Disability Advice Service (East Suffolk) Registered Charity, No: 1152772
Trustees’ Annual Report & Statement of Financial Activity for the Year Ended 31 December 2022
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Contents
| Contents | Contents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reference and Administration Details ................................................. 3 | |
| 1.1 | Name & Registration ...................................................................... 3 | |
| 1.2 | Address ........................................................................................ 3 | |
| 1.3 | Names of the Trustees Who Manage the Charity .............................. 3 | |
| 1.4 | Names of Senior Members of Staff .................................................. 3 | |
| 1.5 | Bank ............................................................................................ 3 | |
| 2 | Structure, Governance & Management ............................................... 3 | |
| 2.1 | Type of Governing Document ......................................................... 3 | |
| 2.2 | Charitable Object .......................................................................... 3 | |
| 2.3 | Trustee Selection Methods ............................................................. 3 | |
| 3 | Activities............................................................................................... 4 | |
| 3.1 | Statutory Declaration ..................................................................... 4 | |
| 4 | Achievements & Performance.............................................................. 4 | |
| 4.1 | Outputs and Outcomes for the Charity’s Beneficiaries ........................ 4 | |
| 4.2 | How the Public Have Benefitted. ..................................................... 5 | |
| 4.3 | Contributing to Activities Run by Other Organisations ........................ 5 | |
| 4.4 | Trustee Development .................................................................... 5 | |
| 5 | Financial Review .................................................................................. 5 | |
| 5.1 | Details of Any Funds Materially in Deficit.......................................... 5 | |
| 5.2 | Policy on Reserves ......................................................................... 5 | |
| 5.3 | Principal Sources of Funding and Outgoings ..................................... 6 | |
| 5.4 | Remuneration of Trustees .............................................................. 6 | |
| 5.5 | Financial Status ............................................................................. 6 | |
| 5.6 | Statutory Statements on Liabilities .................................................. 6 | |
| 6 | Statement of Financial Activity ............................................................ 7 | |
| 6.1 | Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts .............................. 7 | |
| 6.2 | Receipts & Payments Accounts for the FYE 31-Dec-21………………….…..8 | |
| 6.3 | Notes to the Accounts ................................................................... 11 |
Disability Advice Service (East Suffolk): Trustees’ Annual Report & Financial Statements
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1 Reference and Administration Details
1.1
Name & Registration
The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registration no: 1152772, registered with the Charity Commission on 08 July 2013.
The charity is registered with HM Revenue & Customs.
1.2 Address
14 The Square, Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, IP5 3SL
e-mail: advice@daseastsuffolk.org website: www.daseastsuffolk.org
1.3
Names of the Trustees Who Manage the Charity
| Role | Appointed/Reappointed | Resigned | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Bennett | Chair | 02 March 2020 | 29 November 2022 |
| Roy Gilmour | Vice Chair | 25 January 2022 | |
| Robin Stroud | Treasurer | 25 January 2022 | |
| Steve Doe | Vice Treasurer | 25 January 2022 | |
| Rod Gibson | Secretary | 13 January 2020 | |
| Michelle Eaves | Trustee | 12 March 2021 | |
| Emily Hook | Trustee | 09 April 2021 | |
| Natasha Hook | Trustee | 09 April 2021 | |
| Debbie O’Hara | Trustee | 11 September 2020 | |
| Graham Walker | Chair | 29 November 2022 |
1.4 Names of Senior Members of Staff
Steve Race, Manager (effective from 01.01.2023)
1.5 Bank
Lloyds Bank, 8 The Thoroughfare, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1AF
2 Structure, Governance & Management
2.1 Type of Governing Document
The charity's constitution is based on the Charity Commission’s Foundation Model for Charitable Incorporated Organisations, where the trustees are the only members of the charity.
2.2 Charitable Object
As defined in Disability Advice Service (East Suffolk)’s constitution (governing document):
The charity’s object is: The relief of children and adults with disabilities and their carers in East Suffolk and nearby areas.
2.3 Trustee Selection Methods
There must be at least three charity trustees. The maximum number of trustees is 12.
In accordance with the constitution, trustees are appointed or re-appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the Management Committee.
In appointing trustees, due consideration is given to ensuring that the trustees have, between them, the skills and experience necessary to manage the charity effectively and in accordance with charity law.
