## **Annual Report from the Trustees for the year 1[st] July 2020–June 30[th] 2021** ## **1. Purpose and Objects** Windsor Christian Action (registered charity no: 1154308) is a charitable incorporated organisation with voting Members other than its Charity Trustees. The principal office and registered address of Windsor Christian Action (WCA) is at Windsor Baptist Church, Victoria Street, Windsor SL4 1EH. This is the Charity’s eighth year of operation, its constitution having been first registered with the Charity Commission on 23rd October 2013. Website address: www.windsorchristianaction.org The purposes of the charity are as follows: - A.) To provide opportunities for a practical expression of the Christian faith - B.) To promote the wellbeing of vulnerable people in Windsor by: 1. The relief of ill-health, sickness and disability by the provision of food and medical support and by the provision of a safe place to go for help in Windsor; 2. The relief of mental ill-health and loneliness by the provision of a safe base where there is help to access counselling, mental health services and support with addictions; 3. The relief of poverty by provision of food, financial advice, and help to access benefits; 4. The relief of social exclusion by the provision of support with finding temporary and permanent accommodation; 5. The advancement of social inclusion by assisting the homeless and vulnerable to integrate into society. ## **2. Structure, governance and management** WCA is governed by the following types of trustees, as set out in the Constitution. **Foundation Trustees** , up to a maximum of 4, appointed for three years by Churches Together in Windsor, namely: Canon David Hopgood, appointed as Trustee and Chair in September 2015; Revd Kathryn Bracewell, appointed Dec 2017. **Membership Trustees** , up to a maximum of 3, elected by the Members of WCA for a period of three years. Currently there are three serving Membership Trustees, namely Ms Kim Howell-Lewis, appointed in 2017, Clare Cotton and Jeremy Crame, who joined in 2020 as Membership trustees. **Co-opted Trustees** , up to a maximum of 4, elected by the members of WCA for a period of three years. There are currently three serving Co-opted Trustees, namely; Mr Geoff Hudson (appointed May 2017), Mrs Jane Deakin (appointed in September 2018), and Mrs Marion Greenwood (appointed June 2019). Nicola Coveney joined in 2020 as a Co-opted trustee and Treasurer. The Trustees’ main tasks have been to continue to help and support its four Projects, the Windsor Homeless, Windsor Street Angels Windsor Foodshare and More than a Shelter, and to ensure that these are well funded and managed. The effects of covid are still being felt by the projects, with three of them fully now open again and continuing to support Windsor’s most vulnerable residents, and this has called for careful management. Trustees are recruited by identification of skills needed, and then the post is advertised with a job description. We have a recruitment and induction procedure in place for trustees. Their specific responsibilities are as follows: ## WCA Trustee Roles ## **1. Chair** _Run trustee meetings, hold the casting vote if the vote is indecisive, lead the AGM._ ## Canon David Hopgood ## **2. Overseeing projects** _Attend projects with sufficient regularity to understand what is going on and what any current challenges are. Attend Steering Group meetings of the relevant project._ WHP – Marion Greenwood MtaS – Kat Bracewell WFS – Clare Cotton WSA – Geoff Hudson ## **3. Fundraising** _Plan and co-ordinate fundraising activities_ . Kim Howell-Lewis, Clare Cotton ## **4. Business Planning and Strategy** _Develop and implement a strategy to achieve WCA’s purposes_ . Jeremy Crame (with Jane Deakin for information on WCA) ## **5. Legal/regulatory** _Ensure that WCA complies with the law and relevant regulations in all its dealings_ . Geoff Hudson ## **6. Human Resources** _Recruitment, development and training of staff; communication to staff and volunteers_ . Marion Greenwood, (with Ali as consultant) ## **7. Safeguarding** _Ensure the safety of staff, volunteers and project beneficiaries._ Kat Bracewell ## **8. Pastoral support** _Ensure that project leaders are well supported by communicating monthly with them by phone or email._ June Faulkner ## **9. Finances** _Oversee all matters relating to finance, including completing accounts and advising on WCA’s financial position_ **.** Nicola Coveney ## **10. Marketing (external) and Communications (internal)** _Promote WCA. Develop and update website._ Clare Cotton, Marion Greenwood _Communicate with stakeholders, compile and send WCA newsletter._ Jane ## **11** . **Secretary** _Arrange meetings, create agendas and minutes, renew insurance annually, check policies annually, send Annual Report to Charity Commission, organise AGM._ Jane Deakin. ## **12. Line Management** _Manage WCA employees_ _**.