## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** **From 03/04/20 (Period start date) To 02/04/21 (Period end date)** **Charity name: ACTS FAST** **Charity registration number:** 1157675 ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP (Statement
Of Recommended
Practice)
reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|Our aim is to ensure that other
parent/carers are freed of the guilt,
shame and isolation experienced when
their child discloses sexual abuse and to
reduce the impact of the trauma. Acts Fast
also support partners and family members
affected when someone they know has
downloaded indecent child images online.| |Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|•
Acts Fast aims to relieve the
distress of the non-abusive families,
parents, carers and children who
have been affected by sexual
abuse.
•Acts Fast aims to shorten the road to
recovery by preventing long-term
damage to the holistic well-being of the
individuals themselves and collectively
within their family unit.
•Acts Fast aims to help and empower
parents, carers and families within
Dorset whose child has been sexually
abused. This takes the form of both
face to face and remote support in
daytime and some evenings due to
growing demand.
We run face to face emotional and practical
support sessions in both group and
individual settings. These last roughly one
hour and protective parents and families
can come alone or together, as frequently
or infrequently as they need to. The
attendance of these sessions do not have a
time limit and families are welcomed to
attend for as long as they need to. The
sessions consist of:
Encouraging open and supportive
exploration of feelings regarding| |||the disclosure, which is often very complex.
Helping on a practical level regarding the
disintegration of the family unit. Providing
understanding support is a key benefit of
our approach because of the unique set of
circumstances.
Providing Psycho-education trauma
informed sessions on how trauma has
affected the whole family and provide
practical coping strategies. To help build
resilience around the trauma the whole
family is facing.
Our emotional and practical support is
bespoke to each parent, partner or family
member, ensuring their voice, need of
support is always at the forefront of how we
develop our services.
Starting to use social media platforms to
promote best practice, supportive
techniques and similar cross-organisation
partnerships.
We run a counselling service which starts
by offering 24 sessions as a minimum, to
be extended if necessary.
As we support families from all over the
UK, (due to only 2 other charities in the
county supporting parents) we can also
condense these emotional and practical
support sessions into phone, text and email
support. This may expand into social media
and other methods in the future.| |---|---|---| |Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit.|Para 1.18|The trustees are fully committed to
supporting the charitable benefit of the
organisation to the community it serves.| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|We have a policy on grant making within
our policies and procedures, which sets out
our aims and rationale around grant
making and how funds should be used
within the CIO. We continue to seek
charitable funds from donors in order to
fulfil the objectives of the charity.
We continue to support our volunteers with
regular clinical supervision, informal
support and social activities (such as
occasional social events). Building a| |||friendly and supportive environment is an
important part of our organisation.| |---|---|---| |Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|Para 1.38|ACTS FAST continues to be a “force for
good” in the local and specific community
of families who have been affected by
CSA. The charity continues to carefully
steward it’s resources in such a way to
maintain maximum benefit for those it
serves. There is a transparent culture of
integrity and there is a high degree of
focusing resources on front line client
support.| |Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|We value our wonderful volunteers; they
are an invaluable and integral part of
the running of the charity. We rely heavily
upon them to assist in running our
important services, such as our counselling
service and supporting our face to face
emotional and practical support
sessions, along with helping is to promote
the charity. They play a key role in helping
ensure we safely and appropriately support
both clients and the collective team.| |Other||| ## **Achievements and Performance** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|2020 to 2021 has been a very difficult year
for the charity, more so than ever because
of the impact of the global coronavirus
pandemic. It has been a very challenging
for the entire staff and volunteer team
because of the significant emotional and
physical challenges that the pandemic has
brought.
The charity has continually operated
throughout this time, supporting a growing
number of families who have tragically
been left with the consequences of loved
ones experiencing CSA or being arrested
as a result of viewing indecent images.