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3 Activities
3.1 Statutory Declaration
The trustees of Disability Advice Service (East Suffolk) confirm that they have paid due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
4 Achievements & Performance
4.1 Outputs and Outcomes for the Charity’s Beneficiaries
2022 saw the demand for our services soar as a result of the energy and cost-of-living crisis and also our social media communications, networking and partnership development aimed at expanding our reach. Our enquiry rate per client was maintained at its heightened level as a result of the broader, more holistic service we have developed for clients in the last two years. The nature of the help we provide, however, has developed and broadened:
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The number of crisis service clients was three times higher than the previous year and 16x higher than pre-pandemic levels. Many of these clients, often suffering from severe mental ill-health, needed short term help with food and hygiene essentials. We were able to source unprecedented levels of hardship funds to enable us to help them. The effort required to assess and process these payments is intensive as investigations are carried out to meet funders’ eligibility criteria and to protect against potential fraud.
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In the first year of our new specialist energy support service, we advised 177 clients for whom we obtained £8,519 through grant applications and all clients benefitted from access to help schemes or revised tariffs.
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In the first year of our new Pension Credit service, we advised 260 pension age clients who as a result gained collectively £80,042 per annum.
Benefit Gain can be taken together with subsistence grants etc meaning an overall monetary impact for our beneficiaries for the year of £2.8m, another record for the service.
The Listening Service returned to full resourcing through our volunteer team and a friendly call to check up on their welfare is clearly very welcome judging by the responses we receive.
| 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Clients engaged | 2,182 | 1,055 |
| Enquiries received | 15,588 | 7,587 |
| Appeals representations | 40 | 61 |
| Success rate on appeals | 100% | 100% |
| Benefit gain (Year One) | £2,722,472 | £2,606,983 |
| Benefitgain(Full)* | £9,249,794 | £8,857,412 |
| Crisis clients | 469 | 145 |
| Listening Service contacts | 2,218 | 143 |
| Subsistencegrantsandfood parcels toindividuals | £50,696 | £11,388 |
- Some benefits have longevity beyond the first year and the full benefit calculation accounts for this.
We also measure the benefit of the service through a rolling interview programme which tests out the reaction of clients to our Questions of Future Well-Being Survey, this is focused on two key areas: “Improved physical health and emotional wellbeing” and “Enabled greater independence”. In both cases the results are overwhelmingly positive.
Toward the end of the year we set up a trial programme of three “Community Warm Space” events to enable us to evaluate the benefit of a broader programme going forward.
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As a Disabled People's Organisation, we provide work and volunteering opportunities to the disabled community, some of whom are previous beneficiaries of the service.
We were able to increase our resources both as to paid staff, volunteers and office space with the addition of welcome expansion to a ground floor shop front space below our existing office. As well as being able to make working more accessible for wheel-chair bound staff and volunteers, this has proved to be the expected boon for visiting clients too.
Our chair departed after his three-year term and we were pleased to welcome on board Graham Walker as a very able and experienced replacement. There were no other changes to the membership of the management committee. Our strategic projects continue to be progressed in accordance with our annually updated Business Plan and Fundraising Strategy.
The charity’s priorities for the coming year are:
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to increase its reach to more potential beneficiaries;
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to secure Advice Quality Service accreditation;
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expanding the service to new areas working with new partners; and
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explore options to improve long-term financial resilience.
4.2
How the Public Have Benefitted
In addition to beneficial impact directly on our clients the service also benefits other groups as illustrated in the chart below:
4.3 Contributing to Activities Run by Other Organisations
The charity provides a gateway assessment service for other organisations that provide hardship funds for crisis intervention and poverty relief.
4.4 Trustee Development
Trustees are encouraged to participate in development opportunities as and when appropriate.
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5 Financial Review
5.1 Details of Any Funds Materially in Deficit
The Charity has no funds which are materially in deficit.
5.2
Financial Reserves Policy
The Charity’s policy on reserves is determined by Charity Commission guidance in that having no fixed assets it maintains an amount of cash which is sufficient to discharge its obligations in the event that the Management Committee deems it necessary to close the charity plus sufficient to ensure continuity of the operations equivalent to 6-12mths operating costs.
5.3 Principal Sources of Funding and Outgoings
The principal sources of funding are grants made to the charity by small and large charitable foundations, all levels of local government and individual donations. The charity is a member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and adheres to its Code of Conduct.
In compliance with the Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Act 2016 all fundraising is carried out in a safe way which protects the public. We do not cold call or appeal to the public to sign up to long-term giving commitments other than providing options to do so on our website. The charity does not make payments for fundraising activity of any kind and it has never received a complaint related to fundraising activity.
