**TRUSTEE REPORT 6 APRIL 2020 TO 5 APRIL 2021**
## **What We Achieved**
Families of Ocean Ward became a registered charity in December 2011. The Charity currently consists 3 trustees:
Samantha Prior (Chairperson) Rachel Carter (Vice Chairperson) Emma Cooper – Resigned 6[th] July 2020 Kelly Sparks
The Charity also consists of volunteers: Kate Dalton – soon to become a trustee Jackie Hicks Aimee Stevens
Trustees and volunteers are parents of heart children treated at the Ocean Ward at Southampton General Hospital.
The Trustees have kept in mind the Charity Commission Guidance on Public Benefit as well as the Charity’s Objects in any expenses and activities undertaken. The main focus of the Charity is to support children with heart conditions and their families both during times in hospital but also when out of hospital.
The primary aim of the Trustees, as in earlier years, was to increase the number of heart children and their families that benefitted from the Charity, however with Covid restrictions in place, we have been unable to hold our usual events. The objectives were met in the following ways:
- Grants continued to be paid to families experiencing financial difficulty during hospital stays. These totalled £900.00. A total of 6 grant payments were made. Payments are made following requests on behalf of the families by medical staff based on Ocean Ward.
- Tesco and Marks and Spencer gift cards provide additional assistance to families experiencing financial difficulties, being used towards food for parents staying on the ward with their child or assisting with petrol expenses for parents travelling to and from home and hospital whilst children are on E1. These were issued to families by Ocean Ward staff. These totalled £603.50 for the year.
- Emergency packs continue to be of benefit to families where their child is admitted onto the ward for emergency treatment and families have no time to take basic items with them. They include toiletries, socks, etc for parents to use when their child is admitted in an emergency. This year the Trustees have kept costs down by using a stock of items from previous requests
for items. Packs are presented in Families of Ocean Ward drawstring bags. Packs are distributed by Ocean Ward staff when needed.
- Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions we were unable to go ahead with our Annual Christmas party / Paultons Park events although we will look to resume these once the pandemic settles down.
- The FoOW Facebook group continues to be a place where heart families are able to find peer support on heart related issues such as benefits, experiences of surgery, medication, etc. Membership continues to increase with around 1.8k members. The Charity’s Twitter account is less active.
- The provision of Coaguchek machines for 7 heart children on warfarin (cost £2,752.63). These are essential to improving the quality of life for families by enabling INR testing at home rather than having daily visits to a hospital or medical centre for blood tests.
- In October 2020 we took on an office on a monthly rental basis to allow the charity to store and operate from a central location. This was due to outgrowing the storage within people’s homes to manage stock etc and to hold equipment for events. We were able to negotiate a very reasonable rate with the landlord of the property.
Awareness of the charity continues to grow both in terms of beneficiaries and the public at large. Fundraising/donations were affected by COVID19 Lockdowns and social gathering restrictions which meant we didn’t see any significant individual donations due to all the usual events such as Marathons, Great South Run and other larger organised events not being able to take place.
Even with COVID19 restrictions and lockdowns, we are extremely fortunate that we have overall received a significant amount in donations. The majority of our donations are received from fundraisers through Just Giving, however with the increase of facebook fundraising we now receive a substantial amount of donations via the Paypal Giving Fund. Our expenditure was reduced as we were unable to run our 2 main events of the year.
## **Finances**
Total income for the year was £27,255 which is £3,998 less than the previous year, an amazing amount yet again however a significant drop on the previous year which could have been impacted by the lack of fundraising events in early 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Again, the majority of the income coming from donations and individuals fundraising for the charity.
Total Expenditure for the year was £21,718 which is £15,610 less than the previous year, this was largely due to no longer sponsoring Nurse Practitioner, Katie Stimson, and not being able to hold our annual Paultons Park trip and Christmas Party due to COVID19.
A summary of the expenditure is in the accounts attached.
Total funds held at the end of the year were £ **75,455.21** in the current account, reserve account and petty cash.
The Trustees aim to keep costs and wastage to a minimum, for example, by negotiating discounts. Trustees are volunteers and not entitled to remuneration. Out of pocket expenses incurred on
behalf of the Charity, such as postage, travel to and from meetings, etc, are reimbursed in line with the Charity’s expense policy. Trustees share lifts to meetings and events whenever possible.
