ACTION FOR NEURODIVERSITY Annual Report 2022- 2023
Annual Report 2022 - 2023
Counselling lives that have become adversely affected by the experience of autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
Autism-Specialist Counselling Centre 9 Darwin House, Corbygate Business Park Priors Haw Road, Corby, Northamptonshire NN17 5JG
Report of the Trustees for the Period ended: 30 September 2023
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Annual Report 2022 - 2023
Index
Page Subject
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4 Introduction, Board of Trustees; Patrons; Independent Examiners; Bankers.
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5 Governing Document; Organisational Structure; Trustee Roles
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6 Recruitment and appointment of trustees; Induction and Training of trustees; Risk Management
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7 Objectives; Strategies and community activities
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8 Activities; Customer Relations Management (CRM) System; Human Resources; Safeguarding; Fundraising
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9 Fundraising, continued; Financial; Autistic Empathy
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10 Autistic Empathy (continued); Figures for the reporting period 01/10/2022 - 31/09/2023; Where do our clients come from? By Country
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11 Where do our clients come from? By Country, continued; In terms of England and the breakdown from the different counties
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12 In terms of England and the breakdown from the different counties, continued; Client Satisfaction
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13 Client Satisfaction (continued); Teen Project
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14 Teen Project (continued)
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15 Letter from Elaine Nicholson, MBE, CEO
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16 Letter from Elaine Nicholson, MBE, CEO (continued)
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17 Letter from Elaine Nicholson, MBE, CEO (continued)
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18 Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees
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19 Action for Neurodiversity Statement of Financial Activities year ended 30 September 2023
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20 Action for Neurodiversity Balance Sheet as at the 30 September 2023
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21 Action for Neurodiveristy Notes to the accounts for the year ended 30 September 2023
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22 Action for Neurodiveristy Notes to the accounts for the year ended 30 September 2023 (continued)
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23 Principal funding sources; Investment policy and objectives; Trustees’ Responsibilities
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24 Principal funding sources; Investment policy and objectives; Trustees’ Responsibilities (continued)
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Annual Report 2022 - 2023
Introduction
The Trustees present their annual report and unaudited financial statements for the period ended 30 September 2022, and confirm they comply with The Charities Act 1993, as amended by The Charities Act 2006, the Trust Deed, and the Charities SORP 2005. Principal office: Autism-Specialist Counselling Centre, 9 Darwin House, Corbygate Business Park, Priors Haw Road, Corby, Northamptonshire, NN17 5JG
Board of Trustees
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Dr Max Lowenstein – Chair
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Sonia Owen – Vice Chair
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Anthony Mathieson
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Anthony Hall
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Steve Watkins
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Michael Chard
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Louise Collinson
Patrons
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Dame Vivienne Westwood (deceased 29.12.2022)
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Dr. Barbara Jacobs
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Mrs. Donna Taggart
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Mr. Scott James
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Mr. Gary Numan
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Dr. Luke Beardon
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Mr Carne Ross
Independent Examiners
Bulley Davey Accountant, 6 North Street, Oundle, Peterborough, PE8 4AL
Bankers
The Co-operative Bank.
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Governing Document
The constitution was adopted on 01 October 2008, amended on 31 August 2012, and subsequently amended on 22 September 2017.
Organisational Structure
Action for Neurodiversity (AfN) is governed by a board of trustees. The charity trustees are responsible for the general control and management of the charity. The trustees give their time freely and receive no remuneration or other financial benefits.
The trustees meet as a body quarterly and are responsible for all decisions taken in relation to running AfN and the activities provided by the charity.
The trustees have encouraged the recruitment of volunteers for AfA since charity registration was awarded on 31 August 2012. The volunteers have been deployed for purposes of fundraising, counselling, and assisting the founder, Elaine Nicholson, with various office administration and secretarial tasks.
The day-to-day management of AfN and its various projects is the responsibility of Elaine Nicholson, founder, counsellor, and chief executive officer (CEO) of AfN.
Trustee roles
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The chair of the trustees is Dr Max Lowenstein.
