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2020-08-31-accounts

OLIVE TREE CANCER SUPPORT GROUP Annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2020

Registered charity No. 1157386 The Olive Tree Cancer Support Centre, Crawley Hospital, West Green Drive, Crawley, West Sussex RH11 7DH

Social media

www.olivetreecancersupport.org.uk/

Contents

Chairman’s statement......................................................................... 3 1. Who we are and what we do ............................................................ 4 1.1 Background and a summary of charity activities in 2019/2020 .................................. 4 1.2 Achievements and performance ....................................................................... 7 1.3 Looking forward statement ............................................................................. 9 2. How we operate ......................................................................... 10 2.1 Charity information, structure and governance ................................................... 10 2.2 Charity operations and risk management ........................................................... 11 2.3 Fundraising activities ................................................................................... 15 2.4 Stakeholder management and communications ................................................... 17 3. Financial report ......................................................................... 18 3.1 The Financial Review 2019/2020 ..................................................................... 18 3.2 Report of the Independent Examiner ................................................................ 21 3.3 Income and Expenditure Account .................................................................... 22

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Chairman’s statement

At the time of writing this report, we face the unprecedented challenge of the coronavirus pandemic and, in these difficult and extraordinary times, our priority is to continue to support our service users, both existing and new. As the year started, we were looking forward to building on our successes and developing our services in Crawley whilst expanding our presence in Horsham. Our ethos of supporting the emotional and physical needs of all cancer patients, their families and friends, from diagnosis for as long as required, is at the forefront of everything that we do. We know that our services are needed more now than ever.

Graham Nicoll Chairman

Chairman During the first six months of the reporting year, we were on track for another successful year measured by funds raised, awards received, and services offered to an increasing number of our members (service users or users). Then, as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in March 2020, we immediately undertook a major initiative to ensure we could continue to offer significant levels of support to members during this time. We moved a few services to online or via the telephone and did all that was required to ensure our Crawley Centre was Covid-19 secure, allowing it to be open to our users whilst always adhering to government guidelines. The feedback from users over this period has been extremely positive. On behalf of the Trustees, I would like to thank our staff and volunteers for their amazing work.

We mustn’t underestimate the additional stress the pandemic has had on our service users with the additional challenges they have faced caused by delays in diagnosis, treatments and the loss of support with the removal of face-to-face consultations. Shielding has also impacted our members with many suffering from loneliness and isolation. I am pleased the Olive Tree has been able to support so many of them during these difficult times.

We rely on donations, legacies and grants for our income. During the year we raised £132,000 through the help of our supporters and staff. In addition, we received a significant bequest of £35,000 which means the total income for the year was £168,000 (including interest). This level of income and our strong financial management has allowed the Olive Tree to end the year in a financially strong and sustainable position. We need, however, to do all we can to increase our level of fundraising further to ensure we can meet the demands we face ahead in what is likely to be a challenging economic environment.

Looking forward

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the Olive Tree and our members, and we will continue to develop our services and the support we offer in these difficult times. For cancer patients the effects of the pandemic are manifold, and we believe that, as restrictions are removed, the demand for our services and support will increase more than ever before. We will focus our efforts to ensure we are ready by increasing the services offered in Crawley. We are also excited to be launching further expansion in Horsham allowing us to, for the first time, offer group and individual services in the town centre.

Our Centres are open to everybody regardless of background. In addition to expanding what we do, we will undertake new initiatives looking at who we reach, particularly focusing on minority ethnic and underprivileged communities. We aim to help all areas of society and support our users where we can through their cancer experience.

Gratitude

Thank you to our staff, volunteers and supporters for allowing the Olive Tree to support our members during this most challenging year and into the future.

Graham Nicoll Chairman

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1. Who we are and what we do

1.1 Background and a summary of charity activities in 2019/2020

Charitable object

The charitable object of the Olive Tree Cancer Support Group (the Olive Tree), as prescribed by the Charity Commission, is to relieve the physical or emotional distress of persons with cancer and their partners, families, friends and carers through the provision of services.

The Olive Tree operates from its Support Centre in Crawley and has an Information Hub in Horsham established in 2018. The Centre is open to everyone who is affected by cancer irrespective of whether newly diagnosed or a longer-term supporter. In 2019/2020 the Centre, despite the restrictions placed upon us due to the Covid-19 pandemic, provided services to more than 240 people, including 158 new patients.

The Olive Tree is a welcoming and trusted ‘safe place’ for its cancer patient community and for their loved ones, offering reassurance and relaxation at times of most need. Its empathetic and supportive team provides valued services, help and key understandings that enable and empower patients to meet challenges throughout their cancer journey.

In the reporting year, the Olive Tree provided services to 16% of new cancer patients who live in Crawley, and 3% who live in Horsham (see table below). The Centre provides support to 8% of new cases in the overall area. This means our support maybe needed by many more new and existing patients, particularly in Horsham. It is now estimated that about half of the UK population will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their life. Due to the advances in medical care more people are being cured and surviving longer which means we will need to support more patients, their family members, carers and friends for longer.