Client numbers have been steadily
increasing over this period and the charity
needed to adapt to this change. Client
referrals from professionals reduce over
this period due to many public services
sadly ceasing their operations during the
pandemic. We however saw a growth in
self and private referrals as many more
families were struggling. To the later part of| the year, we we’re supporting in the region of over 140 families at any one time. This includes clients the charity support on 3 and 6 monthly intervals with phone/email/text support. The challenge of the pandemic saw the majority of our volunteers cease their activities for a 6-10 month period because of personal reasons, however the CEO continued to remotely support clients throughout this time. Feedback has been excellent with anonymised feedback comments such as… _“I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you”. “Thank you ACTS FAST for helping us through this time, your friendship and support has been incredible”._ We are very thankful to the CEO for her determination and support of these families whilst many others were not able to provide the same support. The new office space has been used much less than anticipated through this time due to work from home legislation, but the new space has been useful to have a “base” for administration. **Plans for the future:** To obtain further funding for the new financial year as a priority, alongside developing the charities evolving support. To continue to develop the new team by providing relevant training and support. Continue investing in building relationships and partnerships with other organisations with mutual goals and purposes. This requires a significant amount of time investment, but it is important for partnership working. Expanding the team when possible with more operations staff to support the CEO’s role and administration. Building new relationships with supporters such as local Rotary clubs, Dorset High Sheriff and Police and Crime Commissioner and their respective candidates. Keep developing connections with Universities for the purpose of advancing research in line with the charities objectives. This could include research on children’s experiences (“voice of the child”) and other experiences families have in relation to CSA. Joining business networking and partnership groups to potentially raise awareness of the charity as well as gain support for fundraising. Develop our IT services and the technology we use so that as we grow, systems could be developed for sustainable remote working. This could include how we use laptops, where data is securely stored, updating content on the website etc. To develop our training offering so that we have more training materials for professionals. This may develop into ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |||| |---|---|---| |Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41|The CEO during this period successfully
continued most support operations in
addition to having more time to submit
funding applications during the pandemic.
This was under the pressure of having
reduce team members. This was due to the
pandemic pausing the majority of client
facing operations for a period of a couple of
months during “lockdowns”. There were a
number of successful grants (see financial
sections below).| |Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41|Fundraising has been exceptionally
challenging during this period as the
pandemic meant that most fundraising
activities had to pause to some extent (at
various times), and the focus was on
delivering client support when possible.
Thankfully we did receive some donations
and grants which helped us stay solvent,
particularly Covid support funding.| |Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|No financial investments are in trust or
were made during this financial period of
operations.| |Other||Staffing and team levels have continued to
be an increasing pressure on the charity in
light of increasing service demand. The| pandemic has been a double edge sword in that respect because we have had less people resources, a growing demand on services and evolving mental health challenges. ## **Financial Review** |**Financial Review**||| |---|---|---| |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|The charity was able to raise sufficient
funds to remain solvent and operate in its
usual manner supporting families. Although
£94,388 was raised by the charity
predominantly from donations, the year
ended with a closing balance of £14,263
due to higher staffing costs (maternity pay
for example) and investment in phone’s and
computer equipment. Of note, there were
four larger donations from Dorset Police
(£16,485), CAF (£6,708), Talbot Village
Trust (£10,000) and The National Lottery
(£45,420) that helped sustain operations
during this period and support work in
response to the global pandemic. This
funding has been spent in accordance with
the restricted/unrestricted stipulations, with
the purpose of advancing the aims of the
charity to support families in need of
therapeutic and emotional support.
As previously mentioned, the fundraising
climate has been particularly harsh in this
operating year, with immense challenges of
raising funds from organisations which had
ceased giving financial support (for a
variety of Covid related reasons). As a
charity we found this very challenging but
are pleased that we have managed to stay
solvent and finish the year with a small
positive bank balance.
