2023-08-31-accounts

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Annual Report
& Accounts
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Autism Angels Ltd Year ended 31 August 2023

Registered Charity number: 1160289. Company limited by guarantee number: 08168948

TRUSTEES’ REPORT
Foreword	1
Values, vision and mission	3
The Need	5
Statistics 2022-2023	7
Photos of our sessions	9
Parent Support	10
Case Study	13
A word from our families	14
Team	17
Trustees	20
Volunteers	21
Achievements	22
Fundraising	24
The Future	26
One Year in Photos	28
Autism Angels Ltd Information	30
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS	32
Independent Examiner’s Report	42

71 West Cliffe Terrace

Harrogate

North Yorkshire HG2 0PU

Tel: 07376 134007 Email: info@autismangels.co.uk Web: www.autismangels.co.uk

Registered Charity number: 1160289. Company limited by guarantee number: 08168948

Welcome to our annual report. Wow, what another incredible year we have had as we have grown organically and got closer to our families so we can meet their needs more personally.

We started our new year, which runs the same as school term times, with our 10th Birthday celebrations. We held a party to celebrate the occasion and invited all our families to join us. It was a wonderful day and we were really pleased with the idea of Katharine, our office manager, to have a Bubbleologist deliver the entertainment, also alongside the horses, dog agility, ice creams, face painting and field games. Everyone absolutely loved the giant bubbles, they worked wonderfully in our environment and were perfect for our children, very visual, inclusive where everyone could do their own but also no noise. It was truly magical to see everyone playing and making these giant bubbles for everyone to see. Fab idea Katharine, thank you.

We have continued to deliver our core days, Wellbeing Wednesdays, Feel Good Fridays and Saturday Club, which have now become the back bone of our services and work well for both the families and the team. We have kept one or two days a week for private sessions to support the children and families who aren’t ready to integrate into more social days or have time or budget restraints as these are more flexible and sessions only last 1.5 hours. We have been thrilled with the breakthroughs the families have made and have seen children returning to education, accessing home schooling where they weren’t before or speaking up about relocating schools as their needs could be met at an alternative provision. The bravery of our children to learn to speak up their needs without feeling the need to dysregulate or ‘melt down’ has inspired us all but most of all their parents and this year we would like to feature

our parents as their breakthroughs and learning has seriously changed their families’ lives.

This year we have seen family after family take on the concepts from being at the farm and turn their families’ lives around. From children wanting to take their own lives, to school refusing, to social confinement, our parents have had to take great leaps of faith, start listening to their needs and make the changes in their lives so their children could do the same. Getting our parents to put themselves back on the list of self-care and doing what makes them happy can sometimes feel like an up hill battle but when they see the difference it makes to their children’s life they never look back. We are so proud of our parents and we hope you enjoy hearing about what they have achieved this year too.

We have also enjoyed delivering our inclusive events throughout the year offering our families somewhere to come to enjoy family time together with other families who are also on a similar journey. Understanding that when you arrive at the event you already know the team, the facilities and that the others attending just ‘get it’ helps remove a lot of the usual stress. This year we have been able to deliver our birthday party, a Halloween and Bonfire party, Christmas party, Easter Trail and a Duck Race which was a great success and new addition to our events calendar. The children often help getting ready for the events and love showing their parents around when they arrive. We will continue to do these seasonal events as we feel it is a great way for our families to meet each other, socialise and share down time together throughout the year.

We continually feel grateful for our dedicated team of facilitators, trustees and volunteers and as we all continue to journey together our relationships deepen. We really have created a special bond and commitment not only to each other but also to our community.

We hope you enjoy this years’ annual report as much as we have enjoyed delivering our services.

Sarah

Sarah and the Autism Angels Team

Faith… in you Hope…for the future Love…enables

The values for Autism Angels were created 10 years ago. Every year I go back to them to see if they need adjusting in any way. I am yet to find 3 stronger words that can describe as quickly and deeply about what we represent at Autism Angels.

I understand that these words are faith based words and I don’t want them to put anyone off but sometimes in this world when life can feel a real struggle, where hope is a faint memory and in those moments all you feel is fear taking over your life, I have found that something magical happens. Something arrives in front of you. That could be a conversation with someone, a post

on Facebook or a random e-mail, who knows, but in that moment you see another chance, an opportunity to try something one more time.

This is often how people arrive at our door. They have lost hope, they have no understanding of why this is all happening to them, the fear of failure, not being good enough, making mistakes and so on, have taken over every thought. It is here where we can shine a light on some dark times and begin to see them for what they really are; untruths.

