1Voice - Communicating Together
Charity number 1141886
A company limited by guarantee number 07480160
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024
1Voice - Communicating Together
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024
| Contents | Page |
|---|---|
| Trustees’ report | 2 – 6 |
| Independent examiner’s report | 7 |
| Statement of financial activities | 8 |
| Balance sheet | 9 |
| Notes to the financial statements | 10 - 14 |
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1Voice - Communicating Together
Trustees’ report for the year ended 31 March 2024
Reference and administrative details of the charity, its trustees and advisors
The trustees during the financial year and up to and including the date the report was approved were:
Name Position Dates Helen Dixon Co-Chair Alison Douthwaite Co-Chair Nicola McIndoe Treasurer Resigned 29 November 2023 Hannah Anthony Dominic Carroll Jason Felce Appointed 23 May 2023 Francesca Sephton Resigned 29 November 2023 Frances Sugden Stephen Tyler Neal Marshall Appointed 29 November 2023 Becky Morris Appointed 3 September 2024 Company secretary Joanne Cope Charity number 1141886 Registered in England and Wales Company number 07480160 Registered in England and Wales
Registered and principal address Bankers
Lymm Business Centre CAF Bank Ltd Davies Way 25 Kings Hill Avenue Lymm West Malling Cheshire. Kent WA13 0QW ME19 4JQ
Structure, governance and management
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and was formed on 30 December 2010. It is governed by articles of association as amended 20 July 2011 and 15 May 2015. The liability of the members in the event of the company being wound up is limited to a sum not exceeding £1. Trustees usually meet each month throughout the year. The majority of the meetings make use of video conferencing software reflecting the wide geographic spread of the trustees.
Method of recruitment and appointment of trustees
The trustees of the charity are also the directors for the purposes of company law and are appointed by the members at the AGM.
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1Voice - Communicating Together
Trustees’ report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2024
Objectives and activities
The charity's objects
To preserve and protect the health and to advance the education and development of children and adults who have communication difficulties and people important to them (family / carers / supporters), particularly by assisting or encouraging persons using Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) within the United Kingdom to achieve their communication potential, and to make provisions or promote any scheme thought necessary to meet this aim.
To advance the education of the public, to increase their awareness and understanding of AAC.
The charity's main activities
1Voice creates opportunities to bring together children and adults who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and people important to them (family / carers / supporters) to share ideas, information, skills and personal experiences.
1Voice holds residential event(s) each year and local activities throughout the year supported by regional committees.
1Voice further aims to reach out to the wider public to increase awareness through published newsletters and internet-based presence such as website and social media platforms.
Public benefit statement
In setting our objectives and planning our activities our Trustees have given serious consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and in particular the relief of disability such as working with families and children with complex needs and speech impairments.
Achievements and performance
1Voice has had another successful year. We continue to attract new members and there is a good mix of AAC users, families and professionals interested in our support services.
Events
National Events
We held a film themed national weekend in August 2023 at Treloars College. Activities provided increased social interaction for those who use AAC. We brought together 37 AAC users, and their families and supporters. This is the most AAC users to date. We were really pleased to attract 14 new families through more heavily subsidised places. Fully inclusive specialised workshops, some delivered by AAC user role models, encouraged the skills of communication, whilst providing an opportunity to try new things. The youngest groups made short stop motion animations, and the older group worked on script writing and produced short plays. Having the opportunity to share the output from the workshops with all attendees, gave a real sense of achievement. The weekend allowed people to come together and helped raise aspirations for the future. One parent told us that it was "lovely to see so many possibilities for [their child] in the future". One AAC user told us that "1Voice is better than Christmas!"
The popularity of the residential weekend and the difficulty in finding specialist spaces large enough to accommodate everyone who wants to come meant that we sought to identify people’s priorities for future events. To this end a short questionnaire was issued to members in October to ask them to rate what they would like 1Voice to do and focus on in the future. We continue to explore ways to continue to support our older, more established members; to expand our network of regional events to support more AAC users more regularly; and attracting younger AAC users and their families. The results of this questionnaire helped inform our strategy meeting held in January 2024.
