## The Recovery Tree
## Charity Annual Report April 2020 to March 2021
We help people with a mental health condition to lead fulfilling and satisfying lives.
_The Olive Tree Café_ offers people positive, work -related opportunities in a café open to the public in order to take them a step nearer the world of work. _TWIGS_ is a community garden where people can regain confidence and self-esteem through learning new skills and participating in therapeutic activities. And the _Pinecones Partnership_ offers a variety of inclusive activities related to cooking and crafts.
Page 1
## Our Mission
We help people with a mental health condition to lead fulfilling and satisfying lives. We like to think that our presence, and pride in who we are, and what we do, will mean we are doing our part to reduce the stigma of mental illness.
We offer a mix of time-limited placements and longer term volunteering
opportunities for people who have mental health support needs. At TWIGS people
can be referred (or self-refer) to us for a placement in therapeutic horticulture and related activities. Some also volunteer with us for longer periods. At the Olive Tree Café, we have a flexible range of volunteering opportunities and occasional part time employment. Younger people can undertake work experience (including on the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme) as part of their personal development. We help both people who need shorter term support, and also those whose mental wellbeing requires support over a longer period.
## Olive Tree Café
For much of the year, the Café was closed under government Covid rules. In this period, we used our space imaginatively to continue to help our volunteers. We ran Covid-safe craft sessions (jointly with Ipsum), putting on **50** workshops with up to **6** volunteers per workshop. We also provided 4 presentations of our Level 2, 9-week Café Cookery Skills Course training course which benefitted **16** people.
Feedback from these sessions told us that they have been really helpful to people, who have been struggling during the
pandemic. At our sessions and training courses they have learned new skills and renewed
connections with friends. They
have a very positive impact on the mental health, personal development and confidence of the participants.
During the times when we could open the Café, we rearranged the space and the operation to make it Covidsafe. This experience will help us re-open successfully when restrictions are lifted. We expect to remain closed on Mondays and we will use the time to provide training and other therapeutic activity.
Page 2
During the year, we have supported **69** people with employment or volunteering at the Café, with training or with therapeutic craft sessions. During the year 39 people with known mental health need have left us. Many of these found it difficult to return after Covid lockdowns, but 23% have moved on to do other things, engage in new activities or to work elsewhere, testament indeed to the continued success of the work experience in the cafe.
We actively contribute to the Pinecones Partnership at the Pinetrees Community Centre: this was closed however throughout the year, and our contribution to the Partnership suspended. We plan to re-start when the Centre is re-opened.
## TWIGS
For most of the year, we could remain open with adapted operating. Our sessions were at half size, with extended duration of placements to compensate for the less frequent sessions. While we were closed, we provided gardening kits, telephone support and online art therapy sessions. **65** people have used the service regularly during the year. In addition, we had **43** volunteers and one Ambassador (who greets visitors to the gardens).
Our clients have told us that they valued our telephone support, our gardening kits, and the Art Therapy sessions. Many of them felt more isolated during lockdown, and cut off from the world. Without exception, clients are glad to be back. Twigs’ core offer is for purposeful activity that connects people to each other and to the natural world. During lockdown, clients experienced a period of forced inactivity and increased social isolation. Being able to return to Twigs has been invaluable for them, to reconnect to people and the “real world” again.
**98%** of service users report receiving good or excellent service. **100%** report that being at TWIGS has given them new knowledge or skills. **83%** report being able to function more independently, with **68%** saying they needed less help from the NHS. 31% of our leavers moved on to employment, education or further volunteering, or completed their recovery plan. Nine people successfully completed our 10-week Level 2 accredited course on Essential Garden Skills.
Page 3
One of our clients arrived in July 2020, referred to us from the NHS. He felt able to make the visit with the support of his social worker and told us that this was first time he had been outside his house in 10 years, and that he was so relieved to be able to take this first step into the world again.