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The vice-chair is Sonia Owen. Ms Owen is responsible for aiding Elaine Nicholson with managerial matters.
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Tony Mathieson, Trustee, is responsible for all things that are classed as maintenance/repair/service in the main office building.
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Anthony Hall, trustee, is responsible for strategic guidance.
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Michael Chard, Trustee, is responsible for aiding in HR matters.
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Steve Watkins, Trustee is responsible for legal matters.
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Louise Collinson, Trustee, is responsible for administration matters.
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The Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees
The trustees are responsible for the recruitment of new trustees, but in doing so the trustees seek the views and recommendations of volunteers and respected professionals presently working in the autism community. The trustees believe that this approach will ensure that any new trustees have a good knowledge of autism per se – based on personal, professional, and experiential backdrops.
Potential trustees will be invited to attend trustees’ meetings as observers and will be apprised of the charity’s aims and objectives, and, if all agreed, they will then be proposed as new trustees at the next trustees’ meetings. The process will allow for due consideration of the person’s eligibility, personal competence, specialist knowledge and skills.
Induction and Training of trustees
Following an appointment of a new trustee, such persons will be introduced to their new role and given copies of the governing document and a guide to the policies and procedures adopted by AfN. Some publications from the Charities Commission are also provided, including the guidance on charities and public benefit and on the advancement of autism awareness knowledge for the public benefit. This should ensure that new trustees should be aware of the scope of their responsibilities under the Charities Act.
Initially, new trustees will work and be guided by, existing trustees, and will, within six months, be given the task of heading a project or activity, reporting progress at a trustees meeting that follows within a time frame of 6 months.
Risk Management
The trustees review risk regularly during their quarterly meetings. Appropriate Disclosure and Barring Safeguarding (DBS) checks that are enhanced (formerly CRB) are made for all those who have a connection to AfN, whatever their capacity. Child Safeguarding and Vulnerable Adult safeguarding training courses are made available to those who work with such groups.
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Objectives
The objects of AfN are set out in the charity’s constitution document and are summarised as follows:
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To offer a bespoke counselling service for lives over the age of three years which have become adversely affected by the experience of Asperger’s syndrome (autism spectrum disorder). This applies to those who have autism, and those who have a close relationship with someone who has autism.
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To provide advocacy for its clients when and as required.
Our dual aims serve to enable the furtherance of autistic mental health awareness in both the local and wider community. Additionally, AfN can also provide training.
Strategies and community activities
AfN’s service is a 24/7 assistance facility for those who need it, via electronic communications and/ or face-to-face communications. Clients may contact us at any time via email, hence the “24/7”; this is allowable due to the complex processing that goes with an autistic neurological profile and gives the clients a chance to ask questions and/or share their concerns outside of the counselling sessions.
The charity offers low-cost counselling therapy; we request from clients a donation for their counselling session (currently £43-£65 per hour – lower to higher incomes – the client decides where they are on that pricing scale). If a client is unable to pay, we offer telephone and/or email support gratis. AfN also offers student counselling at £22.50 per hour with counsellors who are in their last year of their training, and emotional support sessions for £17.50 per hour. Emotional support is provided by workers who, though not counselling trained, have a strong experiential background of autism. Emotional Support Workers also partake in AfN training and monthly autism-specialist supervision.
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Activities
Customer Relations Management (CRM) System
Our client notes and records management remain with the CRM system HubSpot, helped and managed by Mr. David Mallinder of Gemini Blue. The CRM system remains functional and effective though not quite “fitting” our requirements.
As ever, investigations continue but our bespoke needs combined with lack of revenue to purchase exactly what we need, makes finding a new CRM system tricky.
Statistical data is gained through analysing emails and the CRM system. Following a number of changes within the organisation during this year, work on the CRM system is ongoing, and it is hoped that the charity will be in a position to provide precise statistical evidence by the time of the charity year 2024/2025.
