||**Trustees' Annual Report for the**
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**period**|||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**From**|Period start date|||||T
o|Period end date|||||||| |||Day
31|Month
09|||Year
2020||Day
31|Month
08|||Year
2021|||| ||||||||||||||||| |Section A Reference and administration details|||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||| |**Charity name**||||The Cascade Foundation|||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||| |**Other names charity is known**
**by**|||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||| |**Registered charity number (if**
**any)**||||1154017|||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||| |**Charity's principal address**|||||6 Pinewood Ave||||||||||| ||||||Leigh-on-Sea||||||||||| ||||||Essex||||||||||| ||||||Postcode||||||**SS9 5PH**||||| ||||||||||||||||| |**Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**|||||||||||||||| |**Trustee name**
**Ofce (if any)**
**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year**
**Name of person (or body)**
**entitled to appoint trustee**
**(if any)**|||||||||||||||| |1
Richard Main
Chair/Legal
Adviser|||||||||||||||| |2
Ken Lewis
Vice-Chair|||||||||||||||| |3
Sue Blackburn
Secretary|||||||||||||||| |4
Victoria|||||||||||||||| March **2012** **TAR** 1 ||Blakeman|Blakeman|Blakeman|||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |5||||||| |6||||||| |7||||||| |8||||||| |9||||||| |10||||||| |11||||||| |12||||||| |13||||||| |14||||||| |15||||||| |16||||||| |17||||||| |18||||||| |19||||||| |20||||||| ||**Names of the trustees for the**
**trustees)**|||||| ||**Name**|||**Dates acted if not for whole year**||| |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| |**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**||||||| |Type of adviser
**Name**
**Address**||||||| |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| March **2012** **TAR** 2 ## **Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)** ## Section B Structure, governance and management ## **Description of the charity’s trusts** Constitution Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) How the charity is CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Elected and Appointed by existing Trustees Trustee selection methods (eg. appointed by, elected by) ## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)** - You **may choose** to include additional information, The organisation is operated under the rules of the where relevant, about: Constitution which was adopted 30th of September 2013. · policies and procedures Recruitment and employment of new trustees: - adopted for the induction The Charity aims to ensure that its trustees are able to - and training of trustees; - · the charity’s bring a range of different skills to the board. We would look to recruit trustees who have worked with offenders, ex- - organisational structure offenders, the long-term unemployed, NEETs and people - and any wider network that are at risk of crime due to their learning disabilities, - with which the charity works; which contributes towards the achievement of the Charity’s - · relationship with any objective. Induction and training of new trustees: - related parties; - · trustees’ consideration of All new trustees are provided with details of their responsibilities by the way of relevant charity commission - major risks and the leaflets. Further training is available to any trustees who - system and procedures to need it. - manage them. Our Founder/CEO and Chair are related - our Chair/legal adviser, Richard Main MBE and Founder/CEO Jackie HewittMain OBE— are mother and son. March **2012** **TAR** 3 **Section C Objectives and activities** |**Section C Objectives and activities**|**Section C Objectives and activities**|**Section C Objectives and activities**| |---|---|---| |||| |**Summary of the objects of**
**the charity set out in its**
**governing document**|Our vision at The Cascade Foundation is to transform
lives for safer communities. It is our mission to use a
new an approach to support and educate disengaged
prisoners, ex-ofenders and others living in the local
community with specifc learning difculties to transform
their lives and reduce re-ofending.
With the Coronavirus lockdown The Cascade Foundation
has had many concerns about the digital divide devoid of
reading/literacy skils, which refers to the gap between
those able to beneft from the digital age and those who
are not. For the past seven years the Cascade
Foundation has been researching digital exclusion,
lacking in
reading/literacy skills within the Doncaster
Marshgate prison and the community. Our 6,000
learners who took part in all our projects with
nerodiversity, head injury and mental health had no
access to laptops or computers, also 75% of our learners
did not have the income to pay for internet access.
By opening the Cascade Hub at 7.00am each morning for
our learners and having mentor support we were able to
prevent them from being sanctioned from receiving their
Universal Credit beneft. We supported them with job
searching and trained them to use a computer and
access the internet. With their low levels of literacy, we
were able to put in place fexible learning programs.
With the Cascade Foundation resettlement back to Essex,
and a lack of funding for new projects within Doncaster,
our learners had nowhere to go to get help. Their
desperation of not having the monies or knowledge of
computer skills became increasingly apparent. We had
built a small network of mentors, many who were
learners themselves, to help each other. Many new
learners were asking for help and during the lockdown
our CEO was constantly taking phone calls and WhatsApp
messages to continue to support the learners both with
their learning and with their mental health.
The Cascade Foundation had been working with the
Shine TV production and their Executive Producer Lana
Salah, as their on-screen, of-screen literacy expert and
after-care support. The show was to be aired in April but
due to the lockdown it was not aired until September
2020. We were inundated with requests for help for
schools, prisons, secured units, parents who have
nerodiversity, the list was endless.|| March **2012** **TAR** 4 **“I predict around 12% of our current Y11s will leave school with a reading age of below 10yrs, which is in line with the national 8.5 million statistic across the UK”.** A teacher in a school in the North March **2012** **TAR** 5 |**Summary of the main**
**activities undertaken for**
**the public beneft in**
**relation to these objects**
**(include within this**
**section the statutory**
**declaration that trustees**
**have had regard to the**
**guidance issued by the**
**Charity Commission on**
**public beneft)**|**A poll of our learners:**
A Cascade poll, carried out by
our CEO after each phone call. Sample: 1,000 adults
whose household income is below £15,000 March 2020 -
March 2021:
Our Charity was being contacted almost
daily for these types of issues. We are giving as much
help as we can by signposting them to the relevant
places, but due to our lack of funding we are doing the
best we can without remuneration.
