2020-12-31-accounts

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GRAPEVINE ESSEX FOR PEOPLE WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

ANNUAL REPORT 2020

Contents
Our Purpose, our Values, our Services	4
Structure and Governance	5
We Listen, We Act, We Care	6
Chair’s Annual Review	7
President’s Report	8
Club Grapevine	9
Dance Group	10
Performance Overview	11
Fundraising	12
What People Say…	13
Our Benefactors	16
Treasurer’s Report	17
Independent Examiner’s Report	18
Accounts for the Year 2020	19
Grapevine Word Search	20
Membership Forms	2
Gift Aid Form	23

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right” Henry Ford

To make an impact on the lives of adults with learning disabilities by providing the necessary tools for change to enable them to lead active and purposeful lives.

Grapevine Essex is committed to providing an excellent and professional service to adults with learning disabilities; comprising affordable, confidence building and educational opportunities that teach life skills, support independent living and improve employability.

The supported outings and activities provided ensure valuable respite to

parents and carers, in addition to raising acceptance and awareness of adults with learning difficulties within the general public.

Most of all, we are dedicated to ensuring our members have fun, develop friendships and enhance their lives within a safe, supportive and friendly environment.

Structure and Governance

Grapevine Essex was founded in January 2012 and achieved charity status as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in March 2013 with the registered Charity Number 1151261. Our governing document is the CIO Constitution, which was also agreed in 2013 and is reviewed on a regular basis.

provides over 40 outings and events during the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays. These can include trips to historical venues, theme parks, theatres, outdoor activity centres, wildlife parks and residential mini-breaks to name just a few.

In term time, we hold two weekly evening clubs - a Dance Group, and Club Grapevine, which is a social club providing organised activities. Both are very well attended.

In accordance with Charity Commission regulations, we have an elected Board of Trustees, who are responsible for the governance of the group. Charity trustees are elected on the basis of the relevant skills and attributes they possess that enable them to perform important functions within the charity. Trustees who were elected at the Annual General Meeting on 1 May 2020 are:

Adults with learning disabilities can lead sedentary and sheltered lives and are at a particular disadvantage in our society with relation to involvement in leisure and social activities. This may be due to communication difficulties, a lack of confidence, qualified help and support or financial restrictions. People who are intellectually disadvantaged can be socially marginalised and isolated. Some of our members live in segregated settings, with few, if any, social relationships within the wider community.

Mrs Jackie Holland Mrs Monika Kelly Mrs Vanessa Hellier Mrs Jane Crossman Mrs June Gooday Mrs Sue Johns Mrs Mary Schultz Mr Peter Schultz

Chair Treasurer Secretary

Belonging to Grapevine Essex helps to motivate our members and improve their quality of life by providing exciting opportunities to get involved with, alongside some regular and familiar activities too. Members form relationships and make friends; and belonging to the ‘Grapevine Family’ becomes an important part of their lives.

Grapevine Essex was formed to meet the need locally for adults with learning disabilities to join a club where they can experience opportunities via our extensive activity programme that would not otherwise be available to them. Grapevine

Grapevine Essex was founded in January 2012 by Jackie Holland and Vanessa Hellier and we have over 150 members.

We are honoured to have Peter Turrall MBE as our President, and Lord Petre, 18th Baron Petre KCVO as our Patron.

Jackie’s role as Chair of the Board of Trustees and Charity Manager includes planning and organising all the activities and events for members, managing the accounts and overseeing the general running of the charity. Jackie holds qualifications in Emergency First Aid at Work; Risk Assessment and Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults, level 3 (Higher Distinction).

Vanessa’s role as Member Support Manager involves organising the support for members and supervising the volunteer team. She also runs our two weekly clubs during term times: Club Grapevine and the Dance Group. Vanessa holds qualifications in First Aid at Work; Risk Assessment; Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults, level 3 (Higher Distinction); Epilepsy Awareness; Autism Awareness and is qualified to administer Buccal Midazolam.

Mary Schultz works alongside Vanessa in providing support for members and organises the Art and Craft Workshops. Mary holds qualifications in Emergency First Aid at Work; Risk Assessment;

Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults, level 3 (Higher Distinction) and Autism Awareness.