Human Resources
During this period the charity had 20 counsellors, 2 student counsellors and also went from 1 emotional support worker to 2. The charity is always looking to recruit new counsellors and emotional support workers – particularly those who are available to work from the main office in Corby - as the mental health of our autistic clients continues to be a priority.
Safeguarding
Paul James remains our safeguarding consultant. Paul has had a career of over 35 years in school leadership and children’s services. He is our guiding light in this respect, and we consider ourselves most fortunate to have him on board.
Fundraising
How do we raise funds? Our therapists are priced out at half of what they would earn privately; AfN “creams” off from their hourly rate, and though this isn’t much, we have sustained ourselves since 2008. Elaine Nicholson continues to work freely for AfN, donating approximately £20k pa. The charity also has a voluntary fundraising consultant to help with bid writing.
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We would like to be able to provide free, in-person counselling to those who do not have the funds to pay for their counselling but until we can bring in more funds this is not currently possible.
Financial
AfN remains a donation-led service, although it is hoped that funding from sources such as grants will follow as the charity continues to deploy expert fundraising consultancy. The majority of income is from donations for counselling services as mentioned above.
Autistic Empathy
In June 2022 we launched Autistic Empathy - a friendship and dating community which has been devised by our CEO, Elaine Nicholson, specifically for people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. It’s friendly community with a holistic and welcoming vibe.
The community is heavily monitored, with Sonia Owen overseeing things on a daily basis. Sonia regularly checks in on the content posted, and she does a number of things in relation to member admin such as checking the new users for obvious red flags, dealing with those at the end of their 3-week trial period, and checking for and dealing with any reports from users as soon as possible.
The community is so far proving to be a success. It’s slow growing because of the heavy monitoring and our verification rule meaning anybody who fails to verify their identity within 3 weeks is removed. However, this also means we have a lovely community of genuine and verified people and it’s probably the safest app out there.
During this period, we have maintained member numbers of between 275 – 375 active members, and it is growing slowly but surely. We are averaging 7 new users signing up each day.
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The community can be accessed by downloading the App from the Apple store for iOS, or Google Play store for Android. It can also be accessed via the web. To access via the web, you can email info@autstcempathy.com and ask for a weblink.
Currently, the majority of users (55%) are iOS users, but we also have 37% of users on Android and 8% of users accessing the community via the web.
Figures for the reporting period 01/10/2022 - 31/09/2023
In last year’s AGM report, we reported that for the 12-month reporting period we had received 778 email enquiries – which was significantly down on pandemic levels.
By comparison, for the 12-month period of this report, the charity received approximately 952 enquiries. This number is up by approximately 172 on last years but still a long way below the levels of enquiries we were experiencing during the pandemic.
The level of enquires represents an average of 79 per month or 3 per day. The busiest months were February 2023 (95 enquiries), March 2023 (94 enquires) and April 2023 (92 enquiries). The quietest month was December 2022 with 65 enquiries.
Where do our clients come from?
By country
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Annual Report 2022 - 2023
The majority of clients come from England, with the number standing at 57.8%. Wales represents 5%, Scotland 2.4% and Ireland 0.3%
The 30.9% ‘Not Disclosed’ indicates that, via client personal preference, they chose not to divulge their geographical whereabouts.
Thanks to Skype/Facetime/Zoom technology we have clients from all over the world. The 3.2% labelled ‘Rest of the World’ is detailed like so:
Australia; Bahrain; Belgium; Canada; Channel Islands; Chile; China; Costa Rica; Croatia; Cuba; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Democratic Republic of Congo; Ecuador; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hong Kong; Hungary; India; Isle of Man; Israel; Italy; Japan; Kenya; Kuwait; Luxembourg; Malaysia; Mexico; Monaco; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Palestine; Panama; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Rwanda; Samoa; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; Slovakia; Spain; Sudan; Sweden; Switzerland; Tanzania; Thailand; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; United Arab Emirates; USA; Vietnam.