Reviews of the charity’s reserves are carried out generally every six months but not less than once a year, taking into account the financial position at the time of the review, and, when appropriate, the Trustees take correcting action, e.g. where a large surplus is in the account they decide how to put funds to the best interests of the Charity’s beneficiaries through the consideration of projects and/or review existing planned expenditure when reserves are low.
The Trustee’s primary objectives are assistance to families experiencing financial hardship during hospital stays; provision of INR testing equipment for use by patients at home as these are not funded through NHS; and funding permitting, six monthly social events for beneficiaries as these provide peer support and are sometimes often the only social event families struggling financially may have. The Trustees use their discretion in relation to excess monies held in reserve.
Families of Ocean Ward is a small charity relying entirely on donations. It does not receive or apply for grants. It does not have any long-term investments. The Charity’s reserve currently consists of unrestricted funds.
We are again fortunate this year to have received substantial donations from our supporters to enable us to continue with our aims, however, we are always mindful that a decrease in income would impact on the running of the Charity, there needs to be sufficient monies held in the reserve account to ensure the basic running of the charity, such as insurance, accounts and return filing, etc, as well as ensuring the core support of financial assistance while in hospital and the provision of INR testing equipment is able to continue for up to a year. The Trustees currently estimate this to be in the region of £20,000.
Where the Trustees have identified a particular project or event which will require significant funding within the next 12 month period, such funds may, by the agreement of a majority of the Trustees, be held in a reserve as “earmarked” monies for the purposes of the project concerned. Examples would be, the annual Paultons Park trip which is valuable to beneficiaries as they offer contact time and peer support with others experiencing the same challenges of having to deal with a congenital heart condition; the provision of equipment and furnishings for use in hospital as this makes the ward more user friendly and helps create a more conducive environment to recovery of beneficiaries and reduce stress to the patient and their family. Restricted funds would also be held in reserve until such time as the monies are paid out for the particular objective of the donation and may not be used for any other reason. In the event that restricted donations cannot be applied for the purpose they were donated, the trustees would wherever possible make direct contact with the donor with a view to returning the donation unless the donor consents to the donation being released for the general purposes of the charity. Where direct contact details are unknown, then the trustees will also publicise that the purpose cannot be achieve on the website and Facebook page requesting donors make contact.
Projects should commence within 12 months of the Charity’s year end in April to ensure earmarked funds are not held indefinitely. If a project has not started within the 12 months period, the Trustees review whether it is still in the best interests of the Charity and its beneficiaries to use funds towards the project or if it should be used for other purposes. This may result in the money continuing to be earmarked for the same project for a further period, if, for example, the delay is because of factors outside of the control of the Trustees.
## Trustees – Appointing new Trustees.
Once we have identified a potential new trustee, an information pack is sent/emailed to them to read to make them aware of what the requirements of the role will be. Once they are happy to proceed we follow our New Trustee procedures to gain the relevant documents required and carry out the required identity checks for them to be able to begin the role. A Special meeting is held between the trustees to confirm this change.
## Governance
The Charity’s Objects are set out in its governing document which is a trust deed, and are as follows:
1. To promote and protect the good health of and relieve sickness of children and young persons with congenital heart conditions who are treated at Southampton General Hospital and located across the South and South West of England, including but not limited to West Sussex, The Channel Islands, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Berkshire and Oxfordshire by such assistance and support as the Trustees think fit;
2.
3. To advance the education of the public in the subject of congenital heart disease.
The Charity’s registered address is Unit 13, Quay Lane, Hardway, Gosport, PO12 4LJ
The Trustees confirm that they have seen and approved this Report.
Signed on behalf of the Trustees …………………………………………………… SAM PRIOR Trustee Families of Ocean Ward
11 January 2022
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examinerfs Report
Report to the trusts881
members of
Families of Ocean Ward
On accounts for the year
ended
5 April 2021
Charity no
(if any
1145013
Set out on pages
1and2
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
Charity (Ihe Trust.) for the year ended 5 April 2021.
Re8ponsibllltlè3 and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation
basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act
2011 (Ihe Acr).
