Inspiring, informing and involving families of people with learning disabilities
ANNUAL REPORT and ACCOUNTS 1[st] April 2020 – 31[st] March 2021
Oxfordshire Family Support Network
The Directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year to 31[st] March 2021 .
Report of the Directors
Introduction
This is the tenth Annual Report of Oxfordshire Family Support Network.
Oxfordshire Family Support Network (OxFSN) is a unique user-led organisation based in Oxfordshire, run by and for family carers of people with a learning disability. We provide independent information, advice and support by families for families of people with a learning disability. Set up by family carers who wanted to share their experience and knowledge to help others in the same situation, we strive to improve lives of people with learning disabilities and their families.
OxFSN is currently managed by a board of six trustees, of whom four are family carers of people with a learning disability. All of the individuals who carry out work on behalf of OxFSN are family carers.
Highlights and Challenges this year
2020/2021 has been a challenging year to say the least. It started with the country in total ‘lockdown’ due to Covid 19 and ended with the country back in ‘lockdown’ after months of yoyoing, adding and lifting of restrictions. At the time of writing we are all still working from home and waiting for the go ahead to get back into our office.
Like everyone else we had to find a new way of working in 2020 and everything we do moved online. Fortunately, we already had a Zoom Pro account, which we were used to using so were able to get going with online meetings right from the start.
The biggest challenge to OxFSN was undoubtably responding to the increased demand on our services. Responding to the concerns and worries of the families we support had its own challenges too. As everyone who works with us is a family carer we were living and breathing the very same concerns and worries for our own loved ones and ourselves, some juggling home schooling, others separated from their relatives who live in supported living. I am immensely proud of Team OxFSN for pulling together. The support they provided to each other and me, and the huge commitment they have shown to keep supporting other families during this unprecedented time has been amazing.
Thanks to emergency funding from The Oxfordshire Community Foundation, which got us through the initial manic first lockdown month (end April-end May). And with a further grant from the National Lottery Community Fund we were able to sustain our activities and deliver what our families needed without spending from our reserves.
In 2020-2021 we….
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Supported 342 family carers – 244 of whom were new to OXFSN
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Provided 477 hours of family support.
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Delivered 16 Q&A online events -7 in partnership with OxPCF - attended by 396 family carers and 146 professionals
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• Spent 647 hours in meetings with professionals, representing the views of families and as strategic partners.
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Worked with 103 different organisations, locally and nationally.
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Worked with national organisations to develop a Covid 19 emergency Hospital Passport (Grab & Go guide) approved by NHS and used nationally.
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Worked with OCC to develop a Covid ID card for carers in Oxfordshire.
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Kept our website updated with information relevant to family carers and shared via social media and through our data base.
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Kept in touch with carers who do not have access to online activities, checking in to make sure they were okay.
As always, everything we did was based on what families were telling us they needed and we checked in with them regularly through online coffee and chat sessions.
We sent out a survey to measure the impact of our work. Of those families who responded to our Survey…..
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79% felt much more able to manage their situation with support from OxFSN. A further 18% said they felt more able.
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82% of families supported by OxFSN told us they felt ‘less isolated’.
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81% of professionals who attended our Working with Families Workshops rated it excellent. The remainder rated it as very good. 100% of attendees said they would recommend a colleague.
“I saw the post on FB which is more reassuring than the horror stories I have been reading about DNR's and your child being alone.”
Family Support
Our family support service covers a range of services, from telephone, email and face to face support to information events and workshops. We supported individual families in online meetings with professionals this year, rather than face-to-face. We think this worked well and will continue to offer this as an option for families even when we are able to do face-to-face again.
Funding for our Family Support Service came to an end in January 2021. There is a pressing need to secure longer term funding but, we managed to secure some emergency funding to see us through the year, through The Oxfordshire Community Foundation and The National Lottery Community Fund.
