StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 ## **StopGap Sheffield** ## **Trustees’ Annual Report & Accounts** **2020-21** **Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Report For the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021** **Charity Reference and Administration** **Registered Number:** 1146601 1 StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 **Registered:** 27 March 2012 ## **Registered office:** Sheffield Cathedral Church Street Sheffield S1 1HA ## **Trustees (including officers):** Jo Abbott Chair Louise Finnigan Secretary Barney Williams Treasurer Tina Powell-Wiffen Souleymane Bah Timothy Renshaw Aimee Lowe Wendy Robson - Observer ## **Administrator (part time):** Liz Grasso ## **Bankers:** Virgin Money ## **Note: Public Benefit:** In compiling this report and in exercising their powers and duties, the Trustees have had due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** 2 StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 ## **Governing Document:** StopGap Sheffield is a Charitable Association whose constitution was adopted on the 4[th] October 2011 and amended by a Resolution passed at a Special General Meeting on the 28[th] February 2012. ## **Governance and Management:** The Charity and its property are managed and administered by trustees comprising its officers and other trustees elected at the last Annual General Meeting or co-opted during the year. All trustees must retire at each Annual General Meeting but are eligible for re-election. The day to day running of the Charity is the responsibility of its officers (the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer). The trustees meet regularly and receive reports from the officers and from other appropriate persons on the operations of the Charity, its finances, fundraising and governance. The trustees take decisions regarding strategic and policy direction, significant items of expenditure and other major issues. ## **Objectives, Activities and Achievements** ## **Charitable Objectives:** The objectives of StopGap Sheffield (hereinafter referred to as StopGap), as stated in its constitution, are 'the relief of poverty of the homeless, temporary homeless and rough sleepers in the City of Sheffield by the provision of overnight emergency accommodation and related support services. ## **Method of operation:** StopGap arranges and pays for short-term overnight accommodation in Sheffield for those who may otherwise find themselves on the streets or sleeping rough. Accommodation is in private B&Bs approved both by Sheffield City Council and ourselves. We do not possess, hire, or otherwise provide our own accommodation. StopGap liaises closely with various local voluntary sector agencies accepting referrals from them of individuals as appropriate (and subject to availability in all cases), usually for one night at a time and usually for a maximum of 3 nights per individual within any six-month period. Individuals are asked to report back to the referral agency, or to another appropriate agency, the following day; and must be re-referred by an appropriate agency for a subsequent night's stay. StopGap itself does not select, engage with or interview people directly. The referral process is run via a mobile phone. For most of the current year this was done by our parttime administrator, assisted by a rota drawn from our volunteer trustees. We have no office or permanent staff, other than a part-time administrator as circumstances permit, and currently have no other volunteers. ## **Impact of Covid:** 3 StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 The Government ‘Everyone In’ initiative where they supported rough sleepers to move into self-contained accommodation, ended on 1[st] October 2020. The Sheffield City Council then put in place their Winter Plan between 21[st] December 2020 and March 2021– this was then extended to June. This meant that anyone sleeping rough in Sheffield was assessed and worked with the secure emergency and then more permanent ‘move on’ accommodation. This prevented deaths and serious harm due to harsh weather conditions, and increased opportunities for engagement with people sleeping rough. ## **Achievements for the year 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021:** 2021 has again proved to be an interesting year for Stop Gap and other charities with the Covid 19 Pandemic. However, as a charity, Stop Gap have : - We again worked with the Applied Projects team of Sheffield Hallam University students who collected the latest evidence of homelessness within the UK and Sheffield. This included students working with Framework and gaining greater insight into local issues. The students did a presentation to StopGap with the results of their findings. The above evidence was used in Stop Gap news updates and funding grant applications. - Stop Gap have been successful at obtaining funding from grant applications (see updates later) - Have continued with their “sponsor a room” campaign - Produced several newsletters to our supporters with detailed case studies of people that we have helped, and Covid updates. - The Trustees continued to meet regularly via Microsoft Teams. - One of our Trustees, Souleymane Bah, attended the Cutlers’ Hall presentation ceremony on behalf of StopGap to receive a cheque from them – see photograph below. 4 StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 ## **Issues:** During lockdown StopGap beds were still being used despite Sheffield Council having a Duty of Care to house homeless and rough sleepers. This led to us implementing a cap of 5 StopGap bed nights per month from January to June 2021. One of the challenges we have seen is a lack of accommodation in the city for rough sleepers to be placed in. There is demand from not just Sheffield Council but other Councils in the South Yorkshire area, as well as social services and the NHS amongst others. During the 12-month period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021, StopGap provided a total of 120 bed nights for a total of 37 individuals. |**MONTH**|**NUMBER OF**
**PEOPLE PLACED**|**NUMBER OF**
**BEDNIGHTS USED**|**REASON FOR**
**HOMELESSNESS**| |---|---|---|---| |**JULY**|**EVERYONE IN**
**SCHEME IN**
**OPERATION**|**EVERYONE IN**
**SCHEME IN**
**OPERATION**|**EVERYONE IN**
**SCHEME IN**
**OPERATION**| |**AUGUST**|||| |**SEPTEMBER**|||| |**OCTOBER**|6|16|Relationship b/
down- 4