**_ Marion Greenwood. ## 3. **WCA Staff and Volunteers** - WCA employs three members of staff – Nick Roberts as Manager of the Homeless Project, and Olivia Dixon, who is Assistant Manager. Stephanie Minici runs the project on a Saturday. The other three project managers are volunteers, and they are all ably supported by over two hundred volunteers across the projects. - All four of our Projects, the Windsor Homeless, Street Angels, Foodshare and More than a Shelter, are dependent upon charitable giving from individuals and organisations. Churches, businesses and individuals have been generous in their support, both in money and in kind, as have a number of charitable trusts and foundations – notably: the Michael Shanly Foundation, the Louis Bayliss Trust, the Prince Philip Trust, the Edith Murphy Foundation, the Windsor & Maidenhead Christian Trust, the Ernest Gosling Foundation (formerly the ACT Foundation), and the Berkshire Community Foundation. - We enjoy a range of good partnerships which help us in our work in various ways e.g. Thames Valley Police, the RBWM Youth & Community Counselling Service, RBWM Housing Options, RBWM Resilience (drug and alcohol service), the probation service, MAPPA, Driven Forward Charity, National Careers Service, the Windsor Lions, and many local businesses and schools. We are grateful to Tesco, Waitrose, the Windsor Viceroy, Cinnamon, Pret, and Priestly and Gail’s Bakers, for their continued support and food donations. ## **4. The 4 Projects – Activities and Achievements in 2021** ## Windsor Homeless Project - We operate from Holy Trinity Church in the week, and Trinity St Stephen’s Church on Saturdays. We are open for drop-in Monday, Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes, offering a meal and support such as advocacy, digital support, counselling and help with moving in to a new home. On Saturdays, we provide a meal at lunchtime. We have also recently started opening on a Tuesday, for appointments only, and use this time for individuals who need more dedicated time, eg. to get back to work/volunteering. Staff from Resilience Drug and Alcohol Service and the Job Centre join us for 1-2 sessions per month. - The total number of guests supported in June 2021 was 52, with an average of 17 guests attending at each session. - Covid has presented its challenges to the project, and the priority has been, as always, to keep everyone safe, by the following means: - temperatures are tested on entry - new masks and sanistiser for each visit - numbers limited to allow distancing - all guests and volunteers have been offered vaccines. - We have received funding for a Drug and Alcohol Support Worker from Public Health England. This person will work with some of the guests who struggle the most - with addiction, engaging with services, and progressing towards their goals. The role is currently being advertised. - Local partnerships – we are the chosen charity for both the Swan in Clewer, and craft Coop in Windsor town centre. ACS Schools will also be fundraising for us. - This year our main achievements have been to increase the number of guests that we support; to increase the number of hours that the project is open, and thereby to offer our guests more help, in particular towards getting employment; and to get funding from Public Health England for a Drug and Alcohol Support Worker. ## Windsor Foodshare - We are open at Dedworth Church on a Wednesday and a Thursday afternoons for food collections, and on those days we also do food deliveries in the local area. More people are coming to collect their food now, and deliveries are slowing down. - On average, 70 vouchers a week are issued. - Due to covid, our beneficiaries still do not enter the building, but queue up in the car park. Our volunteers wear masks and operate in a socially distanced way. As Dedworth Church has begun to be used more, we have moved the food from the church into the portakabin and shipping container in the car park. - As volunteers return to work , we have had fewer volunteers available, and have been very grateful for the help of the Windsor Lions team. - This year our main achievements have been to continue to provide our service, despite the challenges of covid; to provide deliveries of food for those who were unable to attend in person; and to increase the number of vouchers issued. ## Street Angels - We work out of Windsor Baptist Church, and offer support on a Friday and Saturday night in Windsor town centre to the homeless and vulnerable. Support to the homeless includes providing essential items and signposting them to support agencies. We also look out for criminal and predatory behaviour while on patrol, in order to safegaurd the vulnerable. - Between April 2021 and July 2021, 277 people were helped. - We have adapted to covid to keep people safe in the following way: - reduced the team size per shift - the team all wear masks - there have been changes to how certain support is given, in order to reduce risk. - The Safety Hub started up again on 24[th] July, initially on Saturday only, operating in a covid-safe manner. - The Hub is fully endorsed and supported by Thames Valley Police – officers are stationed in the Hub to maintain the safety of the team and building. - Training has been given to our volunteers in Conflict Management, Observational Skills, Radio Use, Homelessness, First Aid and Vulnerability. - This year our main achievements have been to reopen our service in a way that is safe for volunteers and beneficiaries; and to use the time that we gained from a reduced service for extra training for our volunteers. ## More than a Shelter - We