We are not a group of people that are based in any particular faith but we believe in miracles because we see them every day. The combination of a belief in what people can overcome, a calm nurturing environment and a commitment to getting to the truth is a recipe for miracles to happen.

Vision

Autism Angels was founded 10 years ago. It started out by delivering summer camps to families so they had somewhere to go that was more understanding and in keeping with what their children needed. It was simple - nature, animals, a lot of love and a tent!

I had no idea then how it would develop and change shape to meet the needs of so many families. A few things have remained the same - nature, animals and a lot of love.

Whether we deliver a private session, a group session, call it Well-being Wednesday or Day Camp, the way we support our families is the same. They are accepted for exactly where they are when they arrive, we believe wholeheartedly that they can overcome whatever challenges they are going through and they can stay with us for as long as they need.

Our vision has grown significantly from where it started. We now have access to a 60 acre farm with a naturally therapeutic environment, including woods, rolling grassland, hills, a river and specialised equine facilities. It is important that we continue to grow organically, focussing on the quality of the sessions, not quantity, small groups that are able to adapt to the needs and ages of the children. With this in mind, this is our vision for Autism Angels...

‘Supporting the whole family through life’s challenges’

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world. More than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK.

If you include their families, autism is a part of daily life for 2.8 million people.

(Source: National Autistic Society 2023).

As of December 2023, 172,022 people were waiting for an autism assessment in England. This is a 47% increase in the number of people waiting in just one year. (Source: NHS Data)

Children and Young people referred for autism assessment can expect to wait approximately 37 months (March 2024, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust)

There are lots of different aspects to autism and because autism is a ‘spectrum’ condition it affects different people in different ways. The characteristics of autism can present themselves in a wide variety of combinations. Two people with the same diagnosis can have a very different profile of needs and skills as Matt Lowry’s work shows (July 2022).

The School Report 2021 published by the National Autistic Society found:

There are over 160,000 autistic pupils in schools across England. Over 70% are in mainstream school, with the rest in specialist education, home educated or out of education altogether.
Three quarters (74%) said their child’s school place did not fully meet their needs – this has almost doubled since 2017
Parents also reported facing huge battles trying to get help, with 57% saying they had to wait more than a year for support and 26% waiting over three years.
Seven in ten autistic children and young people said school would be better if more teachers understood autism.

According to the 2023 annual education report from the National Autistic Society, only 14% of Secondary School teachers had had more than half a day of autism training. Among Primary teachers the figure was only 39%.

4 out of 5 autistic young people experience mental health issues

(Source: Ambitious about Autism)

A survey conducted in 2023 found that 1 in 5 children and young people aged 8 to 25 years had a probable mental disorder. (Source: NHS, Mental Health of Children and Young People)

The number of open referrals to Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services is the highest on record with 496,897 referred to services in November 2023.

Suicide was the leading cause of death for males and females aged between five to 34 in 2019 (Source: www.youngminds.org.uk)

In a Young Minds survey, three-quarters (76%) of parents said that their child’s mental health had deteriorated while waiting for support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

“Figures show a record number of appeals were made to the SEND Tribunal in 2021-22. There were 11,052 new appeals- an increase in 29% from the year before. Of the hearings only 3.7% of decisions made by local authorities were upheld. The majority were ruled by the Tribunal to be unlawful.” (Source: IPSEA)

Over 1.5 million pupils in England have special educational needs.
389,171 pupils in schools in England have EHC plans, an increase in 9.5% from the previous year.
1,183,384 pupils in schools in England are receiving SEN support without an EHC plan.

(Source: GOVUK June 2023)

In a survey of 1,048 school leaders in England, 99% stated the funding they received for children with special educational needs is inadequate and insufficient to meet children’s needs.

(Source: National Headteachers Union NAHT, April 2024)

Between 1st September 2022 and 31st August 2023 Autism Angels have supported 193 families (an increase of 19% from the previous year) overall supporting 596 unique individuals across the family and support unit.

Sessions Delivered

Between 1st September 2022 and 31st August 2023 Autism Angels have delivered 495 therapeutic sessions (compared to 396 sessions the previous year, an increase of 25%).

Private Riding Therapy and Family Taster Sessions were our most popular session, followed by Wellbeing Days and Saturday Kids Clubs.

Autism Angels introduced more Family Fun Events such as Halloween and Christmas plus Holiday Clubs concept (trial).

Autism Angels also expanded Parent Support Sessions through Parent Drop Ins, Parent Programme, Dad’s Support Group and Mum’s Riding.