Our income and expenditure summary
account can be seen below.| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|Reserves in this period are minimal, with a
closing balance of £14,263. It was the
CEO’s intention during this time to operate
with a 6 month reserve in place, however
this hasn’t been possible in light of
increased staff costs and reduced
fundraising income.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|£14,263 for general operating| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|Limited ability and availability to raise funds
from external sources due to the Covid
pandemic.| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|N/A| |Explanation of any
uncertainties about the|Para 1.23|There is a small amount of operating
reserve, and the charities aim will be to| charity continuing as a going concern raise funds as quickly as possible in the new financial year. It is concerning that incoming funds remain low, but it is hoped that with some focus it will be possible to replenish reserves. ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |
The charity’s principal
sources of funds
(including any
fundraising)|
Para 1.47||
**Date Received**
23/02/2020
09/04/2020
17/04/2020
27/05/2020
29/05/2020
05/06/2020
01/09/2020
various dates|
**INCOME**
CARRY OVER FROM FY2020
DCF Neighbourhood Fund
MaternityLeave Provision
Unrestricted Donations
Superior Seals Donation
**Total Carry Over FY2020**
GRANTS
Co-op
DCF Corona Fund
Talbot Village Trust|2,500.00
£
6,095.95
£
2,183.55
£
1,361.08
£
**12,140.58**
**£**
**1,587.84**
**£**
**2,000.00**
**£**
**10,000.00**
**£**
**6,708.00**
**£**
**45,420.00**
**£**
**16,485.00**
**£**
**82,200.84**
**£**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||CAF||| |||||National Lottery
OPCC
**Total Grants**
DONATIONS
Unrestricted Donations
**Total Donations**
**TOTAL INCOME**||| ||||||**427.50**
**£**
**427.50**
**£**|| ||||||**94,768.92**
**£**|| |Investment policy and
objectives including
any social investment
policy adopted|Para 1.46|All investments made by the charity in terms of
financial resources or assets of a physical or digital
nature should be in line with the overall aims and
objectives of the charity.
Investments should be made based on an
evaluation of their merits and be openly discussed
with those involved in decision making, such as
trustees or members of the management team.
There is a policy that any one-off spends over £500
should be discussed with the trustees beforehand.
There should be a generous investment in
partnership or partnering relationships with other
organisations for the benefit of the clients and
community the charity serves. This may involve
commitments in time and other resources (e.g.
financial) as and when deemed appropriate for
advancing the objectives of the charity. The charity’s
investments must always be made in good faith for
the aim of supporting families affected by CSA or
the non-offending families of those who have
downloaded/viewed indecent images of children.
This investment policy acknowledges that it may not
always be possible to measure the tangible returns
from social or financial investments due to their
nature, but reasonable accounts should be given
with an explanation of the aims or purposes of said
investments.||||| |||| |---|---|---| |A description of the
principal risks facing
the charity|Para 1.46|The charity remains exposed to the risks of financial
liquidity as the years closing balance is quite small.
Financial pressures remain a significant risk and
should be regularly evaluated where possible.
The global pandemic has put exceptional pressure
on the team of staff and volunteers because of
reduced team resources combined with a growth in
evolving service demand. The charity will need to
continue to adapt it’s support model and evolve in
line with the currently rapidly changing situation.
