## The Recovery Tree
Charity Annual Report April 2022 to March 2023
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.
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## Our Mission
We help people with a mental health condition to lead fulfilling and satisfying lives. We like to think that our presence, our 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 selfrefer) 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
At the Olive Tree Café we currently have 50 volunteers and 15 staff with a known mental health condition. 8 independent volunteers help deliver the service. we regularly welcome young people who are disabled or vulnerable for some work experience, sometimes as part of a Duke of Edinburgh Award. Our sales have grown slowly, as people started to come back to cafes after time off
One of our volunteers said:
“The Olive Tree has helped me enormously to rebuild my life. It has given me focus and rebuilt my self-esteem.”
during Covid. We’ve slightly expanded our staffing as a result.
We have been able to increase the time worked by our Assistant Manager to ensure that we are providing adequate and appropriate support and training for our volunteers and the small number of paid staff, and to ensure that café operations run smoothly for customers.
We have continued to open the café on 6 days a week (by closing the café on Mondays), and use Mondays for the delivery of food-based training courses to Café volunteers and staff.
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Our Café bakery and workshop sessions now have clear shape and structure. For a while, we also had sessions going on a Thursday but it has been difficult to staff these resiliently. They have the potential to be shaped into accredited courses. They are a great gateway into the café for different volunteers who don’t naturally fit straight into the day to day of the café, or who need a bit of confidence first.
We have also managed to find a way of accepting into the kitchen people who need a support worker with them at all times.
Our **kitchen garden** has developed with the support of a member of the TWIGS staff. We have increased the range of salads on our menu and improved the quality of the food we offer, enabled interested volunteers to learn gardening skills and offered additional training opportunities for our volunteers in the use of the salads/vegetables grown. We now have a thriving garden, and some thriving volunteers. Produce is also offered to customers for a donation: these are often very generous.
We put on a **Rainbow Fest** , a day long music festival promoted to the LGBTQ+ community. We were proud to have raised money for Pride and Out of the Can (a local charity for young LGBTQ+ people).
During the year, we have supported **112** people with employment or volunteering at the Café. Of these, 32 have left us (excluding those unable to return post-covid). Figure 1 below summarises what they have gone on to do with their lives: 53% moved on to employment, education or further volunteering.
Figure 1: Destinations of leavers from the Olive Tree Café, 2022-23
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We ended our activity at the Pinetrees Community Centre. Our craft sessions on Wednesdays ran until the end of March, after which our grant expired. Our bakery workshops transferred to the Olive Tree, which makes them much easier for us to manage. The lunch club will be taken over and hopefully expanded by Central Swindon North Parish Council. We were finding it increasingly difficult to find and retain volunteers who could deliver projects there, and benefit from them. Annex 1 summarises our achievements in the Pinecones Partnership.
## TWIGS
Our gardening sessions are well-attended and cover a range of seasonal activities in a natural environment. Lead by an experienced volunteer, we have been growing flowers for a cut flower service, an opportunity to teach floristry skills. A group called ‘Hope Street’, formed from people involved with the addiction service Turning Point and SBC have made a start on a plot we have given them.
We have established a Bereavement Group which under the leadership of a member of staff is now creating a Garden of Hope. This is well underway and will in time be a place for quiet contemplation. Our gardening group for people with dementia continues
## We delivered our **Level 2 Essential**
**Garden Skills course** (8 sessions over 8 weeks) twice at TWIGS, in the autumn and again in the spring: 9 people enrolled on each. In the summer, we delivered it at Bridewell Organic Gardens in South Oxfordshire. The course is valued by the trainees.
We ran a successful day for the Youth Adventure Trust in October for 10 children: pizzas, woodcraft and apple juicing. A group of volunteers from the Prince’s Trust via Inner Flame come to help clear part of our willow field and build a dead hedge along the boundary. We also had someone from the Prince’s Trust, via Inner Flame, come to spend a week on Work Experience with us.
