Daisy Chains IW Charity Number: 1156801 Trustees annual report and end of year accounts For the year ended 5[th] April 2021
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## Daisy Chains IW – contents page Year-end 5[th] April 2021
Administration Details………………………………………………………………………. **3** Structure and Governance………………………………………….………………………. **3** Objectives and Activities…………………………………………….………………………. **4** Achievements and Performance………………………………………………………. **5/6,7** Trustee Declaration……………………………………………………….……………………. **7** Statement of Financial Activity………………………………………………………… **8/9,10** Balance Sheet ………………………………………………………………………………. **11** Independent Examination Report……………………………………….……….…... **12**
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The Trustees have the pleasure of presenting their report and annual accounts for the year end 5[th] April 2021
## **Administration Details**
Charity registration number: 1156801 Principal address: Unit B8 Whitecross Business Centre Whitecross Lane Shanklin Isle of Wight Po37 7EJ
## **Trustees**
Clare Plant – Chairperson Pauline Groves Elyse Rose
## **Structure Governance and Management**
Charitable Incorporated Association Foundation Model
**Trustee Appointing:** Trustees are appointed through the existing trustee members after receiving a nomination and majority vote by the board of trustees. Trustee applications will be subject to suitability checks before nominations are accepted.
**Reserves Policy:** The Trustees do not have a reserves policy at present
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## **Objectives and Activities**
To support children between birth and 18 years of age on the Isle of Wight that suffer long term health problems, life limiting conditions and disabilities that need essential life changing treatment, hospital treatment at mainland hospitals, or long-term care, this also includes pre-term infants transferred to mainland units.
Support is provided by way of travel grants to families, we assist with the booking and payment of travel costs to include ferry travel, train, and taxis we can also provide where needed financial support for any accommodation the family may require while tending to their child.
The funding is available for both emergency and general medical appointments for the above children and their families, emergency appointments will however take precedence if funds are low.
Our team offer 24-hour family support as and when it is needed and are available via text, phone, or email anytime.
Families are referred to us via local community nurses, health visitors, NICU Staff to name a few and also by way of self-referral.
Financial support is also provided for equipment that will aid or help improve the well-being of a child and for costs of recognised therapies that are not available through the NHS.
We have the flexibility to assess any child between 0-18 years that may need support on the Island and can offer support where needed.
During the year we also run and hold family enrichments events such as our Christmas party, day trips and “wishes” for those who are on our support system. During these events children may receive a gift, be entertained by children’s entertainers or anything which we feel will offer the children some fun with their siblings and parents. This can also include gifts being sent to children who are in hospital for a long time or those who are isolated in their home due to illness.
Our NICU box project is now also running permanently within Southampton General Hospital. This is where we keep boxes with all the essentials the mum of an unexpected premature baby will need for the first few days after birth, along with info on the support we provide.
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## **Achievements and Performance**
2020-2021 has been a challenging year. We implemented some temporary changes to cope with the Coronavirus global pandemic. It became clear early in the first lockdown that demand for our services would not be required in the normal way given the strict guidelines set out by the Government, meaning very few people were able to visit a hospital or attend therapy. With this in mind we took the decision to temporarily broaden our service user criteria and applied for local grant funding from a number of sources that would allow us to provide food parcels and baby essentials parcels to families on the Isle of Wight that were living in poverty, due to the pandemic.
We worked together with the community to identify families that were in desperate need of support, this included:
1. Families who were shielding due to having a poorly child.
2. Those that were self-employed and did not qualify for funding from government and could not afford to feed their family.
3. Families with children where the parent had been furloughed and the drop in income meant they could not afford food or essentials.
4. Families whose circumstances had changed due to Covid 19 and were awaiting in a 6–10-week backlog for their new universal credit claim to be reviewed leaving them with no money to feed their family.
The Food parcels contained enough supplies to feed a family of four for 5 days and included items for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We also provided snacks for the children, fruit, and toiletries. The baby boxes contained, nappies, baby milk, wipes, baby food, toiletries and snacks if requested. The boxes cost between £35 -£40 each. We also took into consideration substitutes for anyone with allergies or intolerances.
