2025-06-30-accounts

NEWARK COMMUNITY FIRST AID Registered Charity: 1152694

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

Period 1[st] July 2024 to 30[th] June 2025

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Contact Details

	Registered Address		Telephone		Electronic Communication Email: [e-mail] Website: www.newarkcommunityfirstaid.co.uk Facebook: Newark Community First Aid Twitter: Newark First Aid
	6 Mount Road
	Balderton Newark Nottinghamshire NG24 3HF		07973 904808

Aims & Purposes

Newark Community First Aid is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation based on the Association model; it was registered with the Charities Commission on 3[rd] July 2013. We are governed by our Constitution. Our aim is to provide first aid services in Newark on Trent and the surrounding area, thus helping to reduce suffering and save lives.

The primary services provided by the charity are:

• the provision of qualified and fully resourced first aiders at local events

• providing first aid training to all members of the local community

The services are provided by our members who are volunteers; our primary operating area is based on Newark and a 14-mile radius around the town but could include other parts of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.

Structure & Management

Newark Community First Aid has up to 8 Trustees who oversee the working of the organisation, ensuring it complies with current legislation and guidance in respect of its charitable operation. The Trustees are from a range of backgrounds including the public, private and charitable sectors.

At present our Trustees are:

Mark Stafford Clare Owen Sajidah Ahmad

Trustees are appointed or re-appointed at our Annual General Meeting held normally in September or October. All Trustees give their time on a voluntary basis and receive no remuneration or other benefits.

An Operations Management Team made up of volunteers carry out the day-to-day work of the charity. This team are experienced and suitably qualified to fulfill their respective roles in the framework detailed below.

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Operations Manager
P. Jessop
Events
Administration Logistics Manager Training Manager Membership Manager Treasurer
N. Fuller/C. Peet ManagerJ. Brown S. Toyne P. Jessop P. Jessop M. Fox
Uniform Manager Health & Safety Manager Driver Verifier Public Relations Manager Web Manager Safeguarding ManagerDr D Wathen Fundraising Manager
C. Peet P. Jessop K .Walsh / B Everitt PR - Vacancy C. Dalby L. Goff
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Operations Management Team

Managing the delivery of our services requires a large team of experienced volunteers, many of whom give time daily to ensure a smooth operation and high quality of service. Our charity operates 7 days a week, with volunteers working on background tasks as well as our front-line operations. The amount and scope of background work is often surprising to those who only see our volunteers at events or in their training role.

Our team deals daily with email and phone enquiries, managing course and event bookings and operational activities. Our training team are involved in course preparation for our workplace and community training – cleaning manikins, checking resources, managing e-learning, putting together delegate packs and providing candidate support. The training team also manage the training of our own volunteers. Our Event Manager liaises with event organisers and the local Safety Advisory Group, risk assessing events to ensure adequate manpower and resources are provided. Tasks include producing event medical plans, information packs, maps and guidance material as well as collating statistics and feedback post event. Our Logistics Manager and team are busy every day checking and restocking equipment, cleaning equipment and vehicles, carrying out and organizing maintenance. Finance, fundraising and membership managers are also busy weekly with their responsibilities.

Training Team

Our Training Operation is fulfilled by 4 trainers, most of whom have many years of experience providing training in the workplace, event first aid and advanced first aid. Our workplace first aid and paediatric first aid training is approved, monitored and accredited by the First Aid Industry Body.

Our Event First Aid Operation is delivered by our volunteers who are trained on a range of competencies. On joining all new members undertake induction training including safeguarding, health & safety, and basic life support. On completion of all elements of initial training members are classed as Apprentice First Aiders. Volunteers can then progress to become First Aiders by completing First Aid at Work, Paediatric and Event First Aid courses. Volunteers then attend events, develop their skills, and gain experience before deciding if they wish to progress to become Advanced First Aiders by completing AFA and Frec3 training.

Volunteers

Membership of NCFA is open to anyone over the age of 16 who meets the requirements of our joining procedure which includes criminal record checks through the DBS, health checks and if required asylum and immigration checks. Criminal record checks are repeated in line with statutory requirement every 3[rd] year, health checks are updated if any change occurs to a member’s health.

Our trained volunteers meet weekly for training on Monday evenings at the Newark Academy, London Road, Balderton. In addition to weekly training members maintain their competencies through distance and e-learning modules designed by NCFA. They also attend additional face to face training as required to maintain the competencies relative to their role. Members are assessed annually. We also have non uniformed members who assist with support work such as fundraising and public relations – some of these are full members of NCFA others are supporters in line with our constitution. We are very grateful for the hard work and commitment shown by all our volunteers which makes it possible to deliver a high-quality community service. The Trustees would like to place on record our thanks to all our members who are dedicated to the work of the charity and who give so much time to help their community.