Digital equality with reading and literacy skills matters to
everyone, during the lock down so many families were
missing out on the important areas of the digital world.
Many families our CEO spoke to could not manage their
fnances, as banks and retailers have increasingly
encouraged their customers to use on-line services.
In one village it was found that cash was no longer
accepted in the local bakery and many of the elderly
people had never used a card to pay for food. Eventually
help was at hand and they did managed to purchase food
from the bakery.
During the lockdown a food business delivery service had
set up fresh meals to buy. The business was trading
solely on-line. Soon the owner realised that many of her
customers did not have this facility, which meant that
she would be losing much custom. She then set up an
0800 number for her business which allowed her
business to thrive.
Benefts were another big issue. Many people that had
lost jobs were now claiming benefts, again working on-
line to claim help was impossible for so many people.
To fnd a debt agent to speak to directly was almost
impossible. Only text messages or on-line
communication was required.
This also applied when trying to set up the App for Just
Eat, Uber Eats and Need Help, nobody could be
contacted directly, only by text. The world is changing
so rapidly and millions of people that are digital excluded
are the worse afected. This can only spiral them further
into debt and poverty.
Many children across the UK have experienced disruption
to their education. Much of the remote teaching ofered
by schools, as well as resources ofered by other
organisations, require internet and/or device access. An
Ofcom survey carried out between January and March
2020 found that 9% of households with children did not
have home access to a laptop, desktop PC or tablet.|| |---|---|---| |**TAR**|Children from disadvantaged backgrounds have
6
March**2012**|| |**Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)**|**Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)**|**Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)**| |---|---|---| |You
**may choose**
to include
further statements, where
relevant, about:
·
policy on grantmaking;
·
policy programme related
investment;
·
contribution made by
volunteers.|**The importance of digital equality with**
**reading/literacy skills**
The cost to the economy is put at more than £37bn a
year by the World Literacy Foundation. Adults with poor
literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed or in low-
paid jobs. There is a link between low levels of literacy
and shorter life expectancy, depression and obesity. At
the Cascade Hub we found that our learners were more
likely to be socially isolated and lacking in self-esteem.
They were unable to read a book, newspapers, emails,
use the internet, fll in forms, read road signs, have an
on-line bank account, or use instruction leafets. They
were unable to help their children with schoolwork,
reinforcing a cycle of illiteracy. They were also so
ashamed of themselves and they would work so hard to
keep it a secret. At the Hub we used ‘a whole family
approach’, we would encourage the child to play being a
teacher and working with the adults, the whole fun is
working together and playing games of learning, we also
engage with Nessy software given families to understand
each other diferences. We were always creating new
models of learning for families to ensure that no child
leaves school unable to read.
**Email from an ex-ofender:**
_Please forgive this intrusion,_
_but thought I would drop you a line to see if my life_
_experiences could be of any help to your organisation. I_
_caught your appearance on radio 5 some months back in the_
_early hours of the morning and was impressed enough to_
_watch the tv program you also contributed to. Which if I_
’
_m to_
_be honest, I felt didn_
’
_t concentrate enough on the work you’re_
_doing and was perhaps more focussed on entertainment and_
_for non-dyslexics. Anyway a short cv - I_
’
_m a young 59 year old_
_dyslexic who spent a lot of my youth in the thick class and_
_had a particularly upsetting nickname which resulted in many_
_a fght. Like many dyslexics I developed coping strategies,_
_poor handwriting etc etc. but after a reasonable successful_
_working start I lost my business_
_I then fnd myself being my late mother_
’
_s full time carer_
_(Alzheimers) and using alcohol and recreational drugs, I_
’
_m_
_guessing as a sort of crotch ,but eventually resulting in my_
_imprisonment. Alcohol afecting my judgement of the_
_company I was keeping, where I_
’
_m diagnosed as_
_dyslexic.Cutting a long story short on my release a friend of a_
_friend helps me re fnd my self-belief. Since then and for the_
_last 20 years I_
’
_ve been designing, manufacturing and selling_
_mainly niche products reasonably successfully. I_
’
_ve been a_
_fnalist in a few design competitions, won awards at the likes_
_of Rhs Chelsea fower show and appeared on a few tv shows_
_including Dragons Den. Point is I_
’
_m actually proud of my_|| March **2012** **TAR** 7 ||_dyslexia and embrace it as a positive part of my make up_
_NOW. Thankfully we can_
’
_t all be the same!_
_Anyway because of Covid I_
’
_ve found myself really at a loose_
_end (were an events-based company) and even my_
_granddaughter’s getting fed up with me being at home so_
_much._
_To be honest, I_
’
_m not all heart and although not religious I do_
_believe in karma. I_
’
_ve been lucky in love and life and just feel_
_it appropriate to try and give a little back._|| |---|---|---| March **2012** **TAR** 8 Section D Achievements and performance March **2012** **TAR** 9 Section D Achievements and performance **Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year** **A little bit of background behind the project – Channel 4 “The Write offs”.** The UK has staggeringly low levels of literacy. Today, English teenagers 'are the most illiterate in the developed world' with 20% of school leavers lacking the literacy skills necessary for coping with most jobs and many everyday situations. This is worse than previous generations before them in living memory. Through a 4-month process of experiences we took 8 people to shed their shame and accelerate their learning, who were lacking the literacy skills necessary for many everyday situations and transform their abilities, enabling them to live fuller lives. Our CEO was asked to become the onscreen and offscreen expert while also looking at their after-care package with the learners while waiting for the program to be aired. The day the programme was being released she was invited to two radio shows, Essex and Doncaster. We had managed to get one of our learners to talk about her experiences within the Cascade Hub. We were all so proud of her that the presenter played this interview three or four times throughout the day. Over that year we had 30,000 people contact our