## **RED ZEBRA COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS** ## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 2024** The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015). ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** ## **Governing document.** The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006. ## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS** **Registered Company number Registered Charity number** 07596275 (England and Wales) 1145674 **Registered office** Red Zebra Head Office Unit B2 1 Thanet Way Whitstable Kent CT5 3QZ |**ExistingTrustees**||| |---|---|---| |Ms M Evans|resigned|23rdJanuary.2025| |Ms L Daone|resigned|12thSeptember 2024| |Ms C Dearth||| |**New Trustees**||| |Lucy Harris|appointed|13thMarch 2025| |James Flanagan|appointed|13thMarch 2025| |Ron Elliott|appointed|13thMarch 2025| ## **Auditors** McCabe Ford Williams Statutory Auditors and Chartered Accountants 2 The Links HERNE BAY Kent CT6 7GQ ## **STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES** The trustees (who are also the directors of Red Zebra Community Solutions for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements 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 that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business. 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 statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. In so far as the trustees are aware: - there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware; and - - the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information. ## **OBJECTIVES OF THE CHARITY** The charities mission remains the creation of stronger, healthier communities by supporting people and organisations to improve their wellbeing. We are passionate about improving local services, increasing access to them, and promoting equal opportunities for everyone. ## **ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE** The Board meets on a regular basis to discuss strategy and governance. The day-to-day management of the charity has been designated by the Trustees to the Senior Management Team comprising of three senior staff: ## **Voluntary and Community Services Lead** ## **Social Prescribing Lead** ## **Finance Manager** The Board and these individuals are considered to be the charity's Key Management Personnel as defined by the Charities SORP. Red Zebra has reviewed its management structure during the financial year to reflect its activities and staffing. The management structure is designed to ensure effective delivery of its services and appropriate management and support for staff. ## **PUBLIC BENEFIT** Trustees are aware of the Charity Commission's guidance on Charities and Public Benefit. In particular, the need to demonstrate an identifiable benefit and to show that the benefits are open to a section of the public that is appropriate to our aims. This report provides information about the charity's aims, activities, and achievements. The trustees consider that this information demonstrates the clear benefits to our beneficiaries arising from our work. Red Zebra provides support and services to a large number of organisations and individuals with a dedicated and enthusiastic work force. In the future it will be critical for Red Zebra to be able to continue to offer effective support services. Report on achievements and performance relating to the charity’s strategy and activities. ## **Voluntary Services** Red Zebra continues to manage the volunteer car service covering the Whitstable CT5 postcode area. We have provided this vital service for over two decades with the help of our team of volunteers supporting the over 55s who may, through age or mobility, find it difficult to access public transport. The Car Service currently operates with a membership of 581 clients. Many of these use the car service regularly, some perhaps every few months and others renew every year to use our service just when it is needed. It is a lifeline for many of our members. It means that people can continue to be independent and not rely on friends and family. The service enables people to take control of their lives, an ethos that Red Zebra adopts across our services. “You have saved my life this year, bringing me to all my chemotherapy appointments” – Client aged 66. “I look forward to my regular trips to the physio as I enjoy a nice chat with the driver. - Client aged 78. “Thank you for looking after my Mum, she uses your service regularly and it means I don’t have to worry about how she gets there. It is also reassuring that the driver will wait for her and bring her home. It is an essential service for her.” We are engaged with over 30 local volunteers to help run the service who generously give up their time. This year they have covered over 25,000 miles and provide the charity with over 2,500 hours enabling the service to function cost effectively. “It is my absolute pleasure to drive clients to their appointments, I see firsthand the difference the service makes. I love meeting new people and hearing about their lives. I feel it is my duty to give something back to the community. Spyros- Volunteer Driver “It’s wonderful to come into the office every week and book trips for the clients who are so grateful for our service. I feel like I am a part of the local community and really helping and making a difference.” Pat- Office Volunteer We involve the volunteers with the charities work and fund-raising activities, providing them with opportunities to socialise and meet up with each other outside of the office environment. This helps enhance their feelings of wellbeing and value to their local community. Clients use the service predominantly for medical appointments to get to GP practices and hospitals. We also facilitate