Recruiting and embedding volunteers remains a
challenge as the Covid pandemic has made it very
hard to recruit new volunteers as the main focus in
society is dealing with the impact of Covid.| |Other||| CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WAIE5 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Foi Ihe peiiod fioi To 31J03I2021 Section A Recei ts and ents Ui)iestiicteil Resti icteil Total fiiiids Laslyeat totheneate¥t totheneareyt tolheneaieyt t tolheneaieyt £ to then&¥ert£ A1 Recei 25 Sublqt4Lfjw I￿On)e lo AR 25, 61905 943 32,59 A2 Assel ai)d ii)veslment sales, Sub tot Total rece¥> 94319 A3P 8kalariEsÉffid NÈlona kn&Ur￿ce Tr￿4 eq)￿se8 Telgjhone etote m14nl￿￿ce D8S Ch￿kS Liakih. PrintiThJ.pos* End station Publiuty Premises cost Traning Office ￿u1pm￿t Sup8Nisi Ev￿ts Sunthi 72 InS￿￿￿¢e Sub tot A4 Assel ai)d ii)veslmenl piii- chases. Isee lablel Sub tot Totalpayme 124 Net of re¢eipts,(payments A5 TiaiisfeiE I)etwe￿i fiiiids A6 Casli fiiiids last YO1¥ è1111 Cash funds this year e 12 Sects'on B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted funds to n•w•llte Restricted tunds Endowtnent funds to r￿￿•11* 1_ 4lY'J,-,rJes_ Bl Cash hjnds 142 70131 eash ftrRds 14263 Unrestricted funds Restricted funds EndoMffj)ent funds to n•wttt£ Cod ¢utr•ntY*J• ¢urr•nt B4 Assets retairEd lor the charity's OV￿ use AIK*tht B5 Liabilities Signaiure Prirt Narne Date of 3pprov Y6ftdb CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examlner's report on the accounts Seclion A Indèpondent Examiner's R•port R•port to th• tru&t••Jl £ts Fast On •¢¢ourts for ¢h• y•ar •ndod 37 Marth 2021 Charity no I￿any) 115767S S•t out on p•w 1 I rep¢)rt to the trustees on my exambnalK)n ol the 8rthunts of the above charity 1.the TnMfi lor tho ￿ar gnd¢if 31 March 2021. R•spon8lbllhlo8 and As th& ¢harily injslees of the Trust. you are responsible for IIN8 weparAlion ba¥ls ol r•port of the •(%￿nts In acoxdance with Ihe r8quir•menls ol ihè Charilies Act 2011 lllh• Ael"l_ l ￿pOrt in r88ped of my exarrlnalN)n ol Trust's accounts Carri￿1 fmjt uTrJer section 145 of the 2011 Aci And in rArrying out rny examinatic￿, I have follow¢d the aw1¢8b￿ ThrectwJns givan by the Charily Crynrnl￿￿n under s8ctl¢M 14515Xbl of the Ad. I ha¥e CWk*led my ex8minabon. I cc￿rn that no material matters have come lo my attent￿n In ojnrffjCti￿ wrth the oxaminab.on whi¢h gi¥e6 me ¢8US8 lo believe that in, any malérAI rtrsped.. accounting r8cordJ wore not kept In aceiJrtarTrcewrth s8cl￿ 130 of thg Act or the accounts ¢$) x¢tyd with Ihe accounb.ng I￿OrdS Independent •XAmln•rfs 8t•t•nxnl I have no con￿M$ and have com• a¢ros5 no other matters in connoction with Iha èxaminairfyn 10 whth attention shwrd t48 drawn in Order lo enal￿e a proper understanding ol the accounts to bg r¢ach&J. Slgn•d: co As4L£Y N•m*: ox Rd•vint prof•aa14xal qU￿rtic•119nl•I or body IW8nyl.' ICAÉUJ A(Idr•8s: PotsLE, eAIi7 961 IER Othb•r2018 Section B Disc105UTe Only cgmplele rf the examiner needs to highlight ma118rs of concem Isee CC32, Ind8rAndenl examinakn ol ch8rity aC￿￿nts., (Ir•ct4tyts and guhlance for examinars}. GI￿ h•r• brl•f d•tall8 of Nothing to reF*)rt *ny bt•m• th•¢ th• •x8min•r wlshos t• dlgclo•e, IER October 2018 ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s
trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|
Para 1.25|CIO document with governing document
outlining purpose and structure.| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|CIO| |Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|Three existing trustee members must
agree regarding the appointment of
a new trustee.| **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees
The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works
Relationship with any related
parties|Para 1.51|**Organisation of the board:**
The board of trustees meet every quarter in
addition to the July AGM or
sooner (if required).