Area of residence New users New cancer cases Total area
at the Olive (as of Feb 2020)1 population
Tree 2019/20 (2019)2
Crawley & local areas 83 530 112,410
Horsham 44 1,400 143,790
Other areas 31
Total 158 1,930 256,200

Our services are not restricted to those living within the two town boundaries. Our users come from many local areas including Broadfield, Bewbush, Langley Green, Horley, Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and East Grinstead. The closest cancer support centres to Crawley are in Chichester, Guildford, Redhill and Brighton, demonstrating a unique position of the Olive Tree to meet the demand for services from local communities.

As such, it is estimated that we are potentially accessible by a total population approaching 500,000 people.

1 https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/local-cancer-statistic 2 Sussex Community Foundation Insight reports, October 2020

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Supportive services

The aim of the Olive Tree is to provide therapeutic care to cancer patients and their supporters, enabling them to cope better with their disease and treatment. We are a self-funded charity, and our therapies and services complement the medical support that is given to cancer patients by the NHS. We do not offer any medical treatments or advice.

The Olive Tree provides many different types of services to its users. We had 1,853 Centre visits in 2019/2020 (down by 42% on the previous year of 3,215 due to the pandemic) with an average of 270 per month prelockdown. Complementary therapy is the most popular reason for a visit (39%), followed by counselling (17%) in 2019/2020.

Our workshops are also very popular. We ran 20 across Crawley and Horsham during the year. Some more unusual services offered by the Olive Tree are breast cancer surgery aftercare treatment, scar massage, Virtual Reality Headset Workshops.

Services Description
Information support Library of books, magazines, local and national information, and Macmillan
brochures
Complementary Complementary therapies are offered to anyone who visits the Centre, both those
therapies with cancer and their supporters. These therapies complement orthodox cancer
treatments and improve the quality of life by relieving stress and tension. They
are based on the holistic principle that healing works on all levels: spiritual,
mental, emotional and physical.
 Acupuncture
 NADA protocol ear
 Emotional Support
acupuncture
Therapies
 Aromatherapy
 Bowen Technique
 Cranio-Sacral Therapy
 Energy Healing
 Emotional Freedom
 Hypnotherapy
Technique (EFT)
 Therapeutic art
 Pranic Healing
 Indian Head Massage
 Kinesiology
 Massage
 Oncology Massage
 Reflexology
 Reiki
 ACU sound therapy
Counselling & Coaching Counselling and Coaching offer patients alternative approaches to find their own
solutions to difficulties, and a way through a crisis and beyond.
Support groups Breast cancer group, Secondaries club, Prostate cancer group
Workshops Various topics – Mindfulness, Card Making, Headwrappers
Pink Ribbon programme Exercise for breast cancer patients
Exercises classes Yoga, Pilates
CAB Welfare/ Benefits Confidential benefits advice
Drop in Social afternoons to discuss any concerns or just speak with someone
Wig service Selection of wigs, hats, scarves and bandanas with a fitting service

In February 2020 we conducted a new user satisfaction survey. Over 96% of respondents rated the quality of their treatment as excellent, with the remaining 4% rating it as good. Overall, the responses and comments were very positive indicating that all users valued what the Olive Tree offers and it makes a positive difference to the lives of those who attend.

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This is a wonderful service and I for one would have been lost without you. Always a kind word and good advice/treatments

I find the Olive Tree a very comfortable environment where I can relax with people in a similar situation and try different therapies

Impact of Covid-19 on user services – we remained open

In March 2020 we were forced to drastically review our operations owing to the UK Government guidance and restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Centre in Crawley was made Covid-19 secure and we remained open, welcoming 55 new users from March 2020 until the end of August 2020.

The threat of Covid-19 meant that new ways of working had to be agreed and swiftly implemented in order to meet government guidelines as they changed and developed. We

moved some of our services to phone and online video platforms (Skype and Zoom): counselling, coaching, distance healing, ETF, hypnotherapy, Pink Ribbon exercise. We provided access to acupressure, chair exercises, breathing exercises, yoga and Pilates by YouTube video that is also available on our website. Overall, we provided 43 sessions of remote support between April and July 2020.

Our Crawley Centre remained open for wig fitting on a strict, self-service appointment basis. The staff and volunteers also helped with shopping and medication pick-up for some patients.

I am extraordinarily grateful for the Olive Tree's support and care over the many years since my original diagnosis: it feels like having an entire football stadium full of support! I haven't felt this any less during the pandemic. I have taken part in several online meetings of the particular support group that I am a member of. It was amazing how quickly the technology ceased to be a barrier and we were quickly back to our normal friendly chatting, sharing our experiences and catching up with how we had adapted to the 'new normal', and the changes to our treatment during lockdown. It was great to see everyone at least on a screen and see how we were all doing – and share little glimpses of gardens. The technology meant that one of our members who is usually at work and unable to make it to the meetings was able to join us in her lunch hour, so an added bonus. Like everyone, I am so looking forward to a post Covid-19 world, but it's great that that wonderful support remains very much available, even in a different format. KR, Patient. July 2020.

