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2023-03-31-accounts

Me2 Club Annual Accounts 2022-2023

Charity Registration: 1140812 Company Registration: 7557636

Registered Address: Unit 9, Indigo House, Fishponds Road, Wokingham, RG41 2GY

Objectives, Activities and Achievements

Mission

Our mission is to address the challenges of isolation and exclusion experienced by children and young people with additional needs and disabilities.

Vision

Our vision is to champion the right for inclusion for all children and young people with additional needs and disabilities across Berkshire, through our partnerships with families, volunteers, activity leaders and other voluntary and statutory sector organisations.

Offer

We support children and young people aged 5-19 years with additional needs and disabilities in the Wokingham and Reading Boroughs to take part in mainstream activities. We recruit and train volunteers to ‘buddy’ 1:1 with the children so they can join in and have fun. With our help children can access a wide range of activities including sports clubs, uniformed groups and drama classes, giving them a chance to build independence and vital life and social skills. We run family events throughout the year, which are available to children and young people who are supported by Me2 Club. We also run a SEND Youth Forum for young people aged between 8-25 years and their siblings every 6 weeks.

Our Core Service, Say YES Youth Forum and TeenW&Rd Club supported many children and young people over the past year. Some of the children and young people accessed more than one of these services. We are proud to support children, families and volunteers from a wide variety of backgrounds. Most of the children accessing our support were aged between 5-12 when mainstream activities are incredibly important for children to socialise and learn new skills. Most of our teenagers took part in our participation activities. Many of the children and young people we support across all our services have Autism. We do not require a diagnosis for our support as we know how difficult it can be to gain a diagnosis and we do not want this to be a barrier for children and young people to access our services.

The aim of the core service is to help the children access activities which they otherwise may be excluded from. We also hope to support the children to increase their confidence, independence and reduce their social isolation. The ultimate aim for some of the children accessing the service is to become independent enough to attend their activity without support from a volunteer.

Our Core Service supports children with additional needs at activities around Wokingham and Reading. This service enables children to attend uniform groups, swimming lessons, drama classes, sports clubs and martial arts. Each child is matched with a carefully selected, trained volunteer who attend with them each week to provide the individual support each child needs. This year we have supported 126 children and young people with 95 from Wokingham and 30 from Reading. After expanding our service to cover the entire Reading borough in 2019 we are building up our numbers in this area. This year we have taken 43 children off our waiting list with 28 of those coming from Reading and the remaining 16 from Wokingham.

Through having a volunteer to support them our children can gain confidence in themselves and their abilities. This is reflected in the information we gained from their volunteers and their parents. 100% of parents and carers reported an increase in their child’s confidence, and 68% of those rated their child’s increase in confidence a 4 or 5 indicating a significant change.

The majority of volunteers (67%) reported an increase in their matched child’s confidence, 20% of those rated their child’s confidence stayed the same which is a positive outcome for many of the

children, particularly those dealing with the ups and downs of life. The remaining 13% were unsure about how their matched child’s confidence had changed, which may be due to them still getting to know their matched child. None of the volunteers in rated their child’s confidence decreasing. Most of our parent carers (93%) rated their child had increased in their independence with 61% rating a 4 or 5 out of 5 indicating a significant increase in independence.

Almost all of our parents and carers (96%) said that their child increased in sociability and connectedness and 63% rated their child a 4 or 5 out of 5 indicating a significant increase in the child’s sociability at the activity. This is an incredible increase for many of our children who may have been experiencing a high level of social isolation before starting with Me2 Club. The majority (54%) of our volunteers reported an increase in their matched child’s sociability with others in the group, 35% of those rated their child’s sociability with others in the group stayed the same. None of the volunteers rated their matched child decreased in sociability and 7% were unsure about how their matched child’s sociability with others in the group had changed.

Legal and Administrative Information

The organisation constituted itself as an unincorporated association on 17th March 2003 through the adoption of its constitution and registered as a Charity on 5th July 2004. The organisation transferred its activities to a Registered Charity and Company limited by guarantee (Me2 Club) and has worked under its new status since 1st April 2011. Me2 Club now has Charity Number 1140812 and Company Number 7557636.

Registered Address

Unit 9, Indigo House, Fishponds Road, Wokingham, Berkshire RG41 2GY

The following Directors (who are also Trustees) served during the year

Lucy Morris, Chair (retired 31/08/22) Sonia Aulak, Chair ( appointed 31/08/22 ) Simon Crawford, Treasurer Katherine Sims, Secretary Sue Woodcock Giles Cross

Advisors to the Board

No Advisors to the Board served during the financial year 2022/23.