website, 2,000 emails, 1,000 phone calls and from Facebook to WhatsApp received over 500 requests of help. We had prison healthcare assistants, functional skills tutors to ex-offenders offering help, volunteers across the country to become mentors, and teachers who wanted to try different approaches of teaching to help their students. It has been an honour to work on this program with fantastic producers, management, learners and of course Sandi Toksvig. What we need now is to get behind this program and show the devastation of peoples’ lives when they can’t read and write. We need passion, commitment, creativity and a contact focus to ensure that all children and adults are given the opportunity to be able to read and write. Sandi Toksvig added, _“Working on The Write Offs has been one of the great honours of my working life. I have had the extraordinary pleasure of spending time with eight courageous people who have approached their deepest fears with humour and determination. Like me, I just know not only will everyone fall in love with them, they will review what they think they know about reading and writing. I believe the ripple effect from these eight will be_ 10 March **2012** **TAR** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Section E Financial review
The Cascade Health & Learning Hub Brief statement of the
charity’s policy on
reserves
OPERATING RESERVE POLICY
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this Operating Reserve Policy for The Cascade
Foundation is to build and maintain an adequate level of
unrestricted net assets to support the organization’s day-to-
day operations in the event of unforeseen shortfalls. The
reserve may also be used for one-time, nonrecurring expenses
that will build long-term capacity, such as staff development,
research and development, or investment in infrastructure.
Operating reserves are not intended to replace a permanent
loss of funds or eliminate an ongoing budget gap. The
organization intends for the operating reserves to be used and
replenished within a reasonable period of time. This
Operating Reserve Policy will be implemented in conjunction
with the other financial policies of the organization and is
intended to support the goals and strategies contained in
those related policies and in strategic and operational plans.
Details of any funds
None
materially in deficit
Further financial review details (Optional information)
**----- End of picture text -----**
March **2012** **TAR** 11 The Cascade Foundation re-location back to Essex in You **may choose** to February 2020 just before lockdown. Our last two funding include additional projects which had been with the DMBC Doncaster had had information, where some issues with funding, they had paid us up front to keep :relevant about us in Doncaster until their funding had been resolved, which never came to fruition. We also had researched a · the charity’s principal project with two of our ex-offenders that run social sources of funds (including any enterprises for the homeless and RiteTrax that helps fundraising); youngsters understand their crimes this was to be funded by the police and crime commissioner (PCC). Which again · how expenditure has .never came to fruition supported the key objectives of the By September 2020 all our donations had stopped came charity; · through to the charity, so many of our donators had lost investment policy and their job and were now on benefits. Amazon had been objectives including given a donation for the charity’s CEO birthday in March any ethical investment .(2020) it had taken a whole year to it paid into our account policy adopted. During lockdown our CEO was invited to visit a company by a manager who had noticed that one member of staff was struggling with dyslexia. It had cost the company £750 for an assessment to take place online with a registered educational & occupational psychologist. The man in question was 54 years old, he had always known that something was wrong. It had taken him a long time to read and process information. After the assessment whilst in lockdown, which was sent to him, he had to process the information from the registered educational, it upset him so much that he tried to take his own life, ending up in hospital. We felt that the assessment was not conducted to fit the purpose and a lot more help should have been .implemented for him The company had heard about the work of The Cascade Foundation. We were brought in to help him to understand his strengths and skills and how to process information in .his own individual way :This was his feedback on his first session _It was wonderful to meet you, I think you are an_ ‘ . _extraordinary human being It is inspiring and delightful, to see altruistic and selfless people like you, who constantly put others' needs and_ .’ _wants before their own_ March **2012** **TAR** 12 Section F Other optional information There have been no investments made during the accounting period under review and all funds have been applied in delivering the aims of the Charity other than funds held in the Charity’s current bank account. ## **Section G Declaration** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees Signature(s)** Sue Blackburn **Full name(s)** Richard Main **Position (eg Secretary,** Chairperson Secretary **Chair, etc) Date** 11 November 2021 March **2012** **TAR** 13 ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION Financial statements for the year ended 31st August 2021 Charity number: 1154017 Charitable Incorporated Organisation Registered England and Wales |THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Contents||||of the fnancial statements for the period ended 31st August||||| |2021||||||||| |**____________________________________________________________________**||||||||| |Page||||||||| |1||||||||Administrative Details| |2|- 12|||||||Trustees Report| |13||- 14||||||Independent Examiners Report| |15||- 16||||||Income and Expenditure Account| |17||||||||Balance Sheet| |18||- 20||||||Notes to the accounts| |THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION||||||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Administrative details for the|||period ended|||||||31st|||August||||2021||| |**____________________________________________________________________**|||||||||||||||||||| |1154017||||||Registered||||||Charity number|||||||| |Ken Lewis OBE|Trustees|||||and Management Committee|||||||||||||| |Richard Main MBE|||||||||||||||||||| |Susan Blackburn|||||||||||||||||||| |Victoria Blakeman|||||||||||||||||||| |Susan Blackburn|||||||||Administrative|||||||address|||| |6
Pinewood Ave|||||||||||||||||||| |Leigh-on-Sea|||||||||||||||||||| |Essex|||||||||||||||||||| |SS9 5PH|||||||||||||||||||| |HSBC Bank Plc|||||||||||||||Bankers||||| |33
Town Square|||||||||||||||||||| |Basildon|||||||||||||||||||| |Essex|||||||||||||||||||| |SS14 1BA|||||||||||||||||||| |Mrs Dinah Markwell||||||||||Independent Examiner|||||||||| |Retired Acc., Manager|||||||||||||||||||| |Willow House|||||||||||||||||||| |Eccles