**Trustee induction and training:**
Training opportunities are available to
trustees if they wish to attend any training
that Acts Fast provides for the staff and
volunteers. Trustees are informed of any
upcoming training via email. Additionally,
we advise of any Online training
specifically regarding their roles. Trustees
have access to a "Trustees Information
Pack" in addition to annual safeguarding
training and access to CAN network trustee
events and training.
**Partnership working:**
The Shores – Sexual Assault Referral
Centre (SARC)
STARS Dorset – sexual recovery trauma
service
Bournemouth & Poole College – working
with families to produce posters to highlight
CSA.
Family Counselling Trust – Providing
counselling for families and
children
Dorset Mind
Dorset Police
POLIT (paedophile online investigation
team) as part of Dorset police
Dorset’s Police and Crime Commissioner
Bournemouth University
Keele University
CIS’ters – Survivor led group for women,
as female children/teens, were raped/SA
Barnardo’s| |---|---|---| ||Para 1.51|| ||Para 1.51|| |||NSPCC with Local Safeguarding Children’s
Board (LSCB) – raising awareness of Child
Sexual Abuse in Dorset
ACTS FAST are part of the Local
Safeguarding Children’s Board, child
sexual abuse subgroup, contributing and
working alongside other agencies to inform
and gain more knowledge around how to
best support children and families.
Ensuring our pathways are stronger,
ensuring quicker support to individuals
affected by Sexual Abuse.
TST (The Survivors Trust) who work with
over 130 sexual violence agencies in the
country.
MOSAC - partnership to petition & take
forwards "The voice of the child" concerns
to the Ministry of Justice with Martyn
Underhill (Dorset Police Crime
Commissioner).| |---|---|---| |Other||N/A| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charity name|ACTS FAST| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|Acts Fast| |Registered charity number|1157675| |Charity’s principal address|ACTS FAST, Unit 5 Manor Farm Business Centre,
Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 5HT| ||| ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year **|**Reference**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||Dr Andrew Mayers|Chair||PhD, MBPsS, FRSA
FRSA Principal
Academic in
Psychology at
Bournemouth
University (BU)|| ||Mr Noel
Spreadbury|Treasurer||MBE, ACIB|| ||Simone Walls-
MacDonald|Trustee||Co-founder|| ||Dr Terri Cole|Trustee||PhD, Senior Lecturer in
Forensic
Psychologyat BU|| ||Jonathan
McKinney|Trustee||Child protection,
safeguarding and
criminal investigation
trainer for Dorset
Police & independent
safeguarding trainer|| ||Dr Ching-Yu
Huang|Trustee||Lecturer in Psychology
Keele University|| ||Dr John McAlaney|Trustee||Chartered Psychologist and
Chartered Scientist at
BournemouthUniversity|| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| ||||||| – Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved ## **Director name** Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity Trust8• n8m• Datès aetèd If not for wholè aar ## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** Description of the assets held in this capacity None Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this N/A falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets N/A from the charity’s own assets ## **Additional information (optional)** ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** **Type of Name Address adviser** ## **Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)** Amanda Gulliver ## **Exemptions from disclosure** Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details N/A ## **Other optional information** ## **Risk management:** Risk is managed in accordance with our charity governance code which underpins procedures put in place to mitigate any exposure to risk whether it may be relating to services provided by the charity or financial. The trustees are satisfied with these systems and review them on an ongoing basis. ## **RESPONSIBILTIES OF THE TRUSTEES** Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements each financial year which give a true and fair view of the charity’s financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year. ## **In preparing those financial statements:** • The Trustees are required to select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - State whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and - Prepare the financial statements on the ongoing concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the Charity to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with applicable law and regulations. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity, hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **Declarations** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** |**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)**
**Position (eg Secretary,**
**Chair, etc)**
**Date**|Noel Spreadbury|| |---|---|---| ||Mr Noel Spreadbury|| ||
Treasurer/Trustee|| ||01/02/22|| ||01/02/22||