Families could apply to us direct via our online portal. We also worked closely with Barnardo’s, the local schools, The Youth Offending Team and Health Visitors to ensure that no family in need was missed.
To keep this new project under our charitable criteria we only worked with families on the IOW and only families where there were children under the age of 18.
We had some great support from local businesses and national grants. To enable the project to work, we received grant funding totalling £16,875. The money was ringfenced solely for COVID 19 Poverty and was used between April 2020 and August 2020. During this time we picked, packed and delivered 428 food parcels and baby essentials parcels.
As the restrictions were eased, we returned to our normal service and had an influx of travel support requests due to the many children who missed essential appointments in the lockdown. We supported a year’s worth of families in just 6 months
Due to the Covid 19 Basic essentials fund we did see our income grow over the pandemic meaning our 2020- 2021 income will be higher than any previous year, however if we
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disregard that funding, you can see that our income is on a par with the previous year which we feel was a huge achievement in these difficult times for charities
We were unable to hold any face to face events in this funding year. Therefore, have solely relied on online events such as raffles, quizzes, balloon races and online fun days. We were also lucky to have been picked for Charity of the Year for a few businesses which was essential for us to keep us going across the year.
**Families Supported:** The Number of families we supported this year has more than doubled. This is due to the Covid 19 fund which brought in 83 new families needing support. Alongside this, the pandemic has created a huge impact on people financially. Over the year we received 30 new referrals for travel support too.
We continued to support 32 families that were already with us from previous years.
Over 2020-21 we have supported 145 Island families. As mentioned in previous years, the length of time support is in place is shorter for some families. We have seen many premature babies, they come to us from birth and remain with us for 2-8 months until they come home or are transferred to the island’s local hospital.
This meant that by the end of the financial year we managed to close 112 referrals. 83 of these were due to the Covid 19 Basic Essentials fund coming to an end and 29 referrals were closed due to the child being premature and going home, finishing treatment, and recovered or sadly passing away. 33 families continue to receive support from us, and will envisage they will continue to do so into what looks to be like a very busy 2021-22.
## **Brief roundup of support given in 2020-2021**
Number of children supported from previous years **32** Newly referred children **113** Total supported this year **145** Referrals closed during the year **112**
Families who will continue to receive support into 2020-21 **33**
Total number of families support since we began **242**
It has been a tough year for Daisy Chains. However, we are proud of how we managed to come through what has been some of the most difficult and trying times we have ever faced. We hope, that even though we remain in a position where we are unable to bring back our fundraising events, we are confident we will come out the other side of the pandemic in a positive way. We feel that we are well established within the local community that people have continued to support us despite the pandemic. We have received feedback from the community and supporters that can see the difference we make to families, which is always lovely to hear.
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As in previous years our relationship with Southampton NICU and Portsmouth continue to strengthen. We are now both units “go to” charity as soon as an island baby is admitted. This ensures no family is missed or left to struggle alone.
Isle of Wight referrals from Community Nurses and Health Visitors have risen as have selfreferrals. We are now finding many people contact us directly looking for support. We always help where we can. However, there are time when the family do not meet our criteria. In these cases, we always signpost them and talk them through who can help and how to apply for alternative support.
As with the rest of the world, zoom calls have enabled us to stay in touch virtually with our families. This has allowed us to chat face to face with parents. We are planning on continuing running a weekly zoom support for families, plus another virtual group for parents of premature babies. Zoom has been a really important tool for those needing emotional support which we have seen rise in the past 2 years.
We continue to work closely with Red Funnel, Wightlink and Hover travel, to ensure families are supported and able to get across the Solent with the minimum amount of disruption.
Our NICU box project had a short pause at the beginning of the pandemic due to lockdown where we were unable to deliver to the hospitals. We found sourcing the contents for the boxes very difficult, however, it is now back on track, and we are planning a big delivery to the hospitals shortly.
Our Annual Christmas Party was unfortunately unable to go ahead this year due to the restrictions. To not disappoint the children and families all the children and siblings received doorstep a visit from an elf with lots of treats and gifts to brighten their Christmas after such a hard year. We repeated this at Easter, with a special visit from Peter Rabbit. We have again been lucky enough to be supported by The IOW Toy Appeal and Hamilton and Marshal Funeral directors.