were unable to run the shelter this year due to covid. Most of the guests who would normally have accessed the shelter were accommodated in bed and breakfast accommodation by the council. All the activities carried out by are projects are with regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit (PB1, PB2 and PB3). ## **5** . **Social Impact** Our projects improve the lives of vulnerable people in our community, and the community itself, in many different ways. They help provide, amongst other aspects: - A SAFER local environment - Improved mental and physical WELLBEING - A contribution to CRIME REDUCTION - REDUCTION in use of EMERGENCY SERVICES - REDUCED PRESSURE on other front line CARE SERVICES - LESS INEQUALITY - Reduction of POVERTY – financial, food, opportunity While we know that this is the case, one of our objectives for this year is to improve our monitoring, measuring and evaluation of impact. This is something we are working on across the projects, so that we can get better at capturing data and providing evidence of the benefits we offer to individuals and our community. ## **6. Future plans – obtaining a building to house all 4 projects** It has been one of our objectives to draw all of our projects together under one roof, in order to share resources and provide an all-round joined-up service for the vulnerable of Windsor. This dream is now to become a reality, as we have identified a building in Alma Road which is owned by the Diocese of Oxford, and which has become available. The building needs extensive renovation, which is projected to cost around £200,000. This will make the building fit for purpose, with a kitchen, showers, café area, laundry, office space and a large hall which could be used for the night shelter in the winter months. The homeless project could also be run there, and training could be held for all four projects. There would also be space for extra food storage for Foodshare. This is a huge step forward for WCA, and will involve the challenge of raising the funds to renovate the property, but we are confident that the funds can be raised. We have enlisted the help of Nicola Davidson of Our Community Enterprise, who specialises in providing fundraising support to voluntary and public sector organisations. Nicola will guide us through the process of finding the grants we need to achieve this exciting objective. ## **7. Financial resources** At 30[th] June 2021 we had cash resources of £244k. The majority of this money (£174k) has been raised by our Projects and is earmarked to cover future operating expenses, including paying rent and other expenses related to the use of the Alma Road building. Of the remainder, £40k is held by WCA as a contingency reserve and £30k is available to meet a portion of the renovation costs of the Alma Road building. This leaves us needing to raise the balance of the renovation costs from grants. ## **8. Conclusion** This has been a year of continuing to deal with the challenges of covid. We are proud that three of our projects are now operating, and providing their services. As we move on, with the demand for support increasing in the wake of lockdown, we are looking forward to the prospect of being able to offer more to help those who are struggling, whether they are homeless or otherwise in need, from the new building in Alma Road. The premises will enable us to expand what we do, and join the four projects up together into a full package to enable vulnerable people to get back on their feet. _Canon David Hopgood June 2021_ (HARITY IOMMISSION FOR ENGIANO AND WALES Receipts and payments accounts CC16a To •2021 Section A Receipts and payments Unrgstr¢t¢d RestM¢t* Tpi•l Al F￿1 JJJJI i*y •tsJ 2J14 IibK*i yi 110.J32 ¥4t 1031 CCK¥ Rl Section B Statement ol assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrnsirf¢ fund¥ R¢61rtciod fvnd• 81 C•th And• Dot•l $1 rtv 13-1.21 11111r2022 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent ExaMine￿S Report Report to the trusteesl members of On accounts for the year ended 20 Charity no (if any) IISltSo% Set out on pages 10 4.Tr=i.'dè iné Pag- rif.iJ!,i Oi I report to Ihe trustees on my examinati(￿ of the accounts of the at#)ve charity (Ihe Trusf) for the year end Responsibilities and As the chariiy Irustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 fthe Acr). I report in respert of my examination ofthe Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515)(b) of the Act. I have ttsmpleted my examination. I conlmi thal no material matters have come to my attention (other than that dtSGlosed below.) in conneclion with the examination which gives me Gause to believe that in. any material respect.. accounting records were not kept ￿ accordan￿ with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord wtth Ilp &counting records Independent examiner's statement I have no concems and have come aGr05s no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete the words in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Signed: Date: 3 Iz¥)IZ Name: Relevant professional qualification{s) or body (It any): FCCA Address: Z LAK& Co II•A IER October 2018 Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to hKJJilighl matters of concem (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018