Insurance

To protect our members, those we treat, those we train and the public at large we ensure we have insurance more than the industry norm. We hold Employee, Public, Medical Malpractice, Professional Indemnity, Vehicle, Equipment and Building insurance.

Policies and Procedures

To ensure the effective operation of the charity the Trustees have put in place a range of policies and procedures. These are designed to protect the charity, its members, service users and those who may be affected by our operations. Many of the policies include training packages for example our Safeguarding, Infection Prevention & Control and Health & Safety policies. A review of our Infection Prevention and Control Policy was undertaken this year.

Our policies include:

Safeguarding - Health & Safety – Equality and Diversity – Infection Prevention and Control – Grievance – Disciplinary – Whistle Blowing – Finance – Events – Data Protection (GDPR) – Complaints.

Objectives and Activities

In planning our activities for the year, we kept in mind the Charities Commission guidance on public benefit at our Trustee and Operations meetings. We believe that the activities undertaken by the charity and summarised in this report fulfil this requirement. The Trustees, Management Team and all of our volunteers are committed to achieving the objects of the charity ‘The relief of sickness and provision of first aid in Newark on Trent and surrounding areas’ which are centred on delivering first aid training and first aid cover at events.

In respect of first aid training NCFA provide:

• Community Training – this training is provided free of charge to individuals, community, charity, and sports groups. Donations are gratefully received and used to develop the service.

• Commercial Training – this vocational training is provided to workplaces, schools and charities to comply with HSE First Aid Regulations 1981 or Dept of Education requirements in school & preschool settings. The training is charged at inexpensive prices to encourage companies to train more staff to save lives - all profits are re-invested into the charity.

In respect of first aid event cover NCFA provide:

• Risk assessed event cover & the provision of adequate manpower and resources.

• The service is free of charge to Community Events though donations are gratefully received.

• Our event services are also provided to a range of commercial event organisers running generally large local events. These events are charged per hour per first aider. These inexpensive charges allow us to maintain and develop our services.

Our philosophy is to provide a service that is affordable to all sectors of the community so that anyone can access both first aid training and event cover. We are also committed to making our service as accessible as possible. We believe that this will encourage many more people to learn first aid enabling them to provide life-saving care. Our policy encourages more event organisers to provide suitable & sufficient first aid cover at their events.

Overview of Achievements, Challenges and Performance this Year

The 12-month period commencing 1[st] July 2024 has seen very heavy demand for all of our services with our workplace courses showing a large increase with candidate numbers up by 26%. This follows similar increases in the preceding 2 years.

We made recruitment again our priority for the year. We decided to copy our 2023-24 campaign. Using a mixture of social media, targeted leaflet drops and targeted advertising. We increased the area of Newark covered by the leaflet drops to include 2 new postcode areas. The results were excellent as we recruited another 10 very keen volunteers.

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First Aid at Work candidates pose after successfully completing their course.

We also decided the time was right to expand our vehicle fleet – we planned to purchase a new Front-Line Ambulance which could act as a Mobile Treatment Unit and Event Ambulance. To achieve this, we launched an Appeal for funds in January 2025 as the vehicle cost was quoted as being £71,000. We planned to allocate £35,000 of our own funds, we had 2 successful grant applications amounting to £25,000 and fundraising enabled us to reach our target at our year end. The vehicle was ordered and delivered in July at the start of our current operational year. We were also lucky to spot two second hand 4x4 ambulances for sale in April 2025 – a vehicle we had been looking for. After two site visits we purchased a 10-year-old vehicle which equipped with a specialized stretcher made this an excellent purchase.

We have stability now in the events market with more events such as PlantWorx moving to Newark Showground from the now closed East of England Showground. Other large events such as Focus and the Unity Festival are now making Newark their home with many returning and annual events.

Our community training though up only 3 candidates against the previous year was our 2[nd] highest annual number of candidates with 1,657 people trained. Community training is a vital part of our charitable work - training people to save lives - as statistics show 80% of cardiac arrests occur at home.

We continue to roll out our Mental Health First Aid courses which receive high acclaim from candidates in their feedback

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We have spent a good deal of time, effort and funds ensuring that all of our equipment is fully maintained, updated and replaced. All of our 4x4 vehicles have had new tyres and our Static Treatment Unit has been fully overhauled.

Our new Land Rover Discovery 4x4 Ambulance

It is clear from the demand for our services and the feedback we receive from course candidates, event organisers and patients that the community appreciates the service we provide. Our volunteers gain a great deal from their volunteering. Our aim must be to encourage more people to volunteer with us.

Community Training

Community training is a key part of our charitable work -delivering public benefit – equipping people with skills to save lives. We provide first aid training to a wide range of community groups, charities, youth groups and pupils in schools. Giving them the skills to manage everyday minor injuries to recognise serious medical conditions and perform life saving techniques. It gives them confidence to get involved.