In terms of England and the breakdown from the different counties
The 22% ‘Rest of England’ is detailed like so, for the following geographical areas have a number of less than 75 clients accessing the service from these areas:
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Berkshire; Bristol; Cheshire; Cornwall; County Durham; Cumbria; Derbyshire; Devon; Dorset; Durham; Gloucestershire; Greater Manchester; Herefordshire; Isle of Wight; Lancashire; Merseyside; Norfolk; Northumberland; Nottinghamshire; Rutland; Shropshire; Somerset; Staffordshire; Suffolk; Tyne and Wear; Wiltshire; Worcestershire.
Client Satisfaction
AfN did once again duly undertake client satisfaction audits. We continue to evaluate our performance this way because we continuously strive to provide a high-quality service for our clients. We want our clients to feel heard and always encourage feedback so that we can absolutely ensure that what we are doing is pitched correctly, but also check if there are any areas which we need to improve on or change altogether.
The questionnaire that was used to elicit information was created via Google Forms, with a link to it distributed via email to random AfN clients. Participation was completely optional. Responses were also anonymised.
AfN continues to see clients via a combination of remote video consultations and some face-to-face consultations at our offices in Corby, Northamptonshire.
Of the respondents to the survey, 87% were clients and 13% were representatives responding on behalf of a client (including parents/guardians and carers). Of these, 80.6% had sought individual sessions and 19.4% had sought couples counselling. Feedback was provided by respondents of all ages giving us a broad range of feedback from across the age groups.
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Of the respondents to the survey, 90.3% felt that their mental health had improved since becoming a client of AfN – with some having improved to the point of finishing their counselling journey and some feeling improvement as they still continue on their counselling journey. The comments for the 9.7% who had not felt an improvement reinforced that this was primarily due to still being at a point of their counselling journey where they are still unsure about where things will go and how things may change.
The quality of service provided by Action for Neurodiversity is seen as overwhelmingly positive: 87.1% of the clients who responded rated their overall experience with their counsellor or emotional support worker as ‘excellent’, and 9.7% as good.
The remaining 3.2% of respondents to this question rated the service as needing improvement. The main comment with this was about counsellors and emotional support workers perhaps needing updated training. Although there was no further context given to this suggestion, we absolutely take on board this comment and the trustees and CEO will add the subject of counsellor and emotional support worker training as an agenda point for discussion at the next board meeting.
Teen Project
In June 2023, the charity was fortunate enough to receive funding to enable us to offer ‘free’ counselling sessions to neurodiverse teenagers in the local area. There has been a huge uptake from within the community with parents getting in touch to book a counselling slot for their young person, as well as local schools signposting students our way. It has been proven that free counselling is sought after as not everyone can afford to pay for counselling. Teenagers’ mental health is so important and is important that support is offered as soon as possible.
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Young people have a lot to cope with and can sometimes feel very isolated and alone in dealing with some difficult feelings and issues. To be able to offer a confidential, non-judgemental sensory space to teenagers to talk is so valuable. Being listened to and heard is something that young people need. The counselling sessions are tailored to the individual and we work together to develop a sense of self, a way of trying to understand their emotions and looking at ways that they experience the world. Building a young person’s self-esteem by recognising their worth can feel empowering. Teenagers have lots of changes and transitions to process. Some of the issues that come up in counselling sessions are anxiety, low-mood, bullying, school issues, self-harm, gender and sexual identity, friendship issues and selfesteem. Increasing a young person’s sense of self, confidence and happiness happens within therapy as they discover their own coping mechanisms and individual identity.
We have the following feedback from parents:
“He appears so much happier in himself and looks forward to his sessions with you each week. He appears to be sleeping better and not coming downstairs panicking about death all the time and other concerns he has at bedtime.”
“I’m very grateful for all your help and I don’t know what I would have done without you. I’m used to supporting other children but when it’s your own child it’s hard because I don’t know how to help him and of course I have an emotional attachment to him being his mum which is hard for me.”
“He really enjoyed his sessions with yourself and we believe this has made a massive improvement in his anxiety at school. He is going into school more often and gradually staying a little longer each week. I personally would like to thank you for allowing him to feel safe and confident to speak with you.”