## **Case study**
Brian was suffering with depression and delusional disorder. When he started at TWIGS, his confidence was very low and he struggled to engage with the group. Following a number of sessions Brian began to interact more and grow in confidence carrying out the varied tasks around the gardens. Brian enrolled on the Essential Garden Skills course in April 2023 and successfully completed the course. As a result of this he has started to pick up some gardening work with a friend who is a builder. He hopes when he leaves Twigs to be able to begin working as a selfemployed gardener.
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There has been a variety of craft activities at TWIGS. Although we were unable to appoint a Creative Programme Organiser, we have made provision for people whose wellbeing is improved by art and craft activity. We ran 6 months of craft and art sessions, delivered by a local artist and a craft worker. We presented three 8 week Art Therapy programmes, delivered by a qualified arts psychotherapist. These jointly served TWIGS and Mind clients. A member of staff ran lantern-making workshops in November. One of our volunteers now offers pottery tuition on our potter’s wheel to small groups once a week. Volunteer-led sessions started in January with a focus on natural crafts such as willow weaving.
We continued with our annual cycle of 4 open days and other events open to the public: an Apple Day in October, a Twinkly Gardens event in December (organised by Zurich) and a Wassail in January. These are good ways to reach new members of the public, to promote the benefits of good mental health and to help diversify our income.
We ran two gardening groups at a local in-patient mental health facility, one for adults and one for young people.
During the year, we have supported **114** people. Of these, 46 have left us. Figure 2 below summarises what they have gone on to do with their lives. In addition, 45 independent volunteers help deliver the service. 12 of these are former service users: we encourage them to use their lived experience to support current service users. 2 “TWIGS Ambassadors” help present the service to visiting members of the public.
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Figure 2: Destinations of leavers from TWIGS, 2022-23
**98%** of service users report receiving good or excellent service. **93%** report that being at TWIGS has given them new knowledge or skills. **79%** report being able to function more independently, with **37%** saying they needed less help from the NHS. **51%** of our leavers moved on to employment, education or further volunteering, or completed their recovery plan.
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## Message from the Trustees
Swindon, where we operate, has a rising number of people whose mental wellbeing is suffering. Increasingly, these include older people and children. We are pleased that we have continued providing services to support wellbeing, and are grateful to the large number of funders and donors who have helped us be able to do this.
Our governance review last year has been taken forward with some consultancy support generously funded by the Lloyds Bank Foundation, which we expect will help us define the basis for our development over the coming few years. One of the first developments is a new website to underpin our ability to communicate with stakeholders, which will go live in the autumn of 2023.
We feel well-supported by our local community. Across our projects, we estimate that volunteers have contributed over **18,000** hours during the year.
**The year in numbers** Income £506,253 Expenditure £ 512,532 Total people helped: 226 Staff 2 full time 29 part time Volunteers: 93 Balance at year end £142,446 (was £148,725 at 31[st] March 2022)
## **Our Trustees**
Dick Millard (Chair), Gillian Barber, Jo Ridley and Kenny Baxter.
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/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082394996111
Dick Millard Date: 21[st] August 2023 Chair
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## Report and Financial Statements
## **The Recovery Tree Charity**
_1[st] April 2022 to 31[st] March 2023_
## **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.
At the start of the year, there were four trustees and directors: Dick Millard (Chair), Gillian Barber (Secretary), Jo Ridley and Kenny Baxter. During the year, Karen Hunt stepped down as a trustee. We are currently recruiting to the trustee board.
## **Governance and Management**
Trustees meetings are currently held usually 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 managers provide regular reports to the trustees to aid decision making and prioritisation.
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**
Throughout the year we applied for publicly 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, although with slightly reduced reserves compared with last year. Our major funders are listed in the notes to the accounts on page 12.
At TWIGS, we have a contract with Swindon Borough Council (SBC): this runs for three years to 30 June 2024 and is extendable to 5 years. 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 as such depends on its income from varying 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 3 year contract with SBC, plus other grants and donations, supplemented by small amounts of income from plant sales and outreach work.
The Cafés 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.