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1Voice - Communicating Together
Trustees’ report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2024
The December 2023 event was an online Christmas party, opened by our Patron, with a special Christmas message. Santa visited the youngest members of the session, whilst the older AAC users chatted about their Christmas plans. Everyone enjoyed a game of Christmas Rock n Roll bingo, and the event ended with a Christmas disco. There were lots of fabulous Christmas jumpers and everyone had a good time.
Local Events
After a break of three years due to the Covid 19 pandemic, 18 people, including six AAC Users, enjoyed a Lakes & Bay group trip to the Lakeland Visitor’s Centre near Kendal. Members of the group met again in August 2023 to enjoy a trip on the Freedom accessible Powerboat, and again in October for a Windermere boat trip.
The Yorkshire and Northeast branch met face to face for the first time in May 2023 for coffee and cake at a leisure centre in York. 23 people, including six adult and two child AAC users enjoyed meeting old friends and new and discussed plans for future get togethers. Members of the group got together again and enjoyed a bowling trip in March 2024.
1Voice Beds & Bucks was established in February 2024 with an informal meet up at a café.
March 2024 also saw the establishment of the 1Voice Southwest group with an informal meet up at a local café.
At the end of the previous year, we introduced a virtual parents’ chat as a way of supporting our parents. These have now developed into valuable regular bi-monthly sessions. The closed parents’ Facebook group continues to be well used by members.
Newsletter and publicity
We published a Newsletter in July 2023, and in January and March 2024, accompanied by reminders for local events etc. throughout the year. Improving our communication with members was a key focus in our strategy for the year, and so we organised a session for the Trustees to meet with a Communications’ specialist who kindly offered her input free of charge. She also attended the annual weekend to gain further insight into our activities. Improving our communications requires some streamlining of our information sharing, particularly photo and file storage, website and email set-up. A new system has now been developed for the Trustees to use in addition to our existing communication channel, Slack.
During October 2023 AAC awareness month, we posted and tweeted every day, sharing items of interest related to 1Voice and AAC more generally.
We continue to work on our website which is now much more attractive and user friendly. We are able to track traffic and responses to our posts to better understand our members’ interaction with our posts, and where views are coming from.
Representation at Events
1Voice is a member of the Communication Consortium. This is a group of voluntary and community service organisations who have expertise and knowledge of children’s speech, language and communication. Our co-chair has continued to attend meetings online.
We also have maintained close links with Communication Matters, the UK Chapter of ISAAC (International Society of Augmentative and Alternative Communication), a world-wide organisation promoting the best possible communication for people with complex communication needs. We highly value the collaboration with Communication Matters and will continue to develop this for our mutual benefit.
One of our Trustees led a workshop at the 2023 Communication Matters conference about local groups and what people want from these. We have been approached by several organisations and individuals interested in finding out whether there could be scope for us to work with them on branches and regional events.
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1Voice - Communicating Together
Trustees’ report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2024
Fundraising
Our national residential weekend represents our most significant cost and therefore, trustees’ efforts once again focussed on raising funds to contribute towards this expenditure. We were successful in receiving a grant of £16,390 from the Postcode Society Trust, specifically for funding of the national weekend.
In addition to the ring-fenced money, we were also pleased to receive £2,000 from the YAPP Charitable Trust. This is the second of two payments, over a two-year period, specifically towards our running costs.
The majority of the remaining in year donations represent smaller one-off donations. We are grateful to the organisations and individuals who raise and donate money to enable 1Voice to continue its activities.
The trustees recognise that there is still a need to secure funding for ongoing general administration costs and for future events. Fundraising will once again become a priority in the next financial year. In addition, increasing our activities with broader role model, branches and online work as well as face to face events may increase our fundraising needs, particularly in terms of administration support to enable these new activities.
Future Strategy
Following the questionnaire to members in October 2023, trustees dedicated the January 2024 meeting to developing the strategy for the next year. The key focus areas identified for the year are:
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To build a branch network to reach more AAC users
-
Improve communications to reach more AAC members
-
Explore alternative event formats to reach more AAC users (one day events)
-
Grow volunteer base to ensure quality support for AAC users at events
-
Recruit a treasurer
-
Change the employment status of our administrator to reflect 1Voice growth
-
Build opportunities for role models
The strategy document is reviewed at trustees’ meetings to monitor our progress.