Horsham Information Hub

Our Horsham Information Hub operates from Horsham Hospital. It offers information services, demonstration sessions (pranic healing, EFT, acupuncture, yoga and hypnotherapy) and workshops. We are currently looking for new premises to enable us to provide complementary therapy and counselling.

Our Horsham services were constrained by lockdown restrictions but throughout the pandemic the phone was operational during office hours.

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1.2 Achievements and performance

2019/2020 YEAR in NUMBERS

We are delighted to present our key data covering the usage of the Centres.

----- Start of picture text -----
User engagement New user profile Donors, fundraising Staff and Volunteers
and impact of
donations
1,853 158 17 3 part-time staff at Crawley
centre visits in a year(3,215 prior year). by the Olive Tree in 2019/2020new users welcomed major grants and donations received 2 full-time staff at Horsham
Down by 42% due to Covid-19 (overall 240 users) (value £0.6k-£5k each) (2 staff worked during lockdown)
270 4:1 562 66 volunteers
User visits per month pre-pandemic Ratio of female to male new users JustGiving donations (increase by (29 have been at the OT over 5
39 visits per month during pandemic 59% on PY) years)
(April-July)
10 64% £27 860
different types of services provided of new users Average expenditure per service visits to centre by volunteers
by the Olive Tree are over 50 years old user in a year
Ethnicity of new users
748 8 volunteers
14% Asian
therapy sessions delivered in a year provided emotional support and
making it the most popular service 96% exercise classes during lockdown
(39% users). Second most popular 86% White months
of respondents from 2019/20 user
was counselling (17% of users).
satisfaction survey rated the quality
of their treatment at the centre as
Excellent
14 workshops held in Crawley 17 16 volunteers
different cancer types of users
6 workshops held in Horsham (49% of users have breast cancer) offered therapy and counselling
during July and August 2020
Pre-lockdown
Awards
43 Users travel from
10 different areas
sessions of remote support
provided during pandemic of West Sussex with 4
80% from Crawley and Awards and nominations
received by the Olive Tree
Horsham
in 2019/2020
----- End of picture text -----

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Feedback received from users

The Centre is an absolute haven. I don’t know what I would have done without it.

The Centre is a The Olive Tree is an oasis in lifeline to patients the desert. All the staff are and carers. wonderful and caring.

Every member of staff, paid or volunteer, is so friendly and welcoming. It’s my safe place where people listen and offer support, not sure what I would have done without this place, especially once treatment had finished it’s nice to still have somewhere to go. Thank you.

During lockdown, it has been encouraging to meet fellow members of the Secondaries Club to uplift and exchange support via zoom. Marilyn skilfully chairs these meetings and allows us all to catch up with how we are all doing. It will be good to eventually all meet up again at the Olive Tree! For now, Zoom is the next best thing.

Awards in 2019/2020

We were delighted to be recognised for our services by our Community and other organisations.

Award
Description		 Award
Description
‘Achievement Award’ awarded to Marilyn Drury, our Centre
Manager
TheCrawley Community Awards are organised by Crawley
Borough Council in association with The Hawth theatre and The
Crawley Observer, and supported by Headline Sponsor London
Gatwick Airport. The awards recognise and reward people who
live, work, volunteer or study in the Crawley District who give up
their time, talents and skills to help and support others in their
community and those who have trained, worked and put all their
efforts into making real achievements
The Olive Tree was a Finalist in the Charity category.
Best of Sussex Awards 2019 celebrated the very best people and
organisations within the Sussex communities, those that really do
make a difference to their communities.
TheMacmillan Quality Environmental Mark (MQUEM) award
champions cancer environments that go above and beyond to
create welcoming and friendly spaces for patients. MQEM is the
first award of its kind in the UK and has been designed in
collaboration with people living with cancer.
In 2020 theMarkfor the Olive Tree was increased from Good
(Level 4) toOutstanding(Level 5). It will be valid to 2023.
Charity Excellence Framework: Sustainability Mark awarded to
the Olive Tree for one year.
A quality mark that shows we are committed to excellence, have
financial stability and are a sustainable charity now and for the
future.

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1.3 Looking forward statement

Whilst the Olive Tree remains ambitious in its ongoing objective to support significantly more cancer patients, we recognise that current circumstances are not ideal as our society gradually adjusts to meet long-term consequences of the pandemic. We anticipate that this might slow our intended progress somewhat, but we are determined that it will not stop us from continuing to meet this challenging goal.

The recent restrictions caused by the pandemic, have shown how we can better utilise technology in adapting our delivery, for example conducting therapy and counselling sessions remotely. We will maintain these new practices, as appropriate, to maximise the convenience and comfort of our service users and continue to explore other ways in which technological advances might help improve our efficiency and effectiveness.

The demand for our care will doubtless increase. This is due to a backlog of cancer patient requirements from those who have not yet progressed with treatment, or have unknowingly delayed diagnosis, during the times of lockdown, and also because of the continued increase in the prevalence of cancer in its various forms.