,|||||||||||||||||||| |Norwich|||||||||||||||||||| |Norfolk|||||||||||||||||||| |NR16 2JR|||||||||||||||||||| ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 ## **____________________________________________________________________** ## Governing document The organisation is operated under the rules of its constitution which was .adopted 30th September 2013 ## Recruitment and appointment of new Trustees The Charity aims to ensure that its Trustees can bring a range of different skills to the board. We would look to recruit Trustees who have worked with offenders, ex-offenders, the long-term unemployed, NEETs and people who are at risk of crime due to their learning disabilities, which contributes towards the ’ .achievement of the Charity s objective ## **Induction and training of new Trustees** All new Trustees are provided with details of their responsibilities by the way of relevant charity commission leaflets. Further training is available to any .Trustees who need it ## **Organisational structure and management** The day-to-day running and management of the Charity is undertaken by the Trustees. They are responsible for identifying and appointing staff members, to .whom some aspects of the charitable work is delegated ## **Risk management** The Trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the Charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable .insurance against fraud and error ## **Objectives and activities** Our vision at The Cascade Foundation is to transform lives for safer communities. It is our mission to use a new approach to support and educate disengaged prisoners, ex-offenders and others living in the local community with specific learning difficulties to transform their lives and reduce re.offending With the Coronavirus lockdown, The Cascade Foundation has had many concerns about the digital divide devoid of reading/literacy skils, which refers to the gap between those able to benefit from the digital age and those who are not. For the past seven years the Cascade Foundation has been researching digital exclusion, lacking in reading/literacy skills within the Doncaster Marshgate prison and the community. Our 6,000 learners who took part in all our projects with nerodiversity, head injury and mental health had no access to laptops or computers, also 75% of our learners did not have the .income to pay for internet access ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________** By opening the Cascade Hub at 7.00am each morning for our learners and having mentor support we were able to prevent them from being sanctioned from receiving their Universal Credit benefit. We supported them with job searching and trained them to use a computer and access the internet. With their low levels of literacy, we were able to put in place flexible learning .programs With the Cascade Foundation resettlement back to Essex, and a lack of funding for new projects within Doncaster, our learners had nowhere to go to get help. Their desperation of not having the monies or knowledge of computer skills became increasingly apparent. We had built a small network of mentors, many who were learners themselves, to help each other. Many new learners were asking for help and during the lockdown our CEO was constantly taking phone calls and WhatsApp messages to continue to support the learners both with .their learning and with their mental health The Cascade Foundation had been working with the Shine TV production and their Executive Producer, Lana Salah, as their on-screen, off-screen literacy expert and after-care support. The show was to be aired in April but due to the lockdown it was not aired until September 2020. We were inundated with requests for help from schools, prisons, secured units, parents who have .nerodiversity, the list was endless **I predict around 12% of our current Y11s will leave school with a“ reading age of below 10yrs, which is in line with the national 8.5 .”million statistic across the UK** A quote from teacher in a school in the north ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 ## **____________________________________________________________________ :Activities** **A poll of our learners:** A Cascade poll, carried out by our CEO after each phone call. Sample: 1,000 adults whose household income is below £15,000 March 2020 - March 2021: Our Charity was being contacted almost daily for these types of issues. We are giving as much help as we can by signposting them to the relevant places, but due to our lack of funding we are doing the .best we can without remuneration Digital equality with reading and literacy skills matters to everyone, during the lock down so many families were missing out on the important areas of the digital world. Many families our CEO spoke to could not manage their finances, as banks and retailers have increasingly encouraged their customers to use on.line services In one village it was found that cash was no longer accepted in the local bakery and many of the elderly people had never used a card to pay for food. Eventually help was at hand and they did manage to purchase food from the .bakery During the lockdown a food business delivery service had set up fresh meals to buy. The business was trading solely on-line. Soon the owner realised that many of her customers did not have this facility, which meant that she would be losing much custom. She then set up an 0800 number for her business .which allowed her business to thrive Benefits were another big issue. Many people who had lost jobs were now claiming benefits, again working on-line to claim help was impossible for so .many people To find a debt agent to speak to directly was almost impossible. Only text .messages or on-line communication was required This also applied when trying to set up the App for Just Eat, Uber Eats and Need Help, nobody could be contacted directly, only by text. The world is changing so rapidly and millions of people that are digital excluded are the worse .affected. This can only spiral them further into debt and poverty Many children across the UK have experienced disruption to their education. Much of the remote teaching offered by schools, as well as resources offered by other organisations, require internet and/or device access. An Ofcom survey carried out between January and March 2020 found that 9% of households with children did not have home access to a laptop, desktop PC or tablet. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds have experienced the greatest disruption .widening the attainment gap between disadvantage children and their peers **They** ’ **re not on internet banking at all. If their building“ society decides to close for the coronavirus, they** ’ **ll have no ".money** ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________** ## **The importance of digital equality with reading/literacy skills** The cost to the economy is put at more than £37bn a year by the World Literacy Foundation. Adults with poor literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed or in low-paid jobs. There is a link between low levels of literacy and shorter life expectancy, depression and obesity. At the Cascade Hub we found that our learners were more likely to be socially isolated and lacking in self-esteem. They were unable to read a book, newspapers, emails, use the internet, fill in forms, read road signs, have an on-line bank account, or use instruction leaflets. They were unable to help their children with schoolwork, reinforcing a cycle of illiteracy. They were also so ashamed of themselves, and they would work so hard to keep it a secret. At the Hub we used ‘a whole family approach’, we would encourage the child to play being a teacher and working with the adults, the whole fun is working together and playing games of learning, we also engage with Nessy software given families to understand each other’s differences. We were always creating new models of learning for .families to ensure that no child leaves school unable to read **Email from an ex-offender:** _Please forgive this intrusion, but thought I would drop you a line to see if my life experiences could be of any help to your organisation. I caught your appearance on radio 5 some months back in the early hours of the morning and was impressed enough to watch the tv program you also contributed to which if I_ ’ _m to be honest, I felt didn_ ’ _t concentrate enough on the work you’re doing and was perhaps more focussed on entertainment and for non-dyslexics. Anyway a short cv - I_ ’ _m a young 59 year_ _old dyslexic who spent a lot of my youth in the thick class and had a particularly upsetting nickname which resulted in many a fight. Like many dyslexics I developed coping strategies, poor handwriting etc etc. but after a .reasonably successful working start I lost my business I then find myself being my late mother_ ’ _s full-time carer (Alzheimers) and using alcohol and recreational drugs, I_ ’ _m guessing as a sort of crotch, but eventually resulting in my imprisonment. Alcohol affecting my judgement of the company I was keeping, where I_ ’ _m diagnosed as dyslexic. Cutting a long story short on my release a friend of a friend helps me re find my self-belief. Since then and for the last 20 years I_ ’ _ve been designing, manufacturing and selling mainly niche products reasonably successfully. I_ ’ _ve been a finalist in a few design competitions, won awards at the likes of Rhs Chelsea flower show and appeared on a few tv shows including Dragons Den. Point is I_ ’ _m actually proud of my dyslexia and embrace it as a positive part of my make up NOW. !Thankfully we can_ ’ _t all be the same Anyway because of Covid I_ ’ _ve found myself really at a loose end (we’re an events-based company) and even my granddaughter’s getting fed up with me .being at home so much To be honest, I_ ’ _m not all heart and although not religious I do believe in karma. I_ ’ _ve been lucky in love and life and just feel it appropriate to try and give a .little back_ ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 ## **____________________________________________________________________ :Achievements** ## **A little bit of background behind the project – Channel 4 “The Write .”Offs** The UK has staggeringly low levels of literacy. Today, English teenagers 'are the most illiterate in the developed world' with 20% of school leavers lacking the literacy skills necessary for coping with most jobs and many everyday situations. This is worse than previous generations before them in living memory. Through a 4-month process of experiences we took 8 people, who were lacking the literacy skills necessary for many everyday situations, to shed their shame and accelerate their learning to transform their abilities, enabling them to live fuller lives. Our CEO was asked to become the onscreen and offscreen expert while also looking at their after-care package with the learners while waiting for the program to be aired. The day the programme was being released she was invited to two radio shows, Essex and Doncaster. We had managed to get one of our learners to talk about her experiences within the Cascade Hub. We were all so proud of her that the presenter played this interview three or four times throughout the day. Over that year we had 30,000 people contact our website, 2,000 emails, 1,000 phone calls and from Facebook to WhatsApp received over 500 requests of help. We had prison healthcare assistants, functional skills tutors to ex-offenders offering help, volunteers across the country to become mentors, and teachers who wanted to try different approaches of teaching to help their students. It has been an honour to work on this program with fantastic producers, management, learners and of course Sandi Toksvig. What we need now is to get behind this program and show the devastation of peoples’ lives when they can’t read and write. We need passion, commitment, creativity and a contact focus to ensure that all children and adults are given the opportunity to be able to read and .write Sandi Toksvig added, _“Working on The Write Offs has been one of the great honours of my working life. I have had the extraordinary pleasure of spending time with eight courageous people who have approached their deepest fears with humour and determination. Like me, I just know not only will everyone fall in love with them, but they will also review what they think they know about reading and writing. I believe the ripple effect from these eight will be ”.astonishing_ This project was up for a BAFTA and was commissioned for Australia and .Denmark TV Lana Salah, executive producer at Shine TV, added: “Shine TV aims to create thought-provoking formats which entertain, and we are incredibly proud to add another travelling format to our roster. ‘The Write Offs’ is an empowering series, tackling a sensitive topic with sense of warmth and fun, it’s going to be exciting to see how the lives of learners from Australia and Denmark will be ”.changed forever Our achievement this year was that our Chairperson, Richard Main received an .MBE for services to the Charitable Sector THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 _**____________________________________________________________________**_ The Cascade Foundation re-located back to Essex in February 2020 just before lockdown. There had been some issues with funding during our last two funded projects which had been with the DMBC Doncaster. They had paid us up front to keep us in Doncaster until their funding had been resolved. This never came to fruition. We also had researched a project with two of our exoffenders who run social enterprises for the homeless and RiteTrax who help youngsters understand their crimes. This was to be funded by the Police and .Crime Commissioner (PCC), which again never came to fruition By September 2020 all our donations had stopped coming through to the Charity, so many of our donators had lost their jobs and were now on benefits. Amazon had been given a donation for the Charity’s CEO birthday in March .