All of our courses are FREE of charge to candidates, we travel to their location, we work with parish councils and others to promote the events locally. Removing the barriers of cost and travel gives many more the chance to learn these vital life skills. This year statistics were announced that showed England has seen a decrease in survival rates for cardiac arrest. Already one of the lowest survival rates in Europe we now only have 7.6% of people surviving out of hospital cardiac arrest. We continue to make training in CPR and use of defibrillators a focus of our community courses.

This year we have trained 1,657 people. We have provided training to the public across Newark in venues such as the Catholic Centre, Fernwood Village Hall, Christ Church Hall, Balderton Community Centre, St Giles Church Hall as well as to groups such as Newark My Sight, Newark Emmaus Trust, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire Girl Guides, U3A groups in Newark, Sutton in Ashfield and Rainworth.

We have visited villages to train people in Basic Life Support – open courses for anyone to attend in Collingham, Foston, Hoveringham, Witham St Huges, Rolleston and Ollerton.

We have also continued to provide training in schools and visits to early years settings. Visits to nurseries are designed to reduce fears children may have with ambulances. We take our special team of ‘casualties’ – our teddies to engage with the youngsters. We also run short 20-minute sessions to involve the 4-year-olds in simple first aid – putting on a plaster – cooling a burn. The UK Resuscitation Council are encouraging this early introduction to first aid, encouraging youngsters to learn as they grow.

In June we joined with Newark and Sherwood District Council, Nottinghamshire Police and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue to deliver 2 weeks of Safety Training to local schools in Devon Park Newark and Vicar Water in Clipstone. We provided hands on resuscitation training – feedback was excellent and the youngsters clearly enjoyed the event.

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Above – Basic Life Support course – practicing CPR

Below – some of our special team on a Nursery visit.

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School children perform CPR during
Safety Week at Devon Park.
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Commercial – Workplace Training

This year we have seen again phenomenal growth in demand for our courses with a 26% increase in candidates attending. We are also delighted that feedback from candidates remains very positive with 97.6% of candidates rating our courses as excellent the remainder very good or good. We have continued to deliver our ‘Open courses’ using blended training a mix of e-learning and face to face training – a combination that seems to suit candidates and employers. We know blended learning does not work well for everyone, and we support learners who find e-learning difficult – sometimes due to English not being their first language or issues using computers. Delivering our courses in Newark helps local organisations reduces travel costs and aids the environment.

Having attended many courses over the years it is only today I have understood many of the procedures – I feel much more confident – thank you for an excellent course.

I am pleased that my company has moved its first aid training to NCFA. The course was clear with plenty of practical work. Enjoyed it greatly and a great trainer.

Above - Some of the comments from this year’s students feedback forms.

Many schools and companies prefer on-site training and ‘classic courses’ with all the course learning in a face-to-face environment. If rooms are suitable to hold this training we are pleased to accommodate it.

The First Aid Industry Body that accredits and regulates our courses continues to develop resources ensuring standardisation and high quality in training and assessment.

All of our Trainers have completed training in Life Threatening Bleeding ahead of this subject being added to the First Aid at Work Suite of courses from October 2025. This life saving training will equip candidates to use tourniquets, haemostatic dressings and other equipment when faced by exceptional bleeding incidents. We have trained our own members and others since 2015 to use this specialized equipment and are pleased to see it included in First Aid at Work.

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Students are now training in the use of Tourniquets

We have continued during the year to develop and strengthen our training relationship with companies such as Lincolnshire Co-op, Bakkavor and NSK as well schools and Academy Groups

Funds raised through vocational training are used to provide our FREE community services – helping to train youngsters in schools, youth groups and charities.

With work related stress, depression and anxiety affecting hundreds of thousands of workers and over 17 million working days lost according to the latest HSE Statistics – Mental Health First Aid is vitally important to staff and employers. We are pleased to say we are now seeing an uptake in our Mental Health First Aid courses and we are working with companies and councils to link our courses to their existing workplace support systems. We are planning to expand this area of training in our next operational year.

The number of volunteer hours given by our members in preparation and delivery of training was 2,033 hours which was a slight decrease ( -5%) on the previous year. We would like to thank our Training Manager Philip Jessop and Kevin Walsh for excellent delivery of courses.

Much behind the scenes work tales place, helped by many of our volunteers – in preparing resources, cleaning manikins, administration and supporting trainers. Thanks to Jake Ramsay, Chris Peet, Laurence Goff and Frank Nichol.

Community Public Access Defibrillators and Public Access Bleed Kits

The UK Resuscitation Council continues to stress the importance of communities and workplaces providing public access defibrillators. All of our workplace courses include training in the use of defibrillators and CPR – much of our community training has concentrated on this vital area of first aid.

Having these lifesaving devices in public places gives people the opportunity to help save a life. Use of these Automated External Defibrillators is though still low with only 3% of CPR attempts outside of hospital using the devices.