These additional sessions have contributed to the increase in overall sessions delivered.

Total of 495 Sessions delivered Sept 22 to Aug 23

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3
112 161
28
5
45
78
5
58
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Private Riding Therapy Wellbeing Days

Saturday Kids Clubs

Family Day Camps

Parent Support Sessions

Holiday Clubs

Santas Grottos

Tasters

Corporate Volunteer Days

Growth

Autism Angels have continued to show growth in all areas over the last four years. See below chart for a breakdown of total sessions, total number of unique families and individuals supported.

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700
597
600 583
492
500 452
396
400
316
300 256
190
200 146 162
100 70 59
0
2019 to 2020 2020 to 2021 2021 to 2022 2022 to 2023
Unique Families Unique Individuals Therapeutic Sessions
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Taster Conversion Rate

40% families who attended a taster session returned on one or more sessions. This shows a slight decrease from 43% the previous year.

Easter Trail

Halloween & Bonfire Event

Parent Adventures

Riding Therapy

Family Sessions

Kids Clubs

Parent Programme

Wellbeing Days

This year we would like to celebrate our parents. When parents arrive at Autism Angels, they have come to us because their child is in need of support but what they have also realised is that they too are feeling lost, alone and broken. They have often forgotten all sense of who they are, having been swallowed up by the demands of parenting a neurodivergent child. They have felt like an outcast often in their own families and certainly in the school playground at pick up times. Sometimes even their relationship has not been able to withstand the extremely high demands of their child’s needs.

I have heard so many stories of parents looking everywhere for support, for answers of what to do, who can they turn to as life is plummeting deeper and deeper into a dark hole and everything feels like it is crashing to the ground around them. Their mental health, self-care and family life are at an all-time low. They feel like they have tried everything and with waiting lists so long and educational systems struggling with demands too, its hard to get answers fast.

Between 1st September 2022 and 31st August 2023 Autism Angels have supported 596 unique individuals across the family and support unit of which 48% were parents or carers.

It’s often at this time that our parents find us. Yes, they are coming to us to find support for their children but what they don’t realise is that we

also are here to support them and their whole family. The first thing they need to do is book a Taster. This gives them a 45 mins slot at the farm to see if this is the best fit for the family. Not everyone loves being outside, getting muddy, wet and sometimes even cold and not everyone loves dogs and horses.

During the Taster the parents get a chance to ask questions, often at this stage it’s all about the children. It’s not until a team member checks in with the parents, ‘How are you?’ that they realise that we see them too. As the children go off and play with Black Jack, one of the horses, the parents get a chance to have a cuppa and tell some of their story. It’s at this time that we are able to share with them that they are important too.

“Approximately, 68% of women and 57% of men with mental health problems are parents with 71% of carers having poor mental or physical health.”

(Source: Mental Health Foundation)

We help them recognise how hard they are working and there is another way and we often get a chance to show them there and then how different things could be with just a few tweaks. It’s at this moment that hope arrives back in our families lives.

Then the work begins as bookings are made to the best way forward for everyone. That could be Well-being Days, Parent Groups, Privates or Kids Club, it doesn’t really matter the path as they all lead to ‘Rome’, a happy, thriving family.

When our parents put themselves at the centre of their world they are able to make choices from a place of love and knowing not

“..being with other parents on similar journeys has really brought me comfort...”

fear and unsureness. I will ask them a simple question like, ‘What do you want?’ They will often look at me confused. A foreign concept to them now as they had not met their own needs for so long they had completely forgotten what they were. But what does this teach our children? Not to know their own needs? Not to meet them? To meet others needs first? To put everyone else first? That the child can’t meet their own needs? This maybe true on some occasions but certainly not all. So our ‘can do’ attitude is a belief in each individual that comes to us, parents and children, that they can know their needs, meet them or ask for help if its needed. Once the parents start modelling looking after themselves the children want to start looking after themselves too because we know they do as we do, not as we say!

“I feel so alive”

Our parents have overcome some of the most painful places to come from whilst being with us over the year. From mental health struggles themselves to feeling suicidal and wanting to give up, to relationship challenges to hearing their children want to take their own lives, feeling isolated with no friendships or not even wanting to leave the house, the list goes on. Even with all this they have dared to stand back up and try again.

I believe this generation of parents are trailblazing the way for our future generations. Standing up and saying the system isn’t working for our children and something needs to be done about it. It’s hard, its back breaking and they are dismissed time and time again but seek the courage to keep going from the other parents who have been before them and seen that change can happen.