(2020) which took a whole year for it to be paid into our account During lockdown our CEO was invited to visit the Home Office by a manager who had noticed that one member of staff was struggling with dyslexia. It had cost the company £750 for an assessment to take place online with a registered educational & occupational psychologist. The man in question was 54 years old, he had always known that something was wrong. It had taken him a long time to read and process information. After the assessment whilst in lockdown, which was sent to him, he had to process the information from the registered educational, it upset him so much that he tried to take his own life, resulting in him being hospitalised. We felt that the assessment was not conducted to fit the purpose and a lot more help should have been .implemented for him The company had heard about the work of The Cascade Foundation. We were brought in to help him to understand his strengths and skills and how to .process information in his own individual way :This was his feedback on his first session _‘ .It was wonderful to meet you, I think you are an extraordinary human being It is inspiring and delightful, to see altruistic and selfless people like you, who .’constantly put others' needs and wants before their own_ There have been no investments made during the accounting period under review and all funds have been applied in delivering the aims of the Charity .other than funds held in the Charity’s current bank account ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 ## **____________________________________________________________________ :Publicity and media exposure** Due to the lockdown the two-part series produce by channel 4, “The ‘Write Offs”, which was supposed to be aired in April had been delayed to September. This has led to many media and radio stations talking about the issue of low literacy and dyslexia in the UK. The show was watched by over 5 million .people and came 4th place in the top 50 programs on Channel 4 The phone calls, emails, visits to our website ended up with over 30,000 people contacting us. This TV program has shown just the tip of the iceberg, because you could not get to the celebrity (Sandi Toksvig) of the show, we were the next .call. Everyone wanted help for their families and friends The feedback on the program was very positive, by arranging the activities, it gives us a variety of teaching methods and helps us to understand prior knowledge and to ascertain the skills we need to support each particular .learner Travelling to a destination is so hard if you don’t know bus numbers or what route to take or if you cannot read the road signs or a bus timetable. At The Cascade we felt this was really important that any prisoner who came out of prison and was unable to read we would accompany him on a bus to the probation service, drug clinic, dentist, bank and other locations they would need to attend so they would have the confidence to know exactly what bus is .required and the get on and get off stops With the cooking activity they had to go into the supermarket first and buy the ingredients. We had seen this in the Hub where many of the parents could not cook a nutritional meal for their family, because they couldn’t read the cookbook or know what food to buy. This activity was to help them to go into the supermarket to buy the ingredients for them to cook. Craig and Dean, two of the eight learners mistook parsley instead of basil for their spaghetti .bolognese All these activities were showing the audience how a person with learning difficulties has to face so many challenges with everyday life. There were only small clips of the teaching of the learners to help them to read and write. We had so many calls from people who wanted to know how to be trained to help .others learn I have presented two emails from a functional Skills Tutor and a Healthcare assistant within the prison system asking for help of how to work and to .understand these people’s disabilities ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________** ## **A Functional Skills Tutor: Apprenticeships** _I am the Functional Skills Tutor, I joined the company in August this year after being made redundant. I previously worked for a large training provider where I delivered Hospitality Apprenticeships along with Functional Skills, in this role I had little time to spend on Functional Skills and due to the pressure placed on_ _Development Coaches to meet targets, you really had little choice but to .”_ “ _teach for the test_ _I am hugely passionate about apprenticeships and training and the difference that it makes to people_ ’ _s lives (I think this came across in my interview!) I am always so proud of my learners when they achieve their qualifications and tell them to be so proud of themselves and what they have achieved, getting to reflect on the journey they have been on and how far they have come from .when they started_ _I am loving working where both learners and staff are not just a number but are genuinely cared about. I now get to spend the time with the learners that they deserve and can really make a difference to improve their Numeracy and Literacy skills which have such benefits to their everyday lives and life .chances_ _It really saddens me to hear the same stories from the learners of how they were constantly kicked out of class, allowed to sit at the back with their phone as long as they were quiet or that they didn_ ’ _t bother going to school. Many of these learners are not long out of school and their literacy skills are really poor and many have Dyslexia. School has been a really negative experience with the familiar cycle of not being able to understand, so mess about and then thrown out of class, being told that they will never achieve anything without their GCSE_ ’ _s. The good news is that they have made the positive choice of starting an apprenticeship, so many could of, and some have previously started on the negative journey of crime. Being able to provide positive role models in the tutors, (some of which were apprentices here themselves) and encouraging aspirations of a brighter future, helping to improve their life .choices_ _When many of the learners start, they have a very negative view of having to do maths and English and one of the first things that I do say to them is that it isn_ ’ _t going to be like at school. I see learners either individually or in very small groups and have time for them. My classroom rules are that it is a judge .free space, and we respect each other_ _Every learner is an individual and they all have such varying needs and .abilities_ ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________** _Anyway, the