“The counselling sessions helped a massive amount and we really appreciate the time you spent with him.”
“I wanted to say a big thank you for supporting her, she has found the counselling very helpful and we have ude towards school.” noticed a difference to her at
“His counselling sessions helped a massive amount and we really appreciate the time you spent with him.”
The teenagers that I have been working with love our unique sensory counselling room and can feel free to be themselves, unmasked. The colour changing light tubes and bubble machine, fidget items, games, weighted blankets and other sensory equipment in the counselling room are always appreciated.
It has been a privilege to meet so many remarkable young people since starting of this ‘Teen Project’. I see some fantastic teenagers and I want them to see how great they are too!
Jemima Gee Teen Counsellor
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Letter from Elaine Nicholson, MBE, CEO
Dear Client/Friend/Supporter
Introduction
We deeply appreciate your ongoing interest and support in our charity, especially during these challenging times. Your understanding and support have been invaluable to us.
As you will have noticed from reading this report, we remain less busy than we were during the height of the pandemic when dealing with eight new enquiries per hour. Thankfully, we have slowed to a prepandemic level of working, which is manageable.
Charity restructure
This year to which the report relates: 1st October 2022 to 30 September 2023, has been one of the most difficult years. In January 2023, during a time I’d booked as a holiday, I had the time to look at things on a managerial level properly. Our bookkeeper - also from the firm that does our final accounts and audit (the well-known and respected firm TC Bulley Davey) - was consulted, as was the main accountant and our legal experts. I could see trouble ahead money-wise if we didn’t do something fast.
My management degree, business and finance qualifications from yesteryear, and knowing ‘my baby’ on a visceral level aided decision-making. The accountant concurred with my deduction. An emergency meeting of the trustees was arranged. We were also ever-mindful of our commitment to The Charities Commission and of our requirement to hold, at all times, a £10,000 pot as a safety net as per our Constitution.
We had a bank balance of £16,000. Without changes, given rising office and utility costs and a combined wage bill of circa £4k per month, we’d have been dead in the water within four months. We were incredibly sad at being in a position to have to take action, but we had no option other than to reorganise the charity structure and remove the paid administrative roles - which ultimately led to staff changes.
What followed has been upsetting as well as distracting and costly in a number of different ways. We want to thank our legal experts, accountant and bookkeeper, trustees, and The Charities Commission for their assistance during this difficult time.
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Since the changes, Sonia Owen and I have voluntarily run the charity, saving it lots of money. I continue, as I always have, to donate several thousands of hours and pounds, day in and day out, to the charity. I have never remunerated myself for the work I do as CEO and counsellor since the charity’s inception in 2008.
Rebranding
After holding on to the name ‘Asperger’s’ for approximately fourteen years, we decided to rebrand and call the charity Action for Neurodiversity. This change has been met with approval by the majority, although, fair to say, there have been a few upset by the elimination of the word Asperger’s. For many, getting a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome pre-2013 answered so many questions for them after years of anguish and torment. For your interest, I contributed to an article entitled: ‘They tried to wipe it out’ and which appeared in The Observer and The Guardian:
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aspergers
We are happy with the change and mindful of the client who will approach us twenty years hence. Would they approach us saying, “I think I have Asperger’s?” or would they approach us saying, “I think I might be neurodiverse?” Of course, the latter is more likely. Thanks go to Sonia Owen for helping to steer these changes.
Fundraising
The marvellous Helen Evans has managed to procure funding for our free teen counselling project that Jemima Gee has run. This has been a huge success, but of course, we need more funding and more counselling. The adults could do with a little fundraising income coming their way also. Sadly, Helen Evans, our fundraiser, is moving on to pastures new, and we shall miss her presence and all that she stood for. We were blessed to have her. If anyone out there would like to help our fundraising campaign, please do get in touch with your CV. We’d love to hear from you.
Journalism
My contribution to various magazines has increased this year, particularly for Autism Eye. I enjoy writing articles, and it gives the charity a little bit of publicity, which is good.