We want to honour our parents as they are the ones who live 24/7 with the needs of a child who is also saying, this world needs to change. Please slow down. Everything is going too fast and I’m burning out. Let me be quiet for a while. Let me go back into my world because I feel safer there. Please stop putting more demands on me to please you. Let me speak my truth to you without you taking it personally and getting upset. Let me run free and jump around because I actually don’t care what anyone else thinks, this makes me feel good.

Our parents are the system breakers that need to be heard because they have the answers to what our next generation needs and if we don’t listen they will only need to shout louder. Fantastic work parents and keep going.

“Autism Angels have enabled us to see a new perspective. The day we changed our parenting approach our children were set free.”

We have been attending Autism Angels Wellbeing Sessions for a few years now and my daughter’s life is unrecognisably better as a result.

In the last few months we have also started weekly 1:1 sessions with myself. I had been stuck in a rut, unable to be present or enjoy life. I was on auto pilot or survival mode, feeling panic and resentment. The stress of taking on fights for the children to access suitable education had taken a toll on my mental health (constant panic attacks, sat zoning out of life) on my diet (we were existing on convenience food and takeaways) and my health (high blood pressure, sore joints and asthma).

The 1:1 sessions have impacted on my whole life, the change I am most thankful for is that I now see my family as enough, as functioning as it should, not lacking just different. I’m no longer just allowing things to happen to me. I’m making decisions, setting boundaries and prioritising my needs. Since I’m no longer scared to upset the children, scared of looking like “a bad mum” and know my children feel loved without me being a doormat I’ve started to get out in nature daily, eat healthy fresh food and then this has given me the ability to focus quality fun time on activities with the children (eg nerf war / sharing in an interest with them). Before starting these sessions I was in a bleak place mentally and completely isolated, I now look forward to Thursdays.

As a bi product of me having my needs met and setting boundaries my children’s lives are improving as they become more independent and less scared. My 17 year old is becoming more responsible for their own learning and self care. The massive change is in my 11 year old who has been unable to access education for 3/4 years and had me carrying out all tasks for him as if a toddler. He still soils himself and was reliant on me to clean him, he was also having violent meltdowns 1/2 times a day. As a result of me setting a boundary of him cleaning himself (with lots of emotional support and cheerleading from Sarah) I stayed strong and he is now perfectly able to care for himself (now also doing his teeth twice a day - which I thought was impossible too) …. Being able to clean himself meant he no longer felt shame / guilt / embarrassment about it… which has cut the violence down to 1-2 times a week. Because he knows he can fix things himself he is now attending medical education and signed up to extra lessons and is starting to attend events in real life rather than just online.

I’m so thankful for these sessions, my life has improved so much, I’m no longer pulling the quilt over my head when I wake up. I’m able to be present, notice my surroundings and have fun. Practically I haven’t vaped for 5 months (my asthma has disappeared), I’m getting exercise daily, we are eating healthily (most of the time), I’m slowly losing weight and I feel lighter and less stuck.

I’m excited to be supported to keep these amazing changes and look forward to challenging myself further to show up and appreciate every day, thanks to Sarah and all the amazing team!

‘At Autism Angels young people and parents are empowered that they know the answers for themselves, and for their family life.’

‘I think expressing his needs and thoughts makes him feel better about himself. It’s improved his self esteem and our relationship is stronger.’

‘The taster gave me hope when no other service did’

‘We’d found a safe place’

I went on the parenting course to learn how to help my son but ended up learning how to help myself first which in turn improved my relationship with my son’

‘When we found Autism Angels we knew straight away we had found something special’

‘Autism Angels ‘can do’ attitude is infectious’

‘I can’t thank everyone enough…it is such a long time since we have seen [our child] come home happy, confident and proud’

‘The team at Autism Angels have been our salvation, their work is empowering and life giving’

‘It’s a happy place for our whole family’

‘Wonderful Halloween event as always, thank you for everyone’s hard work’

‘Hearing someone tell me that putting myself first sometimes isn’t selfish, but is actually a great example to set for the children, has caused a massive shift in my mindset. I had got so overwhelmed prioritising everyone else and trying to make things better for all of them, I had forgotten about myself’

‘It is a place where my child feels safe, included, accepted and happy’

‘It’s been an incredible, life changing experience for us’

‘I felt lost and needed support’

‘My daughter was suicidal and refusing to leave their bedroom, they hadn’t been to school for almost 2 years and were unable to access any support’

‘Our child had been struggling again with depression and the threat of self-harm’

‘I couldn’t believe the difference in my daughter and how calm she was so quickly working with the horses’

‘At first just wanted them to behave better.. however, I quickly learnt it was about them being able to recognise and articulate their needs’

‘Having a safe place to be vulnerable’

‘It’s really important to be able to access somewhere that feels safe and where you can be yourself and be honest’

‘We were so isolated and limping through life’

‘We were broken and desperate for support but all agencies kept saying we didn’t meet the criteria’

Meet our inspirational Team They who dedicate their time way beyond renumerations given and really do add to the uniqueness of what we can offer at the farm.

