## **Annual Report from the Trustees for the year 1[st] July 2021–June 30[th] 2022**
## **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 ninth 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 in2015; Revd Kathryn Bracewell, appointed 2017; Revd. Richard Terrado-Reardon, appointed 2022; Ingrid Fernandes, appointed 2022.
**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, Jeremy Crame, appointed 2020; Lesley Bushnell, appointed 2022.
**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 2017), Mrs Jane Deakin (appointed 2018), and Mrs Marion Greenwood (appointed 2019), Tim Allison, appointed 2022.
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 cost of living crisis has caused a huge rise in demand for our service, and meeting this demand has been our main challenge.
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 – Lesley Bushnell WSA – Geoff Hudson
**3. Fundraising**
_Plan and co-ordinate fundraising activities_ .
- Kim Howell-Lewis
## **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 support is there when needed by guests, employees or volunteers_
## **9. Finances**
_Oversee all matters relating to finance, including completing accounts and advising on WCA’s financial position_ **.**
Tim Allison
## **10. Marketing (external) and Communications (internal)**
- _Promote WCA. Develop and update website._ 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 five members of staff – Nick Roberts as Manager of the Homeless Project; Carron Edgell, who provides drug and alcohol support at the Homeless Project (funded by Public Health England); Stephanie Minici runs the project on a Saturday; Sarah Kember who is the Manager of Windsor Foodshare; and Chris Speakman who is responsible for WCA bookkeeping. The other two project managers are volunteers, and they are 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 2022**
## 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 are also open on a Tuesday, for appointments only, and use this time for individuals who need more dedicated time, eg. to get back to work/volunteering.
- 21 new guests registered from April – July 2022.
- 63 individual guests were supported.
- 1524 guest visits/telephone support calls/outreaches were made.
- 9 guests were placed into long-term accommodation, with tenancy support and furniture provided by WHP.
- Saturday sessions have seen a huge rise in numbers in the last few months, from 10 on average, to 24 on average recently. This is partly due to the popularity of the Blank Canvas programme, and the need for guests to access nutritious food over the weekend due to an increase in the cost of living. We are discussing with Stephanie, who is doing a great job, how to handle the increase in mumbers.
- The money for Carron’s Drug and Alcohol Support role will be extended over the next 3 years, provided by PHE and RBWM.
- Funding has been secured for Steve Gregory’s counselling service for the next 12 months, with the possibility of an extension. This funding is provided by Frimley Health Trust via RBWM.
- Challenges include staff shortages at RBWM and Browns Support Service, which have resulted in numerous guests not receiving the correct support; fuel poverty rising – money is available through a fund provided by RBWM and Babybank, but this is not limitless; and staff shortages at Resilience which affect guests’ drug and alcohol treatment.
- Overall we are coping very well with the rise in demand, but we are finding that there is a core of guests who are ‘stuck’ and just coming along for the food and
whatever else is on offer. We are looking forward to being able to use the Alma Road property when the renovations are finished, to achieve much more with our guests, and encourage them to move on with our Momentum programme, into the next step of voluntary or paid work. This will help them be less dependent on our service and get back on their feet.
## 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.
- June 2022 we fed 549 individuals, compared to June 2021 when we fed 359 individuals.
- June 2022 we made 109 deliveries, compared to June 2021 when we made 67 deliveries.
- Financial donations have increased, due to providing different ways of donating: The Wishlist on Amazon has been very popular; Common Good, which is very similar to Amazon; and Bankuet where people donate money so then we can purchase items that we are in need of. Since having Bankuet we have been donated £4260.
- We have been part of the Coop scheme this year, where they donate us a certain amount of money from purchases that people make with them. We will receive £1500 from being part of the scheme this year.
- Our biggest donations are from having regular drive days in supermarkets. From the drives we have been donated 544 crates of food.
- Other organisations that support us are Glee Club choir; Clean Consciousness; Morrisons Energy; Windsor Rotary Club; Craft Coop; Centrica, and many churches and schools.
- We have been having a really good push on social media recently. The number of Facebook followers have grown from 290 in February to 1356 now. We are on Instagram and Twitter. We have improved our website, and included a quarterly newsletter.
- Our main challenges are to keep up with demand, and reduce spending further.
- All in all, a very successful year – we have managed to cope with a huge increase in demand, and considerably reduce spending. We are very grateful to all of the organisations who have supported us.
## 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 safeguard the vulnerable.
- Between April and June 2022, 1415 people were supported.
- The Safety Hub has been well used, with regular attendance from a number of the homeless who are provided with clothing, food and hot drink. They often sit and chat with the volunteers, which in itself can provide great suport, as well as offering them the opportunity for them to sleep in the safety of the hub if they wish.
- 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.
- We are still working hard to build our team numbers, and had a recruitment drive in July.
- Royal Ascot was another huge success, with Windsor and Maidenhead Angels joining up with Reading pastors to provide support at the event.
- We are hoping to be able to provide medic support in the hub at some point in the future. I am discussing this with Frimley NHS and the council.
