## The Recovery Tree Charity Annual Report April 2023 to March 2024 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. 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, 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 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 At the Olive Tree Café we had 55 volunteers and 15 staff with a known mental health support need. 10 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. 67% of our people say that their mental health has maintained or improved while they have been with us. Our **volunteer** programme went from strength to strength, with a constant flow of new volunteers and those with us increasing the amount of time they could devote and improving their capabilities and enhancing their responsibilities. We developed a particular relationship with the Harbour project which supports refugees and asylum seekers in Swindon. We continued to have lots of young people looking for a mix of work experience and volunteering as part of a Duke of Edinburgh award. ## **Case study** Y was with us for 9 months, as an asylum seeker. She came to learn bakery skills and how to follow recipes. She became quite independent, and as her English language improved, along with her confidence and baking skills, she became a part of the bakery group, and could help guide others. She received her leave to remain, and has now started work at a local hotel as full-time worker in the restaurant. Page 2 As we planned last year, we formalised the way in which we capture progress and identify support needs and next steps. The **Kitchen garden** continued, with volunteers enjoying working in it on Tuesdays and Fridays. We increased our **staffing** at our team leader level, so that we can provide more support for some of our very vulnerable staff. As part of this, we developed our training offer to provide more bakery training, which remains a popular therapeutic activity for staff and volunteers. 4 staff completed the mental health first aid course to put them in a better position to be able to support others. We continued with our level 1 food safety courses. These were recognised in our Environmental Health inspection, which graded us at level 5 and recognised our training and support of volunteers. **Community groups** continued to use the space at the Café: these include regular carers’ group and others for breast cancer awareness and support, a fibromyalgia group, and a memory cafe. The local community also supported our charitable work and Thamesdown Rotary and the Thamesdown Ladies Choir made significant fundraising contributions. We put on our **Rainbow Fest** in September to show solidarity with Swindon’s Pride/LGBTQI community. We received consultancy support from the Lloyds Bank Foundation to make proposals for developing the retail performance of the café. As a result, we developed an afternoon menu to stimulate business in the after-lunch period, developed our marketing for our buffet box and canapes service, and made more of the pre-Christmas period with a Christmas brunch menu and Puddings and Presents Afternoons. These developments provided both motivation and more opportunities for our volunteers. During the year, we have supported **114** people with employment or volunteering at the Café. Of these, 43 have left us. Figure 1 below summarises what they have gone on to do with their lives: 63% moved on to employment, education or further volunteering. Page 3 Figure 1: Destinations of leavers from the Olive Tree Café, 2023-24 ## TWIGS Our gardening sessions continue to be well-attended and cover a range of seasonal activities in a natural environment. Our service users, exservice users now in our “ambassador” role and our volunteers together make a group of 110 – 120 people who regularly benefit from our service and facilities each week. 10 of these are former service users: we encourage them to use their lived experience to support current service users. Our Bereavement and Dementia Gardening Groups continue. In addition, other organisations can also use our space for therapeutic activity. During the year, a drama therapist ran a ‘Story group’ in the Garden Studio for 5 weeks; Reach Inclusive Arts hired our craft room for a therapeutic session; two of our volunteers delivered a successful willow weaving workshop for people who use Swindon’s Family Services; and Swindon Interfaith Group came to us for an evening event which introduces our work to people from Swindon’s diverse cultures. We have continued to offer a variety of craft activities. Many of these are volunteerled and include woodwork, pottery and a series of varied sessions on Mondays which Page 4 have included visits to local craft workers. We have received a grant from Nationwide to buy a small iron-working forge for which we are building a dedicated area. ## 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: 16 people. In the summer, we delivered it at Bridewell Organic Gardens in South Oxfordshire. The course is popular and therapeutically valuable. 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. To help children who need mental health support, we ran a year-round series of workshops at a local in-patient mental health facility for young people. We also provided a work experience placement for two people from the facility, which has helped them move on with their lives. We also ran a year-long ## **Case study** Marjorie, 75, has been coming to Twigs since May 2023. She had been suffering with depression and anxiety and had previously been hospitalised for 9 months. Over the course of her year at Twigs her mental health has noticeably improved and her WE scores have been steadily increasing. Marjorie has enjoyed the social network Twigs has provided, having previously been socially isolated and has also found new motivation through learning new gardening skills. Twigs has given her 'a lot of confidence', in her own words and has found her experience at Twigs has provided good conversation starters at her residential home, church and even on the bus! series of sessions for a group of children from Compass Schools, which provides education for children who have experienced trauma or are in care. And we have hosted activity visits from local primary schools and the Youth Adventure Trust. During the year, we have supported **96** people. Of these, 23 have left us. Figure 2 below summarises what they have gone on to do with their lives. In addition, 49 independent volunteers help deliver the service. 