Bankers

HSBC Bank plc, 1-2 Market Place, Wokingham, Berkshire, RG40 1AL Newbury Building Society, Broad Street, Wokingham, RG5 3JJ

Independent Examiner

Victoria Butters

Reserves and Designated Funds

Me2 Club’s policy is to ensure reserves are maintained in order to protect and sustain the core service. The level of reserves are set to allow services, should they need to be withdrawn, to be done so in a sensitive timeframe to ensure minimal impact. This is important for the health and wellbeing of the children and families we support and to allow for time to adjust to the loss of our services. This transition period of withdrawing services also aims to support activity leaders to make adjustments to ensure they can still accommodate the Me2 Club child.

The level of reserves set is also important to provide assurance to members of staff and to those with whom we undertake commitments of the reliability of Me2 Club as an employer and business partner respectively.

The current optimum reserve level is set at 6 months predicted fixed core service spend. The level of reserves required to cover these costs will be assessed annually by the CEO and Treasurer while preparing the annual budget for the following year and will be re-assessed if the structure or circumstances change significantly.

The time period and level of reserve are set to allow a reasonable period to withdraw sensitive services should the charity have to close due to lack of funding. Given the nature of the children Me2 Club support (additional needs including learning disabilities and autism), time and attention would be needed to allow for appropriate endings. A regular update of the Reserves Policy takes place to enable the setting of the correct contingency/reserve level.

In these circumstances and with these considerations in mind, the Trustees believe that it is vital to have a policy of careful cash management and to maintain an appropriate reserve level. The reserve is currently set at an optimum level of 6 months predicted fixed core service spend (£90,000 for 2022/2023) which reflects the increase in charity expenditure in line with the recent growth.

The Charity’s financial options are discussed at every Board meeting and there is a contingency plan in place if cash flow falls below 9 months fixed spend.

Investment Policy

Two bank accounts are used, one to cover day-to-day expenses and the other offering a higher rate of interest to maximise investment potential. In addition, Me2 Club continues to hold an account with The Newbury Building Society to ensure funds allocated to future work gain a higher rate of interest whilst remaining secure.

The investment of Me2 Club funds is regularly reviewed to ensure the security of funds whilst achieving the best available rate of interest.

Risk Review

The Directors have considered the main current risks to which the Charity is exposed, and a detailed organisation risk analysis has been carried out.

There are two significant external risks to the charity’s operations;

1) Staff retention. CEO and sole Fundraiser resigned in August 2022 and September 2022, a transition plan was put in place to manage operational and fundraising activities until new members of staff were appointed. Whilst service delivery was unaffected, reduced fundraising activities resulted in an income deficit as evidenced in accounts.

2) Funding. Funding remains a significant risk to the charity and is exacerbated due to the increasingly competitive nature of Trust and Foundations grants. A fundraising plan is in place to manage this risk. The Board of Trustees continue to carefully monitor income and expenditure against the organisations budget.

Internal risks are minimised through the implementation of effective financial controls and Trustee and Staff responsibilities. A Trustee induction process has been established to support this.

Safeguarding risks have been considered and Me2 Club works to best practice in all areas of safeguarding including training for Trustees, Staff and Volunteers. We have comprehensive Safeguarding Policies and Procedures in place, including policies on the use of Social Media. Me2 Club, adheres to best practice, has a comprehensive list of policies and procedures including, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Data Protection, Financial Rules, Risk, Confidentiality, Health and Safety. A Safeguarding review took place in the year to identify specific threats and opportunities within the charity and an appropriate plan developed to drive continuous improvement.

Risk assessments are written and reviewed before each Me2 Club activity (family parties, community events, teen groups). Staff have been trained in completing dynamic risk assessments during the actual events. Trustees have updated and authorised the contingency plan.

Trustee Responsibilities for the Financial Statements

Charity and Company Law require the Trustees, who are also the Directors of Me2 Club, to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charitable Company at the balance sheet date and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including income and expenditure for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping financial records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and that enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence must take reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

This report was approved by the Board on the 19/12/2023.

Sonia Aulak, Chair/Director for and on behalf of the Trustees of Me2 Club

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Me2 Club Charitable Company (‘the Company’)

Charity registration number: 1140812 Company registration number: 7557636 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31/03/2023.