**Funding:** Funding has been extremely difficult this year as we have been unable to do any events. We have been extremely lucky to have been supported by some large companies such as Co-op, Red Funnel Ferries and be in receipt of a discretionary grant from the IOW council. Without this support we are certain we would have struggled to stay open. Our aims are to get back to our own fundraising and events as soon as we are allowed to but at this stage we do not know when full restrictions will be lifted.
In conclusion this has been one of the most challenging years to be a charity, but we have managed to keep a steady income and support more families than ever. We have learnt that we are adaptable and can support whenever and wherever it is needed.
The Trustees declare they approve the above trustees report Signed on behalf of the charity trustees
Clare Plant Chairperson 26/01/2022
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## **Daisy Chains IW**
**Statement of Financial Activities Year-end April 2021 Income. 2020/2021**
## **Donations**
**Public Donations £3,329.98**
**Business Donations. £24,017.23**
IW Council Discretionary fund £10,000 SWR £4897 M&S charity of the Year £750 Waitrose Green Token £334 Co-op Charity of the year £239.82 Red Funnel Charity of the Year £7621.41 Scooter Club £175
**Covid 19 Specific Funding £16.875.65** Wave 105 cash for kids £5040
Hampshire IW community Foundation £8120 The Vinci Foundation £2500 Neighbourly Fund £400 Novum Law £350 The Holiday Shop £200 JustGiving Campaign BEF £265.65
## **Events Income**
**Daisy Events £1390.68 Pop up Café £0 Festival of Heroes £0**
**Sponsored Events Income Cash £0 JustGiving / Paypal Giving £3268.52 Gift Aid £404.92 Gross Income £49,286.98**
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## **Less costs of Events and Sponsored Activities**
**£387.99 Total Net Income £48,898.99 Expenditure Family Travel Granting £5882.40** Premature baby travel £2771.20 General family travel £3111.20 **COVID 19 Basic Essentials Funding £16.987.40 All Other Family Support Costs £13,069.88** Equipment Grants £1057 Treatment, Therapy and Family Treats £3193.95 Regular family support £8575.40 NICU Boxes £243.53 **Insurance £190.40 Rent, Rates and Utilities £4286.96 Postage and Stationery £297.73 Advertising £122.54 JustGiving Fees £216 Miscellaneous £19.99 Office Equipment £2,596.03 Total spending at bank £43,669.33**
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Daisy Chains IW
Statement of financial activities year end April 2021
Opening Balance £475.15
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Gross Income £49,286.98
Total Expenditure £44,057.32
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Total Funds Carried Forward £5704.81
The above financial information is approved by the trustees and signed for on their behalf
by
Mrs Clare Plant
Chair of Trustees
Signed………Clare Plant ……………………………….Date …26/01/22………………………………….
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**Daisy Chains IW Balance Sheet Year-end April 2020 ( All unrestricted funds )**
**Current Assets Cash at bank and in hand £5704.81 Creditors**
**Amounts falling due within 1 year £0 Net current assets £5704.81 Total assets less current liabilities £5704.81 Total Funds £5704.81**
**These financial statements are approved by the board and signed on their behalf by Chairperson …Clare Plant ……………………………Date ………26/01/22………………….**
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## **Independent Examiners Report of Daisy Chains IW**
**I report on the accounts for the charity for the year end April 5[th] , 2021 as set out in this document.**
**The charity Trustees are responsible for the preparation of accounts. The Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under the section 144(2) of the charities act 2011 (the 2011 act) but that an independent examination is sufficient.**
**I can confirm I have examined the accounts and must state if any particular matters have come to my attention, I have examined the accounting records of the charity and made a comparison with the accounts presented with those records.**
**I have also considered if any items are unusual in any way and would seek explanations if this was the case, the procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion can be given as to whether the accounts present a true or fair view and this report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.**
No Matter has come to my attention:
- 1) Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements:
- To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act.
- To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act and principles of statement of
- recommended practice, accounting and reporting by charities have not been met or
- 2) To which my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the account’s to be reached.
**Examiner:** Amy Graham **Date:** 27/01/2022 **Address:** 69 Manor Crescent, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 2BJ. **Position:** Finance Assistant.
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