoming resour¢•s wlth r•lat•d expondlture Where incoming resources have related expenditure las with fvndraising or ¢onlracl incomel the Incoming resources and related expenditure a￿ ￿Ported gross in Ihe SOFA. Grants Ind Donatlons Grants and donations a￿ only included in the SOFA when the chanty has unconditional entiuement to the resources. T•x rnclalm8 on don•tlons and glft• Incoming resour¢es from tax reclaims are included in the SOFA at the same time as the gift lo which they relate. Contractual In¢ome and porfornianco r•latod grant• This is inclutjed in the SOFA once the related goods or seplices have been delivered. Glfts In Klnd Gifts in kind a￿ accounted lor at 8 reasonablo estimate of their valuo lo the chanty or tho amount actually ffjalised. Gifts in kind for sale or distributr'on are included in the accounts as gifts only when sold or distributed by the chaflty. Gifts in kind lor use by Ihe chanty are included in the SOFA 88 incoming ￿$OurCeS when recelvable. Donated ¥•r¥lcM and facllltle8 These are only In¢luded in incoming resources {wrth an equivalent amount in resources expende¢Jl where the benefit to the charity 1$ reasonably quantifiable, Measurab￿ and material. The value placed on these resources is the estsmaled value to the charity of the service or facility received. Voluntoer h•lp The value of any voluntary help received is Mt included in the accounts bul is dascnbed in the trustees, annual report R••oufcM •xp•nded and Il•bllltl Llablllty rfrcognltlon Liabilities are ie¢ognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligalKJn ￿MMItt1n9 tr¢& charity to pay out resources. Gov•in•nce co•1• Include costs of the weparation and examination of statutory accounts, the costs of trnstee meetings and cost ol any legal advKe to truslees on go¥emance or constr"tutional matters. Support Support Costs have been allocated to actNty cost on an actual basis Assets Tangible fixed assets for use by charity Tangible fixed assets are hekd at cosl and wntten off over their usefvl economic life as follows'.- Plant and machinery - 20% reducing balance Fixtures, ffttings and equipment - 20% reducing balance 13-

FAMILIES AND BABIES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Continued) Leases Rentals payable under operating leases a￿ charged lo Ihe SOFA over Ihe peri￿j of the lease. Valu• addod tax The Charity is not registered for VAT. In these financrdl ststemenls, where applicable, expenditure is shown inclusive of VAT. Crltl¢al accountlng ￿tIMate3 and •r••s of judgement The Trustees do not consider that there are any critscal accounting estirnate$ or areas of jud9ement in Ihese accounts. INCOME Unrnstrl¢ted R••trlct funds fund8 2023 Total fund• 2023 Total lunds 2022 Shop In￿Me from Other tradin9 Xtivilies sellin9 donated goods 105,215 105.215 76.823 Incoming resources fromsale of services from chantable activities the charity's actsvibes Grant income 670,721 670.721 688,167 Other income Local Authority Covid grant Rent received 22,667 775 775 776.711 776,711 785,657 l income in the current and pnor year is unrestrthd. EXPENDITURE ON RAISING FUNDS Unrn8trfctod funds Total 2023 Tolal 2022 Rent of shops and costs Advertising costs 39,228 2,061 39,228 2,061 44,404 3,026 41,289 41,289 47,430 All expenditure on raising funds in the current and prior year was unrestn"cled. 14-

FAMILIES AND BABIES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 Expenditur• on ¢h•rltablo activilios Unrestricted Restrlcted funds funds Total 2023 Total 2022 Provision of charitable serwces Administration and management Information technology Legal and professional fees Management fees 566,439 21.208 3,534 41,671 58,627 566,439 21,208 3,534 41.671 58.627 569.379 19,145 4,255 24,006 78,623 691.479 691,479 695,408 All expenditure on chanlable activiti83 in Ihe current and prior year related to L¢nrestri¢led funds. ANALYSIS OF RESOURCES EXPENDED Tru•t•e ex￿￿1 Number of trustees who were paid expenses 2023 2022 Nature of expenses Travel and subsislen¢e No femuneration was paid to Trustees during the year. NET INCOME This is stated after charging.. 2023 2022 Independent examiners rernUnerat￿n 1.200 1,000 Other fees paid to the independent examiner 3,429 1,000 15-

