2021-03-31-accounts - Parents Of Children With Additional Needs

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Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Charity number 1147436

Annual Report and Financial Statements

for the year ended 31 March 2021

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

Contents	Page
Trustees' report	2 to 8
Examiner's report	9
Receipts and payments account	10
Statement of assets and liabilities	11
Notes to the accounts	12 to 13

Prepared by West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report for the year ended 31 March 2021

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

Anne Patterson-Brown Tracey Smith-McQuillan Nicola Sykes Carol Thomas Johanna Hull Anisa Kothia Joanne Jackson Joanne Osborne

Charity number

The charity was registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, number 1147436, on 24 May 2012.

Principal address Bankers Suite 230 Lloyds Bank plc 6 Queen Street PO Box 1000 Huddersfield Andover HD1 2SQ BX1 1LT

Independent examiner

Claire Welling West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW

Structure, governance and management

The charity is governed by a constitution adopted on 18 June 2011, as amended on 15 November 2019.

Method of recruitment and appointment of trustees

The trustees of the charity are appointed by the members at the AGM.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Objectives and activities

The charity's objects

To relieve in the metropolitan district of Kirklees, and surrounding districts, children under 25 years old with learning, physical or sensory disabilities, or who have behavioural problems, by providing support, advice and information to their parents and/or others who are responsible for providing their care and/or support.

The charity's main activities

PCAN is the independent, parent-led forum in Kirklees for all parents and carers of children and young people with additional needs aged from birth to 25 years.

PCAN provides good information, links to social media so parents can network with each other, and a range of social and other events to help us to develop a strong, collective voice so that we can work in partnership with service providers across Kirklees. Together we can improve services for our children and young people with additional needs!

PCAN welcomes all parents or carers, whether you are just beginning to become aware that your child or young person may have additional needs, or if they have confirmed diagnosis or disability.

Our work is divided into three strands: Good information, Support and friendship and Stronger voice.

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 ensuring that the voices of parents and carers of children and young people with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) are heard in the planning, development and delivery of services for their children (engagement and co-

Achievements and performance

Note from the Trustees

The word “unprecedented” was much used during 2020-2021 but for once this was really true!

Suddenly the country was plunged into lockdown which meant that PCAN had no ability to meet up in person with members or indeed as trustees and volunteers. Like many organisation, PCAN had to react very quickly so we would be able to function during “lockdown” and of course at that time we had no idea how long it would last. So we had to scrap all our event plans for the year and think on our feet. So you will see lots of changes in the way we had to work throughout our annual report.

Thanks to all our helpers

Our team of Trustees mostly contribute their time and skills for free, and those who are self-employed and receive payment for their work also contribute at least as many hours a week on a voluntary basis. We also have a number of fabulous volunteers who have been involved in checking documents, delivering training, interviewing Kirklees staff, supporting people to fill in surveys, networking information and more.

We would like to thank PCAN Trustees, volunteers and members for giving up their valuable time to either help us with PCAN’s work in whatever ways they can and generally helping us to make a difference for everyone. You are fantastic, and we couldn’t do this without you!

If you would like to share your skills volunteering with us, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact us on 07754102336 or info@pcankirklees.org

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Covid 19 – what the changes meant for PCAN and families of children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

At PCAN we had to work in a very different way as we were not able to continue with our in person social and school events. PCAN Trustees and volunteers had always worked from home but now we had to work together in a different way.
So big thanks to Carol who researched, guided and trained us all on Zoom and ensured we could all access the various online meetings and webinars, whatever platform they were held on. All via online Carol “tutorials”
Families of children with additional needs were disproportionately affected by lockdown with children at home, lack of social care and other support, lack of activities for children and young people to attend with parents trying to support everyone’s mental health.
There was lots of information from lots of places but most of it in inaccessible language and much of it being constantly updated so information was a huge challenge for everyone.
Big thanks to Johanna, who, with her legal training was able to decipher all the various (and constantly changing) legislation and guidance and put it into a readable format that we could share on our website and social media.
Trace worked really hard to signpost families to foodbanks, the Council helpline, local Covid Support Groups and other resources including support for computers, technology, white goods. She also researched all the online fun activities, teaching support, parents’ wellbeing and other online resources to share with parents to make their lives easier.
Our phone line and direct messaging platforms were very busy and Carol and Johanna were able (with your consent) to report your issues directly to the professionals concerned – we know in some cases that this made a real difference.
Online learning and meeting up was inaccessible for many families for many reasons. For a minority though it proved a revelation with less stress all round.
The return to school in September was not straightforward for our families with changes around bubbles, classroom layouts and children and young people being sent home for self-isolation.
Significant impact on transitions, especially post 16 where carefully worked out transition plans were physically unable to take place.
All our meetings with Council and Health colleagues continued, but had to take place virtually on Zoom or Teams.
It has to be reported that it was a challenging time for PCAN to work alongside Kirklees Council, who became very “inward facing” for some months (like every Council in the land) while they were dealing with the huge workload generated by the Covid 19 pandemic. We were however aware that work was still continuing in the background on a number of strands of work that would benefit PCAN families.
As a result of the lack of information about progress on the above, we held a meeting in December 2020 with key partners in the Council to reinforce the need for good communication with PCAN, and set up a range of new update meetings which were not solely dominated by Covid projects. This was particularly relevant due to changes in the Council’s workforce and new relationships had to be forged.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Good Information