I report in respect of my examination of the Twst's accounts carri8d out
urKler section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying OLrt my examination, I
have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charty Commission
under section 145(5){b) of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have
Come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me
cause to believe that in, any material respect..
accounting records were not kept in a¢cordanc8 Wlth section 130 of
the Act or
the ac¢ounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection
with the examination to vthich attention should be drawn in order to enable a
proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Independent
examlner's ststemènt
Slgned:
Date:
31 January 2022
Name:
FJ Wilde
Relevant professional
qualification(s) or b¢xly
(If any):
FCCA DChA
Address:
4 Marigold Drive
Bisley
Surrey GU214SF
Section B
Disclosure
Only Complete rf the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32,
Independent examination of L*arity accounts.. directions and guidance for
examiners).
IER
October 2018
|**Families Of Ocean Ward**||**1145013**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Receipts andpayments accounts**||||**CC16a**|
|**06/04/2020**
Period start date
**For the period**
**from**|**To**|**05/04/2021**
Period end date|||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**|**Section A Receipts and payments**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**27,255**
**-**
**8**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**27,263**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**27,263**
**2,992**
**1,703**
**2,753**
**8,195**
**-**
**117**
**2,697**
**1,719**
**-**
**-**
**536**
**111**
**895**
**-**
**21,718**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**21,718**
**5,545**
**-**
**69,910**
**75,455**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**27,255**
**-**
**8**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**27,263**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**27,263**
**2,992**
**1,703**
**2,753**#
**8,195**
**-**
**117**
**2,697**
**1,719**
**-**
**-**
**536**
**111**
**895**
**-**
**21,718**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**21,718**
**5,545**||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|Donations|**27,255**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**27,255**||**30,573**|
|Ticket contributions collected|**-**|||**-**||**647**|
|Bank Interest|**8**|||**8**||**41**|
|Miscellaneous|**-**|||**-**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|**27,263**|||**27,263**||**31,261**|
||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||||||
||**-**||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|||
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**|||||||
||||**-**|**27,263**||**31,261**|
||||||||
|Sponsorshipof nurse|**2,992**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**2,992**||**8,977**|
|Grants and Hardship paymenrts|**1,703**|||**1,703**||**3,860**|
|Equipment for Patients|**2,753**|||**2,753**||**2,579**|
|Equipment and Purchases for Ward|**8,195**|||**8,195**||**8,547**|
|Christmas Party|**-**|||**-**||**2,091**|
|Fun Days and Activities|**117**|||**117**||**7,462**|
|Fundraisingand Runningcosts|**2,697**|||**2,697**||**1,978**|
|Merchandise|**1,719**|||**1,719**||**406**|
|Travel Expenses|**-**|||**-**||**170**|
|Website Development|**-**|||**-**||**375**|
|Professional fees|**536**|||**536**||**699**|
|Miscellaneous Expenses|**111**|||**111**||**184**|
|Office rent and equipment|**895**|||**895**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**21,718**|||**21,718**||**37,328**|
||||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|||||||
||**-**||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|||
||**-**|||**-**|||
|**_Sub total_ **|**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||
||||**-**|**21,718**||**37,328**|
||||||||
||**5,545**|**-**|**-**|
**5,545**||**- 6,067**|
||**-**|**-**|**-**
**-**|**-**||**-**|
||**69,910**|**-**||**69,910**||**75,977**|
||**75,455**|**-**|**-**|**75,455**||**69,910**|
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
31/01/2022
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Categories
Details
to nearest £
to nearest£
to nearest £
B1 Cash funds
CutWI Bank A¢count
54,770
Reserve Bank Account
20,552
Pety Gash
133
Total cash funds
75,455
lawee baarKes wrth receipts and payments
axounusll
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Detai15
to neaTest £
to nearest £
to neaTest £
Fund to which
a¥¥*t ltsn
Details
CostlorAionall
Current value
B3 Investment assets
Fund to whith
a55et belon
Detai15
2 Laptops fDrvolunleers-April 2018
Costlopb'onall
Current val
84 Assets retained for the
charity's own use
1,119
Fund to which
relAtes
600
untdue
iot)al
lthen due
Details
IE accrual
B5 Liabilities
Signed by one or t trustees on
behawof all the Iru5tees
Slpnglure
Date of
afr.o
CCXX R2 accounts ISSI
3110112022