FAMILIES AND BABIES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 STAFF COSTS 2023 2022 Gros6 wages, salar￿$ and benefits in kind Employef's National Insurance Pension costs 428.521 16.078 5,427 391,402 12,810 9,720 450,026 413,932 Ther8 were no employees in the year wth femunerats'on over £60,000. Avorag• numbor ol full-tlme oqulval•fit omploye•8 In th• y•ar 2023 2022 The parts of the charity In which the emp￿yeeS work Fundraising Charitable Actsvities 10 35 10 35 4S 4S Defln•d contrfbutlon p•n8lon •cherno Payments are made lo a defined contllbutson pension Scheme and the p8nsw)n ¢harge reprasenls the amounts payable to the fund in the year. 2023 2022 The costs of the scheme to the chanty for the year 5,427 9,720 16-

FAMILIES AND BABIES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 FIXED ASSETS Flxthrel, fittlngs and •qulprnent IAotor v•hlcle8 Total Cost 1 April 2021 Additions 31 March 2022 19_468 38,087 57,555 19.468 Aecumulatod D•precl•tlon 1 April 2021 Chafge for year 31 March 2022 16.108 833 22,123 3,195 38,231 4,028 Net Book Value 31 March 2023 Net Book Value 1 April 2022 3.360 15,964 19,324 DEBTORS 2023 2022 Trade debtors Other debtors 19,527 497 19,527 498 20,024 20,025 10. CREDITORS: Amounts lalllng du• wlthln on? year 2023 2022 Trade creditors Other credrtors Accruals and deferred income 13.716 4,801 28,366 11,325 3,071 37,758 46,883 52,154 17-

FAMILIES AND BABIES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 11. STATEMENT OF FUNDS Brought In¢omlng Re•our¢es Forward r080urc Expended Carrled For4vard Unrestrlcted funds General fund 268,906 776,711 1721.2051 324.412 Total of funds 268,906 776,711 721.205 324.412 Year •nded 31 March 2022 Broughl Incomlng RMourco8 Forward r•8ourca8 Expendod C•rrlod Forward Unrn8tTl¢t•d fund• General fund 226,087 785,657 (742,8381 268,906 Total of lunds 226.087 785,657 742,838 268 906 12. RELATED PAR￿ TRANSACTIONS E Edward$ and N Edwards, trustees are also directors of LA Business Services Limited. During the year the chanty wrchased goods and services from LA Business Services Limited tolalling £30,SOS12022. £30,505). E Edwards in also a director of FAB Consulting Limrted. Durin9 the year the charity purchasèd servicès from FAB Consulting Limited totalling £58.630 {2022 £65.2glJl 18-

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 - 2023

OVERVIEW

This year we have faced the challenge of no longer being the commissioned service for Dorset. This meant a significant shift in the groups and support we were offering and the challenge of finding new venues for groups. Only three groups now remain in Children Centres, with the rest being in a mix of Church Halls, Community Centres and Community Cafes. We were able to negotiate free spaces for all of the groups, including opening two new groups in Ringwood and Verwood, areas where FAB have not offered support previously.

We have continued to develop and strengthen our online presence through both Facebook and Instagram. Our closed Facebook group now has over 2200 member and is a source of both practical breastfeeding support and social interactions for families. With the increased numbers accessing face to face support, we decided to lessen Facebook Room availability, now offering this service three mornings a week instead of five. We do still have families using this option for support alongside our face-to-face support.

We remain flexible in our approach to support through face to face groups, online platforms and Community Events in order that we can reach as many families as possible across Dorset and BCP.

Wareham group, Not Just Community Café. Verwood group, Verwood Methodist Church.

Branksome group, Branksome Community Centre.

STAFF, VOLUNTEERS AND TRAINING

Sara Turner left her role as team member for West Dorset in order to pursue her role as a Breastfeeding Councillor with ABM. She now offers support in Bridport as part of this role.

As a result, we have changed the way FAB offers support in this area, now having a volunteer, Josie, who can support mums using a FAB email address and arranging to meet at the local Mother and Baby Group if face to face support is needed. This is a much better use of Josie’s time rather than her sitting in the Children Centre each week when mums weren't always accessing the service this way due the remoteness of the area.

Keeley Woodward supports at group and events in the Purbeck area as well as maintaining support through our social media platforms. She has continued to develop links in the local community and connecting with further organisations such as Bourne Green and Arne. She is currently working on ways of promoting the sustainability and ecofriendly aspects of breastfeeding. She continues to work hard to improve our online presence through both Facebook and Instagram, making connections and collaborating with other charities.

Heather Moloney is our team member for BCP. She worked with three new venues this year moving our support groups out of the local children centres and into community spaces, the groups in BCP all run weekly and are welcoming and accessible. Heather continues to ensure there are enough volunteers at the three local groups and covers where needed to ensure groups offer continuity in support. Heather also supports through Facebook Rooms when not at group as well as having a significant presence offering support in posts and comments in our Facebook group. Heather has developed links in the community with Coop, Asda, Tesco and Little Pickles Markets as well as with Community Action Network where she has the opportunity to raise awareness of FAB and collaborate with other local charities.