Question & Answer Zoom Events
Talking to Health Professionals about Covid - April 9[th] 2020
“Thank you so much for delivering the Webinar/Zoom meeting - feeling so much more assured - really appreciate (it)”.
The Online Zoom Q&A’s - were a great way to get information and clarity about the ever changing situation, directly to families. We invited key professionals from the council and health services to attend and take questions from family carers. Each session was filmed and added to our You Tube Channel for families unable to attend. Questions and answers were also shared with others on our database and through social media pages.
They were so popular and useful we intend to continue to work this way alongside our usual face-to-face events (when allowed.)
“This has been invaluable”.
Sessions included:
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Direct Payments – what can they be spent on when usual services and activities are closed
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Returning to School
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School transport arrangements
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Annual Health Checks and reasonable adjustments
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Constipation –‘Let’s talk about Poo!’
And lots more
Strategic Partnership with OCC Adult Social Care
Our close working relationship with Adult Social Care was a huge benefit this year and enabled us to quickly alert services to the issues families were facing. We meet quarterly with the locality teams and have key contacts who can quickly respond to any pressing need. Our Working with Families workshops are also part of our strategic partnership arrangement as is a large event, such as the information fair or our Better Together event. Unfortunately, neither of these were possible this year. We believe this is such a good model of engagement and hope to replicate it with Children’s Services in the coming year.
Working with Families Workshops
We moved our Working with Families workshops online, reducing it from a four hour workshop to a two and half hour online one. This is definitely much better as a face-toface workshop but for this year, online had to suffice. We delivered 4 workshops in 2020-2021, attended by 64 professionals from Health and Social Care. Each session was over subscribed and plans to continue to deliver these sessions were developed for 2021-2022
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81% of professionals who attended our Working with Families Workshops rated it excellent. The remainder rated as very good.
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100% of attendees said they would recommend a colleague.
As part of the working with families training we produced a short film called “Accessing the Community” – Service Speak - This ‘tongue in cheek’ film highlights the need to think about the language used by professionals when talking about people who use services.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bitGNuvZkWA&t=30s it has had over 2000 hits and is being used in training by some support providers.
LeDeR (Learning from Deaths of people with a Learning Disability) is a National programme. Our local group who are part of this programme is called The Vulnerable Adults Mortality group (VAM) and is a sub group of The Oxfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board (OSAB). As Programme Manager of OxFSN I am a member of this group, and aim to provide a family perspective.
Meetings were held weekly at the start of the Pandemic to monitor any deaths of people with learning disability locally and the impact of Covid 19. The Annual report can be - - - - found here https://www.osab.co.uk/wp content/uploads/2021/07/ITEM 05 LeDeR - - Annual Report FINAL.pdf
We continue to use the learning and lessons from LeDeR locally to plan our events for families and professionals, such as the ‘Lets talk about Poo’ and the Annual Health Checks events.
Family Support
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Quality Training &
Checkers events–
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Working with
families
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Online Q&A’s
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Family Carer representation (locally): ➢ Co-Production Board ➢ Vulnerable Adults Mortality Subgroup ➢ OACP ➢ Carers Forum ➢ SEND Programme Board
National Representation ➢ NHS England (CTR’s) ➢ LD England ➢ ‘Making Families Count’ ➢ Bringing us Together ➢ Contact
Research:
➢ NIHR –The National Institute for Health Research
➢ Oxford University
Quality Checkers
Quality checkers visits stopped at the start of this year to be replaced by virtual visits on Microsoft Teams from September. Although not ideal it was felt it would be a useful way to check in with people and provide a least some level of independent checking. This work is commissioned and funded by Oxfordshire County Council through a contract with My Life My Choice.
OxFSN was initially approached by OCC, along with MLMC in 2015 to be part of this project. However, in March this year MLMC decided that our input into this project was no longer required. We were very disappointed by this unexpected development but wish MLMC well with this very important work.