Jane Crossman is the Funding and Administrative Officer and she helps Jackie in applying for grants and various other administrative duties, as well as volunteering at our events and Club nights. Jane holds qualifications in Emergency First Aid at Work; Risk Assessment and Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults, level 3 (Higher Distinction).

Adrian Heighes is a Support Assistant for people with complex needs. He is currently studying for a BSc Hons in Health and Social Care and holds the following qualifications: QCF/NVQ Level Two: Health & Social Care; NVQ Level Three: Employment Law; Understanding Autism, Fire Safety, Health & Safety, Nutrition & Wellbeing, Infection Control & Prevention, Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults, level 3 (Higher Distinction); Dementia Awareness, Makaton, The Autism Act 2009, Manual Handling; First Aid at Work and is qualified to administer Buccal Midazolam.

Other support staff and volunteers are offered ‘Emergency First Aid at Work’ training. All members of the Grapevine Team have enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance.

“All the activities seem to go very well and Alex enjoys being a part of them” Beverley El-Holiby (Alex’s Mum)

Chair’s Annual Review

Well what a year 2020 was! It was so disappointing that all the carefully planned events due to take place throughout 2020 had to be cancelled. When I wrote in last year’s Annual Report, I didn’t dream that our lives would still be so dominated by Covid restrictions a whole year later.

In May 2020, we began holding free online Zoom sessions two or three times a week in place of our usual activities. We provided over 100 Zoom hours in 2020 alone!

Regular sessions include quizzes, bingo, dancing, baking and art. We’ve also had a few fascinating virtual tours, discos, storytelling and karaoke. Special thanks to Jono Bone and Andrew Goff for providing some of the quizzes; to Mary for the fantastic art sessions; Vanessa and Mary for running the bingo and last but not least to Steven ‘Springy’ Turner for providing the popular fortnightly Dance classes.

We usually have around 15-20 attendees for each session who really enjoy the different activities but we are sorry that there are lots of members that we haven’t been able to reach in this way.

We have also been pleased to partner with Sport for Confidence to offer socially distanced team sports either at a park or at Riverside Sports Centre when restrictions have allowed. We have been able to reach a few more members in this way but only in limited numbers.

It was partly due to this and partly due to having received some very generous donations during this time, that the Trustees agreed to provide free Membership to all our existing members during 2021.

Thanks to the excellent vaccination programme, normal life is very slowly starting to recover. We are hoping for a cautious return to Grapevine outings over the summer of 2021, and are optimistic that Club Grapevine and the Dance Group will be able to resume in Autumn 2021. I’m keeping my fingers firmly crossed that we’ll be able to meet in person again very soon. In the meantime, take care and keep safe.

Jackie Holland Chair and Charity Manager

President’s Report

This past year has been one of concern following the Covid pandemic, with the usual activities

of our members being strictly limited.

I know many of you are really looking forward to the restart of Grapevine events, now the Government has given a very broad hint that by the end of June, most previous activities can once again resume. You have all been very patient and I hope that you have kept reasonably occupied during this trying period.

As we enter another year of activities, we must all still be very careful to follow the rules which have been set by our health authorities to ensure we enjoy ourselves but, the same time do not endanger other people by taking risks and ensuring we keep our distance from each other when required.

I personally hope that when Grapevine outings and other activities commence, I will be able to join with you at some of these events. I know our Charity Manager Jackie and our Committee are looking forward to meeting with you once again.

Very Best Wishes,

Peter A.T. Turrall MBE President

“ I think you are doing a great job with lots of variety and I am happy with everything I do, thank you!” Anna Morgan

Club Grapevine

Tuesdays 6:30pm-8:30pm, term time only Columbus College, Partridge Avenue, Chelmsford CM1 4JG Contact: Vanessa@grapevineessex.org.uk / 07976 578868

I would like to show my appreciation to the Club Grapevine volunteers for their support and help in this last very strange year. I would especially like to thank Mary for sorting out the art and craft zoom sessions and for taking on the job as bingo caller. I would also like to thank Jackie for organising and setting up all the zoom sessions over the last year, we couldn’t have

done it without her. The members that are able to join in have really enjoyed the activities.