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Trustees
We would love to expand our team of trustees. If you feel that you can devote the time to attend four meetings a year, and are passionate about autism, ADHD and neurodiversity per se, we’d love to hear from you. Please write to me at: elaine.nicholson@actionforneurodiversity.org
Conclusion
So, as you can see, it has been a truly challenging time, but our survival instinct is strong, as is our protective instincts for the charity. We have a marvellous team of therapists working for us, all happy to earn less than they would earn privately to see clients approaching the charity. Their beneficence is warming. We remain forever grateful for all they do.
Personally, this has happened during a very difficult year, with elderly parents with high health needs requiring my time and attention also. Not for the faint-hearted, I can assure you!
Take care, look after each other.
Warmly,
Elaine Nicholson MBE
CEO and Counsellor
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Annual Report 2022 - 2023
Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees
I report on the accounts of Action for Neurodiversity, charity number 1148790, for the period ended 30 September 2023.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this period under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
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Examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act;
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Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act); and
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State whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner's statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view, and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner's statement
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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1 which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the trustees have not met the requirements to ensure that:
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proper accounting records are kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
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accounts are prepared which agree with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act; or
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2 to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Graham Darbourne FCA TC Group 6 North Street Oundle Peterborough PE8 4AL
Date: 30[th] May 2024
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Action for Neurodiversity Statement of Financial Activities Year ended 30 September 2023
30 September 2023 |
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|---|---|
| Incoming resources Voluntary Income Donatons and Grants received Charitable Actvites Income Consultatons, diagnosis and assessments Miscellaneous Actvites for Generatng Funds Sale of Merchandise Total incoming resources Resources expended Actvites for Generatng Funds Costs Opening stock Gifs/Grants given Closing stock Charitable Actvites Direct Costs Professional services Employment costs Ofce costs Costs for clubs Conference and meetng expenses Charitable Actvites Support Costs Computer and IT support expenses Postage, printng, statonery and advertsing Subcontractors Subscriptons Telephone Travel and subsistence Bank charges Insurances Sundry and cleaning Depreciaton (Proft)/loss on disposal of fxed assets Excess of payments over receipts Funds brought forward Funds carried forward |
Unrestricted funds £ 2023 66,642 Restricted funds £ 2023 - Total funds £ 2023 66,642 Total funds £ 2022 39,159 |
| 66,642 147,225 - - - - 66,642 147,225 - 39,159 154,730 - |
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| 147,225 - - - 147,225 - 154,730 10 |
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| - - - 10 |
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| 213,867 - 213,867 193,899 |
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| 600 1,381 (600) - - - 600 1,381 (600) 600 2,062 (600) |
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| 1,381 17,829 21,105 31,648 - 1,757 - - - - - - 1,381 17,829 21,105 31,648 - 1,757 2,062 10,887 38,241 22,240 181 100 |
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| 72,339 17,216 3,527 102,818 2,329 2,448 2,876 2,718 2,573 233 7,029 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 72,339 17,216 3,527 102,818 2,329 2,448 2,876 2,718 2,573 233 7,029 - 71,649 11,417 3,534 104,875 5,173 3,109 256 2,977 852 140 6,748 - |
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| 143,767 - 143,767 139,081 |
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| 217,487 - 217,487 212,792 |
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| (3,620) 44,472 - - (3,620) 44,472 (18,893) 63,365 |
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| 40,852 - 40,852 44,472 |
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Annual Report 2022 - 2023
Action for Neurodiversity Balance sheet as at 30 September 2023
| 2023 | 2022 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | £ | £ | £ | £ | |||
| NON CURRENT ASSETS | |||||||
| Computer equipment Ofce equipment |
7,569 1,249 |
11,550 2,893 |
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| Motor Vehicles | - | - | |||||
| 3 | 8,818 | 14,443 | |||||
| CURRENT ASSETS | |||||||
| Stock | 600 | 600 | |||||
| Debtors | - | - | |||||
| Rent deposit and prepayments | 2,235 | 6,856 | |||||
| Bank Account | 31,975 | 19,142 | |||||
| PayPal Account | 160 | 9,315 | |||||
| 34,970 | 35,913 | ||||||
| 43,788 | 50,356 | ||||||
| LESS: LIABILITIES | |||||||
| Creditors and accruals | 2,936 | 5,884 | |||||
| Other Creditors | - | - | |||||
| 2,936 | 5,884 | ||||||
| REPRESENTED BY: - | 40,852 | 44,472 | |||||
| RESTRICTED FUNDS | 4 | ||||||
| UNRESTRICTED FUND | 4 | 40,852 | 44,472 | ||||
| 40,852 | 44,472 |
The financial statements were approved by the trustees and signed on behalf by:
E Nicholson
Date: 14th May 2024
The notes on the following page form part of these accounts
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Action for Neurodiversity Notes to the accounts for the year ended 30 September 2023
1 Accounting policies
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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 (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102). The charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS102.