## **Volunteers supported the gardens and each other with 4320 hours of work during the year.**
## Message from the Trustees
During this year Covid seriously affected our staff and volunteers, and also our ability to continue providing services to help and support them. We have had to adapt in many ways – and then re-adapt as rules and guidelines evolved. A large part of our income was at risk: last year, 66.3% of our income was from sales but this year it fell to 10.6%.
We would like to thank our staff and volunteers, who have responded magnificently. We would also like to thank our many generous funders who have provided grants to help us adapt and continue to support people’s mental health and wellbeing. These include the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, the Zurich Community Trust, the National Lottery, Friends of Twigs, Sarah Raven, the John Lewis Foundation, the Wiltshire Community Foundation and the Cheshire Community Foundation.
**The year in numbers**
Income £424,748 Expenditure £358,285 Total people helped: 177 Staff 2 full time 22 part time Volunteers: 112 Balance at year end £160,315 (was £93,852 at 31[st] March 2020)
## **Our Trustees**
Dick Millard: Chair, Gillian Barber, Jo Ridley and Karen Hunt
The Recovery Tree Charity is
a registered charity (1149848)
a company limited by guarantee (08091204).
Manor Garden Centre, Cheney Manor Industrial Estate, Swindon, SN2 2QJ. email: trustees@therecoverytreecharity.org.uk Web: www.therecoverytreecharity.org.uk/
Dick Millard Chair
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## Report and Financial Statements
## **The Recovery Tree Charity**
_1[st] April 2020 to 31[st] March 2021_
## **Administrative Information**
The Recovery Tree Charity is responsible for both the Olive Tree Café and TWIGS. It is a registered charity (Charity Commission registration number: 1149848) and a company limited by guarantee (Companies house registration number: 08091204). Its principal office and its registered address is Manor Garden Centre, Cheney Manor Industrial Estate, Swindon, SN2 2QJ.
During the year, Aaron Rance resigned as a trustee. There were thus four trustees and directors at 31[st] March 2021: Dick Millard: Chair, Gillian Barber: Secretary, Jo Ridley and Karen Hunt. We hope to recruit further trustees shortly.
## **Governance and Management**
Trustees meetings are currently held usually more frequently than once a month, at which decisions are taken and minuted. The trustees have delegated the day to day running of the Olive Tree Café to a manager, Phyllida Richards; and of the TWIGS service to a manager, Alan Holland.
The trustees have reviewed the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission, and have taken due regard to it in exercising their powers and duties.
## **Review of financial results and future developments**
Both services were greatly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. At the Olive Tree Café, the law required us to close for much of the year and we had fewer customers in many of the times we were allowed to open. At TWIGS we were also closed for the part of the year which normally includes our best attended open days, and were unable to hold many of our planned events. Our sales income for the year was 10.6% of the previous year.
We made as much use of the government furlough scheme as we could for any staff unable to work. We applied for publically available government grants, and for charitable grants. Thanks to the generosity of our many funders, we have ended the year in a sound financial position. Our major funders are listed in the notes to the accounts on page 9.
At TWIGS, our contract with Swindon Borough Council ends on 30 June 2021. We have responded to their tender for a further contract and as at 31st March 2021 are waiting to learn their decision. For the coming year, we intend to reopen the Olive Tree Café and to restart events at TWIGS when regulations allow. We intend to continue to apply for grants to meet therapeutic costs at the Olive Tree Café and the additional capacity we provide at TWIGS over and above the Council contract.
## **Reserves policy and annual review statement**
The Recovery Tree is a charitable organisation and depends on income from a variety of sources. For the Olive Tree Café this is from the sales of food and drinks, supplemented by income it also receives from donations and grants, and miscellaneous fund raising. For Twigs we have a 5 year contract with SBC, plus other grants and donations, supplemented by small amounts of income from plant sales and outreach work.
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The Café’s sales are variable, depending on the number of people purchasing food and drinks on any one day. The grants and donations are received on an ad hoc basis, although a degree of planning goes into grant applications.