9 of these are former service users: we encourage them to use their lived experience to support current service users. 5 are “TWIGS Ambassadors” who help present the service to visiting members of the public. Page 5 Figure 2: Destinations of leavers from TWIGS, 2023-24 **100%** of service users report receiving good or excellent service. **100%** report that being at TWIGS has given them new knowledge or skills. **84%** report being able to function more independently, with **54%** saying they needed less help from the NHS. 35 **%** of our leavers moved on to employment, education or further volunteering, or completed their recovery plan. Page 6 ## Message from the Trustees We have been able to continue providing services to support wellbeing for an increasingly diverse group of people, and are grateful to the large number of funders and donors who have helped us be able to do this. We have benefitted from consultancy support generously funded by the Lloyds Bank Foundation, which has enabled us to develop the Olive Tree Café’s retail performance, to increase our management capacity to allow us to develop ourselves, and to identify our IT support needs and engage a local firm. Our new website shows who we are and what we do, allowing us to engage with stakeholders in a much better way. We are well-supported by our local community. Across our projects, we estimate that volunteers have contributed over **17,000** hours during the year, and community-led fundraising and donations has provided £20,000 to use to provide our services. **The year in numbers** Income £563,212 Expenditure £543,769 Total people helped: 210 Staff 1 full time 33 part time Volunteers: 104 Balance at year end £161,889 (was £142,446 at 31[st] March 2023) ## **Our Trustees** Dick Millard (Chair), Gillian Barber, Jo Ridley, Kenny Baxter and Cara Hiscock. 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 Chair Date: 10[th] December 2024 Page 7 ## Report and Financial Statements ## **The Recovery Tree Charity** _1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024_ ## **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 five trustees and directors. Karen Hunt left us, leaving Dick Millard (Chair), Gillian Barber (Secretary), Jo Ridley and Kenny Baxter. During the year, Cara Hiscock joined the trustee board. We are currently recruiting further trustees to the 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. 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 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. 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. Page 8 ## **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 2024** The unrestricted surplus at the end of March 2024 is £133,611. The expenses for the period April 2023 to March 2024 were £543,769. The unrestricted reserve provides us around 3 months running costs, which is within 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. During July 2024 a problem arose with the drains in the Café premises, which are dependent on the landlord repairing. The café has had to close in the short term and the staff and Trustees have worked hard to find alternative premises and projects. We are monitoring the Reserves position very closely and will be setting up again, in new locations, during September 2024. Page 9 Accounts for the period 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024 ## **THE RECOVERY TREE CHARITY Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2024** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Total Previous
Notes this year Year
£ £
Incoming resources
Grants and Donations 1 291442 280809
Fundraising activities 30238 15641
Sales - Income from activities in
furtherance of charitable objects 241532 209803
Total incoming resources 563212 506253
Resources expended
Materials 86399 75789
Salaries and staff costs 2,3 341527 340882
Direct Expenses 3 24553 22928
Overheads 3 89567 71145
Fundraising Costs 1723 1788
Total resources expended 543769 512532
Surplus/deficit 19443 -6279
Net movement in funds 0 0
Fund balances brought forward 142446 148725
as at 1 April 2023
Fund balances carried forward
as at 31 March 2024 161889 142446
**----- End of picture text -----**
Page 10 ||||**THE RECOVERY TREE**|**THE RECOVERY TREE**|**THE RECOVERY TREE**||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31/03/2024**|||||| ||||||**Total**|**Total**|**Previous**| ||||**Notes**||**thisyear**||**Year**| ||||||||| ||||||**£**||**£**| |**Fixed Assets**|||||28278||**28470**| ||||||||| |Tangible assets|ible assets||6||28278||**28470**| |**Current Assets**|||||||| ||||||||| |Debtors and Prepayments|||7||4613||**5581**| |Stock|||||3298||**3364**| |Cash at bank and in hand|||||250772||**214521**| ||||||**258683**||**223466**| ||||||||| |**Short term creditors**|||8||**125072**||**109489**| ||||||||| |**Net current assets**|||||**133611**||**113976**| ||||||||| ||||||||| |**Total assets less current liabilities**||**Total assets less current liabilities**|||**161889**||**142446**| ||||||||| |**Net Assets**|||||**161889**||**142446**| ||||||||| |**Capital and Reserves**|||||||| ||||||||| |Unrestricted Funds|||||**161889**||**142446**| ||||||||| |Designated Funds|||||**0**||**0**| ||||||||| |**Total Funds**|||||**161889**||**142446**| - For the year ending **31 March 2024** the company was entitled to exemption under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies. - 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. Approved by the board of Directors and signed on its behalf by **Dick Millard Chairman** Page 11 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024