a) Income and resources expended
Income and expenditure incurred on the operating of the charity is provided for on an accruals basis.
b) Depreciation
Depreciation is provided on non current assets so as to write off the cost or valuation, less any estimated residual value, over their expected useful economic life as follow:
| Asset Class | Depreciaton method and rate |
|---|---|
| Computer equipment | 5 years straight line basis |
| Ofce equipment | 5 years straight line basis |
| Motor Vehicles | 25% reducing balance basis |
2 Trustees expenses
The trustees received no emoluments (2022 : £nil). During the year, telephone, travel and subsistence expenses were re-imbursed to trustees at cost totalling £nil (2022 : £nil).
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3 Non Current Assets
| Cost: Brought forward Additons Disposals Carried forward Depreciaton: Brought forward Charge for the year Eliminated on disposals Net book value: At 30 September 2022 At 30 September 2023 4 Funds movement Restricted funds Unrestricted funds |
Ofce Equipment £ 8,213 - - 8,213 5,320 1,644 - 6,964 2,893 1,249 - 44,472 44,472 B/fwd £ |
Computer Equipment £ 25,516 1,404 - 26,920 13,996 5,385 - 19,351 11,550 7,569 - 213,867 213,867 Income £ |
Motor Vehicle £ - - - - - - - - - - - (217,487) (217,487) Expenditure £ |
Total £ 33,729 1,404 - 35,133 19,286 7,029 - 26,315 14,443 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8,818 | ||||
| - 40,852 C/fwd £ |
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| 40,852 |
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The policy of the trustees is to hold enough funds to meet four months operating costs of AfA. Operating costs per month are in the region of £4,500 net on average. It is the CEO’s opinion that a bank balance of no less than £10,000 at any one time should sit in the charity bank to act as a financial ‘cushion’ should such a cushion be needed.
Principal funding sources
The charity’s main source of income is client donations for counselling (welfare) services.
Investment policy and objectives
AfA has no long-term investments. The Trustees consider interest earned by the AfA bank account through the Co-operative banking system as a gift of the UK banking system.
Trustees’ Responsibilities
The charity Trustees are responsible for preparing an annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and UK Accounting Standards. The law applicable to charity in England and Wales requires the Charity Trustees to prepare financial statements for each year that give a true and fair view of the economic state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
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Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently – and observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP.
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Make adjustments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. State whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
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Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is appropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial
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statements comply with the Charities Act 1993, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) regulations 2008 and the provisions of the Trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The Trustees for the purposes of Charity law who served during the period and up to the date of this report are set out on page 4 of this report.
Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:
Sonia Owen
Vice-chair
14th May 2024
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A bespoke counselling service for lives that have become adversely affected by the experience of Asperger’s syndrome (Autism Spectrum Disorder)
01536 266681
info@actionforneurodiversity.org www.actionforneurodiversity.org
Office/consulting rooms: Action for Neurodiversity, Autism-Specialist Counselling Centre, 9 Darwin House, Corbygate Business Park, Priors Haw Road, Corby Northamptonshire, NN17 5JG
Charity Registration 1148790 Founded 2008