MARS Trust
(Modelling Active Relationship Skills)
Annual Report and Financial Statement
For the year to 31st December 2021
Chairperson:
Dr Karen Mounce
Bank:
HSBC, 165-167 High St POOLE Dorset BH15 1AU
Independent Examiner
Sue Wintle, FMAAT
27 Bascott Road, Wallisdown, Bournemouth, Dorset BH11 8RJ
Charity Number 1141794
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MARS Trust Annual Report 2021 - 2022-12-15
Trustees Report
The trustees present their report and accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2021. Approved by the Trustees on 13[th] July 2022 and signed on their behalf by:
Mr John Rolleston – Treasurer
Reference and Administrative Information
Charity name: MARS Trust Charity Registration Number: 1141794 Registered Office: c/o 32 Springdale Road BROADSTONE Dorset BH18 9BU
Trustees
The Trustees who served the Charity were as follows:
Dr Karen Mounce Chair Victoria (Vicki) Richmond * Secretary (maternity leave part year) John Rolleston Treasurer Nigel Martin Barbara Fletcher Secretary (during maternity leave) Ian Shears**
- Appointed to September 2022
** Appointed for two years to September 2023
Structure, Governance and Management
Governing Document
MARS Trust is a charity incorporated by a Declaration of Trust on 30[th] May 2007. Due to its limited income, initially the Trust was not permitted to register with the Charity Commission.
Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees
Trustees are appointed by the existing trustees as and when a need arises and are chosen due to their:
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Support of the aims and objectives of the charity
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Management, personal or professional skills.
Trustees are appointed for periods of two years at a time.
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MARS Trust Annual Report 2021 - 2022-12-15
Organisational Structure and Governance
MARS currently has 6 trustees who meet at least four times a year in addition to the Annual General meeting and who are responsible for the strategic direction and policy of the charity. The Trustees come from a variety of professional backgrounds with experience in management, business, teaching and other social service.
Mrs Vicki Richmond has been a Trustee since the start of The MARS Trust. The length of her service was reviewed. The other Trustees are confident in renewing Mrs Richmond’s Trusteeship as her skills as a 6[th] Form teacher in English and Media studies are vital to the Board.
The Board undertook a governance review in accordance with the Charity Commission’s seven principles of the Charity Governance Code in 2019. The Trust’s policies have been updated and risks are reviewed frequently in line with government policy and legal requirements of the pandemic.
DBS are in place for all MARS Trust staff and volunteers going forward.
MARS Trust has three part-time members of staff. With retirement of Ian Shears, the Operations Director, the board decided to appoint a Chief Executive Officer. Nicholas Ellis was appointed after competitive interview and started in May. Denise Horton worked to update content and include scenarios in workshops.
Objectives and Activities.
The ‘Objects’ of the charity are the advancement in the United Kingdom of public education in matters concerning interpersonal relationship skills and strengthening and enriching family life, marriage and relationships in accordance with Christian principles and the doing of such things being charitable in law as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of these Objects.
Risk Factors
Covid-19 Pandemic
Pre-pandemic, MARS Trust delivered workshops in secondary schools with trained local volunteers working as facilitators. In 2020 workshops were changed to an on-line format. MARS continued in 2021 to work with schools on-line, with 2 schools taking active part, in the spring and summer terms. With funding raised in 2020, MARS worked with a theatre company, Beside Ourselves, to devise scenarios led by young people aged 15 to 17 years and recorded on video for workshops. With Covid restrictions in February, the 10 young people and staff worked and recorded on Zoom. The videos were incorporated into MARS workshops to illustrate and encourage discussion on learning points.
In the autumn term MARS Trust was invited back into 7 schools, with 6 schools engaging in booking workshops.
Workshop size was limited to classroom delivery, requiring a change in MARS operations. More volunteer presenters were recruited and trained. The presenter was assisted by one other MARS volunteer to encourage students to participate. Data from student feedback
MARS Trust Annual Report 2021 - 2022-12-15 Page 3 of 7
before and after workshops showed good positive change. 56 workshops were delivered in 6 schools reaching 1,680 students.
Funding
Other main risks for the Trust remain that of achieving regular income from grants, donations from churches, local business, and individual donations. The accounts are reviewed by Trustees monthly, and the risk tolerance is set at a reserve fund to carry out the next three months activities and salaries. Fundraising is being caried out by Trustees and staff. Fund information services have been joined and accessed. The Job Retention Scheme was used.
Recruitment
The third main risk is recruitment of volunteers. The pandemic has meant we are unable to go into schools for workshops with our volunteer facilitators. Therefore, this has not been an issue. MARS Trust has developed the workshops and materials for distance learning and for trainer/teacher led workshops to school groups. With entry back into schools in the autumn term, volunteer presenters have been needed in increasing numbers and recruitment is satisfactory. We anticipate a much reduced requirement for volunteer facilitators in the future, although we will continue to train smaller numbers for small group workshops. We have adopted a transparent and ‘safer recruitment’ process.