We act as guardian to the Automated External Defibrillators in Balderton on behalf of the Parish Council and have agreed to support the store staff in Lincolnshire Co-op stores in Nottinghamshire with any AED problems related to their Community AED programme.

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Above - Our Fundraising Manager checking the new AED positioned at Lakeside Balderton in spring 2025

This year in Newark we have seen an increase in knife attacks, these have been isolated but devastating to families affected. There are already in Newark several public access bleed kits and we have provided training to Newark Town Council and some local schools on catastrophic bleeding. The latest statistics shows that knife crime is falling in England but homicides involving knives, bottles etc still accounts for 46% of deaths.

Catastrophic bleeding is bleeding so severe that a life may be lost within minutes, this could occur in accidents in the home involving glass and tools – in workplaces or at the scene of road accidents.

The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives has stated that they await more research before making a decision on whether to endorse public access bleed kits. A major concern is that these kits include equipment that requires those using it to have had training, so that it is used safely and appropriately to maximise the casualty’s chance of survival.

We aim to provide training so that many more people can deal with bleeding incidents.

We have devised two courses this – a Free Community Course that we have already delivered to some groups and will advertise more in our next operational year. We also have a new commercial course which we plan to launch in 2026.

Event First Aid Cover

When our year began on 1[st] July 2024 we were heading into our peak summer season. In the first week our volunteers provided first aid cover to the 5-day Gate to Southwell Folk Festival, athletics, the Normous Newark Autojumble, band concerts, athletics, horse shows and the new Positively Empowering Kids family day at Christ Church School in Middlebeck.

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Left above – Crowds enjoy the sun at the Gate to Southwell Folk Festival at Kirklington Lakes. Above right preparing the Hovercraft ride at Positively Empowering Kids Family Day.

July also saw the arrival of Unity Fest a new 5-day event festival for lesbian, bi, trans and queer women. The festival had relocated to Newark from Liverpool and the attendees had a great festival with plenty of music, dance and sport. Railwayana drew large crowds of railway enthusiasts and the 6 day Focus Religious Festival returned – keeping our volunteers busy with 173 casualties treated

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Above left: some of our team with attendees enjoying the Unity Festival. Above centre: a packed hall at the Railwayana Auction, Above right: two of our team at our First Aid Centre during the Focus Festival, Below left: time for a game of air hockey with a youngster at Focus. Below Centre – cycle responders prepare for The Hexgreave Summer Run and below right: Runners in action at Hexgreave

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August saw the now popular ‘Beach’ return to Newark along with other favourites such as the 4-day Stonedead Rock Festival, Newark Festival and the Koi Carp Show. New shows – The Euro Car Show at Newark Showground, Fernwood Summer Party and Retford Panto in the Park attracted good crowds.

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Left: Euro Car Show Right: Retford’s Panto in the Park

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September started with a late booking for the Tour of Britain – covered thanks to a great effort by our volunteers. All the regular events such as Dragon Boats on the River Trent, Flintham and Southwell Shows, Newark Kit Car Show and new events such as the Pike Anglers ensured a very busy September.

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Left above: the finish of Tour of Britain in Newark, Centre above: Friday night at Stonedead Festival, right above: Dragon Boat Racing on the River Trent.

October and particularly November saw continuing heavy demand for event cover. Vintage Tractor and Midland Machinery Shows, plus firework and commemorative events like Remembrance Day. In October we were delighted again to cover the National Ploughing Championships this year at Thoresby Estate.

The Aztec Festive Gift Fair was packed and Historical Escapades brought many to Newark Market Place. Late November and December brought bad weather with many Christmas Markets, Christmas Lights and the annual Rowing Club races all having to be cancelled.

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Left above: some of our team at Flintham Show, Centre above: Horse ploughing at the National Ploughing Championship at Thoresby, right above: packed halls at the Festive Gift Show at Newark Showground.

Spring 2025 saw the return of the Carole Nash Motor Cycle Show, the regular Normous Newark Autojumbles, alongside cross country running, ploughing matches and Antique Fairs. In February we supported a very wet regional Orienteering competition at Clumber Park and a new event – The Doctor Kronovator Fire Show which drew huge crowds to Newark Market Place in February. After being let down at short notice by their medical provider we stepped in at a week’s notice to provide cover to the European Ploughing Championship at Retford. Also delighted to provide cover for the first Air Ambulance walk.

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Left above: Ploughing at the European Ploughing Championship. Centre Above: the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance sponsored walk in Sherwood Pines. Right above the Dr Kronovator Fire Show.

March, April and May saw our volunteers busy with all the regular events such as Newark Garden Show, the Nottinghamshire County Show and AEC Rally – joined by new events such as Retford Charter Day, Summer League Races in Sherwood Pines and after several years the return of Ollerton St Georges Day.

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Pictured left: – Competitors race for home in the Summer League Race at Sherwood Pines.