We will reach out specifically to cancer patients within ethnic minority groups and to those in socially deprived areas within the Crawley/Horsham vicinities. This is to raise awareness of how we can support them and to encourage their involvement.

To meet the increased demand, we need to recruit further personnel. It is important that they have the right skills, are motivated and have appropriate personalities, in order to maintain our current high standards of delivery and care. We will continue to measure our performance using appropriate assessments, such as user feedback, to ensure that this is the case.

We are currently planning further expansion in Horsham to make it easier for new and existing cancer patients (and their friends and families) who live close to Horsham to benefit from our expert care services. This will be heavily publicised both locally and through social media.

This growth in our capacity requires a corresponding significant step up in our funding. We must deliver this in the face of greater competition for (possibly fewer) grants available to us given the current financial climate.

On the positive side, we expect to be able to restart fundraising activities in the community in 2021 which we have been unable to do this year. Likewise, our continued expansion into Horsham will enable new local business partnerships to be formed and will offer a broader audience from which individual supporters and fundraisers can be sought and engaged. Despite these financial positives, we are very aware that our

ambition to expand encompasses a huge funding challenge. We are determined to meet this challenge and are confident of doing so given the amazing commitment and generosity of our existing and new supporters, to whom we will always be indebted.

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2. How we operate

2.1 Charity information, structure and governance

Charity registration

The Olive Tree Cancer Support Group is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered on 9 June 2014. The Olive Tree is governed by its CIO Constitution dated 29 May 2014, which sets out the charity’s powers and authorities. The constitution was amended by the Trustees and approved the members at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 24 February 2021.

The charity is regulated by the Charity Commission of England and Wales. Registration number 1157386.

Address: Wentworth House, Crawley Hospital, West Green Drive, Crawley, West Sussex RH11 7DH

Trustee information

The Olive Tree Board of Trustees provides independent control and has legal responsibility for the management and administration of the charity. The Board is also responsible for the strategic direction of the charity and the authority delegated to Management. The Trustees are elected by the members of the charity at the AGM and, subject to re-election or early retirement, serve for a maximum of three, three-year terms, after which they must stand down for at least twelve months.

Volunteers, employees, professionals, cancer patients, their carers and others are entitled to become members of the Olive Tree and are entitled to attend its AGM and vote on important decisions affecting the charity.

The Board consists of six Trustees (ethnicity ratio – Asian 14%, White 86%). They all give their time to the Olive Tree on a voluntary basis and receive no remuneration. Reasonable expenses may be reimbursed.

----- Start of picture text -----
Alla Trevor Raj Graham Nicoll Stephen Baily [2] Yulia Baynham [2]
Levadnaya Chrismas Limbachia (Chairman)1
(Treasurer)
Appointed Appointed
2 September 4 November
2020 2020
Resigned
Gary Morris Appointed 1 April 2020, resigned 24 February 2021
Charlotte Huggins Resigned 23 July 2020
----- End of picture text -----

In accordance with section 13 of the CIO Constitution

The charity Trustees may appoint one of their number to chair their meetings and may at any time revoke such appointment. At the date of this report the appointed Chairman is Graham Nicoll.

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Governance

Trustees meetings take place monthly, every first Wednesday in person or remotely (during pandemic). The Olive Tree Manager and the Fundraising Manager also attend the meetings to report on their activities. The objective of the sessions is to ensure good governance, provide oversight of charity management and fundraising, ensure robust financial control and identify any improvements to user experience. All meetings have agenda, papers and reports and minutes prepared and reviewed.

Trustees undergo regular training from external organisations. Most recent training covered governance, GDPR, safeguarding, fundraising, impact assessment, fraud policy, digital operations and annual reporting.

The Trustees, in exercising their powers and authorities, confirm that they complied with their duty under the Charities Act 2011 and have had due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission. In preparing this report and accounts the Trustees have complied with the requirements set out in the guidance to report on the significant activities and achievements of the charity in 2019–2020.

The charity has taken out an insurance policy that provides professional indemnity insurance cover for the Trustees.

2.2 Charity operations and risk management

Our employees and volunteers are an essential part of the Olive Tree Cancer Support Group and without them we could not operate.

Management and Staff

Marilyn Drury Ava Harding Lisa Balcomb Centre Manager Fundraising Administrator Manager

Jackie Nunn Terrie Stephens Administrator Macmillan Support Worker

The Olive Tree has a staff of five. The Centre is managed by Marilyn Drury. Her position is a salaried NHS post, with additional funding by The Olive Tree. Administrative duties are conducted by Lisa Balcomb and Jackie Nunn who are employed on a job share arrangement. Ava Harding is our Fundraising Manager. Lisa, Jackie and Ava are all employees of the Olive Tree.

In June 2020 Terrie Stephens was appointed as Macmillan Support Worker and is based at the Horsham Hub. This is a full-time position funded by Macmillan whose grant will end in December 2021.

We are grateful to Marilyn, Ava, Lisa, Jackie and Terrie for their hard work and commitment in running the day-to-day operations of the Centre and at the same time giving empathy, compassion and support to everyone who visits the Centre.