Mel Fynes

Mel continues to work with FAB as part of the training team, she now oversees the training for all areas as well as for MOD. She works alongside Deb supporting learners in the training programme.

Deb Woodward

Deb remains in post coordinating the FAB team, the volunteers and supporting mums across Dorset and BCP. Deb also continues to be part of the training team for FAB. She now dedicates more hours to training alongside Mel, training people for not only Dorset but in other areas also.

Volunteers

We currently have 38 active peers and 1 Meet and Greet Volunteer. Thirteen volunteers completed training in 2022-2023.

12 volunteers moved to support with BfN

Many of these volunteers are supporting at face-to-face groups each week as well as through the closed Facebook support group.

There are currently a further 14 volunteers interested in training to support with FAB Dorset

GROUPS and Support

There are currently 12 groups across the area, 3 in BCP, 8 in Dorset (including the Bridport support) and 1 in Ringwood on the Hampshire border. This has been a trying year for many of our groups as moving away from the commissioned service meant uncertainty for funding and whether groups would remain. The Volunteers were all really positive about the service and continuing support, we opened new venues with celebrations of both our volunteers and breastfeeding mums that were being supported, we invited our partners in health and in the community to come and join these celebrations and make connections with the groups locally.

Across all of our groups we have supported 339 families with a total of 2239 attendances!!

Our Volunteers have offered a total of 1054 hrs of volunteering at groups.

Our Facebook Support Group has engaged with families for support through either group support, messenger support or Facebook Room support 848 times.

Other support…

Telephone 395

Text and W/A 506

Email support 136

Quotes from FAB PS Volunteers

“I’m really pleased that we’ve got a lovely small group of regulars. It feels like the group is making a difference to them and lovely to see them supporting each other too. We’ve also got some new mums coming for support too which is great” (Weymouth Peer Supporter)

“...what a privilege it has been to volunteer for FAB. You do amazing work supporting women and families across Blandford and I really hope to come back one day and volunteer again. We’re beginning to find our feet now in the US, with a busy summer ahead. But once we’ve got the children back into school, I’ll be in touch to see what I can do for FAB from afar, hope that’s ok?”

(Blandford Camp Peer Supporter who has moved away due to an army posting)

PARTNERSHIP WORKING

Health Visiting Team

We regularly update the HV Teams with Group information.

Antenatal/Midwives

Midwives are continuing to signpost mums to the service. We continue to have Student Midwives joining our face-to-face groups as part of their training and development.

Health Visitors

HVs who are seeing mums in the community are very proactive in signposting mums to groups. HVs will also contact the FAB team for additional support for mums. Many personal links with individual HVs have been developed which is a great way to compliment the support that mums may need.

NICU at Poole.

The team at Poole regularly request FAB leaflets to give to mums.

Dorchester Hospital

The Lead MW at DCH requested the FAB information in order to sign post mums to support.

Community Partnerships

Dorpip – working together collaboratively and signposting between services.

Bourne Green – regularly attend two of our groups and support alongside us at events.

Little Pickles – FAB attend markets in the BCP area free of charge, to talk to expectant families.

Community Action Network – Support FAB with networking and collaborative working with other voluntary sector organisations.

Asda/Tesco and Co-op have all supported FAB Dorset with fundraising and publicity.

The daughter of one of our Wareham mums choosing F.A.B for the Tesco tokens!

ACHIEVEMENTS

Moving the majority of the groups out of the Children Centres and into Community Venues, offering continued ongoing support but also developing a style of groups that celebrate families and their breastfeeding journeys.

Community Events and Celebrations have allowed for FAB to become more visible in the community rather than just being known by breastfeeding parents.

Opening new groups in

Blandford – on Blandford Camp for serving families.

Ringwood – offering support to families that cross the Dorset/Hampshire border.

Verwood – having a group of volunteers to take on this new challenge in an area that hasn’t seen much breastfeeding support previously and seeing mums having to travel elsewhere for support.

CHALLENGES

Moving away from the commissioned service has meant we do not receive any data regards breastfeeding families. We have had to be much more proactive in our approach to getting families to access groups,

We needed to be more visible in the local communities, however, there has been a difficulty in getting some Peer Supporters to engage and become involved or commit to some aspects of the service. This is due to other commitments around family and work as well as already committing time to volunteer at groups. We need to be proactive in recruiting volunteers for all areas of the service including events and online support in order that individuals aren’t having to take too much on when they are already dedicating valuable time to supporting.