Centre: - A mechanical Dragon at Ollerton St Georges Day

Right: Storm Troopers ‘arrest’ a few children at Retford Charter Day

June closed a busy year of events with charity walks, the annual Gordon Welbourne Runs, athletics and showjumping, school fetes, the East Bridgford Show and Hoveringham Car Show, village fetes and Armed Forces Day and the now established Newark Duck Race. New events included the Oddsock Festival at Blyth, Streets Ahead in Newark and the North Mukham Jamboree. Right members at Coddington Fete .

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We aim to provide a high quality first aid service at events and this requires a great deal of behind-thescenes effort. Starting when we receive a request from an event organiser and the sending out of a booking form. Our events team then need to collate information on the proposed event; risk assess the first aid needs and then produce a Medical Plan. Liaising with the organiser, site visits for new events and venues and co-ordination between our events and logistics team. Pre-event work includes organising our volunteer teams, allocating and preparing vehicles and equipment. During the event our volunteer’s key role is providing first aid / medical aid to people who become ill or injured at events. They do though have other duties to perform, ensuring regular cleaning, recording radio communications, maintaining patient records, monitoring the site and working with other agencies such as site security, organisers team and the emergency services.

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Left: Radio control at the Nottinghamshire County Show. Centre: Members team packs – rotas, maps, critical incident guides, radios and first aid kits ready to be allocated. Right – checking equipment at our First Aid Centre.

After the event we review how it went and look through feedback from organisers and patients with a view to ensuring we continue to give excellent care. We are pleased to report that all events were manned and resourced to the required level during the year.

As a charity relying on volunteers, we have to ensure that we do not take on more events than we can cope with. We plan very carefully for this and are pleased to say that we have never let any event down by not turning up or cancelling late in our 12-year history. We do now encourage all event organisers to contact us at least 3 months in advance, we thank all the organisers we work with for trying to work to this policy. If we can of course we will take late bookings to help out.

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EVENTS COVERED PER YEAR
2024 -25
2023-24
2022-23
2021-2 2
2020-21
2019-20
2018-19
2017-18
2016-17
2015-16
2014-15
2013-14
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
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The graph (left) shows that the number of events provided with first aid cover this last year at 328 is close to the previous year at 341.

Most of the reduction in events was due to winter cancellations due to weather. Plus, cancellation of summer events at Newark Castle – closed for restoration work

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HOURS OF SERVICE AT EVENTS BY OUR
VOLUNTEERS
2023-24
2021-22
2019-20
2017-18
2015-16
2013-14
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
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The graph (left) shows the number of hours of voluntary service at events given by our volunteers since our charity was formed in 2013.

This year our volunteers gave 9,450 hours an increase of 0.9% on the previous year.

We continue to receive a steady number of out of area requests for event cover, a proportion of these are due to event organisers being let down at the last minute by other first aid/medical organisations. If we have capacity to assist, we do, but most out of area events are declined as we are so busy locally.

Feedback

We send feedback forms to event organisers after their event – approximately 42% reply.

We ask the organiser to rate us on 4 criteria, our booking process, our team members communication skill at events, the appearance of our volunteers and their efficiency in responding to incidents. The rating can be poor, average, good, very good or excellent.

Of those who replied in the year 2024-25:

Booking process: Excellent 86%, Very Good 14%

Communication of our members: Excellent 89%, Very Good 6% Good 2.5% Average 2.5%

Appearance of members: Excellent 91%, Very Good 6%, Good 3% Response to incidents: Excellent 90% Very Good 5% good, 2.5%, Average 2.5% Comparing this year to last we have seen a reduction of 2% in the excellent ratings overall. We continue to work hard to improve all areas of our operation.

This year, again, all our team of volunteers who have worked at events deserve a special big thank you for the commitment they have shown. Without the gift of their time (9,450 hours) we would not have covered the 328 events. We would particularly like to thank our Events Manager Jonathan Brown and Philip Jessop & Neil Fuller for all their efforts behind the scene organizing the event cover, collating data and contacting

- Logistics Development of Resources & Equipment

Our Logistics section has had an extremely busy year working to keep our vehicle fleet and equipment maintained to high standards. Daily activities include vehicle maintenance, checking and restocking equipment, monitoring our on-line system to ensure all equipment is in date. All of our vehicles have been serviced and we would like to thank Alistair Christie Motors of Newark for keeping us on the road. It is our aim to keep all of our treatment facilities hygienically clean and we use the guidance in the NHS Policy – National Standards of Healthcare Cleanliness 2021 to shape our procedures.