Sarah

Sarah is the founder and beating heart of Autism Angels. When she meets new clients, it is like being welcomed by sunshine. Her vast experience and intuition enable Sarah to guide families on their initial steps of their journey within the Autism Angels community.

Sarah manages to balance encouragement, love and challenge when working with our families. She is especially successful when working with parents in private or group sessions including the landmark Parent Programme and a range of empowering experiences, challenges, and adventures.

Sarah can be found working on all our sessions along with her malamute, Yume, and her kelpie, Toffee bar. A talented and instinctive horsewoman, Sarah has trained the team members in her equine-facilitated therapeutic approach and ensures that the volunteers are also constantly learning and developing their skills.

Thank you Sarah for all that you do.

Amanda

Amanda is a familiar face of the farm working across all services and she is also our Safeguarding Lead. She loves to work with Blackjack and the younger children who are maybe nervous to start with. Amanda is often seen at the farm setting up early, visiting the horses and walking her dog Ziggy.

Amanda was previously a Special Needs Teacher and Teacher in Charge of an Enhanced Mainstream School for children with Communication and Interaction needs – supporting children with autism in 41 primary schools. With her knowledge Amanda also supports our families in understanding the pressures of school on children and writing reports for EHCPs to ensure that children are able to access the support they need.

Thank you Amanda for all you do for us.

Yvonne

Yvonne is a qualified Life and Equine Facilitated Coach. She can often be found in the field checking the horses, in the tack room sorting things out or teaching our children valuable horse skills. Yvonne brings a wealth of experience to the team both from the horse perspective but also as a Mum of an autistic child, so knows all too well of the challenges for our parents.

Yvonne also takes care of our Licensing requirements creating and ensuring policies and procedures are carried out. With her hard work she recently improved our licensing score from 1 star to 3 stars.

Thank you for all you do Yvonne.

Katharine

Katharine is our business manager and she works tirelessly behind the scenes to support both the charity and our families. Being a Mum of a child on the autism spectrum she knows all too well how hectic things can feel. She is dedicated in creating as much as ease as possible for our families from creating easy booking systems, adding informative posts about what is going on at the farm, answering enquiries; all which is critical in helping our families access us.

Katharine also writes grant applications and fundraising bids for us continuously trying to reduce fees for our families.

You will often see Katharine and her family as events always making sure things are running smoothly and volunteering her help on the day.

Thank you for all you do for us Katharine.

Cath

Cath works behind the scenes volunteering her time and supporting us with our website and marketing materials. Cath loves to help organise our fundraisers and new adventures. She can often be seen supporting our Mums on their adventures away usually on a horse or paddle board or supporting our fundraising challenges.

Thank you for all you do for us Cath.

Rachel

We welcomed Rachel to the team in 2023. Rachel has been a volunteer at Autism Angels since 2015 supporting our Wellbeing Wednesdays, Saturday Kids Clubs, Tasters, Holiday Camps and Events.

Rachel currently shares her time between Autism Angels and Evolve College in Ripon where she is a Progress Coach.

Rachel studied at York University were she gained a BSc (Hons) Psychology in Education. She then went on to get a first class MSc in Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education and even wrote her dissertation on the experiences of equine facilitated learning programmes at Autism Angels for parents of autistic children and young people.

Welcome to the team Rachel.

Howard

Howard is our designated Health and Safety Officer and brings a wealth of knowledge to the charity. He carries out risk assessments, ensures health and safety procedures are in place all to help us run a safe environment allowing our families to access the farms natural environments, horse activities and fundraising challenges.

Howard can often be seen walking on the hills to achieve the latest challenge all whilst supporting our families. He also loves to visit the farm to see how everyone is doing (when he is not playing golf).

Thank you Howard for all you do for us.

Paddy

Paddy is a Dad of a child on the autism spectrum and knows all too well the challenges of day to day life our parents and families can face. Paddy also supports us through keeping an eye on costs, seeing where we can make savings and keeping the charity running.