EVENTS

There have been lots of opportunities to be in the community celebrating not only FAB but also the mums we support.

The Poole Volunteer Fair and the Weymouth Expo in May and June offered another chance to network with other charities and organisations.

Poole volunteer fair. Weymouth Community Expo.

July saw us rejoin the team a Littledown Family Fun Day as well as being invited to be part of the summer fair at Wareham St Mary Primary school.

Littledown Family Fun Day. Wareham St Mary’s Summer Fair.

We joined Planet Purbeck Festival for the second time in September 2022. We were part of the launch celebrations as well as hosting our own event for mums to come together and celebrate. We worked in collaboration with Bourne Green.

Planet Purbeck Launch Event. Planet Purbeck Event, coffee morning/ meet-up.

We regularly attend Little Pickles markets – this is a great opportunity to meet and chat to mums who already attend groups as well as new mums and pregnant women. Jess also attends monthly wellness clinic in Blandford.

Little Pickles Market. Jess, wellness clinic, Blandford.

New events for 2022-2023

We partnered with some new organisations to continue promoting and celebrating breastfeeding in the community.

We attended Wimborne Folk Festival in June 2022 – offering mums a space to sit and feed as well as ask questions or get support if needed. In July we were invited to be part of the Jurassic Coast Music Festival, again offering a space for mums to sit and feed or take some time out to reconnect with their little ones.

Wimborne Folk Festival. Jurassic Coast Music Festival.

Poole Baby Event ran in October and January. We had a stall at the event but were also invited to do a breastfeeding talk/Q and A session for expectant parents, offering us the opportunity to signpost new families to our groups.

Poole Baby Event. Heather delivering a talk at Poole Baby Event.

THE NEXT 12 MONTHS

As we move into another year, we will continue with the really strong network of groups offering face to face support. As our groups become busy and are in community venues it has become apparent, we need to strengthen our meet and greet role and look at recruiting volunteers to support our peer supporters. We will hope to grow our community spirit and celebrations, promoting breastfeeding as the norm and recognising the achievements of the mums in our communities.

We have a strong network of community support which can be seen in the fact that we are invited time and time again to be a part of community events, we will hope to build on this adding more venues where we can promote and celebrate breastfeeding.

FEEDBACK

Wareham FAB group… The support, kindness and friendship shown by the other mums has had the most special impact on me. More than each of them will ever know. They have boosted my confidence in moments of doubt, offered advice when unsure and been a shoulder to cry on after tough sleepless night! A special thank you must go to Keeley. If I’d not gone along to group when my little boy was only 4 days old and been greeted by her smiley face and a hot cup of tea our breastfeeding journey would have never gotten off the ground. The support, kindness and words of wisdom shared will always be the reason my journey continued, and to date been successful! So, thank you Keeley, thank you very much! You will always be a very special person to Seb and me!

If it wasn't for finding my incredible local FAB group, I don't think A) I would have gained the confidence to feed in public, and B) kept trying different feeding positions to help with the pain / latch issues (my LG has a very shallow latch and has done since birth). They didn't just help save our journey, they gave me confidence and support at my most vulnerable and helped to unpick the awful advice and horrendous experiences we'd had both whilst in hospital and from a few health visitor visits. I went from feeling like I was failing as I fed my daughter with what I can only describe as acid covered razor blades coming out of my nipples (it was SOOOO painful) to this very picture where we are sat at an outside family showing of Finding Dory in Bournemouth Lower Gardens and I'm sat confidently feeding my gorgeous girl pretty much pain free (she's actively teething so we're facing new hurdles with that one lol).

I couldn't be more grateful or thankful to my incredible FAB group, this amazing group and this beautiful picture holds so many emotions for me and bought a very proud tear and a sense overwhelming love and joy. Look how far we've come baby girl. What an amazing feeding team We've become sweet girl I love you more than you'll ever know gorgeous girl

REFLECTIONS AND SNAPSHOTS

This has been a tricky year with lots of initial uncertainty for our volunteers as to what the service would look like. The staff and volunteers alike embraced the challenges that came with moving away from the commissioned service and have been able to maintain a strong service across the whole of Dorset and BCP as well as moving over the border into Hampshire.

It has become very apparent that there is a need for virtual support alongside our face-to-face groups and may mums value being able to reach out at any time and finding support from other mums living the same experiences.

We’ve had a really incredible year with a group of amazing volunteers who have not only really taken ownership of their groups but have also taken this support further into the community recognising the importance of breastfeeding in general and celebrating the wins alongside offering the support when its needed.