In September of 2024 our management team attended the Emergency Services Show at the NEC Birmingham to meet with uniform, equipment and vehicle suppliers. Aimed with a ‘shopping list’ we visited ambulance suppliers to look at the latest innovations and to view in particular the latest front-line ambulance from BAUS AT and there UK dealership BVS from Essex. Impressed by the design and build of the BAUS AT we engaged in discussions to purchase a new vehicle in 2025. We were also looking to purchase a ‘summer uniform’ combining smartness, durability and comfort in the heat. Having viewed a range of suppliers we began discussions with Sugdens of Wakefield. Replacing and upgrading our torches and emergency lighting and viewing solar power and storage devices was also on our list, a number of suppliers products stood out and we will be looking in purchasing in our next year 2025-26.

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Left: our Logistics and Event Managers at the NEC viewing the latest Front-Line Ambulance from Baus AT, Centre: checking equipment prior to the Nottinghamshire County Show. Right: preparing for painting our Static Unit in April 2025 – as part of ongoing maintenance

We have been looking for some years to purchase an additional 4x4 Ambulance to assist in the extrication of casualties when weather conditions, accessibility and terrain preclude the use of road ambulances. We wanted a vehicle with a fitted stretcher, ideally a Land Rover. We felt a good quality second hand vehicle would best suit our needs though they rarely come available – until April 2025 when two came on the Market. Our Logistics and Operations Managers visited the two vehicles one in Herefordshire and the other in Liverpool. Having been particularly impressed by the Land Rover Discovery in Liverpool we purchased the vehicle from Bu le Light UK a company we have previously done business with.

Once the vehicle joined our fleet our logistics team purchased a full set of equipment, designed a layout of kit and had the vehicle on the road in a few weeks. This year we have also carried out heater servicing on all of our vehicles, thanks to PB Auto Electrics of Mansfield and have purchased new specialist tyres for our 4x4 vehicles thanks to Kwik Fit at Newark.

Pictured right: - Our new 4x4 Ambulance with stretcher

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Development & Commitment of our Volunteers

Our new group of volunteers that joined us in Spring 2025 completed their apprentice training and moved on to attend First Aid at Work and Paediatric training – all passing the knowledge and skills assessments. They have since been out gaining practical experience at events under supervision.

To maintain members core skills and to develop teamwork and communication we hold weekly training on Monday evenings at Newark Academy in Balderton. We feel this a very important as skills fade is an accepted principle and is clearly a possibility in first aiders who may not be called upon to manage a particular injury or illness that often. During the year our volunteers have also undertaken day courses on Moving & Handling of patients using stretchers, Fracture Management and Critical Incident Training.

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Left: Moving and Handling – training using carry chair, Centre: Managing a ‘spinal injury’ – fitting a collar. Right: Assessing for breathing on an unconscious casualty

Each year all members have to complete an annual assessment which takes between 6o – 90 minutes. The assessment is all practical with volunteers assessed in line with their role. These assessments were held in spring 2025. The overall standard was very high though a few members needed to undertake some additional training prior to re-assessment. Our volunteers also have to keep their knowledge base up to date on a 3-year rolling assessment – this involves completing modules via distance learning and e- learning.

In the last year members attended 1,866 hours of training including face to face, e-learning and distance learning. That figure represents a 6% increase against the previous year 2023-24

A tremendous amount of work undertaken by our volunteers is in support work which includes all the background operational work on training and events plus administration, fundraising, managing our finances and logistics. This year the number of hours devoted to this work is 8,088 hours an increase of 3.6% against last year. The figure includes 2,033 hours of service delivering training and 6,055 hours in general support activities.

Our volunteers commit a great deal of their time to our charity, ensuring we can support the local community. In this year 2024-25 the total number of hours of service was 19,404 hours of voluntary service which equates in monetary terms to £236,923:00 if using the National Living Wage as a guide.

Fundraising

This year we launched an appeal to assist us to purchase our new Ambulance/Mobile Treatment Unit. The initial cost of the vehicle was set at £71,000 plus the cost of a multi-posture cot stretch at £15,000. Our policy has always been to self-fund through our regular income – from commercial training and events when possible, turning to the public for support for major projects like the Ambulance that can provide community benefit. We applied for Grant Funding to the Nottinghamshire County Council Community Fund and were delighted to be awarded with a grant for £15,000. We also received a £10,000 grant from the George Reed Fund. In June we launched a Christmas Raffle to raise funds towards equipment and radios for the Ambulance/ Treatment Unit and our new 4x4 Ambulance. By the end of our financial year on 30[th] June we had raised £1,148:00 – but still 5 months plus to go. We would like to thank all of our volunteers, their families and friends who supported the raffle and all the event organisers who allowed us to sell at their events. In June the supplier of our new ambulance - BVS Ltd of Essex gave us some great news - that they could discount the price of our vehicle saving us £3,000 and would also supply a fully serviced 2[nd] hand multi posture stretcher free of charge. We would like to thank Jack Byrne and his team at BVS for their support. The new Ambulance was delivered in July 2025 just after the end of the financial year covered by this report.