Club Grapevine continues to carry on growing with a few new members each year but unfortunately, we haven’t been able to go bowling for a while; we hope we can get back there soon. Thanks to DJ JoJo, Jan and Denis for providing virtual disco and karaoke sessions on zoom. We’re looking forward getting back to Club at Columbus very soon.

In memory of Colin Gooday who was Grapevine’s treasurer and a very big part of Club Grapevine, we introduced the Colin Gooday Kindness Award to be presented to the most deserving nominee of the year. In 2020, the award was presented to Lianne Nice by Colin’s wife June Gooday for the kind and thoughtful way she treats others.

We were very sorry to say goodbye to June who was a regular volunteer at Club Grapevine on a Tuesday evening. She has moved to live next door to her daughter in Bury St Edmunds. Good luck June, I’m sure you will get settled in very quickly but we will all miss you.

Club Grapevine is currently recruiting for more volunteers - if you can spare two hours once a week /or once a fortnight to take on this very rewarding role, please contact me for more information.

Vanessa Hellier, Club Grapevine Manager

“Thank you so much for nominating me for the Colin Gooday Kindness Award. I didn’t expect to get it, thank you.” Lianne Nice

Dance Group

Mondays 7:00pm-8:00pm, term time only The Boswells School, Burnham Road, Chelmsford CM1 6LY Contact: Vanessa Hellier - Vanessa@grapevineessex.org.uk / 07976 578868

So, yet another year has come to an end! I would like to give a big thank you to Steven for teaching the zoom classes

and coming up with dances for the members to follow.

This year, The Katie Whalley Dance Achievement Award was presented to Alice Leigh for the joy she gives

to other members at the dance classes. Well done, Alice!

About a year ago I got the privilege of starting the Grapevine virtual dance class. Although I am yet to meet many of the dancers in person it has been a privilege to dance with them and get to know them.

Over the sessions I have taught four warm up dances that we use regularly as well as completing three and working on a fourth dance to popular music tracks.

It has been great to see the dancers expand their movement vocabulary as all of us have had to adjust to dancing on zoom.

Vanessa Hellier Dance Group Manager

Steven ‘Springy’ Turner, Zoom Dance Teacher

“I really enjoy the dancing with Steven” Sarah Kemp

Performance Overview

Grapevine Essex provides educational and recreational activities for adults with learning disabilities living in Essex. Our priority is to support our members’ well-being by increasing their confidence, so they feel valued and able to contribute meaningfully to society and live more fulfilled lives.

hasn’t been possible to reach everyone via the virtual platform.

We have also supported our most vulnerable members, particularly at the start of the pandemic, by helping with shopping and hospital appointments, phoning for regular chats and arranging extra assistance where needed.

Many of those that have engaged in the online activities have found it a lifeline in providing structure and a way of connecting with others.

During ‘normal’ times, Grapevine offers a rich and varied programme of life-enhancing, supported outings and activities.

Over the last year, the world has been a very different place, and our members have had to stay at home. Grapevine responded to this by providing free online activities 2-3 times a week. These have included quizzes, art and craft, baking, bingo, storytelling, virtual tours, musical nights and karaoke. 15-20 members join most of the sessions but regrettably, it

A survey on the popularity of some of the virtual events received the following responses:

----- Start of picture text -----
Very Enjoyable/
Enjoyable
Baking 94%
Virtual Tours 88%
Bingo 89%
Art and Craft 90%
Quizzes 89%
Dance 86%
----- End of picture text -----

Fundraisin g

Fundraising during the pandemic proved to be a challenge, with usual events like the Barn Dance and the Quiz Night having to be cancelled.

However, just before lock-down, we were pleased to receive £130 from pupils at Gable Hall School in Stanford-le-Hope who held a Cake Sale on our behalf.

Paula Shrimpton (member Paul Wisbey’s sister) volunteered to take part in the London Marathon and had already started fundraising before the event was unfortunately cancelled. She successfully raised £85 for Grapevine.

Basildon, Billericay and Wickford CVS (BBWCVS) came up trumps by making the annual Fun Walk a virtual event that took place throughout September, with participants walking from home and around their local area. We were delighted to raise £1153 in sponsorship and from Bonus Pot contributors.