Parents and carers need good quality information to do the best job they can for their children and young people. PCAN’s works hard to let local parents and carers know about the activities, services, support and information that can make their life, and that of their family, better and this year was more challenging than ever. Key activities for 2020/21 include:

PCAN website and social media were regularly updated including relevant Covid 19 information. Our main private Facebook Group has 1006 members, with over 1000 followers/members of our other groups. All information posted is networked across many other local social media parent and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) groups ensuring a wider reach. We received a higher than usual number of calls for help from parents and signposted lots of people to get help or information.
A huge amount of time was spent reading updated regulations and statutory guidance so we could share it with our families and they could understand what it meant for them. It was very challenging as there was so much conflicting information. Carol and Johanna attended webinars from organisations like Contact, Council for Disabled Children, Steve Broach (barrister), and NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) to make sense of it all and keep up to date.
We held 20 virtual social events (some with guest speakers) and ran webinars (new to us) on Disability benefits, Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), Covid 19 vaccinations and the changes to education. We also ran our AGM for the first time virtually as a webinar with speakers from Kirklees Council including a keynote address from Mel Meggs, Director of Children’s Services in Kirklees.

Support and Friendship

Helping parents to meet and support each other is a big part of what PCAN is about. We want parents and carers to feel less isolated and to be able to contact other parents who understand the challenges and the joys of having children and young people with additional needs. This was a big challenge during the lockdowns which occurred in 2020 and 2021.

What we did in 2020/21

Connected people via our Facebook groups, and virtual social and information events. Huge thanks for our members for the helping hand they extended to others.
We ran 20 virtual social events so that parents could still connect with each other and a fun quiz night.
We ran webinars to share information as well taking a higher number of phone calls, Facebook and WhatsApp messages. For example, Trace was in contact with over 300 families via phone, WhatsApp and Messenger.
A PCAN Trustee was also available to offer a friendly, empathic point of contact for parent carers who ring the main PCAN number with concerns or contacted us by email. We received multiple referrals from other agencies such as Carers Count, KIAS, Northorpe Hall, Community Plus, Early Support.
Trace kept a very close eye on social media so she could pick up on parent concerns, and Johanna was able to answer education queries.
We continued to supply Maxcards for families living in Kirklees to enable families to save money on days out.
We have built up a really strong relationship with Carers Count and S2R so that between us our parents access some of the support they need.
We received a grant from the Council (Do Something Now) – a Covid relief grant so we could work more closely with needy families to help them get the help they vitally needed.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Support and Friendship (continued)

We teamed up with Carers Count , S2R and Umbrella Yoga to offer a range of therapeutic/wellbeing activities to parents, e.g. Aromatherapy and mindful yoga.
Parents contacted us with a multitude of issues to do with housing, finances, mental health issues as well as struggling with children at home. Trace worked really hard to support those families including working closely with some local councillors across Kirklees.
PCAN also supported the distribution of sensory toy packs in conjunction with SEN (Special Educational Needs) kids, another Kirklees Support Group.

Feedback from families

Thank you for helping me on your day off. It’s a relief to be listened to and believed. Thank you for ringing me back.

Thanks for your help – I felt so overwhelmed that I couldn’t cope with all the information.

I’m so glad I found this group of parents to support me who know what I’m going through.

Stronger Voice - Together we can make a difference

PCAN works with local service providers to ensure that parents’ voices are heard in the design and development of new and existing services (parent participation). It is a mandatory requirement for Local Authority and Health departments to gather the views of parent carers and this forms a large part of PCAN’s work. Parent participation is all about making sure that parents of children/young people with additional needs can be involved alongside providers in service planning and decision making. The result is services that better meet families’ needs and therefore are valued and have good levels of take up. PCAN receives specific funding from the Department of Education towards the cost of this really important work. This was really challenging during 2020-21 as we couldn’t meet up in person and had to do everything by phone or virtually.