Financial review
The net expenditure for the year was £3,200, including net expenditure of £3,188 on unrestricted funds and net expenditure of £12 on restricted funds.
Reserves policy
The charity's free reserves, excluding fixed assets, at the year end were £15,501. Of these reserves, £3,384 has been designated for use by local branches. These reserves have been generated by donations to individual branches and have been set aside for their use accordingly. Unless there are any legal restrictions on the use of any donations, the trustees have decided that funds raised by local branches are designated for their use to hold local events. It has been agreed that if any branch is known to be inactive, the balance has not moved within three years and there is no expectation that the funds will be used in the near future, then the designation of these funds will be removed and the money made available for general charitable expenditure. There has been little movement on branches designated funds in the year as the local events have been slow to start following the Covid 19 pandemic. Although there have been several events held, these have tended to be in local public venues with no associated cost.
The level of reserves and the purposes for which they are designated are set out in the notes to the financial statements. The other designated amounts are £5,000 designated to the Role Model Programme and £3,996 to cover venue deposits for the 2024 annual national weekend and other events. The rest of the reserves, £3,121 are to ensure that there are sufficient funds to cover commitments over six months, should the charity cease to secure funding and operate. The level of reserves is reviewed from time to time by the trustees, with reference to Charity Commission guidelines, to consider whether they remain appropriate.
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1Voice - Communicating Together
Trustees’ report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2024
Statement of trustees' responsibilities
The trustees (who are also the directors for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees report and the financial statements in accordance with the applicable law and UK Accounting Standards.
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial accounts for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for the year. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
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select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
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prepare the accounts on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial accounts comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
This report has been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (Charities SORP (FRS102)), and in accordance with the special provisions of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
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1Voice - Communicating Together
Independent Examiner’s report to the trustees of 1Voice – Communicating Together for the year ended 31 March 2024
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charitable company for the year ended 31 March 2024, which are set out on pages 8 to 14.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity's trustees of the charitable company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the charitable 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 ('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 examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair view' which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
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the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities [applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)].
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.
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1Voice – Communicating Together Statement of Financial Activities (including summary income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2024
| Notes 2024 Unrestricted funds £ Income from: Grants and donations (2) 4,672 Sales and fees 6,853 Bank interest 366 Total income 11,891 Expenditure on: Training and conferences 258 Freelance workers 6,763 Fundraising costs 25 Events 6,347 Equipment and materials - Office consumables 18 Postage and delivery 154 Depreciation 273 Telephone 20 Professional fees 65 Dues and subscriptions 526 Marketing and publicity 348 Insurance 198 Bank charges 60 Gifts and donations 24 Total expediture 15,079 Net income / (expenditure) (3,188) Fund balances brought forward 20,076 Fund balances carried forward 16,888 |
2024 Restricted funds £ 16,661 - - 16,661 - 1,984 - 14,216 190 - 4 8 271 - - - - 16,673 (12) 971 959 |
2024 Total funds £ 21,333 6,853 366 28,552 258 8,747 25 20,563 190 18 158 273 20 73 797 348 198 60 24 31,752 (3,200) 21,047 17,847 |
2023 Total funds £ 21,007 8,750 120 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29,877 | |||
| - 6,939 79 17,618 525 161 174 140 60 89 715 315 205 90 - |
|||
| 27,110 | |||
| 2,767 18,280 |
|||
| 21,047 |
All incoming resources and resources expended derive from continuing activities.