Eviction - 2| |**NOVEMBER**|10|34|Relationship b/
down – 5
Prison release – 1
Eviction – 1
Other - 3| 5 StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 |**DECEMBER**|12|39|Relationship b/
down – 4
Eviction – 3
Left rehab – 1
Asylum seeker – 1
Other – 3| |---|---|---|---| |**JANUARY**|0|0|| |**FEBRUARY**|1|3|Relationship b/
down - 1| |**MARCH**|3|9|Fleeing violence –
2
Unknown - 1| |**APRIL**|3|9|Eviction – 1
Fleeing violence –
1
Other - 1| |**MAY**|0|0|| |**JUNE**|2|10|Fleeing violence -
2| |**TOTALS**|37|120|| ## **Summary:** As in previous years, for most people, the main reasons for homelessness (where noted) were relationship breakdown, closely followed by eviction. The reasons for the latter were usually not specified. Most referrals came via Framework's rough sleeper service on weekdays. However, other agencies, such as St Wilfrid's Centre, the Archer Project, the Snowdrop Project, and ASSIST, can refer into Framework during office hours to access StopGap accommodation. There have been very infrequent out of hours referrals throughout the week from other agencies and from individual churches. As in previous years, we have continued to give priority to those people who are most likely to be able to engage with services to increase their chances of obtaining longer-term accommodation in the near future. Statistics consistently show that a significant proportion of people that are seen are currently engaging with other services after accessing the StopGap scheme, principally by signing up to Framework's Rough Sleeper service. ## **Fundraising:** 6 StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 We continue a programme of fundraising throughout the year. We are grateful to individuals, churches, and a variety of voluntary sector organisations including : Church Burgesses - £3,000 on 3/11/20 and a further £3,000 on 30/04/21 Queen Victoria and Johnson Memorial Trust - £1,500 on 25/03/21 Sir John Osborn Charitable Trust - £1,000 on 21/06/21 National Lottery Awards for All - £5,000 on 30/03/21 Brelms Trust - £2,500 (part of a 3-year award made on 12/03/19) Over the past few years, we have been fortunate in being able to obtain sufficient funds from a variety of sources, such as those cited above, to sustain year-round operation for the foreseeable future. The accompanying financial statement shows stability in our reserves. Whatever the outcome of funding bids, as in previous years we would hope to be able to offer an all-year emergency service for people who are judged to be most vulnerable: e.g., young men and especially young women aged between 18 and 21, or people over 60. In addition to our usual appeals to religious groups and community organisations for donations and smaller grants, we plan to repeat our Sponsor a Bed campaign in the pre-Christmas period. We aim to produce at least one newsletter or information update annually, generally in the late autumn, to precede a Christmas appeal. We also have a website (www.stopgapsheffield.org, ) through which it is possible to make online donations, as well as a Facebook page. ## **Other activities carried out over the last year:** For the second year running we held a very successful well attended joint AGM with HARC on Zoom. ## **Initiatives underway for the coming year 2021/22 include:** Once again, we are hoping to work with Sheffield Hallam University students to Students to produce an updated report on the national rough sleeping situation, and then drill down to look at how this then impacts on us at a local level. It is anticipated that this will help with future newsletters and funding bids, and hopefully be presented at our AGM. ## **And finally:** Can I take this opportunity to thank our Independent Examiner, Dr Peter Cromar, who carries out a thorough job, voluntarily, on our accounts. 7 StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 Thank you to all the homeless agencies that StopGap work with. StopGap couldn't do it without your help, knowledge and expertise A big thank you must go to Liz Grasso StopGap’s part time administrator without whom I couldn't cope. Thank you. ## **Declaration:** The Trustees of StopGap Sheffield declare that they have approved the above Trustees’ Annual Report, and the following have signed on behalf of all the Trustees- ## **Signatures** Full Name Jo Abbott Louise Finnigan Position Chair Secretary Date 11[th] January 2022 ## **StopGap -Income & Expenditure for the 12 months ending 30 June 2021** ||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|**Total**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||**Funds**|**Funds**|**Funds**|**Funds**| ||||**2020-202**|**2019-202**| ||**2020-2021**|**2020-2021**|**1**|**0**| ||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| |**Receipts**||||| |Subscriptions|150||150|| |Donations|2093||2093|3741| |Grants|11000|3000|14000|27000| |**Total Receipts**|**13243**|**3000**|**16243**|**31084**| **Payments** 8 StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020/21 |Self-employed Administrator
Postage and Telephones
Trustee Insurance
Accommodation costs
**Total Payments**
**Net receipts/Payments**
Cash funds at 1 July 2020
**Cash Funds at 30 June 2021**
**Employment of Assets**
**Current Assets**
Yorkshire Bank
**Current Liabilities**
Creditors
**Total assets**
**Assets Employed**
Accumulated Fund at 1 July
2020
Surplus for the year
Accumulated Fund at 30 June
2021|4200
422
1357
**5979**
7264
3000
28011|4200
4054
0
20
422
422
1357
24039
**5979**
**28535**
10263
2550
28011
25461| |---|---|---| ||**35275**
**3000**|**38274**
**28011**| |||38472
28011
(198)| |||**38274**
**28011**| |||28011
25461
10263
2550| |||**38274**
**28011**| ## **Statement of Independent Examiner** I have examined the books and records of Stopgap Sheffield and find the statement of income and expenditure for the year ended 30 June 2021 and the Balance Sheet as at 30 June 2021 to be a true and fair reflection of the organisation’s affairs. Dr Peter Cromar 19 January 2022 **Signatures** Full Name Jo Abbott Louise Finnigan Position Chair Secretary 9 StopGap Annual Report and Accounts 2020121 Date 11th January 2022 10