Families and Babies Lancashire Annual Report 2022-2023

Overview

This year we have focused on streamlining our service and utilizing our volunteers, as we expect an increase in service users, once we have all the information sharing agreements in place at the five hospital trusts over Lancashire. We have also focused on promoting and protecting breastfeeding by attending events and working closely with many partners.

Staff, Volunteers and Training

Training for all staff and volunteers is up to date and we are in the process of updating our training matrix, which will include new training modules that will be beneficial to all staff and volunteers. We have recruited 15 new volunteers who are currently volunteering in a variety of ways which includes at breastfeeding groups, on the helpline, on the hospital wards and social media. We appreciate and value all the time given by our volunteers who work alongside our staff to support families on their breastfeeding journeys, and we are very excited to be expanding how they support families by starting their own caseloads at the beginning of next year.

Groups

We have 11 breastfeeding support groups running weekly and this year we have focused on the groups being accessible to all families across Lancashire. With this in mind we have started two new groups in Accrington and Burnley. Our Burnley group is running alongside a specialist feeding clinic run by the infant feeding team. We feel running the group alongside the Clinic enables us to support the families that might need extra support and therefore benefit the most from the group, and we can direct them to our other services, therefore maximizing the support they receive.

We have also focused on recruiting new volunteers to support at our groups and now have 20 breastfeeding peer support volunteers offering support weekly at our groups, allowing mums to have one on one support when required.

Below are pictures from our Chorley and Leyland groups.

Our Leyland group is doing so well, we had to start reserving the whole café!

Partnership working

Families and Babies have been in regular contact with the Infant Feeding leads at the 5 acute Trusts over Lancashire and take part in regular meetings held by the trusts. This helps us all stay up to date with current guidelines and changes and work together to promote and protect breastfeeding in the early days. We are working towards getting electronic referrals from all 5 trusts and we are really excited about the prospect of being able to support more families.

We have been working closely with the infant feeding team throughout the year at our Preston and Burnley groups that run alongside their infant feeding clinics. We feel this partnership is working well, as it enables mums to receive specialized medical breastfeeding support from the infant feeding team and then breastfeeding peer support from ourselves.

Families and Babies went along to an open day hosted by the Ivy Homebirth Team who are based in central Lancashire. We presented an information session which explained to families the services we provide and how to access these services. We chatted with individuals and families throughout the day and gave relevant up to date information as well as answering specific questions.

Families and Babies have been in regular contact with Henry, preparing for our peer supporters to work alongside Henrys infant feeding practitioners when they start on the wards at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. Together we have created a rota to create a streamlined approach offering daily cover on the wards Monday to Friday between 9am and 3pm. This will allow us more time to support mums and families not only on the postnatal ward but also on the children’s ward, neonatal ward, at the frenulotomy clinic and any other wards where we are needed.

We continue to work with venues over Lancashire by signing them up to our breastfeeding welcome scheme. This year we have focused on supporting these venues in becoming breastfeeding friendly by making changes to the information we share with them. We have signed up 12 new venues this year and now have a total of 494 venues signed up and on our website.

Achievements

The following data has been obtained from our database using data from babies who were born from 17[th] February 2022 to the 18[th] February 2023. These babies would have reached 6 weeks by the 1[st] April 2023.

Our social media has continued to grow allowing us to support and share evidencebased information with more families.

Social media

We have answered 5178 helpline calls which equates to over 213 hours of voluntary helpline support.

Challenges

This year we have had several staff on maternity leave which has meant we have had to spend more time than usual recruiting, training, and supporting new staff members. However, all the new staff have brought new skills and dynamics to our amazing team of peer supporters, and we feel we have built a robust support system. All the new members of staff have had lots of support from our more experienced members of staff by using our buddy up system. This enables them to learn and gain experience whilst building up relationships within the team.

Events

To celebrate world breastfeeding week Families and Babies hosted a family fun day at Weeton Barracks. Working in partnership with the barracks we were able to create an amazing day that included games, face painting, ice creams and the use of the soft play and outdoor play area. We had a great turnout with many families attending from the wider community as well as the barracks. It was great to see so many faces of the families we have supported and lovely to hear all the positive comments and feedback from them.

Families and Babies attended a new and expectant parent event hosted by Sensory Chorley. We chatted with fortyfive mothers, giving them information about our services, and answering any question they had. Each family received a bag containing information on what is locally available, including our services.

Social Value

At Families and Babies, we provide mother-led support and evidence-based information to empower mums to make their own informed choices. Our staff and volunteers are from a variety of diverse backgrounds, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to our breastfeeding peer support team. They all have the same objective to encourage and support and they have a passion for helping mums meet their breastfeeding goals.