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1Voice – Communicating Together Balance sheet as at 31 March 2024
| Notes 2024 Unrestricted £ Fixed assets Tangible assets (4) 1,388 Total fixed assets 1,388 Current assets Debtors and prepayments (5) 970 Cash at bank and in hand (6) 15,263 Total current assets 16,233 Current liabilities: amounts falling due within one year Creditors and accruals (7) 732 Total current liabilities 732 Net current assets / (liabilities) 15,501 Total assets less current liabilities 16,889 Total net assets 16,889 Funds Unrestricted funds 16,889 Restricted funds - Total funds 16,889 |
2024 Restricted £ - - - 958 958 - - 958 958 958 - 958 958 |
2024 Total £ 1,388 1,388 970 16,221 17,191 732 732 16,459 17,847 17,847 16,889 958 17,847 |
2023 Total £ 912 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 912 | |||
| 512 20,495 |
|||
| 21,007 | |||
| 872 | |||
| 872 | |||
| 20,135 | |||
| 21,047 | |||
| 21,047 20,076 971 |
|||
| 21,047 |
For the year ending 31 March 2024 the charitable company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
The members have not required the charitable company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476. The trustees (who are also the directors for the purposes of company law) acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime and with FRS 102 (effective January 2019).
The financial statements were approved by the board of trustees on
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1Voice – Communicating Together Notes to the financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2024
1. Accounting policies
Basis of accounting
These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) and with the Charities Act 2011.
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS102. There have been no changes to the accounting policies since the last year. No changes have been made to the accounts for previous years.
Going concern
The trustees are satisfied that there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue.
Incoming resources
All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the charity becomes entitled to the resources, it is more likely than not that the trustees will receive the resources, and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.
Grants and donations
Grants and donations are only included in the SOFA when the charity has unconditional entitlement to the resources. Where grants are related to performance and specific deliverables, they are accounted for as the charity earns the right to consideration by its performance.
Donated assets, facilities or services are valued at their estimated value to the charity. This is the price that the charity estimates it would pay in the open market for equivalent items; or services and facilities of equivalent utility to the charity.
Expenditure and liabilities
Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Liabilities are recognised where it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out the resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty.
Taxation
As a charity the organisation benefits from rates relief and is generally exempt from income tax and capital gains tax but not from VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is included in the cost of those items to which it relates.
Tangible fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets costing more than £500 are capitalised and included at cost including any incidental expenses of acquisition. Gifted assets are shown at the value to the charity on receipt.
Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets at rates calculated to write off the cost on a straight line basis over their expected useful economic lives.
Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.
Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.
Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal.
Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.
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1Voice – Communicating Together
Notes to the financial statements (continued) for the year ending 31 March 2024
| 2. Grants and donations National Lottery Community Fund MFPA Trust Fund Bruce Wake Charitable Fund The YAPP Charitable Fund The Postcode Society Trust Furness Peninsula Rotary Other small grants and donations 3. Movement in funds Restricted funds The Postcode Society Trust Role Model Programme Microsoft Widgit Software |
2024 Unrestricted funds 2024 Restricted funds £ £ - - - - - - 2,000 - - 16,390 - 2,672 271 4,672 16,661 Balance b/f Incoming £ £ - 16,390 971 - - 181 - 90 971 16,661 |
2024 Total funds 2023 Total funds £ £ - 9,787 - 1,910 - 1,500 2,000 2,000 16,390 - - 1,000 2,943 4,810 21,333 21,007 Outgoing Balance c/f £ £ 16,390 - 13 958 181 - 90 - 16,674 958 |
|---|---|---|
Fund name Purpose of restriction
The Postcode Society Trust Donation towards the national residential weekend Role Model Programme Donations to be used for the role model programme Microsoft Donation of Microsoft Business 365 – 10 licences Widgit Software Donation of annual Widgit Online licence
| Designated funds Events fund Role Model Programme Lakes and bay branch Cheshire/Warrington branch South East branch Lancashire branch East of England branch General branch fund |
Balance b/f £ 3,899 5,000 536 615 1,702 491 582 - 12,825 |
Incoming £ 6,853 - - - - - - - 6,853 |
Outgoing £ 6,756 - 170 - - - - 372 7,298 |
Transfers Balance c/f £ £ - 3,996 - 5,000 - 366 - 615 -1,702 - - 491 -582 - 2,284 1,912 - 12,380 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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1Voice – Communicating Together Notes to the financial statements (continued) for the year ending 31 March 2024
Designated funds (continued)
| Fund name | Purpose of designation |
|---|---|
| Events fund | Funds designated for national events |
| Role Model Programme | Funds designated for the role model programme, donated by the Batchworth |
| Trust | |
| Lakes and Bay branch | Funds raised by Lakes and Bay branch and designated for their use to hold |
| local events | |
| Cheshire/Warrington branch | Funds raised by Cheshire/Warrington branch and designated for their use to |
| hold local events | |
| South East branch | Funds raised specifically for the South East branch |
| Lancashire branch | Funds raised specifically for the Lancashire branch |
| East of England branch | Funds raised specifically for the East of England branch |
The trustees have agreed a policy that funds raised by local branches will be designated for local branch use and if these designated branch balances have not moved within three years and there is no expectation that they will be used in the future, these funds will be re-designated to the funds as general funds, unless there is a legal restriction on the use of the funds.