As the charity’s trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in Responsibilities and basis accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’). of report

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my examiner's statement attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:
Name:
Address:		 Victoria Butters
Date:		 15th December 2023
Victoria Butters
Holy Brook Associates Ltd,
Curious Lounge, 1st Floor, Pinnacle Building,
Tudor Road, Reading, England, RG1 1NH

Statement of Financial Activities

Income and expenditure account for the year end 31[st] March 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Total Funds
funds funds 2023 2022
Notes £ £ £ £
Incoming resources
Voluntary income 2 24,390 136,546 160,936 244,096
Investment income 2 671 0 671 224
Other incoming resources 2 0 0 0 10,000
Total Incoming resources 25,061 136,546 161,607 254,320
Resources expended
Costs of generating voluntary 3
income 9,258 4,349 13,607 19,605
Charitable activities 3 74,460 139,749 214,209 208,552
Governance costs 3 2,925 0 2,925 4,291
Total resources expended 86,643 144,098 230,741 232,448
Net movement in funds (61,582) (7,552) (69,134) 21,873
Total funds brought forward 11 161,613 41,535 203,148 181,275
Total funds carried forward 100,031 33,983 134,014 203,148
----- End of picture text -----*

Balance sheet as at 31[st] March 2023

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Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total Total
Funds Funds
Notes
2023 2022
£ £ £ £
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 7 - - - -
Current assets
Cash at bank and in 106,514 33,983 140,498 204,677
hand
Debtors 9 - - - -
Total current assets 106,514 33,983 140,498 204,677
Creditors: amounts 10 6,484 - 6,484 1,529
falling due within one
year
Net current assets 100,031 33,983 134,014 203,148
Net assets 100,031 33,983 134,014 203,148
Income funds
Restricted funds 33,983 33,983 41,535
Designated Funds - 90,000 90,000 90,000
Reserves
Unrestricted funds 10,031 10,031 71,613
Total funds 100,031 33,983 134,014 203,148
----- End of picture text -----

For the year ending 31/03/23 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 pf 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.

The directors acknowledge their responsibility for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and preparation of accounts. These accounts have been prepared with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime. These accounts were approved by the executive committee on 19[th] December 2023 and signed on its behalf by:

Simon Crawford Treasurer

Notes forming part of the financial statements

1. Accounting policies

• The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP 2005) issued in March 2005 and applicable UK Accounting Standards and the Charities Act 1993.

• There has been no change to the accounting policies since last year and no changes have been made to accounts for previous years.

• Grants are recognised in full in the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which they are receivable.

• Incoming resources from investments are included when receivable.

• Resources expended are recognised in the period in which they are incurred. Resources expended include attributable VAT that cannot be recovered.

• Unrestricted funds are grants receivable for the objects of the charity without further specified purpose and are available as general funds.

• Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure, which meets these criteria, is charged to this fund.

• Fixed assets are capitalised and depreciated over a period of 3 years on straight line basis. If the cost is equal to or less than £1000, the whole cost is written off in the year of purchase.

2. Analysis of incoming resources

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Voluntary income Unrestricted Restricted Total 2023 Total 2022
£ £ £ £
Trusts and Grants 4,000 132,821 136,821 175,685
Town & Parish Councils - 3,725 3,725 6,998
Community Donations 8,501 - 8,501 9,117
Individual Donations 2,162 - 2,162 11,823
Fundraising Events 3,733 - 3,733 29,356
Corporate Funding 5,994 - 5,994 9,298
Gift aid - - - 1,822
Total 24,390 136,546 160,936 244,096
Investment Income Unrestricted Restricted Total 2023 Total 2022
£ £ £ £
Building Society interest 427 - 427 219
Bank interest 244 - 244 5
Total 671 - 671 224
Incoming resources from charitable Unrestricted Restricted Total 2023 Total 2022
activities £ £ £ £
Statutory grants for activities - - - 10,000
Total - - - 10,000
Total Income 25,061 136,546 161,607 254,320
----- End of picture text -----

3. Total resources expended

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Unrestricted Restricted Total 2023 Total 2022
Costs of generating voluntary
£ £ £ £
income
Fundraising - Purchases 190 190 86
Fundraising - Costs 151 3,105 3,257 3,902
Fundraising - Salaries, Pension & 8,916 1,244 10,160 15,617
NI
Total resources expended 9,258 4,349 13,607 19,605
----- End of picture text -----*

----- Start of picture text -----
Costs of activities In furtherance Unrestricted Restricted Total 2023 Total 2022
of the charity’s objectives £ £ £ £
Salaries, Pension & NI 66,037 114,769 180,807 172,837
Employee travel costs 957 590 1,548
1,727
Employee training 296 2,168 2,464
573
Other staff costs and recruitment 526 850 1,376
1,201
DBS checks - 935 935 1,181
Volunteer training and expenses - 851 851
714
Other expenses 234 86 320
71
Family & Children Events 1,133 1,420 2,553
265
Childrens activities 168 - 168
597
Bank charges 72 - 72
22
Days Away - - - -
Teenage Meet Up 117 - 117
331
Office Accommodation 1,906 10,350 12,256
14,129
Telephone, IT, mail and stationery 2,064 7,368 9,432
costs 14,556
Office equipment - 328 328
220
Advertising 949 34 983
127
Total resources expended 74,460 139,749 214,209 208,552
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
Governance costs Unrestricted Restricted Total 2023 Total 2023
£ £ £ £
Insurance costs 973 - 973 929
-
Professional Fees (Independent 1,953 1,953 3,362
Examiner, accountancy, payroll
and HR)
-
Total resources expended 2,925 2,925 4,291
Total costs 86,643 144,098 230,741 232,448
----- End of picture text -----**

* FDO salary is allocated between fundraising and business development.