In order to support our staff and volunteers, we have regular one-to-ones, quarterly team meetings and reward staff with kudos on their breathe HR account and through our rewards hub. On our rewards hub staff have access to discounts from a wide variety of retailers, wellbeing information and useful tools, and we regularly give staff recognition on the recognition wall. We also have staff and volunteer WhatsApp groups where they can support each other as well as our buddy up system where more experienced members of staff or volunteers support less experienced members of staff and volunteers.

Feedback comments from staff:

“Breastfeeding is more than just nutrition for the baby and mother. It is a very fine tuning and way of communication, interaction and love. Early days can be overwhelming and tough, especially after a difficult labour followed by sore nipple/breast and the uncertainty new families have as whether their baby is thriving. I love when small adjustments make a whole difference between being in pain, and pain free. When I support mothers to reach their breastfeeding goals, and see how they blossom and their confidence increases, fills me with joy and sense of achievement.”

“I felt so lucky to become a part of the FAB team 2 years ago. It's such a privilege to a part of such a wonderful team of empowering women and I feel extremely proud when talking about my job and what I do. It definitely sparks interest in people when they find out about the service we provide.”

Everybody has their own amazing strengths and bringing all of them together just creates an absolutely wonderful team whose end goal is to give new parents and their families the knowledge and confidence to have the feeding journey they want, knowing that we are there to support them every step of the way.

FAB is FAB!”

“I honestly feel I have the best job in the world and work with an amazing team. It is an honour and a privilege to be able to support families in the early days.”

“My favourite part of being a breastfeeding peer supporter is being able to support families to reach their goals, whether that be one day, one year or more of breastfeeding.”

I'm proud to have the skills to help women breastfeed comfortably and to understand their baby's needs, that early support can help facilitate positive family relationships in the future.

“I really enjoy being able to help women achieve their goals and support them to make informed decisions. It's incredible seeing the difference having support in breastfeeding can make to their mental health and birth trauma recovery. I am passionate that nobody feels isolated and like they've failed.”

The next 12 months

We expect an increase in service users once we have all the information sharing agreements in place at the five hospital trusts. In order to prepare we are looking at making changes which will include home visits being booked in advance by admin staff maximizing our peer supporter’s time. We also have two volunteers ready and about to start with their own caseloads over the next couple of weeks, and we feel this is going to increase the level of support we can provide over the phone, freeing up staff’s time further to support mums/families in other ways.

The lactation consultant clinics that run alongside our Preston and Burnley groups have gone so well that we have decided to start a third at our Skelmersdale group in West Lancashire which will give mums access to both these services together in Central, East, and West Lancashire.

� NEW Infant Feeding Clinic �

Say Hi to Amy and Nicola.

You may recognise Amy as one of our volunteers, she helps to run our Skelmersdale Breastfeeding Group every Friday.

Nicola will be working alongside our group and running an infant feeding clinic at Parks Children's Centre, bookable by appointment. Nicola is a trained

Lactation Consultant, IBCLC and is there to support you and your families with any ongoing feeding challenges.

� 10:00am - 11:00am

� You have access to specialist breastfeeding support, as part of the Community Infant Feeding Team for FREE should you need it - provided by your HCRG Health Visiting Service, have a chat with your health visitor to see what support is available for you.

☎ 0300 247 0040 to discuss and book on

For more information

fab #familiesandbabies #healthvisitor #infantfeeding #breastfeeding #ibclc

lactationconsultant #breastfeedinggroup #breastfeedingsupport

We also have events coming up including the Leyland festival, a new and expectant parent event hosted by Sensory Chorley and the big Burnley early help event.

Thoughts and comments from

a. Mums

“I met the fab team end of Nov 2018 and I rave about the help I got from the Spanish lady every time. She sat with me for an hour, hand expressing milk whilst my baby boy was in baby unit, making me laugh so much. (Just what I needed at the time)

The way she said my babies name was the best in her Spanish accent "Horatio". I won't ever forget that memory with her and the help she gave me. ”

“Loretto was so informative and approachable. She answered all my questions and gave me the confidence I needed. She showed me how to lay on my side safely and feed. This method has been very effective.”

“Loreto was amazing!”

“Knowing that the support is a phone call away it made me feel more confident to carry on breastfeeding and when I got visited by one of the ladies who is on the support team, she was ever so helpful and made me even more confident, by reinsuring me how well I was doing, I wanted to carry on breast feeding.”

“Gemma was very positive and informative. She made me feel completely at ease, didn’t judge and was extremely helpful!”

“Cassi was brilliant and supported me in my decisions, she never lead me one way or the other. She noticed how much I struggled and never let me be too hard on myself.”