main reason for contacting you is that I am really keen to help the learners, especially those who find reading and writing so difficult. I am finding it difficult to find resources/guidance for Adults, I have found things for younger school age children who have dyslexia but really very little for adults. I am very conscious of not treating the learners as children as they are adults and I don_ ’ _t want them to feel as though they are being treated as a child and have their already low confidence knocked. I don_ ’ _t know if you can recommend .anything_ _I saw the ‘Write Off_ ’ _s’ programme and of course cried through most of it as I see the effects of adults struggling with these skills. It was a truly amazing program which I have recommended to so many people as I don_ ’ _t think most .people realise how hard it is and how common it is_ ## **:Healthcare assistant within the prison system** _I work in a prison as a healthcare assistant and I’m really passionate about learning disability and I have a level 4 (A level) in learning disabilities, I ‘m just wondering if you have any ideas on how I can help these ladies a bit more… at the moment during covid it’s been a bit difficult I create care plans for the ladies and before covid was doing a lot of one to one work, my line manager is .happy I’ve got in contact with for a little bit more advice and information_ ## **Mental health** - A British Journal of Psychiatry study from 31 March - 11 May found suicidal thoughts increased from 8% to 10% and they were highest among young adults (18-29 years), rising from 12.5% to 14% - 85% which is leading to a more negative effect on their mental health - Samaritans are receiving more that 7,000 requests for help a day. They found that men (aged 45 - 49) from low socioeconomic backgrounds living in deprived areas were 10 times more likely to die by suicide than men from high socioeconomic backgrounds living in the most affluent areas. - New Ministry of Justice figures confirmed that men were significantly more likely than women to kill themselves: males accounted for 77% of suicide verdicts. ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION ## The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________** :Article in our local paper Evening Echo September 2020 Our MP for the Castle Point has congratulated The Cascade Foundation for winning the Countywide Community Charity Award. Rebecca Harris, Patron for the Cascade Foundation, has praised the Charity for its working, teaching, mentoring and supporting people who have dyslexia, head injury or other .learning difficulties Rebecca commented: “Well done to Jackie Hewitt-Main OBE and the Cascade Foundation. The Foundation has been on an amazing journey since it was inaugurated in 2013 and launched at the House of Commons, Westminster, with a speech by the Right Hon. Secretary of State for Justice Chris Grayling .”MP ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________ Financial Review** By September 2020 our funding had dried up, all of our donators had been furloughed or lost their jobs. Our contracts had not been renewed and we were awaiting work with the Home Office for supporting colleagues that had been diagnosed with dyslexia. The world had come to a stop, we were hearing prisoners had been locked up for 23 hours a day, mental health was so high and the health care assistance was at a loss at what to do, frightened by .suicide rates within the prison Schools were leaving children with special needs at home, many parents could .not afford to pay for internet service, so no schooling was taking place We had been working with many TV producers on different projects which came to a stop, everyone was so frightened to move forward, COVID-19 was changing the world to become more digital but families with no internet access were unable to shop on-line or those with learning difficulties had difficulty in .ordering food online due to not being able to follow instructions Our CEO, although herself was now on University Credit, continued to support people who were contacting her by phone or zoom. During this time, she set to work on writing the report ‘Dyslexia Behind Bars II’ and researched into ‘The Digital Divide’ a Briefing paper on the digital divide of reading & literacy skills within the coronavirus lockdown involving people with nerodiversity, head .injury and mental health. This included over 30,000 people ## **Final note** September 2021 the doors were beginning open, a job with the Home Office was so successful that we have been asked to continue with lectures and supporting colleagues. Our CEO has her first lecture presentation at NEC .Birmingham in March 2022 We have been looking at book publishing to share our stories and work. We have shared our knowledge with the Hungry Bear media to help a presenter .read his scripts for the program the Repair Shop Our latest project is about Bridgend and the suicide rates of 27 young children and the handling of our young children in HM Prison Pac, the large prison in Wales. All the work has been voluntary at this moment in time, a few of our .learners have been donating into the Charity out of their own benefits ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION The Trustees present their annual report for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________ Statement of trustees’ responsibilities** Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs for the Charity at the year end and of its incoming resources and resources expended during that year. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are :required to - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently. - observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; where applicable - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. - state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and - prepare the financial statement on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with .the Charities’ Act 2011 They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other .irregularities Trustees declare that they have approved the The .report above on behalf of the Trustees Signed Date: 11 November 2021 Signed: Name and position: Richard Main MBE Chairperson Independent examiners report to the Trustees of THE CASCADE FOUNDATION for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________** I report on the accounts of the Charity for the year ended 31st August 2021 ./ which are set out on pages / to ## **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 year 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 2011 Act; - follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and - state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of independent examiner’s report** My examination was carried out in accordance with the 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 included consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations for 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 statement below ## Independent examiner’s statement :In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the 1 :requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not been met: or ## Independent examiners report to the Trustees of THE CASCADE FOUNDATION for the period ended 31st August 2021 ## **____________________________________________________________________** to which, in my opinion, attention should be 2 drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of .the accounts to be reached Date: 11 November 2021 Mrs D.A. Markwell Retired Accounts Manager Willow House ,Eccles Norwich Norfolk NR16 2JR ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION Income and expenditure account for the period ended 31st August 2021 |THE CASCADE FOUNDATION