Parents voices were heard in health, education and social care during 2020/21.

Achievements

Early Support: Following acknowledgement of the gap in service for families of children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability), around 50 members of Kirklees’ Early Help Team received “Day in the Life” training from PCAN. This training was also delivered to members of the Disabled children’s and Inclusion teams.
PCAN was fully involved in reviewing the letters you received from the Council about schools and the pandemic and we hope that they were clear and readable. We know how confusing the information was and hope that in some way we were able to make it more accessible.
We took part in two Inclusive Ambition days run by the Council, the focus of which was about what improvements need to be made to the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) system, and how this could be achieved.
We promoted the education survey which we co-designed with Impower, a consultancy company working with the council during lockdown.
We worked with a group of 20 local parents to co-produce a new version of the Kirklees Local Offer – the mandatory information for parents, carers and young people with additional needs. This was launched in December 2020 and the whole design, navigation and wording in many of the entries co-produced with parents.
The Local Offer work is ongoing with more engagement with young people to design their part of the site, and continued engagement with families about what’s missing and what could be improved. The Council has recruited a team of people whose responsibility it is to continue this work and make sure that the Local Offer is up to date, maintained and a great source of information for families, young people and professionals.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Achievements (continued)

PCAN attended workshops on the neurodevelopmental pathway as it was clear that the waiting lists (previously reduced considerably) were growing again due to the pandemic. We also started work with the Council on a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS) questionnaire. You will hear during our AGM about progress on these two items.
Following our Behaviour Event in 2019, training for parents was purchased by the Council at the end of the financial year and will be available in the last quarter of this year. PCAN has also highlighted at various meetings we attend that there is a culture of disbelief around behaviour and parents’ issues and that this needs to change. More work is going in schools to support children and young people’s mental health, and our training with early support workers has hopefully made them think differently about behaviours which “apparently” only happen at home and not in school.
As Community Voices, PCAN attended a webinar on covid vaccination in February but quickly realised that the information we were receiving was insufficient to inform our parents. Having appealed for help from Kirklees Public health, Emily Parry-Harries and Peter Learmonth agreed to speak at a webinar for parents in February. We also raised the issue about vaccination centres being more accessible for people with additional needs. As a result a number of special sessions were held for young people with learning disabilities and anxiety.
PCAN continued to be represented on the Kirklees SEND Transformation and Commissioning Group, contributing feedback from the lived experience of parents and ensuring parent involvement in the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) improvement planning.
The Council also needed to gather parents’ views on the Early Help offer, Resourced Provision available in certain schools, and Alternative Provision in Kirklees. We held webinars on each of those and gained some really valuable information. A huge thank you to those who attended or filled in the survey.
PCAN Trustees/Volunteers interviewed for the Local Offer Lead Officer, and the Head of Inclusion and safeguarding. Thanks to the Volunteers who assisted with this.
PCAN took part in the Carers Rights Day webinar hosted by Forget-Me-Not Trust together with our counterparts in Calderdale.

We held regular update meetings with various Council Officers to keep them up to date with families’ issues throughout the year.

We successfully delivered a Covid relief project with funding from the Council’s Do Something Now money. This funding enabled us to offer a more in depth case work type of support for a period of 3 months. During this time, we supported 18 families with a variety of very complex needs, often with more than one child with additional needs. Feedback from this project included: families feeling more confident, empowered, having improved knowledge of how to access support and services, reduction in social isolation, improved wellbeing and an improved financial situation.

PCAN Trustees and volunteers attended over 200 meetings with Council and Health colleagues, voluntary sector, schools and other support groups and organisation over the 12 month period
We ran 20 social events, as well as attending regional and national parent carer forum events and taking part in any training required. All of this on a variety of virtual platforms!

Feedback from Tom Brailsford , Service Director Resources, Improvement and Partnerships:

“Kirklees Council and Kirklees CCG’s have a long lasting and strong relationship with PCAN as a key strategic partner. The COVID 19 pandemic has been extremely challenging for everyone but has presented particular challenges for our children and young people and families with additional needs. PCAN has been an integral part of ensuring that parents’, children’s and young people’s lived experience throughout the pandemic has been at the heart of our response as a system. Throughout this period we have also been working together to creatively look at the opportunities the pandemic has presented to deliver services in new ways, and we continue to value the opportunity to work with PCAN to continue to coproduce services and local strategy that drives and improves outcomes.”

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

PCAN is looking for volunteers to help us with our work.

That might be helping at events, looking at documents, coming to meetings, helping us with social media and newsletters, delivering training. There are loads of things you could help with and it may not take up too much of your time.

Please speak to one us at any time if you are interested. Full training will be given as required. Tel: 07754102336.