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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 2023**
The unrestricted surplus at the end of March 2021 is £113,976. The expenses for the period April 2022 to March 2023 were £512,532. The unrestricted reserve provides us around 2.7 months running costs, which is just under our policy of between 3 to 6 months running costs.
Our aim over the coming year will be to increase 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 2022 to 31[st] March 2023
## **THE RECOVERY TREE CHARITY Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2023**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Total Previous
Notes this year Year
£ £
Incoming resources
Grants and Donations 1 280809 258603
Fundraising activities 15641 7116
Sales - Income from activities in
furtherance of charitable objects 209803 172418
Total incoming resources 506253 438137
Resources expended
Materials 75789 53690
Salaries and staff costs 2,3 340882 306798
Direct Expenses 3 22928 21893
Overheads 3 71145 65029
Fundraising Costs 1788 2317
Total resources expended 512532 449727
Surplus/deficit -6279 -11590
Net movement in funds 0 -11590
Fund balances brought forward 148725 160315
as at 1 April 2022
Fund balances carried forward
as at 31 March 2023 142446 148725
**----- End of picture text -----**
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|||**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2023**|**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2023**|**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2023**|**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2023**|**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2023**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||**Notes**||**Total**
**thisyear**||**Previous**
**Year**|
||||||**£**||**£**|
|||||||||
|**Fixed Assets**|||||28470||**10301**|
|||||||||
|Tangible assets|||6||28470||**10301**|
|||||||||
|**Current Assets**||||||||
|||||||||
|Debtors and Prepayments|||7||5581||**3581**|
|Stock|||||3364||**2474**|
|Cash at bank and in hand|||||214520||**227505**|
||||||**223465**||**233560**|
|||||||||
|**Short term creditors**|||8||**109489**||**95136**|
|||||||||
|**Net current assets**|||||**113976**||**138424**|
|||||||||
|**Total assets less current liabilities**|||||**142446**||**148725**|
|||||||||
|**Net Assets**|||||**142446**||**148725**|
|||||||||
|||||||||
|**Capital and Reserves**||||||||
|||||||||
|Unrestricted Funds|||||**142446**||**148725**|
|||||||||
|Designated Funds|||||**0**||**0**|
|||||||||
|**Total Funds**|||||**142446**||**148725**|
|||||||||
|||||||||
|• For theyear ending **31 March 2023**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 companie||||||||
||subject to the small companies regime.|||||||
|||||||||
|Approved bythe board of Directors and signed on its behalf by||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|||||||||
|**Dick Millard**||||||||
|**Chairman**||||||||
- The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006
- The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
- These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.
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Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023
1 Grants and Donations Received
The Olive Tree Café Twigs Total
£ £ £
National Lottery 88165 8628 96793
Swindon Borough Council 70000 70000
Zurich Community Trust 33549 7109 40658
Friends of Twigs 5378 11416 16794
Lloyds Bank Foundation 13045 1845 14890
Sarah Raven 6000 6000
Florence Cohen Charitable Trust 5091 5091
Wiltshire Community Foundation 4480 4480
Nationwide Building Society 3045 3045
Kickstart grant 2245 2245
Midcounties Co-op 1352 1352
Edward Gosling Foundation 1120 1120
Other grants 716 3120 3836
Donations 10419 4086 14505
162394 118415 280809
2 Paid Employees
The Olive Tree Café Twigs Total Total
previous
this year this year this year year
£ £ £ £
Gross wages and salaries 224907 71625 296532 275691
Employer's N I costs 8827 4870 13697 11360
Pension contributions 4142 2772 6914 6296
Total staff costs 237876 79267 317143 293347
Café 1 full time, 23 part time
Twigs 1 full time, 1 part time and 3 self-employed
There were no employees whose emoluments were over £50,000.