It is therefore important that we have enough funds to keep running during lean times or when we are short of cash flow. A general reserve is required in order to continue providing the service, including paying staff wages and essential bills.
## **Our policy therefore is to keep, where possible, a minimum of 3 but not more than 6 months’ expenses as a general reserve.**
It is our intention to build up the reserve from sales and fund-raising activities. We intend to review the Reserves Policy every year when completing current year’s budgets, to ensure that it remains relevant and financially correct.
## **Reserves Review July 2021**
The unrestricted surplus at the end of March 2021 is £151,345. The expenses for the period April 2020 to March 2021 were £358,285. The unrestricted reserve provides us around 5 months running costs, which sits comfortably within our policy of between 3 to 6 months running costs.
Our aim is to continue to maintain our Reserve position in line with our expenses to ensure a secure back up for any potential future problems, using income from sales and fund raising activities.
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Accounts for the period 1[st] April 2020 to 31[st] March 2021
## **THE RECOVERY TREE CHARITY Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2021**
Page 7
|**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2021**|**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2021**|**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2021**|**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2021**|**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2021**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||
||**Notes**||**Total**
**thisyear**||**Previous**
**Year**||
||||||||
||||||||
||||**£**||**£**||
||||||||
|**Fixed Assets**|||**8970**||**14828**||
||||||||
|Tangible assets|6||**8970**||**14828**||
||||||||
||||||||
|**Current Assets**|||||||
||||||||
|Debtors and Prepayments|7||**2168**||**2710**||
|Stock|||**1507**||**2721**||
|Cash at bank and in hand|||**250002**||**119148**||
||||**253677**||**124579**||
||||||||
|**Short term creditors**|8||**102332**||**45555**||
||||||||
||||||||
|**Net current assets**|||**151345**||**79024**||
||||||||
||||||||
|**Total assets less current liabilities**|||**160315**||**93852**||
||||||||
||||||||
|**Net Assets**|||**160315**||**93852**||
||||||||
||||||||
|**Capital and Reserves**|||||||
||||||||
|Unrestricted Funds|||**130315**||**75852**||
||||||||
|Designated Funds|9||**30000**||**18000**||
||||||||
|**Total Funds**|||**160315**||**93852**||
||||||||
||||||||
| For theyear ending **31 March 2021**the companywas entitled to exemption under|||||||
|section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relatingto small companies.|||||||
||||||||
| The members have not required the companyto obtain an audit in accordance with|||||||
|section 476 of the Companies Act 2006|||||||
||||||||
| The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complyingwith the requirements|||||||
|of the Act with respect to accountingrecords and thepreparation of accounts.|||||||
||||||||
| These accounts have beenprepared in accordance with theprovisions applicable to|||||||
|companies subject to the small companies regime.|||||||
||||||||
|Approved bythe board of Directors and signed on its behalf by|||||||
||||||||
||||||||
||||||||
||||||||
|**Dick Millard**|||||||
|**Chairman**|30th September 2021||||||
Page 8
|||**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||||||
|**1**||**Grants and Donations Received**||||||||||
|||||||**Olive Tree Café**|||**Twigs**||**Total**|
||||||||**£**||**£**||**£**|
|||Swindon Borough Council|||||32055||70000||102055|
|||Job retention scheme|||||98831||9311||108142|
|||Julia and Hans Rausingtrust|||||45085||15329||60414|
|||Zurich CommunityTrust|||||||12328||12328|
|||National Lottery|||||48118||||48118|
|||Friends of Twigs|||||5502||3949||9451|
|||Sarah Raven|||||||6000||6000|
|||John Lewis|||||2396||1905||4301|
|||WCF Support Fund|||||1479||2774||4253|
|||Cheshire CommunityFoundation|||||2536||||2536|
