Boxes of Hope Cumbria
Annual Report for Charities Commission
- January 2023 (Financial Year 2021 22)
Administrative Details
Boxes of Hope Cumbria is a Charitable Trust, primarily formed with the aim of collecting and distributing gift filled shoeboxes to Romania, which was founded in June 2013, and is led by a board of five trustees.
Its Charities Commission registration number is 1153106.
Chair: Jonathan Robb Treasurer: Amanda Robb Secretary: Karen Simkins Trustee: Rhona Teale Trustee: Shirley Waters
Boxes of Hope Cumbria was founded by five volunteers, led by the original Chair, Rosemary Webster, who had extensive experience of running and contributing to shoebox appeals under the umbrella of other charities, and who identified a need for a fresh approach. Two of the original founders remain as trustees. Trustees generally serve for two or three years.
All trustees act in a volunteer capacity, and management of the trust is through regular trustee meetings which are minuted by a minutes secretary and run in accordance with guidelines issued by the Charities Commission.
Boxes of Hope Cumbria has no official base; however, the following addresses are used for correspondence purposes:
4, Aldercroft 10A North Road Kendal Kirkby Stephen LA9 5BQ Cumbria CA17 4RH
Aims and Purposes
The primary aims of Boxes of Hope Cumbria, as set out in the governing document, are as follows:
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1) To relieve poverty and hardship among children and their families, particularly (but not exclusively) in Romania, by providing them with goods, grants and services.
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2) To promote the education of such children and their families for the public benefit.
All income goes towards furthering these aims.
As the primary purpose of Boxes of Hope Cumbria is the collection and distribution of shoeboxes, the first aim is largely fulfilled by the shoebox appeal; however, other projects which help to further either of these aims are, and may be, undertaken as agreed by the trustees.
Activities and Objectives
The charity’s main activity is the Shoebox Appeal, which takes place in November each year. Our objective is to gather as many gift-filled shoeboxes as possible, from as wide an area as possible, before checking them and sending them to their destination. In order to do this, a huge amount of work is undertaken by a large number of volunteers.
A secondary objective of the appeal is to get as many groups, schools, churches and organisations involved as possible. Our donors get a tremendous amount of pleasure from filling a shoebox, and a lot of satisfaction from seeing the end results piled up for collection, so we aim to facilitate as many people as possible to join in with the appeal.
In order to ensure that transport and administrative costs are met, we also run various fundraising activities throughout the year. Proceeds from those run by the Trust as a whole are used wholly in furtherance of the charity’s aims; however, other groups may also run their own fundraising events to raise money for their own shoeboxes.
Money may also be raised by individuals in order to go on a distribution trip. These are run every year, and teams are typically made up of two Trustees and five or six other committed volunteers who have been involved with the appeal. There is also the option of an additional trip in April, to oversee and help with other projects with which Boxes of Hope Cumbria has been involved.
From time to time we undertake other activities which fit in with the charity’s aims; for example, supporting the building of schools in the areas where shoeboxes are
distributed, supporting projects which teach business skills and planting vegetable plots with the Prince of Wales Foundation Romania. While shoeboxes remain our main priority, it has been very clear from visiting the villages and meeting the children that longer term projects are necessary in order to lift them out of poverty.
Achievements and Performance
The Shoebox Appeal: Although Covid19 was still a large consideration in the planning of this year’s shoebox appeal, it was possible to run the 2021 campaign in a manner more similar to pre-covid years. It was still necessary to take precautions; some schools opted for zoom assemblies again, and warehouses ran with additional measures in place such as social distancing and increased hygiene measures. However, most schools, organisations and individuals seemed to embrace the appeal once more, and we were able to send 9,245 filled shoeboxes to Romania – an increase of almost 2,000 on the previous year, which was a fantastic result.
Although we had planned to send out a distribution team to deliver the boxes again this year, a rapidly worsening situation with Covid in Romania meant that this had to be cancelled - a very disappointing situation, but the right decision given the circumstances. Instead, as last year, the boxes were sent by road to Romania and then were distributed by Nicu Gal and his team at People2People, our partner charity in Romania. As always, the boxes were taken to a wide variety of needy situations in and around Romania, and as always, brought great delight to the children who received them.
Other Activities: This year, surplus funds from the Shoebox campaign alongside generous donations from both groups and individuals have enabled us to support People to People with various projects. This includes our continued support of the school at Tinca, which we have seen develop over a number of years now. The school continues to thrive, despite the ongoing challenges of Covid. We have also continued to contribute to developments at Hetea, where People2People have begun to make improvements in what is a very poor village indeed. Education projects remain our key focus beyond the shoebox appeal itself.