There has been no movement in the year on the designated role model fund as we have primarily focussed on the start/recommencement of local events following the Covid 19 pandemic. It is hoped that role model activities will resume next year.
4. Fixed Assets
Analysis of opening and closing carrying amounts
| Cost or valuation At the beginning of the year Additions Disposals Revaluations Transfers At the end of the year Depreciation and impairments At the beginning of the year Disposals Depreciation Impairment Transfers At the end of the year Net book value at the beginning of the year Net book value at the end of the year |
Fixtures, Fittings and Equipment £ 1,052 749 - - - |
|---|---|
| 1,801 | |
| 140 - 273 - - |
|
| 413 | |
| 912 1,388 |
The fixed asset addition in the year relates to a replacement laptop.
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1Voice – Communicating Together Notes to the financial statements (continued) for the year ending 31 March 2024
| 5. Debtors and prepayments Prepayments 6. Cash at bank and in hand CAF Gold CAF cash account PayPal Business account Give as you Live Donate account Undeposited funds 7. Creditors and accruals Creditors Accruals and deferred income |
2024 £ 970 970 2024 £ 13,599 2,320 148 100 54 16,221 2024 £ 708 24 732 |
2023 £ 512 |
|---|---|---|
| 512 | ||
| 2023 £ 16,748 3,379 193 - 175 |
||
| 20,495 | ||
| 2023 £ 872 - |
||
| 872 |
8. Related Party Transactions
Trustee expenses
No trustee received any expenses during this year or the previous year.
Trustee remuneration and benefits
No trustee received remuneration or benefit during this or the previous year.
Related party transactions
There were no related party transactions during this or the previous year.
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1Voice – Communicating Together
Statement of Financial Activities including comparatives for all funds (including summary income and expenditure account)
for the year ended 31 March 2024
| Income from: Grants and donations Sales and fees Bank interest Total income Expenditure on: Travel Training and conferences Freelance workers Fundraising costs Events Equipment and materials Office consumables Postage and delivery Printing and reproduction Depreciation Telephone Professional fees Dues and subscriptions Marketing and publicity Accountancy / independent exam Insurance Bank charges Gifts and donations Bad debts and write-offs Total expediture Net income / (expenditure) Fund balances brought forward Fund balances carried forward |
2024 Unrestricted funds £ 4,672 6,853 366 11,891 - 258 6,763 25 6,347 - 18 154 - 273 20 65 526 348 - 198 60 24 - 15,079 (3,188) 20,076 16,888 |
2023 Unrestricted funds £ 7,539 8,750 120 16,409 - - 5,933 79 5,889 49 131 174 - 140 60 89 444 315 - 205 90 - - 13,598 2,811 17,265 20,076 |
2024 Restricted funds £ 16,661 - - 16,661 - - 1,984 - 14,216 190 - 4 - - - 8 271 - - - - - - 16,673 (12) 971 959 |
2023 Restricted funds £ 13,468 - - 13,468 - - 1,006 - 11,729 476 30 - - - - - 271 - - - - - - 13,512 (44) 1,015 971 |
2024 Total funds £ 21,333 6,853 366 28,552 - 258 8,747 25 20,563 190 18 158 - 273 20 73 797 348 - 198 60 24 - 31,752 (3,200) 21,047 17,847 |
2023 Total funds £ 21,007 8,750 120 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29,877 | ||||||
| - - 6,939 79 17,618 525 161 174 - 140 60 89 715 315 - 205 90 - - |
||||||
| 27,110 | ||||||
| 2,767 18,280 |
||||||
| 21,047 |
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