Thank you!

Funders and Supporters

Many thanks to Kirklees Council for giving us the opportunity of a three year contract from September 2019 to continue to be the voice for parents in Kirklees.
Thank you to the professionals across education, health and social care who promote engagement and co-production at every opportunity – you know who you are!
Thank you to all the people who took time to help other parents during these difficult times.
Thanks to everyone who worked tirelessly to get the Local Offer off the ground.
Thank you to all our colleagues at Carers Count for their commitment to supporting all carers in Kirklees.
Huge thanks to all the PCAN Trustees, volunteers and supporters who give up their time for the benefit of others. We couldn’t do any of this without you.

Financial review

The net receipts for the year were £21,992, including net receipts of £2,413 on unrestricted funds and net receipts of £19,579 on restricted funds after transfers.

Impact of Coronavirus

At the time of signing these accounts the charity has been impacted by the global Covid-19 virus. The trustees have reassessed the charity’s ability to continue for at least 12 months from the date that the accounts are approved and conclude that no material uncertainties exist that cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to meet its liabilities as they fall due.

We have not been affected financially by Coronavirus. Our ability to continue is entirely dependent on grants from the Local Authority and Department for Education. We are able to continue for at least 12 months with our current levels of funding.

Reserves policy

The charity's free reserves, excluding fixed assets, at the year end were £3,061.

The trustees have decided that they will not maintain a level of reserves but will expend all funds on the charity's activities as required by the funders. The charity is able to cease activities at very short notice and the charity has no commitments.

Signed on behalf of the board of trustees on 10/12/2021

Johanna Hull (Trustee)

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Parents of Children with

Additional Needs

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 10 to 13.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 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:

1 accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2 the accounts do not accord with those records.

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.

Claire Welling

26/1/2022

West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service

Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Receipts and payments account for the year ended 31 March 2021

Notes 2021 Unrestricted funds £ Receipts Grants and donations (2) 222 Contract for services - Max cards 294 Other income - Total receipts 516 Payments Co-ordination, project delivery and administration - Room hire, event costs and childcare - Promotions - Max cards 240 Parents expenses - Postage, telephone, broadband and stationery - Equipment - Travel, meeting and AGM expenses - Insurance and registrations - Accountancy and independent examination - Trustee training - Website - Other expenses - Liaison service - Education work - Legal and professional - Freelance workers - Total payments 240 276 Transfers between funds 2,137 Net movement in funds after transfers 2,413 Fund balances brought forward 648 Fund balances carried forward (3) 3,061 Net receipts / (payments)	2021 Restricted funds £ 18,590 40,795 - - 59,385 9,720 2,060 342 - 40 1,845 1,334 22 1,010 396 475 192 - 8,820 4,534 - 6,879 37,669 21,716 (2,137) 19,579 13,892 33,471	2021 Total funds £ 18,812 40,795 294 - 59,901 9,720 2,060 342 240 40 1,845 1,334 22 1,010 396 475 192 - 8,820 4,534 - 6,879 37,909 21,992 - 21,992 14,540 36,532	2020 Total funds £ 15,539 30,000 743 181 46,463 12,900 2,562 475 737 - 1,658 308 3,171 909 396 - 242 48 11,461 5,336 2,040 2,205 44,448 2,015 - 2,015 12,525 14,540

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Statement of assets and liabilities

as at 31 March 2021 2021 Unrestricted £ Cash funds Cash at bank 3,061 Total cash funds 3,061 Assets retained for the charity's own use 2 IPad 3 1 Laser printer 1 Laptop 1 Epson projector 1 Portable screen 1 PAYG basic mobile phone 1 Motorola smart phone 1 Brother laser printer 2 Android smart phones 2 Ipad 8th generation 1 Refurbished Windows laptop Liabilities Independent examination Event costs Freelance workers Education Work Co-ordination services Postage, telephone, broadband and stationery Liaison services	2021 Restricted £ 33,471 33,471	2021 Total £ 36,532 36,532 £ 396 71 45 720 788 24 1,219 3,263	2020 Total £ 14,540 14,540

Approval of the accounts

The financial statements were approved by the board of trustees on 10/12/2021

Johanna Hull (Trustee)

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Notes to the accounts continued

for the year ended 31 March 2021

1 Accounting

Basis of accounting

The trustees have taken advantage of section 133 of the Charities Act 2011 and have prepared the accounts on a receipts and payments basis.

There has been no change to the accounting policies since last year.

No changes have been made to the accounts for previous years.

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.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.

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 accounts.