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Volunteers

The Centre has 66 volunteers including 10 counsellors, 4 coaches, 33 therapists, 14 who help with general duties (Front desk, Drop-in organisers, Horsham team support) and 5 who support Fundraising activities.

Our aim is to have volunteers who are happy, engaged in shaping our services and eager to continually support the Olive Tree. Our engagement efforts are ongoing through volunteer lifecycle and we ensure consistent communication and recognition.

Trustees fund a length of service Recognition Award Scheme for the volunteers. Awards are given to recognise 1, 5, 10- and 20-years’ of service as well as an Outstanding Contribution Award. Many volunteers have been working in the Centre for a number of years including 29 with over 5 years of service and 5 with over 10 years of service. Four volunteers received an Award for outstanding service in 2019/2020. Our Annual Volunteer Christmas buffet and Awards evening took place in December 2019.

In December 2020 we introduced a Reward Gateway, a scheme that provides staff and volunteers with retail discounts, well-being tools and a new improved method of charity communication.

The Centre Manager adopts an organised and rigorous approach to the recruitment and training of volunteers to ensure that they are appropriate in terms of skills, qualifications and their alignment with the Olive Tree values. Regular contact is maintained to ensure that the services that they deliver are of the appropriate standard and they themselves have job satisfaction.

Training

The Olive Tree believes that training is key to the effective and efficient delivery of high-quality support to all those who chose to take advantage of the wide range of support services available. Our aim is to have well-trained and well-informed employees and volunteers and the Olive Tree remains committed to provide all necessary and support to enable employees and volunteer to complete the tasks required.

Centre operations during Covid-19 pandemic

Our staff and volunteers continue to show great flexibility, resilience and resourcefulness in keeping our services running at the Crawley Centre. During the Covid-19 lockdown eight volunteers continued to provide emotional support and exercise classes. Eight more returned to the Centre in July and August 2020 to provide therapy and counselling.

To comply with lockdown opening procedures three members of staff completed the HMG online training for Covid-19 management.

Keeping the Centre open has resulted in additional costs of £3,523 to comply with Covid-19 requirements (below).

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The Following modifications were made to Crawley Centre and the Horsham Hub to comply with Covid-19 Secure Guidelines:

Covid-19 Risk Assessments were undertaken and protocols rewritten for all areas of activity. These are in use and distributed to staff, volunteers and users when required.

Covid-19 Disclaimer document is signed by each user at the Centre before an appointment can take place.

Risk management

The Trustees and Management undertake regular assessments and where appropriate systems, or procedures have been established to manage and mitigate the risks the charity faces.

Reserves targets are calculated by reference to the forward financial outlook and the risks facing the charity, with the aim of ensuring that key services are sustainable, and that early action can be taken to deal with matters as they arise.

Specific risks considered by the Trustees include income, reputation, fraud, cyber security and data protection, staff and volunteers’ risks.

More than 80% of the Olive Tree’s income is from donations including one-off grants and bequests. This risk is mitigated through a combination a robust reserving policy and a professional and systematic fundraising approach, supported by volunteers.

Reputational risk is often a consequence of other risks. Robust control mechanisms, policies and procedures are in place to protect against events that might damage the image of the charity, impairing its ability to both delivery services and raise funding.

The Trustees of the Olive Tree are aware of the risk of fraud in charities and works continuously on building resilience by developing counter-fraud mechanisms, such as a whistleblowing policy, fraud awareness training programmes and financial controls mechanisms reviews with the focus on fraud prevention.

At the Olive Tree we take data protection seriously and our responsibilities are covered in the Data Protection Policy. As a risk mitigation measure, regular data audits are carried out together with appropriate training for staff and volunteers.

The internet and mobile connectivity are vital to every aspect of how we work in the Olive Tree. We will continue to work on developing robust cybersecurity protocols to become fully secure, while at the same time building resilience to respond quickly to attacks with minimal impact on our operations and reputation.

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With global pandemic and remote working small charities are exposed to a disproportionate risk to cybercrime. Our goal is to continue carrying out an annual cyber security risk assessment of IT systems and operation areas critical to service delivery, fundraising, financial operations and service user data security and managing those risks associated with.

We know that security starts with people and our objective is to provide annual cybersecurity training for our staff and volunteers to help them to recognise cyber security threats and avoid making security mistakes.

The Olive Tree has a small staff of five with a lot of knowledge concentrated in those individuals. A comprehensive set of procedures and work instructions is in place to ensure that tasks can be readily passed on to other members of staff, knowledge is shared and there is no impact on charity operations due to staff movements.

The charity relies on a large number of volunteers with specialist knowledge, qualifications and experience who provide their services at no cost. Any sudden drop in the number of volunteers would impact the ability of the charity to deliver services. This risk is mitigated by the waiting list of new specialists maintained by the Centre manager.

Our Volunteer Policy, Volunteer Guidelines and Safeguarding Policy are in place to ensure compliance with safety of staff, volunteers and service users and all these policies are reviewed within an agreed timeframe. We have a robust volunteer recruitment process with appropriate safeguarding DBS checks where required.