3 Analyses of resources expended
The Olive Tree Café Twigs Total Total
previous
this year this year this year year
Salaries and staff costs
£ £ £ £
Salaries 237876 79267 317143 293347
Staff costs 1454 1770 3224 4445
Contract staff 3425 17090 20515 9006
242755 98127 340882 306798
Direct Costs
£ £ £ £
Cleaning 7836 4696 12532 13870
Equipment 2346 437 2783 2082
Card Charges 2326 25 2351 1734
Tableware/workwear 309 309 303
Music Licence 561 561 151
Volunteers training courses . 0 2424
Volunteers Expenses 1516 988 2504 1329
Professional fees 1218 670 1888 313
16112 6816 22928 22206
Overheads
£ £ £ £
Rent 17561 17561 17560
Gas 7088 7088 5293
Electric 13088 3307 16395 15987
Water 3122 2193 5315 3607
Insurance 1277 1251 2528 2442
Telephone/Broadband 1823 689 2512 2448
Stationery 736 457 1193 1155
Repair/Maintenance 4718 522 5240 7364
Printing/Photocopy 646 332 978 1045
Waste 2650 757 3407 345
Depreciation 3810 1717 5527 3956
Vehicle costs 1031 1103 2134 3105
Security 225 568 793
Misc 383 91 474 409
58158 12987 71145 64716
**----- End of picture text -----**
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Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023
4 Independent examiner's remuneration
An accrual for £400 has been made for the costs of the Independent Examination
5 Trustees
There has been no remuneration or other benefits paid to the charity's trustees or people connected with them
Number of trustees who were paid expenses 0
Total amount paid £0
6 Tangible Fixed Assets
Fixed Assets are individual items costing over £200, and depreciated on a straight line basis for four years
(25% per annum)
this year prev yr
£ £
Cost B/fwd 77349 68983
Additions 28839 8366
Disposals -521 0
C/fwd 105667 77349
Depreciation B/fwd 67048 60013
C/fwd 77197 67048
Net Book Value
B/fwd 10301 8970
C/fwd 28470 10301
7 Debtors due within one year
this year prev yr
£ £
Pre-payments 5069 2223
Other Debtors 512 1358
5581 3581
8 Creditors - falling due within one year
this year prev yr
£ £
Creditors 7208 9911
Accruals 4850 3360
Deferred Income 91730 81014
VAT 5701 851
109489 95136
9 Basis of accounting
These accounts have been prepare on the basis of historic cost in accordance with
the Statement of Recommend Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities and
the Charities Act and
the Companies Act 2006
**----- End of picture text -----**
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## **Report to the Trustees on the accounts for the financial year ending on 31 March 2023**
## **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**
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## _**Annex 1: Pinecones**_
From the start of the year, we continued an existing relationship with the Parish Council in nearby Pinehurst, an area of Swindon considered as one of the 10% most disadvantaged areas of the country. For several years pre-covid we had tried to start a branch of our community café there. This proved not to be financially viable: the local community has such restricted incomes that there is no “spare” left to buy food and drink in cafes, and we could not cover the cost of wages and food materials. So after covid restrictions eased, we committed for a year-long project (funded by a grant from Awards for All) to run:
- Bakery @ Pinecones. This was staffed by 4 or 5 volunteers lead by our Manager. They produced bread which was available for a donation in the local community. There was a very good response, and generous donations. It proved quite difficult to find distribution points, but the Deers Leap community pub in nearby Penhill became a good outlet for us. Staffing was awkward as the bread-making process required intermittent attendance and this was difficult to fit in to a regular staffing pattern.
- Craft workshops. We ran regular sessions throughout the year. Feedback from participants was good (see attached collection of feedback): many are otherwise socially isolated. Two sessions were run on a Wednesday and total attendance averages 25 per day.
- The “Wonky Pizza” project, run jointly with local charity Shine Pinehurst. This ran two 6 week wood fired pizza training programme for 7 young people from Pinehurst on a Thursday evening. It has been very successful, with some joyful impact made and some real commitment from these young people aged 14-16.
Following the end of the Awards for All funding, we decided to
- Transfer the baking activity to the Olive Tree. We already had a bakery session running there, which was able to cover more different kinds of bakery: was easier to staff (being on our main site): and distracted our Manager less as a result.
- Stop the craft activity, and ask the Parish council to consider continuing them, with grants if needed.
- Continue contributing to the Wonky Pizza project, jointly with Shine Pinehurst.
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