2 Grants and donations Department for Education Kirklees Council Donations 3 Restricted funds Department for Education Do Something Now Time for me Kirklees Metropolitan Council Kirklees Local offer	Balance b/f £ 620 - 255 13,017 - 13,892	2021 Unrestricted funds £ - - 222 222 Incoming £ 15,000 3,590 - 30,000 10,795 59,385	2021 Restricted funds £ 15,000 3,590 - 18,590 Outgoing £ 14,992 3,377 - 15,475 3,825 37,669	2021 Total funds £ 15,000 3,590 222 18,812 Transfers £ (619) (213) (255) (1,050) - (2,137)	2020 Total funds £ 15,000 - 539 15,539 Balance c/f £ 9 - - 26,492 6,970 33,471

Fund name

Department for Education

Do Something Now

Time for me

Kirklees Metropolitan Council

Kirklees Local offer

Purpose of restriction

Towards the provision of a Parent Carer Forum in Kirklees. The transfer relates to releasing accumulated left over balances from previous years to unrestricted funds, as agreed with the funder.

To help communities respond to the challenges facing as a result of Covid19. Transfer relates to releasing the left over restricted balance to unrestricted funds as agreed with the funder.

Provision of PCAN time to input into educational issues for the Council. The transfer relates to releasing the left over restricted balance to unrestricted funds as agreed with the funder.

Delivery of a parent Carer Forum in Kirklees. Transfer relates to moving freelance work carried out last year from unrestricted funds to Kirklees Metropolitan Council fund as agreed by the funder. Towards local offer work.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Notes to the accounts continued

for the year ended 31 March 2021

4 Related party transactions Trustee expenses Total amount paid Number of trustees who were paid expenses Nature of the expenses Trustee remuneration and benefits Name of trustee Legal authority Carol Thomas Governing document Governing document Governing document Tracey Smith-McQuillan Johanna Hull	2021 £ 17 1 Travel 2021 £ 12,548 9,866 4,425 26,839	2020 £ 3,171 5 Travel 2020 £ 13,496 11,866 5,335 30,697

The above trustees were engaged on a freelance basis to provide Co-ordination services, Liaison Services and the Education role.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Charity number 1147436

Annual Report and Financial Statements

for the year ended 31 March 2021

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2021

Contents	Page
Trustees' report	2 to 8
Examiner's report	9
Receipts and payments account	10
Statement of assets and liabilities	11
Notes to the accounts	12 to 13

Prepared by West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report for the year ended 31 March 2021

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

Anne Patterson-Brown Tracey Smith-McQuillan Nicola Sykes Carol Thomas Johanna Hull Anisa Kothia Joanne Jackson Joanne Osborne

Charity number

The charity was registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, number 1147436, on 24 May 2012.

Principal address Bankers Suite 230 Lloyds Bank plc 6 Queen Street PO Box 1000 Huddersfield Andover HD1 2SQ BX1 1LT

Independent examiner

Claire Welling West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW

Structure, governance and management

The charity is governed by a constitution adopted on 18 June 2011, as amended on 15 November 2019.

Method of recruitment and appointment of trustees

The trustees of the charity are appointed by the members at the AGM.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Objectives and activities

The charity's objects

The charity's main activities

PCAN is the independent, parent-led forum in Kirklees for all parents and carers of children and young people with additional needs aged from birth to 25 years.

PCAN welcomes all parents or carers, whether you are just beginning to become aware that your child or young person may have additional needs, or if they have confirmed diagnosis or disability.

Our work is divided into three strands: Good information, Support and friendship and Stronger voice.

Public benefit statement

Achievements and performance

Note from the Trustees

The word “unprecedented” was much used during 2020-2021 but for once this was really true!

Thanks to all our helpers

If you would like to share your skills volunteering with us, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact us on 07754102336 or info@pcankirklees.org

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Covid 19 – what the changes meant for PCAN and families of children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