Paddy also fundraises for us and can be seen running a marathon or climbing mountains.

Paddy has more recently set up a Dad Support Group as he feels there is a real need for Dads to get together and be supported also.

Thank you for all you do for us Paddy.

Catherine

We welcomed Catherine to the board of trustees in 2023.

Catherine is also a Mum to children on the autism spectrum. She brings a wealth of lived experience as a parent and fully understands the challenges many of our families can face.

Catherine has supported Autism Angels for a number of years regularly arranging fundraising events and raising awareness around autism. Catherine is a fantastic ambassador for the work we do and we are very thankful for her ongoing support.

Welcome to the team Catherine.

We continue to feature our volunteers and once again would like to thank them for their continued support.

Our volunteers are a crucial part of our team and we know the work we do is not possible without them. They are extremely hard working, dedicated, committed to attending week after week to support our children and families no matter what the weather. From poo picking a field, hand pulling thousands of sycamore seedlings, leading horses, to making drinks our volunteers continue to change our families lives.

In addition to supporting during sessions our volunteers also attend regular training days across the year learning more about our environment and their volunteer roles and responsibilities, ensuring they feel skilled and safe whilst they work with us. This year the volunteer team have completed both an Equestrian Emergency First Aid Training Course and Safeguarding Children Level 1 Training Course.

A huge thank you goes to Liz, Lindsay, Jess, Elle, Briar, Tom W, Oliver, Tom B and Eleanor for the hours of volunteering you do for us throughout the year. We love working with you and thank you all so much.

Demand for our support continues to increase every year. This year we have provided support to 193 families in our safe and accepting environment.

We continue to achieve so much as a community pushing through limiting beliefs, showing just what our children and parents are capable of.

To meet increasing demand we have developed and expanded our support for parents and carers including weekly Parent Support Drop-ins, Dad’s Walk and Talk Support Groups, Parent Programme, Private Parent Support Sessions and Parent Adventures.

We have also expanded our inclusive events throughout the year creating a safe and welcoming space for our families to come and enjoy family time together alongside other families who are also on a similar journey.

Kindness of others

The Fuse Creative Marketing who kindly donate their time and all marketing support to Autism Angels.

The Together Group Construction ltd for their ongoing support and sponsorship of events.

The Hawksworth family for their kindness and incredible support this year.

Chris and Kate Anson who asked for donations to Autism Angels instead of gifts for their 30th Wedding Anniversary raising £620.00

TK Maxx who donated gift vouchers for our dedicated volunteers

Harrogate Ladies College who organised a music concert £99.84

River Beacon climbing Mount Everest virtually on his stairs fundraising over £300.00

Victoria Sharpe who completed Leeds Abbey Dash £475.00

Outwood Primary Academy Fundraising Autism Acceptance Month £200

Thank you to all the families who supporters who make a monthly donation to support our services.

Skipton Slimming World who kindly donate gifts for our Christmas Party

Corporate Volunteer days at the farm:

Asda GM Team, Health and Safety Executive

Other Donations

Facebook Birthday Donations

Co-op Local Community Fund £5,331.56 North Yorkshire Council Get Going Grant £1,000

Asda Green Token Giving £300

W.L.Pratt Trust

The Local Lotto Donations

The Loriners’ Charitable Trust £1,000

Ken & Edna Morrison Charitable Trust

Two Ridings Community Grants £500

Comic Relief Community Fund in partnership with the Evening Standard & Independent £3,000

Farrah’s of Harrogate

Magic Little Grants £500

DLA Piper £100

Comic Relief Community Fund £4,850

The National Lottery Community Fund £10,000

Like many other charities Autism Angels relies heavily on the support of generous donations and fundraising to help us to deliver our vital services and make a real difference in our community. Over the last 12 months the funding landscape has been difficult with many other charities struggling in the current cost of living crisis making grant applications oversubscribed and more competitive than ever.

At Autism Angels we never want cost to be a barrier to families seeking the help and support they need. Our families have also struggled financially during the cost of living crisis and it is vital our sessions remain affordable.

We are extremely thankful to all in our community who are active in their support of us whether that be with fundraising donations, raising awareness of our charity or volunteering their time helping at the farm.

The team, as always, continue to work tirelessly to raise much needed awareness and funds for Autism Angels and over the last 12 months have been getting creative in finding different ways to fundraise supporting both the charity and our families.