Another sponsored event we were able to hold was initiated by our Treasurer Monika Kelly. She bravely cycled 100 miles from her home in Southminster to Cambridge and back, raising an amazing £675.

With grateful thanks to all our fundraisers and sponsors - you are all fantastic!

If you would like to fundraise for us, please get in touch. Grapevine Essex is registered with the Fundraising Regulator.

What People Say...

Thank you Jackie and Vanessa for all the zoom events. I particularly enjoyed the quizzes, the film night, music nights, bingo and the dancing. Thanks for

keeping us all entertained during lockdown. Andrew Brooks

Emily would like you to know how very grateful she is for her weekly Grapevine sessions. It can’t be underestimated how valuable these online meet ups have been since her daily life has become so changed and restricted from last March. Having enjoyable times each week to look forward to with staff and members - her friends - has provided welcome and needed structure to her week and a sense of routine which is so important to her. It has been lovely to hear in the background the happy voices of everyone, while Emily has been having fun and I’ve been busy catching up with housework. She has especially enjoyed some of the virtual tours such as the Harry Potter Studios

and most of all has loved the Dance with Springy Steve - huge highlight! Thank you to all involved with keeping Grapevine running - this has been something

really good in challenging times. Also, just to add - we very much hope these fantastic online sessions continue. Julia Knowles (Emily’s mum)

The hard work behind the scenes to keep the charity on track is always a challenge but we are very grateful to have been awarded several grants over the last year including from the National Lottery and Essex Community Foundation emergency funds. Family and friends continue to be very supportive too and we are so grateful for their on-going support. All the donations will help towards our future plans while also funding the online activities.

We are all missing each other at Grapevine but after a very tough time for everyone, it really won’t be long until we can get together again.

Jane Crossman, Trustee

This year has been a difficult one, full of its ups and downs. However, Grapevine has always been there for its members and has certainly brightened up Ellen’s days with the online zoom activities. She has enjoyed in particular the virtual tours, the quizzes, bingo and the art and craft sessions. Ellen does like to have some sort of routine, so the regular Tuesday and Friday sessions worked very well for her. Thank you Jackie for putting this all together.

with lots of thought and planning to choose the right sorts of activities for our members, I tried to cater for the majority who would have the basic art materials at home. I have enjoyed the mixture of arty creations which evolved, my favourites been the rock painting, painting Starry Night, collages with leaves and flowers, the Picasso head in a pot and zany coasters and placemats made by weaving card. Thank you to all the parents and carers who helped our members to achieve some truly fantastic artwork.

Mary Schultz (Ellen’s Mum)

What is zoom? What is Lockdown? What about Grapevine? We have bingo, cooking, quizzes and chats, storytelling, mystery tours and more than that. Jackie, Mary, Vanessa are here on line to help us through this boring time until we meet up again. We all have fun and chat on Tuesday and Friday… waiting to get through… put yourself on mute and don’t forget to undo.

I also took on the bingo sessions which were very amusing with Steven relating every number to a bus (and he knew their routes!); the machine deciding to flash every so often and my variations on a game of bingo. Hope you all enjoyed it. Really looking forward to getting back to our normal routine as I know everyone else is but I will miss June Gooday who helped out at Columbus and is a very dear friend to all. We hope she is enjoying her new life in Suffolk.

Clare Nice (Lianne’s mum)

What a year! If someone had told me I would be doing art and craft sessions on zoom for the duration, I would have thought how on earth can I do that. Where there is a will there is a way, so

Mary Schultz (Trustee)

Grapevine Essex has been running since 2012 and it’s a lovely team. The

staff are wonderful and I can’t wait to go back to normality when we all can go out and meet each other again. Thank you so much to Jackie Holland for putting on zoom for everyone, it was so good of her and it’s been the best thing ever for lockdown

nice to see him. Thanks for putting on the storytelling, and the Harry Potter tour was very good.

A big thank you to June Gooday for all your hard work at Grapevine Essex; you have done a really good job. We are all going to miss you so much and I can’t wait to see you again. Thank you so much to the wonderful staff for putting up with me - we all have our bad days, thanks.