trips to appointments within the community to various clubs. The Blind Club, Parkinsons Gentle Gym, and COGS Club to name a few. We have also been able to bring people to funeral services, pharmacies, and even horse-riding! We are pleased to have supported local vaccination programmes at Whitstable Medical practice. **Annual figures** : Medical Trips- 2,275 Other Medical related – 892 Community Trips- 998 We also operate a ‘courier service’ for Whitstable’s Medical Centres . This is another vital resource also facilitated by our volunteer drivers. “We are very grateful for the service provided by Red Zebra, we have a great relationship and lines of communication are always open”. Estuary View Medical Centre. ## **Intergenerational Work** We continue to work with local schools. Whitstable Junior School make beautiful birthday cards which we send out to clients who have ‘milestone’ birthdays. The cards are so gratefully received by the clients and they appreciate the effort that the children have made writing and designing each individual card. ## **Social Prescribing** We are always looking to continue to expand and evolve our Social Prescribing services, we are finding the costof-living crisis and housing issues are still dominating the complexity of the cases referred to us. We continue to address the challenges of supporting the NHS in a reduction of clinical time spent with GP’s, through the intervention of Social Prescribing. Studies have shown that 20% of daily GP appointments can be dealt with by Social Prescribing solutions and we feel our service has proven its ability to support this figure. We have continued to ensure we are making an impact within our communities through our contracted areas: NHS Kent & Medway ICB - covering Herne Bay, Canterbury, Whitstable and Faversham. Herne Bay Integrated Healthcare PCN Link Workers. Herne Bay PCN Children and Young Persons Project. (CYP) Within our ICB funded ‘Community’ roles, we have continued to make great strides acting within clinical multidisciplinary teams as a ‘patient voice’ and holistic lens, and working in partnership with other agencies to ensure parity of care and opportunity, as well as identifying gaps within provision and ensuring the best possible outcomes for our clients. This has worked particularly well within the Faversham district, where our Social Prescriber has acted as a key stakeholder in the development of localised action group- the Faversham Community Networking Group, as well as continued clinics and drops ins hosted at the Faversham Umbrella Centre on a Wednesday. There has also been excellent outreach work within the Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable areas working alongside churches, Umbrella centres, community venues to enable more face-to-face support and engagement. We continue to work closely with the D.W.P at their ‘Mindful café’ Events, where work coaches bring their most vulnerable clients to directly engage with supportive services, generating many referrals. We are very hopeful these will continue into the next financial year. Our Herne Bay based P.C.N contracts continue to operate successfully, and we are currently undertaking a review to expand these further in the coming year by switching existing staff on the C.Y.P Project on to a ‘termtime’ hours employment basis. This will complement the school’s academic year and enable us providing more hours to meet the demand during school term times. During the year 2023-24 Red Zebra have had nearly 1,000 referrals into our Social Prescribing services, some of these clients having very complex cases that required multiple individual solutions which were researched and found by our Social Prescribing staff teams. ## **Strategy and Structure.** The charities Management Team remains unchanged with the position held as detailed above. There are no plans to alter this structure in the coming year as it remains both financial and operational viable as long as the existing contracts and key people remain in place. The charities strategy in the coming year will be to remain focused on continuing to expand its Social Prescribing offerings and apply for donation or grant funding to facilitate complimentary community projects to support its mission to enhance the local community. ## **Ongoing Concern** The charity sector remains a challenging environment in which to operate with budgets remaining tight as income and donations are not keeping up with inflation and rises the average wage. The charity has posted a small trading loss this year but this is largely attributable to ‘one off’ costs relating to a planned restructure and the connected advice on HR. The charities reserves remain strong with a forecast to return to a small surplus in 2024/25. The NHS continues to undergo a program of change including the recent announcement that NHS England is being disbanded. The confirmation of the extension to our NHS ICB grants remains outstanding at this time and without these the charity understands is not able to continue to operate in its current form. However, there has not been an indication from the NHS that these grants will not be awarded to Red Zebra again for coming 2025/26 financial year and on this basis the charity will continue to operate until the NHS announcement has been made. ## **RED ZEBRA COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS** ## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **AUDITORS** The auditors, McCabe Ford Williams, will be proposed for re-appointment at the forthcoming AGM Meeting. Approved by order of the board of trustees on ............................................. and signed on its behalf by: ..................................................... **Lucy Harris Trustee** …………………………………….. **James Flanagan Trustee**