1 Grants and Donations Received
The Olive Tree Café Twigs Total
£ £ £
National Lottery 89985 8629 98614
Swindon Borough Council 70000 70000
Zurich Community Trust 38500 500 39000
Lloyds Bank Foundation 37360 37360
Friends of Twigs 5880 8622 14502
Sarah Raven 6000 6000
Joseph ward 2315 2315
Tithegrove Ltd 2000 2000
Thamesdown Ladies choir 1638 1638
Other grants 3604 4495 8099
Donations 5367 6547 11914
180696 110746 291442
2 Paid Employees
The Olive Tree Café Twigs Total Total
previous
this year this year this year year
£ £ £ £
Gross wages and salaries 232161 57538 289699 296532
Employer's N I costs 9426 4469 13895 13697
Pension contributions 4161 2668 6829 6914
Total staff costs 245748 64675 310423 317143
Café 28 part time staff
Twigs 1 full time, 1 part time and 4 part time 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 245748 64675 310423 317143
Staff costs 1930 2260 4190 3224
Contract staff 30 26884 26914 20515
247708 93819 341527 340882
Direct Costs
£ £ £ £
Cleaning 7331 5644 12975 12532
Equipment 3279 165 3444 2783
Card Charges 2721 91 2812 2351
Tableware/workwear 1188 0 1188 309
Music Licence 644 0 644 561
Volunteers Expenses 1370 822 2192 2504
Professional fees 906 392 1298 1888
17439 7114 24553 22928
Overheads
£ £ £ £
Rent 17561 0 17561 17561
Gas 5210 0 5210 7088
Electric 21800 7074 28874 16395
Water 4358 1174 5532 5315
Insurance 1210 2571 3781 2528
Telephone/Broadband 1842 1301 3143 2512
Stationery 722 327 1049 1193
Repair/Maintenance 5483 481 5964 5240
Printing/Photocopy 628 556 1184 978
Waste 2360 917 3277 3407
Depreciation 3204 2223 5427 5527
Vehicle costs 913 1281 2194 2134
Security 20 9 29 793
Website project 5113 142 5255 793
Misc 951 136 0 474
0
71375 18192 89567 71938
**----- End of picture text -----**
Page 12 |||**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2024**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2024**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2024**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2024**|**Notes to the accounts for theyear ended 31 March 2024**||||w
y| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||||||| |**4**||**Independent examiner's remuneration**||||||||| |||||||||||| |||An accrual for £380 has been made for the costs of the Independent Examination||||||||| |||||||||||| |**5**||||||||||| |||**Trustees**||||||||| |||||||||||| |||There has been no remuneration or other benefitspaid to the charity's trustees orpeople connected||||||||| |||||||||||| |||Number of trustees who werepaid expenses|||||0|||| |||Total amountpaid|||||£0|||| |||||||||||| |**6**||**Tangible Fixed Assets**||||||||| |||||||||||| |||Fixed Assets are individual items costingover £200,and depreciated on a straight line basis for four||||||||| |||||||||||| ||||||**thisyear**||**prevyr**|||| ||||||£||£|||| |||||||||||| |||Cost|B/fwd||105667||77349|||| ||||Additions||11023||28839|||| ||||Disposals||||-521|||| ||||C/fwd||116690||105667|||| |||||||||||| |||Depreciation|B/fwd||77197||67048|||| ||||C/fwd||88412||77197|||| |||||||||||| |||||||||||| |||Net Book Value||||||||| ||||B/fwd||28470||10301|||| ||||C/fwd||28278||28470|||| |||||||||||| |**7**||**Debtors due within oneyear**||||||||| ||||||**thisyear**||**prevyr**|||| ||||||£||£|||| |||Pre-payments|||2821||5069|||| |||Other Debtors|||1792||512|||| ||||||4613||5581|||| |||||||||||| |**8**||**Creditors - falling due within oneyear**||||||||| ||||||**thisyear**||**prevyr**|||| ||||||£||£|||| |||||||||||| |||Creditors|||8246||7208|||| |||Accruals|||7580||4850|||| |||Deferred Income|||103041||91730|||| |||VAT|||6205||5701|||| ||||||125072||109489|||| |||||||||||| |**9**||**Basis of accounting**||||||||| |||These accounts have beenprepare on the basis of historic cost in accordance with||||||||| |||||||||||| ||||the Statement of Recommend Practice - Accountingand ReportingbyCharities and|||||||| |||||||||||| ||||the Charities Act and|||||||| |||||||||||| ||||the Companies Act 2006|||||||| There has been no remuneration or other benefits paid to the charity's trustees or people connected w Page 13 ort to the Trustees on the actounts for the finandal ar endl on 31 March 2024 The Trustees responsibllity for preparing the Tnjstees Annual Report and the finanaal 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 Sertion 144 Charities Art 2011 does not apply. It is my responsibility to state. on the basis of procedures speCif￿d in the General Dirertions given bv the Charity Commissioners (under section 145 {5) (b) of the Act). whether particular matters have come to my attention Basis of independent examinerfs statemerrt 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 indudes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements. and the 5eekin8 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 consequentty no opinbon is given as to whether the financial ststements present a true ar)d fair view ond the rep)rt is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent examinerfs statement In connection with my examination. no matter has come to my atten￿n l) which give5 me ￿3$Onable cause to believe that in any material respert the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with sertion 130 of the Act ArKI to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply wlth the accounting requirements of the Arts 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 ststements to be reached. C VAUGHAN Chartered Accounlant 195 Ermin Street Stratton St Marzrt Swindon SN3 4NA Page 14