|||Other|||||15353||9843||25196|
||||||||251355||131439||382794|
|||||||||||||
|||NOTE :||||||||||
|||Numerous smallergrants and donations(over £500)were received includingfrom the Davis Foundation,||||||||||
|||Freemasons Lodge,Central North Swindonparish,Jeni Burchell,St Andrews Methodist Church,Royal Ma||||||||||
|||Aqualash and Nythe CommunityCentre||||||||||
|||||||||||||
|**2**||**Paid Employees**||||||||||
|||||**Olive Tree Café**|||**Twigs**||**Total**||**Total**|
||||||**thisyear**||**thisyear**||**thisyear**||**previous**
**year**|
||||||£||£||£||£|
|||||||||||||
|||Gross wages and salaries|||168847||78260||247107||276356|
|||Employer's N I costs|||5315||4186||9501||11893|
|||Pension contributions|||3219||2655||5874||5941|
|||Total staff costs|||177381||85101||262482||294190|
|||||||||||||
|||Café|1 full time,18part time|||||||||
|||Twigs|1 full time,4part time|||||||||
|||||||||||||
|||There were no employees whose emoluments were over £50,000.||||||||||
|||||||||||||
|**3**||**Analyses of resources expended**||||||||||
|||||**Olive Tree Café**|||**Twigs**||**Total**||**Total**|
||||||**thisyear**||**thisyear**||**thisyear**||**previous**
**year**|
|||**Salaries and staff costs**||||||||||
||||||£||£||£||£|
|||Salaries|||177381||85101||262482||294190|
|||Staff costs|||4180||684||4864||4997|
|||Contract staff|||0||3315||3315||5555|
||||||181561||89100||270661||304742|
|||||||||||||
|||**Direct Costs**||||||||||
||||||£||£||£||£|
|||Cleaning|||3026||4724||7750||14161|
|||Equipment|||4982||1411||6393||2700|
|||Card Charges|||1012||0||1012||3913|
|||Tableware/workwear|||195||0||195||552|
|||Music Licence|||531||0||531||518|
|||Volunteers Expenses|||138||487||625||6282|
||||||9884||6622||16506||28126|
|||||||||||||
|||**Overheads**||||||||||
||||||£||£||£||£|
|||Rent|||17561||0||17561||17561|
|||Gas|||2062||0||2062||5666|
|||Electric|||4226||2198||6424||18120|
|||Water|||1017||1238||2255||4801|
|||Insurance|||1355||854||2209||1941|
|||Telephone|||1198||750||1948||1642|
|||Stationery|||310||118||428||1486|
|||Repair/Maintenance|||10970||3380||14350||9781|
|||Printing/Photocopy|||275||175||450||809|
|||Promotional|||0||0||0||810|
|||Depreciation|||2033||1000||3033||5478|
|||Auditors|||162||161||323||320|
|||Vehicle costs|||1554||1829||3383||0|
|||Misc|||0||404||404||2388|
|||||||||||||
||||||42723||12107||54830||70803|
|||||||||||||
|**4**||**Independent examiner's remuneration**||||||||||
|||||||||||||
|||An accrual for £320 has been made for the costs of the Independent Examination||||||||||
Page 9
|||**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2021**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||
|**5**||**Trustees**|||||||
||||||||||
|||There has been no remuneration or other benefitspaid to the charity's|||||||
|||trustees,orpeople connected with them,from the charity.|||||||
||||||||||
|||Number of trustees who werepaid expenses|||||0||
|||Total amountpaid|||||£0||
||||||||||
|**6**||**Tangible Fixed Assets**|||||||
||||||||||
|||Fixed Assets are individual items costingover £200. Computer|||||||
|||equipment is depreciated on a straight linepolicyover three|||||||
|||years(33%per annum). All other assets are depreciated|||||||
|||(egkitchen equipment furniture etc)on a straight linepolicy|||||||
|||over fouryears(25%per annum).|||||||
||||||||||
||||||**thisyear**|**prevyr**|||
||||||£|£|||
||||||||||
|||Cost|B/fwd||67904|53886|||
||||Additions||1079|14018|||
||||Disposals|||0|||
||||C/fwd||68983|67904|||
||||||||||
|||Depreciation|B/fwd||53003|43724|||
||||C/fwd||60013|53003|||
||||||||||
|||Net Book Value|||||||
||||B/fwd||14902|10162|||
||||C/fwd||8970|14902|||
||||||||||
|**7**||**Debtors due within oneyear**|||||||
||||||**thisyear**|**prevyr**|||
||||||£|£|||
||||||||||
|||Pre-payments|||2168|2656|||
|||Other Debtors||||54|||
||||||2168|2710|||
||||||||||
|**8**||**Creditors - falling due within oneyear**|||||||
||||||||||
||||||**thisyear**|**prevyr**|||
||||||£|£|||
||||||||||
|||Creditors|||3407|6163|||
|||Accruals|||850|4120|||
|||Deferred Income|||100920|38426|||