5.4
Remuneration of Trustees
All Trustees act in a voluntary capacity and receive no remuneration or other material benefits from their services to the Charity.
Out-of-pocket expenses necessarily and reasonably incurred by Trustees in promoting the purposes of the Charity are reimbursed at cost.
5.5 Financial Status
Though modest, the charity’s current resources are sufficient to meet its outgoings in accordance with its Financial Reserves Policy and all the indications are that this will remain the case for the foreseeable future.
Total net assets at the end of the financial year were £236,761 representing ten months of operating costs based on our 2023 budget.
5.6
Statutory Statements on Liabilities
The Trustees declare that:
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✓ The charity has given no guarantees where potential liability under the guarantee is outstanding at the date of this statement; and
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✓ The charity has no debt outstanding at the date of this statement which is owed by the CIO and which is secured by an express charge on any assets of the CIO.
Signed on behalf of the Trustees
Name & Role Rod Gibson Secretary to the Management Committee
Date: 23 March 2022
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6 Statement of Financial Activity
6.1 Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts
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6.2 Receipts & Payments Accounts for the Financial Year Ended 31-December-21
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6.2.1 Balance Sheet
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6.2.2 Statement of Financial Activities
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6.2.3 General Account
6.2.4 Approval of the Board of Trustees
The Trustees declare that they have approved the above Annual Report & Statement of Financial Activity.
Signed on behalf of the Trustees
Name & Role Rod Gibson Secretary to the Management Committee
Date: 23 March 2023
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6.3 Notes to the Accounts
a) Accounting Policies
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 Section 133, using the Receipts and Payments basis available to small charities and the charity’s own simple accounts spreadsheet.
b) Cost of Fundraising
No payment was made for costs related to raising funds.
c) Reimbursement of Out-of-Pocket Expenses
Out-of-pocket expenses incurred necessarily, reasonably and incidentally in the course the charity’s activities are reimbursed at cost.
No Trustees received any reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses in the financial year.
d) Salaries & Professional Fees
No trustee receives any payments for the services they provide to the charity.
In the current financial year the charity employed staff but no paid external contractors.
e) Fixed Assets
The charity has not purchased or disposed of any fixed assets in the current financial year.
f) Creditors & Debtors
Cheques for goods or services purchased, or invoices for goods or services delivered, which are issued prior to the end of the financial year but not appearing in the end of financial year bank statement are reported as outstanding creditors or debtors respectively.
g) Rounding Discrepancies
All amounts are recorded to the penny, but in these accounts are shown as digitally rounded to the nearest pound. This can occasionally result in a total apparently not being the sum of its constituent amounts. All individual amounts, and their totals, are nevertheless correct.
h) Hardship Funds
Income and expenditure include two sources (Household support (from the East Suffolk County Household Support Fund) and Ropes emergency fund (from the charity Mrs L D Rope Third Charity Settlement) that represent grants to us (income) and individual welfare/hardship grants that we distribute to beneficiaries (expenditure) normally in the form of supermarket vouchers. Taken together these items total £27,510 in income and £33,724 in expenditure (the difference of £6,214 being the amount spent in the current financial year that had been granted late in the previous year. This was an unusually high amount due to the availability of funds in the prevailing circumstances of the costof-living crisis and our ability to identify eligible recipients and administer the distribution. The amounts should be deducted from income and expenditure for the purpose of assessing operating or core running costs.
i) Grants Received
We are grateful for all donations and grants upon which we are entirely dependent to enable us to continue to deliver our services for our beneficiaries and the public benefit. This includes many tier 1&2 councils and councillors, but we are particularly grateful for
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the grants and other long term support we receive from East Suffolk Council and Suffolk County Council.
Of the charitable organisations that provided financial support this year the following are recognised below for grants of £2,000 or more for which we are enormously grateful:
Alan Boswell Group Foundation £2,000 Garfield Weston Foundation £15,000 Albert Hunt Trust £2,000 Lord Belstead Charitable Settlement £3,000 Anton Jurgens Charitable Trust £3,000 Mrs L D Rope Fourth Char Settlmnt £12,000 Artemis Foundation £4,000 Lush Charity Pot Grants £2,000 Clothworkers Foundation £10,000 National Lottery Community Fund £112,063 David Family Foundation £5,000 Strangward Charitable Trust £2,000 Equity In Mind Fund £23,697 Tudor Trust £17,000
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