Income and expenditure account
for the period ended 31st August 2021|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION
Income and expenditure account
for the period ended 31st August 2021|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION
Income and expenditure account
for the period ended 31st August 2021|THE CASCADE FOUNDATION
Income and expenditure account
for the period ended 31st August 2021|| |---|---|---|---|---| |**____________________________________________________________________**||||| |**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**|**Total**|**Total**| |**funds**||**funds**|**2020**|**2019**| ||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| |**Income**||||| |Contracts & commissioning (Home|508.00||508.00|17,075| |Ofce)||||| |Grants & donations|367.48||367.48|16,750| |Fundraising|Fundraising|Fundraising||||0.00||0.00|2,217| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Total**||||||**875.48**||**875.48**|**36,042**| |**Restricted funds**|||||||||| |**Total**|**Income**|||||**875.48**|||| |**Expenditure**|||||||||| |Advertising|||and marketing|||0.00||0 .00|3,000| |Bank|charges|||||331.16||331.16|91| |Depreciation||||||0.00||0.00|1,819| |Equipment||||||0.00||0.00|4,030| |Insurances||||||0.00||0.00|831| |Printing||and stationery||||0.00||0.00|2,000| |Rent and rates||||||0.00||0.00|21,188| |Salaries||||||0.00||0.00|29,813| |Staf,|trustees and volunteers|||||0.00||0.00|3,879| |Telephone, internet, ICT||||||0.00||0.00|433| |Fundraising|||costs|||0.00||0.00|628| |Professional fees||||||0.00||0.00|450| |Debtors||(JHM)||||0.00||0.00|0| |Expenses||||||221.67||221.67|| |**Total Expenditure**|||||||||| |||||||**552.83**||**552.83**|**68,162**| |Net income|||(expenditure)||||||-5732| |Funds brought forward at|||||1||||| |September|||2020|||1348.00||1348.00|3058| |Prior year adjustment||||||0|0|0|0| |**Funds carried forward at 1**||||||-4942.42||-4942.42|| |**September**||||**2021**|||||-2674| _____________________________________________ ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION Balance sheet for the period ended 31st August 2021 ## **____________________________________________________________________** |||2020|2020|2019| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Notes||£|£| |Fixed Assets|2||0|0| |Current Assets||||| |Debtors|3|||0| |Cash in bank & in hand|1,266| |---|---| |Total Current Assets|1,266| ||| ||| |Liabilities|| |Creditors – amounts due more than one year
3|0
0| ||| ||| |Net Current Assets|| |Creditors – amounts due more than one year|0
0| |Net Assets|0
1,266| ||| |Funds of the company|| |Unrestricted Funds|0
1,266| |Restricted Funds|0
0| ||| |Total funds|1,266| ||| ||| financial statements on pages 13 and 14 were approved by :Trustees and signed on their behalf by The the Date: 11 November 2021 Signed: Name and position: Richard Main MBE Chairperson THE CASCADE FOUNDATION Notes to the fnancial statements for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________** Accounting policies **1** Basis of preparation **1.1** These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost basis .and in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and related regulations Incoming resources **1.2** These are included in the Income and Expenditure account. Incoming resources :are recognised when the company becomes entitled to the resources - the directors are virtually certain they will receive the resources; and - the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability - Where incoming resources have related expenditure (as with fund-raising or contract in the Income and Expenditure account Grants and donations are only included in the Income and Expenditure account .when the company has unconditional entitlement to the resources Contractual income is only included in the Income and Expenditure account once .the related goods or performance related services have been delivered .Investment income is included in the accounts when receivable Expenditure and liabilities **1.3** Liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation .committing the company to pay out resources Depreciation **1.4** Tangible assets are capitalised if they can be used for more than three years and cost at least £250. They are valued at cost, or, if gifted, at the value to the .company on receipt ;The rates applicable are 25% Reducing balance Fixtures and fittings 33% on cost IT Equipment Taxes **1.5** The Charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities. As at the date of these accounts the Charity is not VAT registered ## THE CASCADE FOUNDATION Notes to the fnancial statements for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________** **Tangible fixed assets** **2** **IT** **Fixtures &** |**Equipment**|**Equipment**||**Fittings**|**Fittings**|||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Total**|||||||| |**£**
**£**||||**£**|||| |**Cost**|||||||| |0
0|||0||||Additions| |0
0|||0|||At|31st August 20
21| |_______________________________________|||||||| |0
0|||0||||| |**Depreciation**|||||||| |At 1st September||2020|||||| |Charge this period|||||||| |At 31st August 20
21|||||||| **Net book value at 31st August 2021** **Debtors and creditors 3 2020 £** 0 **Trade debtors** _______ 0 **Creditors - due within one year** 0 Trade creditors _______ **Trustees remuneration, benefits and expenses 4** .There were no trustees’ remuneration in the period of these accounts .Expenses of £221.67 were paid in respect of expenses **2020 Staff costs 5 £ 0 Salaries and wages** ______ No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000 THE CASCADE FOUNDATION Notes to the fnancial statements for the period ended 31st August 2021 **____________________________________________________________________** ||||**Grants and Donations**|**6**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||**Restricted**|**Unrestrict**||| |**Total**|**Funds**|**ed Funds**||| |**£**|**£**|**£**||| |0|0||Awards for All|| |0|0||South Yorkshire PCC|| |0|0||Moto|| |0|0||Rotary Club|| |367.48|0|367.48|Donations|| |**367.48**|**0**|367.48|**Total Grants and**|| ||||**Donations**|| ||||||