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Left: Newark Business Awards who generously supported us as their Charity of The Year. Right – some of our volunteers collecting in spring 2025 in Asda Newark

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We also have received donations from Cargills PLC, we were made Charity of the Year at the Newark Business Awards and would like to thank local businesses who donated at the event. One of our members Abbie Sumner who is in her final year at Medical School ran for us in the London Marathon. A great effort from Abbie crossing the line on a hot day and raising £1,100 towards our new Ambulance. We were also delighted to be chosen as charity of the year by the President of the Newark Rotary Club who presented us with a cheque for £2,000:00 in June. A generous donation was made by Jean Hudson and family in memory of her husband Paul who passed away suddenly in April 2024. Paul had been a founding member of our charity and a first aider in the community for over 50 years. Thanks also to Asda and Morrisons in Newark and the Original Factory Shop in Ollerton for allowing us to hold collections in store.

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Left: some of our team collecting in Ollerton in February 2025 Right: Abbie Sumner running the London Marathon for us in 2025

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Public Relations & Recruitment

This year again we have focused our PR effort into the recruitment of new volunteers. We therefore decided to run a repeat of the campaign used in 2023/24 with a mix of door-to-door leaflet drops, adverts in village magazines and a sustained Facebook campaign. The leaflet drop, via the Royal Mail targeted 2 different post code areas to the previous year but was equally successful with 10 new volunteers joining.

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Some of our new members: Sue left with one of our experienced members Lyndsey, Centre: Alice with David On the right: Charlie at a new running event in Epperstone.

Thanking our retired volunteers

During the year our Chair of Trustees Dr Margaret McDougald and our Operations Manager Philip Jessop have visited our retired volunteers to thank them for all their years of service. They visited 3 volunteers who were all founding members of our charity.

Jean Bennett a retired Mental Health Nurse had been a key player in setting up our charity holding strong views on our vision to provide FREE community services in respect of training and event first aid cover. She became our clinical auditor ensuring our patient report forms were completed to standard and was one of our most active volunteers supporting our team at events with her extensive knowledge and assisting with community training. Jean helped during Covid at the vaccination centre and was one of the first to return to ‘active service’ after the Covid crisis. Jean gave over 40 years’ service as a community first aid volunteer having previously been with St John Ambulance. Terry Alberry was also a founding member of our charity and was instrumental in setting our values. Terry was a very active volunteer who was trained as an advanced first aider. He was very dependable and spent time most weeks providing first aid cover at events and cheering up the ‘troops’ with his stories. He also helped with fundraising and community training. Anne Vooght also a founding member having previously been a local Responder for ‘Lives’ and a St John Ambulance volunteer - she had a great deal of experience. Anne was always keen to help at events and was a regular attendee at weekly training. We thank them all for their outstanding commitment to our charity and their community. Sad Loss in November 2024 Tony Wells one of our retired founding members passed away after a short illness having served his community for 50 years.

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Left to right: Jean, Terry, Anne and Tony.

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Finances

We started our financial year with a healthy balance at the bank of £60,974:00

Our aim for this year was to invest in our Ambulance Fleet by purchasing a third Front Line Ambulance/ Mobile Treatment Unit. Our Business Plan for this was based on the purchase of a Baus AT constructed vehicle in line with the rest of the fleet. Additional plans for the year were to purchase a new summer uniform and to purchase new equipment for our new ambulance.

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We anticipated that events and training income would be in line with the previous year or slightly raised and we had confidence that we could attain some grant funding and increase our fundraising. We were mindful of our need to maintain our reserves in line with our current policy. Our aims were achieved and reserves maintained as can be seen in our Annual Accounts.

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----- Start of picture text -----
Graph left shows:
Income and Expenditue 2024 - 2025
Income was £21,030 over
Income Budgeted budget at £129,489.
Expenditure was £15,357 over
Income Achieved
budget at £85,645.
This was totally accounted for
Expensed Budgeted
by the unbudgeted purchase
of the 4x4 Ambulance
Expenses Achieved
This resulted is a closing
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000 balance at bank of £104,819.
----- End of picture text -----

Graph left shows: Income was £21,030 over budget at £129,489. Expenditure was £15,357 over budget at £85,645.

This was totally accounted for by the unbudgeted purchase of the 4x4 Ambulance

The closing balance at the bank is high, for the reason that the payment for our new Ambulance occurred in July 2025 once the vehicle was delivered – which was the start of our next operational/financial year.

The final payment for the Ambulance was £67,500 paid in the first week of our 2025-26 year thus reducing our funds at the bank to £37,319 well above our reserve’s threshold.

At our annual stock-take at the year-end our equipment, vehicle and building assets stand at £446,735:00.

Full finance details can be found in our audited accounts.