Family Carer representation
Ensuring that the issues that affect family carers are heard by those who develop and deliver services is an important part of the work we do at OxFSN. We have an increasing number of family carers attending meetings and participating on strategy groups and Boards.
Two members of the OxFSN team (Kathy Liddell & Jo Barnicoat) are part of the co-production Board and Jo Barnicoat is CoChair. This representation gives us stronger links to senior commissioners and a better understanding of, and input into the work being undertaken by the council.
We are members of Learning Disability England, the first membership organisation which brings together people with learning disabilities, family carers and organisations that work with them together.
Representatives from OxFSN have been part of key work to improve services through such initiatives as ‘Making Families Count’, ‘Bringing us Together’ and as experts by experience undertaking NHS England Care and Treatment Reviews (CTR’s).
Oxfordshire Parent Carer Forum (OXPCF)
OxFSN continue to manage and support the parent carer forum in Oxfordshire, which is still going from strength to strength. The forum is supported by a coordinator, who is also a parent carer and is managed by OxFSN . Funding for this work is available annually from the Department for Education (DfE) via Contact.
We ran several online Q&A Sessions this year, in partnership with OxPCF and by the end of March 2021 and are looking forward to greater joint working in the coming year.
At time of writing we were looking at setting up a FaceBook group, called The Oxfordshire SEND room due to the closure of the SHIFT Facebook page.
Research
Angeli continues to be our lead for research work and over the last year has worked on two projects with Dr Sara Ryan from Oxford University. Growing Older and Planning Ahead and Flourishing Lives.
The idea for the Growing Older project came from our Comic Relief-funded project ‘Embolden’. Embolden aimed to support, advocate for and empower older family carers who were caring for a family member with a learning disability in Oxfordshire. Over three years carers took part in a series of events on topics such as health, finance and housing. Issues of concern included consent, decision making, transition planning and financial assessments and older carers often. This further research is a fantastic legacy for Embolden.
The Future
Funding :
We were fortunate to be able to secure some small pots of emergency funding, to enable us to continue the work of supporting families during the pandemic. There is a pressing need to secure longer term funding for our Family Support Service. Competition is tough for grant funding at the moment but we are hopeful that we are now in a better position to demonstrate the value of OxFSN and the impact on and outcomes for families.
Future work & opportunities:
We are still keen to follow up the valuable work of supporting older carers and planning for Embolden phase two is now underway.
Working online has been a necessity over the last year but it has also opened up a number of new opportunities of working with families and professionals. As well as saving time and money for us, reducing the need to pay travel expenses, it is also easier for families and professionals to attend events. Whilst we are looking forward to face-to-
face working again we intend to keep some of the virtual events going even when we are allowed back in actual rooms together.
We are looking at further developing our training offer and have plans for more workshops for families and professionals. This joint working is so valuable and we are very keen to develop a stronger working relationship with children’s services in Education, Health and Social Care, replicating what we have with Adult Social Care as a model of good practice and sharing this widely, locally and nationally.
And finally –
The pressure on everyone through this last year cannot be underestimated. The impact of Covid 19 on the families we support and the resulting, further pressures on statutory services are huge and present many challenges for OxFSN in the coming year and beyond. As usual, we aim to meet these challenges head on as we continue to highlight the needs of families of people with learning disabilities in Oxfordshire and respond to what they tell us they need.
Thanks to our Funders for their support this year and to our family carers for their generous donations and fundraising on our behalf
Finance report for the year ending 31st March 2021
Summary OxFSN received income of £104.3k (£100.0k last year) and expended £103.1k (£97.2k last year) resulting in a surplus of £1.2k (£2.8k last year). The bank balance at year-end was £71.0k (£82.8k last year).