Lianne Nice

Everything you do has been really excellent. You have all worked so hard and are doing a tremendous job! A big thank you!! We so value all you do

and for connecting to other people. A big thank you to Mary for doing the art and craft, it was so interesting and very kind of her to do it. The blue badge tours were very nice and interesting; with the different places we went to. The bingo is very nice and the quiz is very good for your brain and your knowledge. Thank you to Jackie and Charlie for helping us do the cooking, it’s very good of them and it’s very helpful for us to cook; and the gardening one was very nice too and it’s very easy to do. Thanks to Becky for the drama class, it was so interesting and was my first go at drama. The Skittleman was so funny and it’s very

and will continue to tune in whenever we can! THESE SESSIONS ARE FABULOUS! A big thank you. All the best to everyone.

Margot Routledge (Chris’ Mum)

With special thanks to all our benefactors

Amazon Smile Fundraising Aviva Crowdfunding Barleylands Fun Walk Sponsors & Bonus Pot Contributors Birt, Mrs. M. Chelmsford Masonic Hall Chelmsford Newsagents’ customers Crisp, Mr. P. & Mrs. D. Easy Fundraising contributors El-Holiby, Mrs. B. Elsdon, Mr. D. Essex Community Foundation Fowler, Smith & Jones Trust Friends of Grapevine Essex members Gable Hall School students Hector, Mr. M and Mrs. B. Hellier, Mr. B. & Mrs. V. Jarrad, Mr. & Mrs. R.

Kelly, Mrs. M.

& 100 mile cycle challenge sponsors Knight, Mr. K. & Mrs. H. Lushington, Mr. J. Matthams, Mr. P.J. National Lottery Community Fund Neighbourly Community Fund Richmond, J. Roberts, Mrs. A. Routledge, Mr. P and Mrs M. Schultz, Mr. P. & Mrs. M. Shrimpton, Mrs. P. & London Marathon Sponsors St Raphael Club, Chelmsford Turrall, Mr. P. & Mrs. J. Turrall, Mr. T.

“Big thank you - these events and the sense of connection they give are so important and have been really helping with caring for mental well-being” Julia Knowles (Emily’s Mum)

Treasurer’s Report

Charities with an annual income of less than £1million are not required to have their accounts audited but an Independent Examiner

must inspect them. Mr Robert Andrews is registered with the Association of Charity Independent Examiners (ACIE) and has inspected the 2020 Annual Accounts. A report on his findings is provided.

Grapevine does not receive any government funding; our income is made up from fundraising, grants, donations and members’ fees.

Reserves Policy: Grapevine Essex plans to retain a minimum of £5,000 as free reserves each year, representing the average expenditure for one series of events.

At the end of 2020, Grapevine Essex is in a sound financial position. There is a bank balance of £25,971 and cash-inhand of £90.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, some of the funding Grapevine has received has been carried over to 2021 ready to re-start our activities when social distancing measures are relaxed.

We were delighted to receive £18,804 in donations from various sources; these are listed as our Beneficiaries on page 16. Gift Aid of £766 was recovered on donations for the 2019-20 period.

The principal on-going risk to the future of the charity is a reduction in the income required to pay the staff that manage the charity and organise the events which are enjoyed by the majority of our members.

Most of our regular fundraising activities had to be cancelled but the events that we were able to hold, raised £2371. We are very pleased that these events continue to be well supported in the local community.

Monika Kelly, Treasurer

Independent Examiner’s Report

Independent Examiner’s Report for the year ended 31 December 2020

I report on the accounts of Grapevine Essex charity no 1151261, which are set out on page 19.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Act and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
to follow the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Act, and
to 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 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 connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that, in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Relevant Professional Qualification:

Fellow of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners

Accounts for the Year 2020

Grapevine Essex Registered charity no: 1151261

Grapevine Word Search

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Grapevine Essex

Registered address: c/o 1 Nuthatch Close Billericay, Essex CM11 2PQ

Registered Charity Number 1151261

www.grapevineessex.org.uk www.facebook.com/GrapevineEssex www.twitter.com/GrapevineEssex www.instagram.com/grapevine_essex/

Jackie Holland, Chair & Charity Manager Tel: 07933 631016 Email: Jackie@grapevineessex.org.uk Vanessa Hellier, Member Support Manager Tel: 07976 578868 Email: Vanessa@grapevineessex.org.uk

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