**An independent examination fee of £380+VAT (£457 gross) was payable in respect of reporting on the accounts. The same firms now supplies bookkeeping and accounts preparation services to the charity and in addition fees of £1,190+VAT (£1,428 Gross) were paid to the firm for these services during the year.

4. Grants made

The charity did not make any grants or donations during the financial year.

5. Staff costs and numbers

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Total 2023 Total 2022
£ £
Number of employees at peak (FTE) 7.3 8.2
Gross wages and salaries 174,905 173,091
Employer’s National Insurance costs 9,416 10,259
Pension contributions 6,646 5,106
Total resources expended 190,967 188,455
----- End of picture text -----

No employee was paid over £60,000 in the year

6. Trustees and other related parties

No payments were made to Trustees excepting reimbursement of any specific out-of-pocket expenses incurred in support of Me2 Club activities

No trustee or connected person received any renumeration during the year.

There were no related party transactions made by the charity.

7. Tangible fixed assets

The charities policy is to capitalise any individual assets over £1000 as we deem this to be a material value for our purposes.

The charity has no fixed assets or items being depreciated at this time. All items have been expensed in year of purchase.

8. Investment assets

The charity held no investment assets at any time during the financial year-ended 31 March 2023.

9. Debtors and prepayments

9. Debtors andprepayments
Amounts falling due within one year Thisyear Lastyear
£ £
Deferred and Accrued income - -
Moneyowed byPensionprovider - -
TOTAL -
-

10. Creditors and accruals

10. Creditors and accruals
Amounts falling due within oneyear Thisyear £ Lastyear £
Accruals @ Yr End - Expenses 457 457
HMRC and Pension owing 6,027 1,072
TOTAL 6,484 1,529

11. Movement in funds

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At 1st Incoming At 31st
Year Ended 31st March 2023 April Resources Outgoing Resources March
£
2022 £ 2023
Restricted funds
1,667
Bailey Thomas 1,667 -
Barbara Ward Children's
5,000 5,000
Charity - -
BBC Children in Need - grant
915
1 915 -
4,772 4,772
BBC Children in Need - YSA - -
Berkshire Community
1,750
Foundation 1,750 -
Children in Need - Core
47,444 34,684
Service - 12,759
David Brownlow Charitable
4,000
Foundation 4,000 -
Department for Work and
4,259 4,259
Pensions - -
1,000 1,417
The Edmund Godson Charity 417 -
15,000 15,000
Garfield Weston Foundation 15,000 15,000
1,000 1,000
Greenham Common Trust - -
Leathersellers’ Company
15,000 15,000
Charitable Fund 2,500 2,500
Masonic Charitable
3,000 3,000
Foundation - -
3,650 3,650
Persimmon - -
5,000 5,000
Reading Borough Council 1,500 1,500
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
1,500
Shanly Foundation 1,500 -
Sir Jules Thorn Charitable
3,000 3,000
Trust - -
St James's Place Charitable
2,000
Foundation 2,000 -
Stevenson Family Charitable
500 500
Trust - -
1,000
Syder Foundatoin 1,000 -
5,000 5,000
The Childwick Trust - -
5,000 5,000
The Earley Charity - -
4,000 4,000
The Fence Club - -
The Gordon Palmer Memorial
500 1,125
Trust 625 -
The National Lottery
7,500
Community Fund 7,500 -
The Woodroffe Benton
1,000 1,000
Foundation - -
5,360
Town and Parish Councils 1,162 6,421 2,223
1,000 1,000
Trees of the David - -
5,000 5,000
True Colours - -
41,535 136,546 144,098
Total Restricted Funds 33,983
25,061 86,643
Unrestricted Funds 71,613 10,031
Designated Funds -
Reserves 90,000 - - 90,000
Unrestricted and Designated
25,061 86,643
Funds - Subtotal 161,613 100,031
161,607 230,741
Total Funds 203,148 134,014
----- End of picture text -----**

** Designated reserves are re-assessed each year and are set to allow a reasonable period to withdraw sensitive services should the charity have to close due to lack of funding. The reserve is currently set at an optimum level of approximately 6 months predicted fixed core service spend.

12. Other information

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