- This is our 10[th] anniversary year, and we are hoping to have a celebration with the volunteers.
- Since lockdown, we have been steadily growing and returning to normal. The setting up of the Hub this year has meant that we are becoming more known in the town, and many more people, whether they live in the town or are visiting, are seeing it as a safe and friendly space.
## 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 our 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 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 £275,000. 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.
The building has now been stripped out. RBWM Properties are providing a tender pack for potential contractors to quote against. McCarthy Bainbridge undertook an M & E plan for plumbing, heating, electricity and gas. Edington, Spink and Hines will provide a design for the community café. Volker Highways are to tarmac the side pathway leading to the Foodshare storage garage, and do some other repairs. The RBWM property surveyor is looking after change of use planning and any planning consents. Warriors of Warmth are donating plumbing equipment – boiler, showers, radiators and sanitary ware.
As far as fundraising is concerned, Churches together in Windsor are providing £20,000; Mobbs Trust £5,000; Baldwins £1,000; Shanley £10,000; Benefact Trust £4,000; and possibly Albert Hunt Trust £10,000. There is a crowdfunding appeal on social media for £25,000. Duncan Sharkey from RBWM said that the borough might be able to assist with a capital injection.
We have £130,000 towards the refurbishment costs, and are applying for lottery funding. A video about the refurbishment is being made for this application. It is proposed that each project under WCA contributes to the refurbishment as follws: WHP £25,000, WFS £15,000; WSA £5,000; MtaS £5,000. WCA is to contribute £30,000 from its central funds. The balance of the cost is to be met by fundraising.
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 are planning to reboot our fundraising group and appoint a co-ordinator to manage all the different aspects of fundraising.
## **7. Financial resources**
At 30th June 2022 we had cash resources of £264k. The majority of this money (£201k) 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 £20k 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 and other donations.
## **8. Conclusion**
This has been a year of continued rising demand, due to the rise in the cost of living, and in particular, fuel costs. 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 2022_
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Windsor Christian Action 1154308
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 1st July 2021 30th June 2022
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Donations 106,016 - 106,016 109,838
Membership Fees - - 410
Fundraising Events 29,816 29,816 21,871
Grants 69,024 69,024 55,543
Other Income - 28 - 28 -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Sub total (Gross income for AR) - 204,828 - 204,828 187,662
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts - 204,828 - 204,828 187,662
A3 Payments
Charitable Activities 48,812 48,812 22,988
Cost of Fund Raising Events 1,566 1,566 200
Staff Salaries and Associated Costs 79,541 79,541 64,041
Donations - - 1,500
Administration 4,789 4,789 3,051
Support Costs 22,782 22,782 1,347
Insurance 2,538 2,538 1,136
Professional Fees 4,539 4,539 2,818
Bank Interest and Charges 427 427 255
Rent 12,264 12,264 3,690
Vehicle expenses 1,302 1,302 6,845
- -
- -
- -
- -
Sub total [ - ] 178,559 - 178,559 107,871
**----- End of picture text -----**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see
table)
Alma Road rent deposit 5,500 - 5,500 -
- - - - -
Sub total [ - ] 5,500 - 5,500 -
Total payments - 184,059 - 184,059 107,871
Net of receipts/(payments) - 20,769 - 20,769 79,791
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 243,659 163,868
**----- End of picture text -----**
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
2/20/2023
1
_**Cash funds this year end**_ **-**
**20,769**
**264,428 243,659**
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own**
**B5 Liabilities**
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)|**Details**
**Details**
Cash
Bank
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**
Alma Road rent deposit
**Details**
**Details**
2|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**264,428**
**-**
**264,428**
Agreement Error
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**5,500**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**-**|
|||||OK|
|||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**When due**
**(optional)**
2/20/2023|
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Date of
Signature Print Name
approval
Tim Allison 14.12.22
**----- End of picture text -----**
CCXX R3 accounts (SS)
2/20/2023
3
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examinevs Report
Report to the truste¢sl
members of
On accounts for the year
ended
Charity no
lif any)
IIS430
Set out on pages
"3 the p8ge liumb,.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity ('the Trust.) for the year ended
Responsibili15es and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for Ihe preparation
basis of report of the accounts in accordance wilh Ihe requirements of the Charities Act
2011 {Ihe Act.).
I report in respecl of my examination of the Trust's 8c¢ounls carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5)Ibl of the Act.
I have completed my examination. l nfiM that no material matters have
come lo my attention {olher than that disclosed below "l in connection with
the examinalion which gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect..
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of
the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
Independènt
examiner's slatement
I have no COnM$ and have come across no other matters in connection
with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a
proper understanding of the accounts lo be reached.
Please delete the words in the braGkets rf they do not 8ppIy.
Slgned:
Date:
Name:
i¥IP
Relevant professional
qualification{sl or body
{if any):
Address:
LAi6 C1>T lir••4ts .
l¥lA>£Pl%E
SL£ C•3¢a
IER
October 2018