Forward Develo ment of our Services With this yearfs investment in a new 4x4 Ambulance and the anticipated arrival next week of our new Ambulance/Mobile Treatment Unit we are now in a very healthy position in respect of our vehicle fleet. Our First Aid Centre at Newark Showground continues to prove itself an outstanding asset and is in very good order. Overall, we have sufficient equipment stock- all in good order. The quantity and condition of all of these assets give us confidence we can provide a highquality service going forward. In our next operational year starting July 1 2025 we intend to invest in solar panels on one of our vehicles as a trial to see if we can reduce costs and improve resilience. We also have a maintenance plan in respect of vehicles and equipment which will see continued investment in these areas. We are looking to improve our resilience in particular with regard to the increased risk of power outages- we aim to purchase a new range of torches, emergency lighting and solar powered storage devices. We hope that this may be achieved with some funding from the National Lottery. As always, our greatest asset is our team of volunteers and our ability to continue to provide our services is dependent on them. We have a great team and our key aim for next year is to recruit more volunteers and develop them through training. We plan to launch a Recruitment Campaign in January 2026 based on our previous successful campaigns in January 2023 & 2024 using leaflet drops via the Royal Mail, targeted advertising and social media. We will cover a larger area with leaflets and this will require increased funding. We also need to strengthen our back-room operations by involving more of our current experienced volunteers in management and administration positions. We will a150 actively aim to recruit volunteers into these positions. With increasing demand, we are also looking at employing one or more staff to cover key administration roles. Increasing those involved in these areas will also safeguard the charity going forward by building a succession strategy. In the next year we are also planning to launch a new Community Course on Bleeding and targeted training on Life Threatening 81eeding in certain business sectors. We will also run a Lifesaver Campaign in 2026 aimed at increasing the number of people with basic life support and defibrillator skills in the light of a further reduction in survival rates for out of hospital cardiac arrest in England. Signed on behalf of the Trustees Dr Margeret McDougald Date Chair of Trustees.

CC16adetails RECEIFfsAND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS Charity Name Newark Community First Aid Charity number 1152694 For the period from l July 2024 to 30 June 2025 AI RECEIPTS unrnstrict￿ Re5¢ricted Funds Funds Earrnarked Futtds All Fund$ L4st Year Donations 16431 Spon80r¢d & Matched Donations Jncome from Collections 473 473 317 Incomc from All¢ndancc at Events 59812 59812 59986 Income from Courses 39706 3971)6 27906 Grants 11250 11250 Ratl]e 1148 1148 890 Gift Aid Recovered ()ther Income (note 3) l.oans 669 669 1394 Total 129489 129489 95337 A3 PAYMF,NTS Purchase ofEquipment 5063 5063 10230 Purohase of Unifornis for Members 1983 1983 In5urnnce Cover 8814 81114 7736 Vchiclc Ex￿nSeS Expense5 Covering Events inc maintenance Courscs for th¢ Public & M¢mbcrs (inc Training) Hire of Premises 30300 3031M) 7941 14666 14666 20080 10055 6664 5488 5534 Adminislration Expenses Fund Raising Equipment & Othcr Costs Piiblic Relations & Advertising New Building (inc site works) l.oan Repaid 6865 6865 2411 2411 2136 Total P2yments 8S645 85645 70424 Net Receipts l {Payments) Transfers between Funds 43845 43845 24913 CAsh Funds last ye2r end 60974 60974 35J971 Cash Funds this ye4r end 104819 104819 60974

Cash Funds Details Unrestricted Restricted Endowment General Fund as above 60110 Add cheques not yet presented 864 Total C￿h Funds (as per bank $tstement) 60974 Other Monetary Assets Inve5tm¢nt assets Details Fund Cost Current Value Disposable Equipment First Aid, Trdining, PR & Cleaning VehiLles, Reusable Equipment & Iluilding Ceneral Non DIsp￿#b]e Equipment Gener81 Liabilities Detuiis Cheques not yel presented Gencrnl 864 Notes: i) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) r)uring the year no claim was made for the recovery of Gift Aid. During? the year no guarantees have been mad¢ to any third party. Donalions under 'Other Income. were for Lottery - Gifts in Memoriam (669). 'Ihcrc havc bccn no donations from the Truslccs. Free use h&lS been granted ot. room5 for training) in retum for the First Aid trainingy t.or statl.at the site. 'fhcrc havc bccn no transfcrs bctwccn funds this year. A stock take of asse15 is made each year on the basis of current list prices. Signed by onc or mor¢ Trustees on behalf of the Trustees and M¢m￿rS Date Cji Print Name Print Name

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR EN(AW40 ANO ￿￿E5 Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independeni Examiner's Report T152￿4 1114ny) ba•1• of r•pwt Kler sec1￿n 145 of tr X111 Acl In cwryry rArt my exwr4nthn. I se(on 145(5Xb) ol tr* AL1. Independent •xaffllno¢s 8lat¢ment qualificallorfs) or body (If •ny): IER Oct 2018