Income and Expenditure Account Both income and expenditure were a little higher than last year; income + 4% and expenditure + 6%. Income and expenditure have remained stable in the last two years.
| Income and Expenditure Account for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 | Income and Expenditure Account for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 | Income and Expenditure Account for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 | Income and Expenditure Account for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 | Income and Expenditure Account for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Year | Prior Year | |||
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | |
| Funds | Funds | Funds | Funds | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Ordinary activities | 30,628 | 73,674 |
104,302 | 100,012 |
| Other activities | - | - |
- | - |
| Total income | 30,628 | 73,674 |
104,.302 | 100,012 |
| Expenditure | 29,396 | 73,674 |
103,069 | 97,219 |
| Retained surplus | 1,232 | - |
1,232 | 2,793 |
Balance Sheet
Cash at bank £71.0 was £11.8k lower than prior year. Accruals and deferred income (income received in advance) £29.1k were £5.9k higher than prior year. Total net assets increased by £1.2k (the retained surplus for the year) to £52.8k
| Balance Sheet as at 31 | March 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | |||
| Prior Year | |||
| Year | |||
| £ | £ | ||
| Current assets | |||
| Cash at bank | 70,958 | 82,836 | |
| Prepayments & accrued income | 20,451 | 484 | |
| Total current assets | 91,410 | 83,320 | |
| Current liabilities | |||
| Accounts payable | 9,448 | 8,525 | |
| Accruals & deferred income | 29,140 | 23,205 | |
| Total current liabilities | 38,588 | 31,730 | |
| Net current and total assets | 52,822 | 51,590 | |
| Represented by | |||
| Unrestricted funds | 52,822 | 51,590 | |
| Restricted funds | - | - | |
| Total funds | 52,822 | 51,590 | |
Reserves
Unrestricted funds: a general fund was built prior to this year to cover the commitment of employing staff. £1.2k was added to this in the year and the balance now stands at £52.8k.
Restricted funds: restricted grants are managed so as to match expenditure with income in the financial year. The balances inherited from previous years have been either spent, or transferred as a contribution to overheads at the end of the lives of the projects.
| Reserves for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 B/fwd C/fwd In year Transfers 1 Apr 2020 31 Mar 2021 £ £ £ £ Unrestricted funds Total 51,590 1,232 - 52,822 Restricted funds Comic Relief Embolden - - - - Oxfordshire County Council - - - - Parents'/Carers' Forum - - - - WikiMe - - - - Total - - - - Total Funds 51,590 1,232 - 52,822 |
Reserves for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 B/fwd C/fwd In year Transfers 1 Apr 2020 31 Mar 2021 £ £ £ £ Unrestricted funds Total 51,590 1,232 - 52,822 Restricted funds Comic Relief Embolden - - - - Oxfordshire County Council - - - - Parents'/Carers' Forum - - - - WikiMe - - - - Total - - - - Total Funds 51,590 1,232 - 52,822 |
Reserves for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 B/fwd C/fwd In year Transfers 1 Apr 2020 31 Mar 2021 £ £ £ £ Unrestricted funds Total 51,590 1,232 - 52,822 Restricted funds Comic Relief Embolden - - - - Oxfordshire County Council - - - - Parents'/Carers' Forum - - - - WikiMe - - - - Total - - - - Total Funds 51,590 1,232 - 52,822 |
|---|---|---|
| 51,590 1,232 |
- 52,822 |
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| - - - - - - - - |
- - - - - - - - |
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| - - |
- - |
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| 51,590 1,232 |
- 52,822 |
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Accounting Policies
OxFSN follows UK generally accepted accounting practice (UKGAAP). The particular policies adopted are described below. They have been applied consistently in dealing with items considered material in relation to the accounts.
1. Accounting convention
These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
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Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty. In the application of the Company’s accounting policies, management is required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from those estimates and the estimates and underlying assumptions are continually reviewed. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised, in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.