Robust Financial control

Processes and procedures are in place to

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2.3 Fundraising activities

Key donations and grants received in 2019/2020

The Olive Tree is entirely funded by charitable donations and grants. These funds come from

Ava Harding Fundraising Manager

The Olive Tree’s promise to the general public and to our valued supporters, staff and volunteers is that our fundraising, in all its forms, is legal, open, honest, and respectful. We take all reasonable steps necessary to comply with the law and take responsibility for our actions, ensuring that our fundraising is carried out in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice. We ensure all of those who fundraise on our behalf do likewise and thus do not cause detriment to the charity’s reputation. We also ensure all such fundraising activities are in-line with both our ethical standards and legal requirements.

The Olive Tree, in deciding whether to accept or decline a donation or gift, considers the charity's best overall interest, and does not accept donations from donors whose activities appear to be in conflict with any of our charitable aims and objectives.

Supporters who wish to donate to a specific area of the Olive Tree’s work can do so by providing written instruction to this effect with their donation. The Olive Tree will always respect this. If the Olive Tree is unable to accept such a request, then the donation is refused or refunded if the sponsor does not wish the money to be used for a suitable alternative purpose.

Following an increase in the contracted hours of the Fundraising Manager, we have seen an almost doubling in value of our JustGiving donations to £19,971 (562 in total). Similarly, income from community fundraising events increased

to £11,040. We would like to thank the Henry Smith Charity for their continued support in sponsoring Ava’s position.

Our larger grants were gratefully received from MCKS Charitable Foundation, Vinci UK Foundation, Albert Hunt Foundation, The Longley Trust and The National Lottery Community Fund.

We received grants from organisations such as OneFamily and have benefited greatly from token schemes which have been received thanks to our supporter nominations. In this toughest of times, we are so very grateful for these vital and generous contributions. We must also highlight the bequest from the late Claire Sutcliffe, a supporter and user of our services, who sadly passed away during the year.

Our larger donations of over £2,500 and the donors for 2019/20 are listed in page 20 of this report.

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Engagement with our donors

This year, donor retention and development has never been more important for the Olive Tree in order to secure sustainability.

We are committed to continuous improvement of our donors’ experience by targeting our communications with them. This way we can learn more about their expectations, award criteria and key drivers of their loyalty through; funding progress reports, end of funding reports and meeting with our funders and supporters. We adapted our communication with our supporters using social media platforms and applications such as Zoom, MS Teams and Skype to conduct meetings. We endeavour to be more proactive to ensure that the Olive Tree work carries far more impact for our cancer community.

Impact of Covid-19 on fundraising activities

The pandemic has severely restricted our ability to raise funds. Nevertheless, we have, so far, managed to cope financially thanks to our strong management, reduced costs during the Covid-19 restrictions, support from the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and a robust reserves policy providing a financially stable position.

We are immensely grateful to our supporters and partners whose continued financial backing in these unprecedented times have reduced the need to draw on these reserves. Covid-19 specific funding (total of £10,900) was received from Sussex Community Foundation, Groundwork UK and Neighbourly Community Fund. This enabled the Olive Tree to both make the Centre Covid-19 secure and to continue to deliver both limited in-centre services and new remote services.

Unfortunately, Covid-19 severely impacted our ability to continue with our community fundraising events programme since March 2020. We thank Ifield Community College, Songbirds, The Over the Hillbillies, InChoir and Crafty Spa Baa for their community events and fundraising efforts conducted prior to lockdown. Nevertheless, many of our volunteers and supporters have continued to raise money with their own initiatives during the pandemic. We are proud of them and sincerely grateful for their exceptional efforts. Whilst there are too many to mention in this report, organisations such as The Olive Tree Trailblazers, RAM Cricket Club and Crawley Town Old Boys have been key to our achievements in this respect. Although we look forward to being able to participate in community events in a post Covid-19 world, in the longer term, 2020/21 (to date) has already been drastically restricted in this respect.

We have significantly increased our social media presence through LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter allowing us to freely engage with our supporters and those interested in our work by publishing our latest news, details of our fundraising events and campaigns and up to date information regarding our service provision.

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2.4 Stakeholder management and communications

Engagement with our stakeholders is critical to the Olive Tree. It helps us to appreciate the impact our decisions have on stakeholder interests and better respond to their needs. Strengthening of our relationships with them is an ongoing part of our charity operations and governance.

We have identified our key stakeholders below:

Trustees and management are committed to ensuring that we are open and transparent with the charity regulators and meet all Small Charity compliance requirements. Understanding of legislation affecting the Olive Tree such as Charity Commission regulatory reporting (changes to SORP, best practice guides, new Trustee information) and forums for Trustees and Staff (for example, Institute of Fundraising) ensures that all decisions are based on the full understanding of the environment in which we operate.