At PCAN we had to work in a very different way as we were not able to continue with our in person social and school events. PCAN Trustees and volunteers had always worked from home but now we had to work together in a different way.
So big thanks to Carol who researched, guided and trained us all on Zoom and ensured we could all access the various online meetings and webinars, whatever platform they were held on. All via online Carol “tutorials”
Families of children with additional needs were disproportionately affected by lockdown with children at home, lack of social care and other support, lack of activities for children and young people to attend with parents trying to support everyone’s mental health.
There was lots of information from lots of places but most of it in inaccessible language and much of it being constantly updated so information was a huge challenge for everyone.
Big thanks to Johanna, who, with her legal training was able to decipher all the various (and constantly changing) legislation and guidance and put it into a readable format that we could share on our website and social media.
Trace worked really hard to signpost families to foodbanks, the Council helpline, local Covid Support Groups and other resources including support for computers, technology, white goods. She also researched all the online fun activities, teaching support, parents’ wellbeing and other online resources to share with parents to make their lives easier.
Our phone line and direct messaging platforms were very busy and Carol and Johanna were able (with your consent) to report your issues directly to the professionals concerned – we know in some cases that this made a real difference.
Online learning and meeting up was inaccessible for many families for many reasons. For a minority though it proved a revelation with less stress all round.
The return to school in September was not straightforward for our families with changes around bubbles, classroom layouts and children and young people being sent home for self-isolation.
Significant impact on transitions, especially post 16 where carefully worked out transition plans were physically unable to take place.
All our meetings with Council and Health colleagues continued, but had to take place virtually on Zoom or Teams.
It has to be reported that it was a challenging time for PCAN to work alongside Kirklees Council, who became very “inward facing” for some months (like every Council in the land) while they were dealing with the huge workload generated by the Covid 19 pandemic. We were however aware that work was still continuing in the background on a number of strands of work that would benefit PCAN families.
As a result of the lack of information about progress on the above, we held a meeting in December 2020 with key partners in the Council to reinforce the need for good communication with PCAN, and set up a range of new update meetings which were not solely dominated by Covid projects. This was particularly relevant due to changes in the Council’s workforce and new relationships had to be forged.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Good Information

PCAN website and social media were regularly updated including relevant Covid 19 information. Our main private Facebook Group has 1006 members, with over 1000 followers/members of our other groups. All information posted is networked across many other local social media parent and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) groups ensuring a wider reach. We received a higher than usual number of calls for help from parents and signposted lots of people to get help or information.
A huge amount of time was spent reading updated regulations and statutory guidance so we could share it with our families and they could understand what it meant for them. It was very challenging as there was so much conflicting information. Carol and Johanna attended webinars from organisations like Contact, Council for Disabled Children, Steve Broach (barrister), and NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) to make sense of it all and keep up to date.
We held 20 virtual social events (some with guest speakers) and ran webinars (new to us) on Disability benefits, Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), Covid 19 vaccinations and the changes to education. We also ran our AGM for the first time virtually as a webinar with speakers from Kirklees Council including a keynote address from Mel Meggs, Director of Children’s Services in Kirklees.

Support and Friendship

What we did in 2020/21

Connected people via our Facebook groups, and virtual social and information events. Huge thanks for our members for the helping hand they extended to others.
We ran 20 virtual social events so that parents could still connect with each other and a fun quiz night.
We ran webinars to share information as well taking a higher number of phone calls, Facebook and WhatsApp messages. For example, Trace was in contact with over 300 families via phone, WhatsApp and Messenger.
A PCAN Trustee was also available to offer a friendly, empathic point of contact for parent carers who ring the main PCAN number with concerns or contacted us by email. We received multiple referrals from other agencies such as Carers Count, KIAS, Northorpe Hall, Community Plus, Early Support.
Trace kept a very close eye on social media so she could pick up on parent concerns, and Johanna was able to answer education queries.
We continued to supply Maxcards for families living in Kirklees to enable families to save money on days out.
We have built up a really strong relationship with Carers Count and S2R so that between us our parents access some of the support they need.
We received a grant from the Council (Do Something Now) – a Covid relief grant so we could work more closely with needy families to help them get the help they vitally needed.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Support and Friendship (continued)

We teamed up with Carers Count , S2R and Umbrella Yoga to offer a range of therapeutic/wellbeing activities to parents, e.g. Aromatherapy and mindful yoga.
Parents contacted us with a multitude of issues to do with housing, finances, mental health issues as well as struggling with children at home. Trace worked really hard to support those families including working closely with some local councillors across Kirklees.
PCAN also supported the distribution of sensory toy packs in conjunction with SEN (Special Educational Needs) kids, another Kirklees Support Group.

Feedback from families

Thank you for helping me on your day off. It’s a relief to be listened to and believed. Thank you for ringing me back.

Thanks for your help – I felt so overwhelmed that I couldn’t cope with all the information.

I’m so glad I found this group of parents to support me who know what I’m going through.

Stronger Voice - Together we can make a difference

Parents voices were heard in health, education and social care during 2020/21.