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Critical judgements in applying accounting policies The following are the critical judgements, apart from those involving estimations (see below) that management has made in the process of applying the Company’s accounting policies and that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements
3.1 Accounting for Accruals. Various methods are used for calculating different types of accrual. They include:-
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i. Trend analysis ii. Judgement of directors iii. Supplier statements iv. Formulaic approach based on historical cost information
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Accounting for Doubtful Debts - Impairment of receivables
OxFSN is required to judge when there is sufficient evidence to impair individual receivables. It does this based on the age and status of the receivables.
- Revenue
Revenue in respect of services provided is recognised when, and to the extent that, performance occurs, and is measured at the fair value of the consideration receivable. Where income is received for a specific activity that is to be delivered in the following year, that income is deferred.
- Other expenses
Other operating expenses are recognised when, and to the extent that, the goods or services have been received. They are measured at the fair value of the consideration payable.
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Property, plant and equipment Recognition property, plant and equipment is capitalised if:
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it is held for use in delivering services or for administrative purposes;
● it is probable that future economic benefits will flow to, or service potential will be supplied to OxFSN;
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it is expected to be used for more than one financial year;
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the cost of the item can be measured reliably; and
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the item has cost of at least £5,000.
Where a large asset, for example a building, includes a number of components with significantly different asset lives, the components are treated as separate assets and depreciated over their own useful economic lives.
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Grants
Revenue grants are treated as deferred income initially and credited to income to match the expenditure to which they relate.
10.
11.
Cash and cash equivalents. Cash is cash in hand and deposits with any financial institution repayable without penalty on notice of not more than 24 hours. Cash equivalents are investments that mature in 3 months or less from the date of acquisition and that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash with insignificant risk of change in value. In the Balance Sheet, cash and cash equivalents are shown net of bank overdrafts that are repayable on demand and that form an integral part of OxFSN’s cash management.
Provisions are recognised when the Company has a present legal or constructive obligation as a result of a past event, it is probable that the Company will be required to settle the obligation, and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation. The amount recognised as a provision is the best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the obligation at the end of the reporting period, taking into account the risks and uncertainties.
Contingencies A contingent liability is a possible obligation that arises from past events and whose existence will be confirmed only by the occurrence or non-occurrence of one or more uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the trust, or a present obligation that is not recognised because it is not probable that a payment will be required to settle the obligation or the amount of the obligation cannot be measured sufficiently reliably. A contingent liability is disclosed unless the possibility of a payment is remote.
A contingent asset is a possible asset that arises from past events and whose existence will be confirmed by the occurrence or non-occurrence of one or more uncertain future events not wholly within the control of the trust. A contingent asset is disclosed where an inflow of economic benefits is probable.
Financial liabilities are recognised on the Balance Sheet when the goods or services have been received. Financial liabilities are de-recognised when the liability has been discharged, that is, the liability has been paid or has expired.
Independent examiner's report
Report to the trustees of Oxfordshire Family Support Network Limited on Accounts for the year ended 31[st ] March 2021.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. The charity's gross income does not exceed £250,000.
Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:
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examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 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 2011 Act; and
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to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner's report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. 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 you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner' s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
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to keep accounting records in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006 ; and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records, comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 and with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities have not been met; or
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(2) ) to which, in my opinion, attentio n should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Peter Crabb. Independent Examiner
- 9[th] June 2021
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| Charity name | Oxfordshire Family Support |
|---|---|
| Network | |
| Charity registration number | 1143367 |
| Company registration number | 7583197 |
| Registered Office | 30 Tamar Way, Didcot, Oxfordshire |
| OX11 7QH Oxon | |
| Directors and Trustees | Yvonne Cox - Chairman |
| Jan Roast | |
| Mena Remedios | |
| Charmian Hearne | |
| Jessica Patton | |
| Ms Kathleen Rist | |
| Bankers | Lloyds Bank plc, |
| Banbury, | |
| Independent examiner | Peter Crabb, 22 Murcot Road, Upper |
| Arncott, Oxon. OX25 1QH |
Solicitor
Cooperatives UK, Hanover Street, Manchester. M60 0AS
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