The users of the Olive Tree help to shape and improve services through ongoing user feedback and testimonials. Every three years we conduct a service users’ satisfaction survey and an annual new users satisfaction survey. The user services

and events are organised by the Olive Tree both in-centre and remotely. We actively use other communication channels, i.e. monthly update newsletter from the Centre management team, AGM invitation with Annual report circulation to members.

Without our grant providers (donors), as a self-funded charity, the Olive Tree would struggle to survive. We greatly value them and hence ensure that we remain engaged with each on an individual and tailormade basis. We ensure that their required funding reports, both interim and at the end of funding, are submitted in a complete and timely manner.

We engage with local community, general public and media through various community fundraising events, meetings with local GP practices to promote the OT, i.e. Horsham Park Surgery. As a part of our community engagement strategy, we had a meeting with Jeremy Quinn MP and Nicolas Owen (Honorary President of the Olive Tree), who pledged their support to the OT Hub in Horsham. Assurity Consulting team spent the day at The Olive Tree for their ‘Make a Difference Day’ on the 7[th] October 2019.

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3. 1Financial report

3.1 The Financial Review 2019/2020

Treasurers report

The charity has maintained a sound financial position, partly as a consequence of the planning exercise that took place when the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions began, to ensure the maintenance of the Centre and its services to the greatest extent possible.

This year the surplus was £37,499, following a surplus of £16,705 in the prior year. Full details can be found on page 22 of this report. Our reserves take account of the long-term nature of our operations and the needs of our service users. We plan to keep them at the level required in the Reserves Policy, fully taking account of the wide range of risks to which the charity is exposed. The self-funding nature of the charity presents significant reliance on income received with inherent volatility. Outgoings, by contrast, comprise items such as staff costs, premises, IT, therapy and volunteer expenses which are stable and, in many cases, unrelated to activity levels.

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Trevor Chrismas
Treasurer
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Income

The primary sources of income are donations, fundraising activities and legacies together with certain grants for specific purposes. Income received for the year was £168,343, up from £103,563 in the prior year. The increase arose primarily as a result of a significant one-off bequest of £34,764, receipt of Macmillan funding of £21,200 (part of which related to the prior year) and the doubling of Justgiving donations to £19,971.

Expenditure

Expenditure paid in 2019/20 was £130,845, up from £86,858 in the prior year. The increase of £43,987 arose primarily from the increase in staff costs due to the full year impact of the appointments in fundraising, management of the Horsham Centre and Horsham premises costs. Expenditure was offset by reductions in equipment expenditure and drop-in, therapy and volunteer expenses due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Covid-19 Financial Impact

Financially this has been very much a year of two parts. The first seven months went very much as usual, but the last five were very different.

Covid-19 restrictions have severely limited both the services offered by the Olive Tree, and the ability to raise funds. The charity has historically maintained a strong reserves policy, which has enabled it to continue in the short term, but the reserves are not limitless and the significant loss of income will clearly be unsustainable in the medium term and beyond.

From April 2020 most of the usual income streams had reduced significantly, with in-centre donations almost ceasing, other donations and grants down more than 20%, and events income down 60%. The charity has been fortunate in receiving a couple of bequests, but these are highly unpredictable. In addition, Covid-19 related grants of £10,900 and funds received under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme “CJRS” (Furlough) of £7,373 helped to bolster income. These revenues are not, however, expected to recur beyond the short term, with Covid-19 specific grants no longer being available.

The decline in income has continued in the new financial year 2020/21. Restrictions prevent traditional community-based fundraising events from being held, and in the seven months to March 2021, compared with the same period last year, grant income has reduced by a more than 60%, incentre donations by more than 70% and other donations have halved. Even after the receipt of

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£5,027 of CJRS (furlough) grants, this has resulted in an average drop in income of £5,018 per month, £35,127 (37%) for the year to March 2021, compared with the same period last year. With the Centres expected to fully reopen in April 2021 staff will return from furlough and the CJRS will end.

Expenses for the seven months to March 2021 were reduced by an average of £4,484 per month, £31,386 for the year to March 2021, compared with the same period last year. Cuts were made following lower activity levels, although staff that were furloughed continued to receive their full salaries. An additional £3,523 was spent to ensure that the Crawley Centre was Covid-19-ready and enabled some therapies to be delivered remotely.

The future remains uncertain. Covid-19 restrictions and the associated impact on the economy are likely to limit fund raising activities and the ability of donors to continue to support the Olive Tree. Furthermore, the high levels of competition for the limited grants available is likely to continue, reducing the application success rate. At the same time, the level of demand for Olive Tree services will be hard to predict but is expected to increase significantly due to both the impact of delays in cancer treatment over the past year and a possible surge in cancer diagnoses when medical services are fully resumed. It is therefore likely that, while income will remain depressed, expenses will quickly return to pre-lockdown levels or higher.

Restricted Funds

Restricted funds comprise of amounts received for a specific purpose. Such funds are monitored to ensure they are only applied for the specific purpose and any balance of such funds is held separately.