Achievements

Early Support: Following acknowledgement of the gap in service for families of children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability), around 50 members of Kirklees’ Early Help Team received “Day in the Life” training from PCAN. This training was also delivered to members of the Disabled children’s and Inclusion teams.
PCAN was fully involved in reviewing the letters you received from the Council about schools and the pandemic and we hope that they were clear and readable. We know how confusing the information was and hope that in some way we were able to make it more accessible.
We took part in two Inclusive Ambition days run by the Council, the focus of which was about what improvements need to be made to the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) system, and how this could be achieved.
We promoted the education survey which we co-designed with Impower, a consultancy company working with the council during lockdown.
We worked with a group of 20 local parents to co-produce a new version of the Kirklees Local Offer – the mandatory information for parents, carers and young people with additional needs. This was launched in December 2020 and the whole design, navigation and wording in many of the entries co-produced with parents.
The Local Offer work is ongoing with more engagement with young people to design their part of the site, and continued engagement with families about what’s missing and what could be improved. The Council has recruited a team of people whose responsibility it is to continue this work and make sure that the Local Offer is up to date, maintained and a great source of information for families, young people and professionals.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

Achievements (continued)

PCAN attended workshops on the neurodevelopmental pathway as it was clear that the waiting lists (previously reduced considerably) were growing again due to the pandemic. We also started work with the Council on a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS) questionnaire. You will hear during our AGM about progress on these two items.
Following our Behaviour Event in 2019, training for parents was purchased by the Council at the end of the financial year and will be available in the last quarter of this year. PCAN has also highlighted at various meetings we attend that there is a culture of disbelief around behaviour and parents’ issues and that this needs to change. More work is going in schools to support children and young people’s mental health, and our training with early support workers has hopefully made them think differently about behaviours which “apparently” only happen at home and not in school.
As Community Voices, PCAN attended a webinar on covid vaccination in February but quickly realised that the information we were receiving was insufficient to inform our parents. Having appealed for help from Kirklees Public health, Emily Parry-Harries and Peter Learmonth agreed to speak at a webinar for parents in February. We also raised the issue about vaccination centres being more accessible for people with additional needs. As a result a number of special sessions were held for young people with learning disabilities and anxiety.
PCAN continued to be represented on the Kirklees SEND Transformation and Commissioning Group, contributing feedback from the lived experience of parents and ensuring parent involvement in the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) improvement planning.
The Council also needed to gather parents’ views on the Early Help offer, Resourced Provision available in certain schools, and Alternative Provision in Kirklees. We held webinars on each of those and gained some really valuable information. A huge thank you to those who attended or filled in the survey.
PCAN Trustees/Volunteers interviewed for the Local Offer Lead Officer, and the Head of Inclusion and safeguarding. Thanks to the Volunteers who assisted with this.
PCAN took part in the Carers Rights Day webinar hosted by Forget-Me-Not Trust together with our counterparts in Calderdale.

We held regular update meetings with various Council Officers to keep them up to date with families’ issues throughout the year.

PCAN Trustees and volunteers attended over 200 meetings with Council and Health colleagues, voluntary sector, schools and other support groups and organisation over the 12 month period
We ran 20 social events, as well as attending regional and national parent carer forum events and taking part in any training required. All of this on a variety of virtual platforms!

Feedback from Tom Brailsford , Service Director Resources, Improvement and Partnerships:

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Trustees' report (continued) for the year ended 31 March 2021

PCAN is looking for volunteers to help us with our work.

Please speak to one us at any time if you are interested. Full training will be given as required. Tel: 07754102336.

Thank you!

Funders and Supporters

Many thanks to Kirklees Council for giving us the opportunity of a three year contract from September 2019 to continue to be the voice for parents in Kirklees.
Thank you to the professionals across education, health and social care who promote engagement and co-production at every opportunity – you know who you are!
Thank you to all the people who took time to help other parents during these difficult times.
Thanks to everyone who worked tirelessly to get the Local Offer off the ground.
Thank you to all our colleagues at Carers Count for their commitment to supporting all carers in Kirklees.
Huge thanks to all the PCAN Trustees, volunteers and supporters who give up their time for the benefit of others. We couldn’t do any of this without you.

Financial review

The net receipts for the year were £21,992, including net receipts of £2,413 on unrestricted funds and net receipts of £19,579 on restricted funds after transfers.

Impact of Coronavirus

Reserves policy

The charity's free reserves, excluding fixed assets, at the year end were £3,061.

Signed on behalf of the board of trustees on 10/12/2021

Johanna Hull (Trustee)

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Parents of Children with

Additional Needs

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 10 to 13.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 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:

1 accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2 the accounts do not accord with those records.