Achievements
There were four Trustee meetings and the AGM during the year. Ian Shears was appointed as Trustee for 2 years.
The activities throughout the year were:
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Invitations from seven schools to deliver six workshops on opening after the pandemic.
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2 on-line and teacher led workshops were delivered in 2 schools in the spring and summer terms
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All six workshops were ready, updated, and incorporated young people led video scenarios for MARS led classroom delivery in September 2021.
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56 workshops sessions were delivered in 6 schools to 1,680 students.
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Students completed a “before and after” questionnaire and this showed a high level of change towards more understanding and confidence in using skills.
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A CEO was appointed in May 2021
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Fifteen volunteers continued to meet via Zoom for updates and prayer.
We continue to be extremely grateful to so many volunteers fulfilling most roles in the Trust. Teaching, training, and fundraising are the most visible areas, but without the background effort of many others, the work of the Trust would struggle to be effective.
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MARS Trust Annual Report 2021 - 2022-12-15
Next Generation MARS Development
Scenarios developed by young people for young people
The impact of the pandemic on MARS ability to deliver engaging training resulted in an exploration of improving the impact with young people. We found evidence of how effective drama is in improving recognition of situations, peoples’ values, and emotional engagement. MARS could not implement Forum Theatre but could recruit young people to improvise scenarios that illustrated MARS learning objectives. MARS worked with a theatre company, “Beside Ourselves”, who have experience in schools work and in role play. Young people were recruited, mainly from Dorset via our schools’ network, but a few came from London. Due to Covid, the video workshops took place on Zoom with 10 students participating and many scenarios were recorded. They were professionally edited and are now used in our workshops in place of commercial videos.
Financial Review
Income has fallen in 2021 due to one-off grants received in 2020 to cover COVID-19 related expenses and the challenging financial climate. Due to the reduced number of workshops run in 2021(through limited access to schools) and some temporary staff changes, we have been able to manage our expenses within the income and fulfil the NGM project with the restricted grants from 2020.
Presentation of accounts – 1[st] January to 31[st] December 2021
The accounts are prepared on the Receipts & Payments basis and consist of a Balance Sheet, a summary of the ledger for the general fund, a Statement of Assets & Liabilities, and these notes.
General Fund Ledger
Income
- This years’ income from grants and smaller gifts totalled just over £22,000. The larger grants were:
| rger grants were: | |
|---|---|
| Alice Cooper Dean | £10,000 |
| The Valentine Trust | £5,000 |
| St James’ Place | £2,500 |
| St Marys Longfleet Poole | £2,000 |
| Charities Trust | £1,000 |
| Canford Magna PCC | £602 |
| St Michaels & St Gabriel’s Churches | £500 |
| Wimborne Minster | £210 |
| Lytchett Minster | £120 |
- There were private donations of about £2,350, sponsored events raising £846 and Gift Aid of £225.
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MARS Trust Annual Report 2021 - 2022-12-15
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Grants of £4,695 were claimed from the Government under the Job Retention Scheme.
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There was no income in the year by payment of fees by schools.
Expenditure
- This years’ expenditure totalled just under £41,500. The categories were:
| General Salaries & Staff Expenses | £28,160 |
|---|---|
| Fundraising Costs | £119 |
| Development Costs for Next Generation MARS | £11,535 |
| Insurance | £358 |
| Accounting | £100 |
| Office Eqpt & IT | £553 |
| Printing & Stationery | £620 |
Summary
Over this year the retained funds have decreased by £11,289 to £17,430, this largely due to the costs of the Next Generation MARS project for which there were grants in 2020 but the work was completed in March 2021. It is the general intention of the trustees to maximise the work within the funds available. The significant deficit is due to this project spanning our Financial Year End.
Fundraising is a constant challenge due to the reliance of the trust on income to cover its’ staffing expenses and remains a high priority. Currently the fundraising work is jointly covered by the chairperson and the staff.
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MARS Trust Annual Report 2021 - 2022-12-15
Statement of Financial Activities for the calendar year of 2021 Including Income and Expenditure Account
Notes
1. See above for major grant making bodies.
2. There are no payments to any related bodies within this total.
3. The Restricted Fund value is for completion of the Connect2Thrive 6[th] Form materials.
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MARS Trust Annual Report 2021 - 2022-12-15
19[th] December 2022
The Trustees MARS Trust 32 Springdale Road BROADSTONE Dorset BH18 9BU
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS
Report to the trustees of MARS Trust
On accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2021 Charity number: 1141794
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the Act)) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
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Examine the accounts (under section 145 of the Act);
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To follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Act), and
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To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.
Independent examiner’s statement
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the trustees have not met the requirements to ensure that:
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a. proper accounting records are kept (in accordance with section 41 of the Act); and
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b. accounts are prepared which agree with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act; or
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to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: …SueW….……. Date: …19-12-22….
Sue Wintle FMAAT
Accounting Technician
27 Bascott Road Wallisdown Bournemouth Dorset BH11 8RJ