We introduced the concept that families can organise their own fundraising events, any money raised in their child’s name could then be allocated into a pot which they can access to fund sessions at Autism Angels.

This year’s fundraising also included our ‘Double your Dosh’ Crowdfunder with match funding thanks to The Co-operative Group raising an incredible £7,730.00. We were overwhelmed and grateful to all our families and supporters in our community who donated, thank you.

Duck Race

In July Autism Angels held their first ever Duck Race Fundraising Event, another new concept which was suggested by our new team member Rachel. Our families and supporters were encouraged to sponsor a duck to be in with a chance of winning some amazing prizes all whilst helping us raise vital funds. The event was an amazing success with an incredible 500 ducks sold for the race on the River Nidd at the farm. This was a real community event with so many fantastic prizes donated from local businesses and supporters.

The Duck Race was combined with a Family Fun Picnic bringing our wonderful families together to enjoy a ‘quacking’ afternoon of fun, face painting, bubble fun and ice creams. Despite the typical summer weather of rain, great fun was had by all.

Duck Race Thank Yous

A huge thank you to all the amazing local businesses who supported this event and donated prizes. We were truly overwhelmed by your generosity.

The Together Group Construction Ltd for sponsoring the event

Friends of Ripon Cathedral Primary for kindly letting us use their ducks for our event

Birchfield Ice Cream who supplied ice creams for our families

Design Delight Face Painting

To all the families and supporters who sponsored a duck and attended the event.

As we bring another year to a close, our 10th year we are able to reflect back over the decade to see the consistent organic growth of the Autism Angels community.

We have had another successful year with the stats showing a steady increase in unique family uptake, an increase in unique individuals and increased delivery of our therapeutic sessions. This really does show the demand is increasing in our area.

We have been thrilled with our year at the farm and the impact we have had on the families that have

attended our sessions. Children have re-engaged with society, education, moved schools, gone back to school and attended weekly sessions at the farm. These breakthroughs have given hope to other families attending and newcomers to the farm. Our parents have made the most of learning alongside us when we are supporting their children during the sessions . Group work has had an enormous impact on everyone as parents have been able to support and encourage each other and the children have seen this and have learnt to do the same. It has been nothing less than magical to watch the community transform from feeling hopeless to happy and thriving in their family lives.

Our team remains dedicated and committed to daily and weekly sessions, training and our own growth to be able to deliver very unique and dynamic sessions to meet the needs of

each individual. The team’s skills have been challenged and tested regularly which has enabled lived experience and organic growth on a daily basis. Everyday has its opportunities for everyone and learning together becomes a fun experience rather than a feeling of failure or isolation. Together we are stronger, we have more fun and we can all work towards common goals such as happiness, personal responsibility and what we want from our lives. Our community is thriving, growing and our techniques are having a positive impact beyond the farm and into a wider community; we couldn’t ask for more.

We have tried a few new services throughout the year such as our Summer Camps and Holiday Clubs. We found that these were a stretch for our core team and would need to look at expanding the team if we were to deliver these in the future.

We did however successfully expand our social events to include Easter, Halloween and bonfire night as well as our usual Christmas party and fundraisers. Although these still pull on our team we have found that the children love getting involved with setting things up and it has greatly expanded their own social lives so these will continue and the team really enjoy them too.

Funding and grants remain extremely competitive and we have had to work very hard to secure extra funding to reduce costs for our families or provide better facilities. Katharine our business manager continues to work tirelessly behind the scenes writing bids for us. Catherine our new Trustee is taking a more public approach and is working with local supermarkets and businesses including standing in doorways talking to people about what we do, often alongside a team of enthusiastic mums. The team are always trying to come up with original ideas as to how we can get people involved with our fundraisers. We didn’t have the capacity to do a Coast to Coast version this year but we are working on being creative to get our families and community involved with some fundraising events next year.

We had looked last year at whether we needed to expand our provision into an Alternative Provision and possibly a School. Even the mention of the word school in this context sent a ripple of anxiety through our children. We are still looking at how we can support parents more with funding, especially when the children are with us during the school week and get Autism Angels on a more secure financial footing. For now we will continue to try and engage with schools and work alongside them to provide excellent wellbeing services to support the children’s and parents mental health. Ultimately having all the schools pay for the provision would be an ideal situation for parents and us and I believe also for the schools as we can concentrate on mental health whilst they concentrate on education, a win-win in my opinion.

So to round up another wonderful year at Autism Angels we are extremely thrilled to see our community thriving, the delivery of our services having a profound impact on the whole family and our Team still so dedicated to supporting us. We will continue to keep growing at an organic rate and focussing on quality of our provision and sessions whilst bringing our families back to thriving together.