Claire Welling

26/1/2022

West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service

Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Receipts and payments account for the year ended 31 March 2021

Notes 2021 Unrestricted funds £ Receipts Grants and donations (2) 222 Contract for services - Max cards 294 Other income - Total receipts 516 Payments Co-ordination, project delivery and administration - Room hire, event costs and childcare - Promotions - Max cards 240 Parents expenses - Postage, telephone, broadband and stationery - Equipment - Travel, meeting and AGM expenses - Insurance and registrations - Accountancy and independent examination - Trustee training - Website - Other expenses - Liaison service - Education work - Legal and professional - Freelance workers - Total payments 240 276 Transfers between funds 2,137 Net movement in funds after transfers 2,413 Fund balances brought forward 648 Fund balances carried forward (3) 3,061 Net receipts / (payments)	2021 Restricted funds £ 18,590 40,795 - - 59,385 9,720 2,060 342 - 40 1,845 1,334 22 1,010 396 475 192 - 8,820 4,534 - 6,879 37,669 21,716 (2,137) 19,579 13,892 33,471	2021 Total funds £ 18,812 40,795 294 - 59,901 9,720 2,060 342 240 40 1,845 1,334 22 1,010 396 475 192 - 8,820 4,534 - 6,879 37,909 21,992 - 21,992 14,540 36,532	2020 Total funds £ 15,539 30,000 743 181 46,463 12,900 2,562 475 737 - 1,658 308 3,171 909 396 - 242 48 11,461 5,336 2,040 2,205 44,448 2,015 - 2,015 12,525 14,540

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Statement of assets and liabilities

as at 31 March 2021 2021 Unrestricted £ Cash funds Cash at bank 3,061 Total cash funds 3,061 Assets retained for the charity's own use 2 IPad 3 1 Laser printer 1 Laptop 1 Epson projector 1 Portable screen 1 PAYG basic mobile phone 1 Motorola smart phone 1 Brother laser printer 2 Android smart phones 2 Ipad 8th generation 1 Refurbished Windows laptop Liabilities Independent examination Event costs Freelance workers Education Work Co-ordination services Postage, telephone, broadband and stationery Liaison services	2021 Restricted £ 33,471 33,471	2021 Total £ 36,532 36,532 £ 396 71 45 720 788 24 1,219 3,263	2020 Total £ 14,540 14,540

Approval of the accounts

The financial statements were approved by the board of trustees on 10/12/2021

Johanna Hull (Trustee)

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Notes to the accounts continued

for the year ended 31 March 2021

1 Accounting

Basis of accounting

The trustees have taken advantage of section 133 of the Charities Act 2011 and have prepared the accounts on a receipts and payments basis.

There has been no change to the accounting policies since last year.

No changes have been made to the accounts for previous years.

Taxation

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.

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 accounts.

2 Grants and donations Department for Education Kirklees Council Donations 3 Restricted funds Department for Education Do Something Now Time for me Kirklees Metropolitan Council Kirklees Local offer	Balance b/f £ 620 - 255 13,017 - 13,892	2021 Unrestricted funds £ - - 222 222 Incoming £ 15,000 3,590 - 30,000 10,795 59,385	2021 Restricted funds £ 15,000 3,590 - 18,590 Outgoing £ 14,992 3,377 - 15,475 3,825 37,669	2021 Total funds £ 15,000 3,590 222 18,812 Transfers £ (619) (213) (255) (1,050) - (2,137)	2020 Total funds £ 15,000 - 539 15,539 Balance c/f £ 9 - - 26,492 6,970 33,471

Fund name

Department for Education

Do Something Now

Time for me

Kirklees Metropolitan Council

Kirklees Local offer

Purpose of restriction

Towards the provision of a Parent Carer Forum in Kirklees. The transfer relates to releasing accumulated left over balances from previous years to unrestricted funds, as agreed with the funder.

To help communities respond to the challenges facing as a result of Covid19. Transfer relates to releasing the left over restricted balance to unrestricted funds as agreed with the funder.

Provision of PCAN time to input into educational issues for the Council. The transfer relates to releasing the left over restricted balance to unrestricted funds as agreed with the funder.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Notes to the accounts continued

for the year ended 31 March 2021

4 Related party transactions Trustee expenses Total amount paid Number of trustees who were paid expenses Nature of the expenses Trustee remuneration and benefits Name of trustee Legal authority Carol Thomas Governing document Governing document Governing document Tracey Smith-McQuillan Johanna Hull	2021 £ 17 1 Travel 2021 £ 12,548 9,866 4,425 26,839	2020 £ 3,171 5 Travel 2020 £ 13,496 11,866 5,335 30,697

The above trustees were engaged on a freelance basis to provide Co-ordination services, Liaison Services and the Education role.

Parents of Children with Additional Needs

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Parents of Children with

Additional Needs

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 10 to 13.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 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:

1 accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2 the accounts do not accord with those records.

Signed: …………………………………… Name: Claire Welling

26/1/2022

West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service

Stringer House 34 Lupton Street Leeds LS10 2QW