Horsham Information Hub . Amounts received specifically in respect of the Horsham Centre amounted to £26,798, comprising primarily Macmillan funding of £21,200 and CJRS grants of £3,373. Related expenditure amounted to £40,362, comprising primarily staff costs of £28,816 and premises costs of £7,385. The resulting deficit of £(11,254), which has been carried over to the following year, is summarised below.

£
Funds b/fwd 2,310
Income Received 26,798
Expenses Paid (40,362)
Deficit c/fwd £(11,254)

Fundraising Officer . A grant was received from the Henry Smith Charity in the amount of £6,500 to support the role of Fundraising Officer. The grant received has been fully expended with no amounts being held over.

Reserves held

Reserves, including the restricted funds detailed above, have increased from £164,907 to £202,405 are in line with the reserving policy (below) and follow the surplus of income over expenditure detailed on page 18. Details of funds invested are included on page 23.

Risk management

The Trustees undertake regular assessments and, where appropriate, systems or procedures have been established to mitigate the risks the charity faces. These inform the Trustees’ consideration of an appropriate target range for cash reserves.

Reserves targets are calculated by reference to the forward financial outlook and the risks facing the charity, with the aim of ensuring that key services are sustainable, and that early action can be taken to deal with matters as they arise.

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Reserves Policy

The Trustees set, publish, implement and monitor the Reserves Policy in line with the guidance provided by the Charities Commission in England and Wales, “Charity Reserves and Building Resilience” (CC19) to ensure compliance with their legal duties to:

The Trustees have reviewed the financial risks facing the organisation (see Risk Management section) and quantified both the probability and magnitude of various risks. The Trustees have resolved as a policy to set both an upper and a lower limit of unrestricted reserves to be maintained for such purposes and to act to increase or decrease expenditure if the reserves fall outside those limits. At the date of the approval of this report by the Trustees, the target range of reserves was £149,000 to £224,000 (2019: £130,000 to £195,000). The increase in the target range follows an increase in the services to be provided by the Olive Tree impacting the ongoing expenditure, fundraising challenges presented by the current environment together with other risks identified. Actual reserves at £202,405, none of which are restricted (2019: £162,597 excluding restricted funds of £2,310) are within the target range.

Large Donations, Grants and Bequests

Significant amounts were received from:

Mr M Green (Estate of Claire Sutcliffe) Bequest 34,763.85
Sussex Community Foundation 10,000.00
The Henry Smith Charity (Paid in advance for the year) 6,500.00
Ifield Community College (sponsored walk) 5,000.00
The Albert Hunt Trust 5,000.00
The National Lottery Community Fund 5,000.00
OneFamily Foundation 2,500.00

Fundraising donations via Justgiving were £19,971.

Independent Examiner

Ian Lineham was re-appointed as independent examiner to Olive Tree Cancer Support Group during the year and has expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

Approved by the trustees on 5[th] May 2021 and signed on their behalf by

A

Trevor Chrismas Trustee

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3.2 Report of the Independent Examiner

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the Olive Tree Crawley Cancer Support Group, registered charity 1157386

I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Olive Tree Crawley Cancer Contact Group (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 August 2020 set out on pages 22 to 23.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity Trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns 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 to be reached.

Ian Lineham Date Chartered Accountant Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

4 Gander Hill, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1QX

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3.3 Income and Expenditure Account

Year ended 31 August 2020

Income
Fundraising and Donations
Grants_including Macmillan_
Covid-19 related grants_including CJRS_
Bequests
Drop-in and Therapy Donations
Events
Total Operating Income
Interest
Total Income
Expenditure
Staff Costs
Drop-in and Therapy expenses
General Expenses
Equipment
Premises (Horsham)
Fund Raising
Advertising
Training
Total Expenditure
Excess of Income over Expenditure (Deficit)
Opening Funds
Closing Funds
Balance Sheet
As at 31 August 2019
Cash Balances
Total Reserves		 2020
£
34,643
59,880
18,273
35,029
7,971
11,040
166,836
1,507
168,343
79,347
15,351
18,183
3,521
7,386
1,544
2,260
3,253
130,845
37,498
164,907
202,405
202,405
202,405		 2019
£
50,082
40,071
0
0
7,231
4,847
102,231
1,332
103,563
36,121
18,018
19,400
8,699
0
2,766
671
1,183
86,858
16,706
148,201
164,907
164,907
164,907

Approved by the trustees on 5[th] May 2021 and signed on their behalf by

A

Trevor Chrismas Trustee

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Notes to the Financial Statements

The Trust had funds at 31 August 2020 of £202,405 (2019: £164,907) which were invested as follows:

CAF Cash Account (current account)
CAF Gold Account (immediately available)
Virgin Money Charity Deposit (100 days notice)
CAF/Shawbrook (60 days notice)
Redwood Bank (95 days notice)
Saffron Building Society (instant access)		 2019/20
£
4,850
30,000
Closed
Closed
82,555
85,000
202,405		 2018/19
£
9,927
26,087
67,445
61,448
New Account
New Account
164,907

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THE OLIVE TREE CANCER SUPPORT GROUP CONTACT DETAILS

Horsham

Crawley

T: 01293 534 465

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