“Hannah was so helpful when she came out and really helped me stay on track with my breastfeeding plans.”

“Your team helped me a lot with their support and advice.”

The lady that came to save me really helped.”

b. Partners

'' The support from Hannah and the rest of the FAB ladies was exactly what my wife needed when struggling to breast feed our youngest, their kindness and help was very much appreciated, and she continues to be breastfed until now.''

Reflections

On reflection it’s been a very busy and productive year and after speaking to staff about how the last 12 months have gone, they all feel like team morale has increased as they are all now working together more closely. We all feel honored to do the job we love and feel like it’s a privilege to support families over Lancashire during their breastfeeding journeys.

FAB Wakefield Annual Report 2022-23

1[st] April 2022 to 31[st] March 2023

Overview

This year FAB has continued to support mums in Wakefield with 1467 breastfeeding women being supported by the service. Since Covid restrictions were lifted we have been supporting mums 1-1 in home visits, 470 families have received a total of 630 home visits. We have been working hard on the maternity ward, running 6 groups a week, and running the helpline with the help of our volunteers.

We were excited to have our contract with Wakefield council renewed for at least another 3 years enabling us to provide support to mums within the community.

We are also pleased to announce our contact at Pinderfields has been renewed for another 12 months enabling us to provide support in the first hours following birth to help get breastfeeding off to a good start.

This has had a positive impact on the community support we provide as mums have an introduction to the service alongside intensive breastfeeding support before they leave hospital and often need less intense support once home.

Staff, Volunteers and Training

We have welcomed 5 newly trained breastfeeding supporters to the team and also recruited a business administration apprentice.

Charlotte, Tammy, and Larissa have joined as peer supporters and are doing fantastic work. Aleks has joined as our apprentice and has been a fantastic addition

supporting admin work, data reporting and even designing a cover for our new notebooks!

Staff and volunteers have completed all mandatory training modules, in addition to the mandatory modules peer supporters have completed ICON training.

We also had, Cheryl, Natalie, Lucy and Karina move on to become midwifes. We wish them lots of luck in the future and look forward to working alongside them in their new roles.

8 new volunteer peer supporters have completed their training in order to be able to support new mums on the helpline and at groups.

Throughout the year we were incredibly lucky to have a team of dedicated volunteers who committed to the helpline and some of our groups offering extra support and a friendly ear, mums found it useful to have extra time to chat.

We have also received funding from Start for

Life via Wakefield Council to fund two new positions, a Community and Family Hub Network Lead for UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative and a Targeted Peer supporter. These positions are going to be imperative to make sure every family is able to access the information, support and help they need in hospital and community settings. We are currently recruiting to these posts, working towards UNICEF Baby Friendly Accreditation alongside the Early Help Hubs is exciting and something we are really looking forward to.

Groups

Groups are back in full swing, over the past 12 months we have consistently facilitated 6 groups per week MondayFriday. Attendance started very high for the year and has gradually levelled as life has returned to normal post covid lockdowns. We are still seeing high numbers of mums attending group with 897 group attendances recorded.

Partnership working

We have strong working relationships with the Midwifery Infant Feeding Leads and once a week the FAB base has become a breastfeeding specialist clinic for babies under 28 days, this allows early identification of breastfeeding issues and the partnership working helps FAB staff to support mums in following any feeding plans that are put in place. Sadly, in January this clinic was moved to Dewsbury following some staff changes within Mid Yorks. We will continue to work closely with the Midwifery Infant Feeding Leads to ensure onward referrals for mums that need it.

The Health Visitor breastfeeding specialist also runs a weekly breastfeeding clinic from the FAB base for babies 28 days and older, mums attend for specialist medical support and are then supported by FAB creating a seamless support system.

We facilitate breastfeeding groups in the Early Help Hubs making face to face breastfeeding support accessible in community settings and have been working together to see what more we can do for next year with the introduction of the targeted peer supporter role.

Achievements

We are proud to say that we have maintained a 6 week breastfeeding prevalence of above 60% for the entire 12 months and at 10 days over 80% of mums supported by our peer supporters were still giving their baby breastmilk, we are proud of this and of every single mum and baby who reached their breastfeeding goals.

Our online antenatal course has continued to be popular this year with 193 individuals completing it. In addition, we restarted antenatal classes in Wakefield base, with 247 attendees to date. We’ve managed to support 26% more mums than last year antenatally.

Baby massage classes are still proving popular with mums enjoying the bonding time with their baby, this helped both mum and baby to relax and the social interaction afterwards.

253 new mothers have benefitted from being able to loan an electric breastpump and we currently have 30 pumps in circulation. Throughout the year FAB have managed to maintain a stock of 30 pumps in circulation and are proud to say we have not lost any to date.