Fundraising: With the continuation of the Covid situation, we have not run any official fundraising events, although individual groups continue to raise money to fund their shoeboxes and the associated transport costs. Our main source of
donations is the Shoebox campaign itself. We also continue to receive some very generous donations from individual supporters, for which we are very grateful and thankful.
Financial Review
Income and outgoings: Our income for the year comes from a combination of one-off donations, fundraising, and of course the donated money from the shoebox appeal. Specific figures are shown on the annual accounts, and particular projects – aside from the shoebox appeal itself – have been mentioned earlier on in this report. We are very conscious of the responsibility to reassure our supporters of the end use of the funds we send to Romania, and we seek at every point to obtain a paper-trail of evidence. In addition to this, our regular visits to the projects we support give us further reassurance that good results are being produced, although obviously this has been less possible over the past two years.
Reserves Policy: It is Boxes of Hope Cumbria’s policy to hold in reserve an amount which is equivalent to the estimated transport and administration cost of the following year’s appeal, as many of these costs must be met before income from the appeal itself is paid in. For this purpose, we hold a sum of £10,000 in reserve. The rest of our current balance is set aside for education projects in Romania, and each additional project we donate money towards is discussed and agreed by all members of the trust. Members of distribution teams pay for their trips themselves, but all monies go through the Boxes of Hope account, so at any time there may be funds waiting to be paid out for trip expenses.
Volunteers
We are much indebted to the tireless work of our large group of volunteers who perform a vast number of task each year, including (but not limited to): visiting schools, churches and community groups to promote the shoebox appeal; distributing posters and leaflets; collecting shoeboxes; checking and packing in the warehouses; moving full cartons of shoeboxes; helping pack the lorry; writing to businesses and groups; securing funding; knitting, collecting and buying; and of course, packing the shoeboxes themselves. Without our volunteers, it would not be possible to do what we do, so our thanks go out to everyone who has helped us in any way, large or small.
| Boxes Of Hope, Cumbria | Boxes Of Hope, Cumbria | No (if any) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts andpayments accounts | CC16a | |||
| For the period from |
01/04/2021 | To | 31/03/2022 |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 35,386 - - - - - - - 35,386 - - - 35,386 33,300 48 14 7,426 295 41,083 - - - 41,083 - 5,697 - 32,100 26,403 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ 200 - - - - - - 200 - - - 200 - - - - - - - - 200 - 5,345 5,545 |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 35,586 - - - - - - - 35,586 - - - 35,586 33,300 48 14 - 7,426 - 295 - - 41,083 - - - 41,083 - 5,497 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|
| Fundraising | 35,386 | - | ||||
| Interest | - | - | ||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
35,386 | - | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | - | |||||
| Sub total | - | - | ||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| Project Donations P2P Foundation | 33,300 | - | ||||
| Bank Charges | 48 | - | ||||
| Printingand Stationery | 14 | - | ||||
| Trips | - | |||||
| Campaign Costs | 7,426 | - | ||||
| DVD's | - | |||||
| Insurance | 295 | - | ||||
| Warehouse costs | - | |||||
| - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | 41,083 | - | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | ||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
||||||
| - | ||||||
| - 5,697 | 200 | - | - 5,497 | - | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 32,100 | 5,345 | - | 37,445 | - | ||
| 26,403 | 5,545 | - | 31,948 | - |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
08/01/2023
1
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
Signature Details Details Bank Balance Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
||
| 32,100 | 5,345 | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | |||
| 26,403 | 5,545 | - | |||
| OK | |||||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
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| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| Current value (optional) |
|||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
08/01/2023
2
Independent examiner's report to the trustees of 'Boxes of Hope, Cumbria.'
I report on the accounts of the Trust for the period ended 31st March 2022.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this period under section 144 (2) of the charities act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to :
examine the accounts under Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011.
to follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145 (5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of Independent Examiner's report
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 you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statements below.
Independent Examiner's Statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 130 of the 2011 Act and Section 44(1)(a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Account Regulations; and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act and Section 44 (1)(b) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 9 of the 2006 Regulations
have not been met; or
- (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Emma Mallinson (ACMA) Good Books Accounting Services Limited Unit 10 Kendal Business Park Boundary Bank Road Kendal LA9 5RR