|||VAT|||-2845|6846|||
||||||102332|55555|||
||||||||||
|**9**||**Designated Fund**|||||||
||||||||||
|||There is a designated fund of £30,000 to fund future developments.|||||||
||||||||||
|**10**||**Basis of accounting**|||||||
|||These accounts have beenprepare on the basis of historic cost in accordance with|||||||
|||• Accountingand ReportingbyCharities – Statement of Recommended Practice|||||||
|||• and with the Charities Act|||||||
|||• and with the Companies Act 2006.|||||||
Page 10
Re
rt to the Trustees on the accounts for th flnandal
ar endi
on 31 March 2021
Respertlve responsibilitles of trustse and examlnor
The Trustees responsiblllty for preparing the Trustees Annual Report and the finantial Statements in
accordance with applicable law and Vnited Kin8dom Accounting Standards Iunited Kingdom Generally
Accepted Accounting Practice) are set out in the Statement of Trustees Responsibility in the body of
the Trustees Report.
You conslder that the audit requirement of Section 144 Charitie5 Act 2011 does not apply.
It is my responsibility to state. on the basis of procedures specified in the General Directions given by
the Charity Commissioner5 (Under sertion 145151 Ibl of the Act), whether partlcular matters have
come to my attention
Basis of independent examlnerfs statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with General Dirertion5 given by the Charity
Commissioners. An examination includes the review of the accounting records kept bythe charity and
comparison of the financial ststements presented with these records. It also includes consideration
of any unusual Items or disclosures in the financial statements, and the seeking of explanations from
you a5 trustees concernlng any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the
evidence that would be req¥Jired in an audit, and consequently no opinion is gfven as to whether the
finantlal statements present a true and fair view and the report is limited to those matter5 set out in
the statement below.
Independent examlnerfs ststement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention
11 which gives me asonable cause to believe that in any material respett the requlrements
to keep accounting records in accordance wlth section 130 of the Act
And
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the
accounting requirements of the Acts have not been met.
or
21 to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper
understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
C VAUGHAN
Chartered Accountant
195 Erniin Street
Stratton St Margare¢ Swlndon
SN3 4NA
Page 11
**Report to the Trustees on the accounts for the financial year ending on 31 March 2021**
## **Respective responsibilities of trustee and examiner**
The Trustees responsibility for preparing the Trustees Annual Report and the financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) are set out in the Statement of Trustees Responsibility in the body of the Trustees Report.
You consider that the audit requirement of Section 144 Charities Act 2011 does not apply.
It is my responsibility to state, on the basis of procedures specified in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners (under section 145 (5) (b) of the Act), 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 Commissioners. An examination includes the review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the financial statements presented with these records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and the seeking of explanations from you as 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 financial statements 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 connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention
- 1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements
- to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act And
- to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Acts have not been met;
or
- 2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
## **C VAUGHAN**
**Chartered Accountant 195 Ermin Street Stratton St Margaret, Swindon SN3 4NA**
Page 12