We are continuing to utilise Facebook as a way of supporting women with Q&A sessions and lots of evidenced based snippets of information. Our closed Facebook group reached over 2600 members and continues to be active every day.

Challenges

We have had some challenges with lower than expected referrals from Mid York’s which has been attributed to low staffing levels. We are continuing to work with ward managers to highlight the issues and increase understanding of the FAB service with maternity staff.

Overcoming the residual fears that Covid left us all with has been a challenge and we have continued to offer video calls to mums who feel unsure and also to Covid positive mums. Overall we are finding that mums prefer home visits if at all possible.

Events

We have some very successful events this year with stands at Yorkshire Day in World Breastfeeding Week, the Liquorice festival and Armed Forces Day plus a promotional stand at Kendal Drive Childrens Centre. We spoke to hundreds of people from grandmas who shared their breastfeeding stories with us to teenagers who had never even thought about breastfeeding.

Pontefract Showcase - Millie and Sarah C

Queens Mill - Aleks and Hayley

Social Value

We have worked alongside local businesses such as eco baby and the baby banks sharing donations to support mothers in need. We also sign businesses up to the breastfeeding friendly scheme which means that families have more supportive, inclusive places to take their babies.

We attend lots of community events such as Armed Forces Day, Liquorice day and The Queens mill. These are always exciting opportunities to meet the public and discuss breastfeeding to support normalising feeding.

Aleks is completing an Administration Apprenticeship with us and joined in February she is doing a fantastic job and has really fit in well with the team.

We continue to provide placements for college students and those studying for midwifery to increase knowledge and understanding of the service and breastfeeding. Our volunteer opportunities give mums a stepping stone to further studies and build confidence in women who have been out of the workplace for some time.

The next 12 months

The FAB team are feeling very positive about the next 12 months, we are excited for the new roles and opportunities as this will bring to support as many families as possible allowing them the opportunity to achieve their breastfeeding goals.

We are working hard to attend more events this year and we look forward to being out and about in local communities and meeting new people.

We plan to increase our team of volunteers with a focus on breastfeeding support within the community and antenatal education.

Antenatal classes are high on our list of priorities and our goal is start offering them in Pontefract as we have already set up in Castleford and Wakefield central. We firmly believe that education is key to getting breastfeeding off to a good start and want to make it as easy as possible for expectant parents and their supporters to access good quality information around breastfeeding and early days.

The Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme is something we are keen to move forward, and we aim to be increasing awareness of breastfeeding in the workplace and how-to best support women who are returning to work and breastfeeding.

Thoughts and comments from our mums

“ I always wanted to breastfeed but didn’t get to see FAB in the hospital before being discharged, Finn lost a lot of weight as he wasn’t latching correctly (I had no idea) and I was referred to FAB by the midwives. I hired a pump from the centre as I was badly engorged, and a couple of ladies came to my home to help with positioning. I’ve attended the FAB groups weekly from birth until now and he has grown from 25th to 99th centile on our journey and we’re still going strong at 15 months � ”

“I can not imagine how I would have managed without the informative and caring service provided by FAB. Health visitor, midwife and Doctors just didn’t compare. FAB never made me feel silly or like I was getting it wrong, whereas the other professionals mentioned did. I was impressed by the collaboration of FAB with post labour ward at Pinderfields.”

“This is an invaluable service. This is my first child and really struggled with breastfeeding to start off with. After a few home visits from a few different FAB ladies, several phone calls/text messages and lots of information emailed across to me, I was able and still am breastfeeding nearly 6 months on. The ladies were so knowledgeable and patient. They made me feel very comfortable and felt like I could ask anything. Huge thank you to everyone involved at FAB, you are all wonderful.”

“I received such an amazing support in hospital and at home after I had a traumatic birth and post partum health experience. At a point where I believed i would no longer be able to breastfeed due to my health, a team came in and fully supported me back on my breastfeeding journey. My baby is still fully breastfed now, no Formula and I cannot thank that team enough. Forever apart of my positive post partum journey

Ovft ACHl£v£rn£NTS 253 8R£ASTPVrnPS LOANED 247 ANTEAATAL CLASS ATTENDEES THIS Y£Aft 493 ONLIIIE AATENATAL COURSES COMPLETED SVPPORT PHOA£CALLS MADE . 8359 rnvrns SvppoRT£D O IJARD . 703 I vOLVNTEEft HELPLINE HOVRS . 8760 rnvrns STILL FEEDING AT 10 DAYS 83.2/. HOrnE VISITS rnAD£ . 630 li, 11 ij )Q¥