We hope you have enjoyed our Annual Report Sarah

Founder and Director of Autism Angels

September

Parent drop in sessions

November

Comic Relief filming

January

Snow fun

October

Halloween event

December

Santa’s grottos

February

Shetlands at the farm

March

Mum’s weekend away

May

----- Start of picture text -----
Harvesting
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July August Duck race Holiday clubs

April

Easter fun

June

Corporate Volunteer Day

Registered Charity number: 1160289. Company limited by guarantee number: 08168948

Directors and trustees

The directors of the charitable company (the charity) are its Trustees for the purpose of charity law. The trustees and officers who served during the year were as follows:

Key Management Personnel for 2022 - 2023

Trustees/Directors

Sarah Kekoa Howard Whittaker Patrick Hammond Helen Chapman (Resigned February 2023) Catherine Flynn-Cartwright (Appointed February 2023)

Chair

Sarah Kekoa Treasurer Patrick Hammond Secretary Howard Whittaker

Structure, governance and management

Governing Documents

The charity is governed by its articles of association, which are based on the model articles for a charitable company. These were initially approved on 06 August 2012 and subsequently amended 10 October 2014.

Appointment of trustees

Trustees are appointed by the members in accordance with the provisions contained in the Articles of Association.

Trustee training and induction

New trustees are briefed on their obligations under charity law, the constitution of the charity and on the Charity Commission Guidance on public benefit. Trustees attend external training events to facilitate the undertaking of their role, where appropriate.

Organisational structure

The Board of Trustees administers the charity and appointed Sarah Kekoa (Shearman) (a Trustee) to act as Chair on 13 February 2015. She also deals with the day to day operational matters and manages the Centre.

Objects of the charity

For the public benefit, the relief of those in need by reason of autism and other disabilities, in particular but not exclusively by:

Advancement of education through training programmes and development activities to improve their skills, capacities and capabilities.
Advancement of education through training and development programmes for the families, carers and professionals who have a role in supporting the individuals with disabilities.
Advancement of health and wellbeing, in particular but not exclusively, by raising awareness and removing limiting beliefs of the benefits of the natural environment and working with animals

The trustees have given due consideration to the Charity Commission’s published guidance on the Public Benefit requirement under the Charities Act 2011 and its activities are detailed with this report.

Financial review and reserves

The total income for the year ended 31 August 2023 was £130,761 (an increase of £15,304). Demand for services and growth of the charity has continued although income has slowed slightly from the previous year due to the impact of the cost of living crisis.

A large proportion of the charity’s income is from charitable activities and services. Other funding sources include grants, trusts and fundraising activities. The trustees continue to develop and maintain ways the charity can increase income whilst working towards it’s charitable objectives.

As at 31 August 2023 undesignated funds were recorded as a deficit of £9,160. This arose due to a short period of cashflow complications. Since the yearend the Charity has managed to secure unrestricted monies which has enabled the Charity to meet its restricted funding commitments and restore the undesignated fund to a surplus. The trustees confirm that a full review of the charity’s finances and expenditure has been carried out and will continue to be reviewed by the trustees’ as part of the charity’s regular budgeting processes.

Risk management

The trustees have a risk management strategy which comprises:

Periodic reviews of the risks the charity.
The establishment of systems and procedures to mitigate the identified risks.

This work has identified that financial sustainability is the major financial risk. Attention has also been focused on non-financial risks arising from child protection issues, fire, health and safety of employees, associated members and members of the public. A key element of the management of financial risk is the retention of adequate working capital.

The trustees are satisfied that systems and procedures are in use to adequately manage the risks to which the charity is exposed.

Reference and administrative details

Charity number 1160289

Company number 8168948

Principal / registered office 71 West Cliffe Terrace, Harrogate, HG2 0PU

Advisors

Related parties

Related party transactions are set out at note 8 to the financial statements.

Trustees responsibilities in relation to the financial statements

The trustees (who are also directors of Autism Angels Ltd for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company and charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources for that year. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In preparing this report advantage has been taken of the small companies exemption within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

Approved by the Board of Trustees and signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees on 16 May 2024.

Patrick Hammond

Independent Examiner:

Sarah Wearing, Partner: HPH Chartered Accountants LLP, Conyngham Hall Business Centre, Bond End, Knaresborough HG5 9AY

Bankers

Barclays, 15 James Street, Harrogate HG1 1QX

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AUTISM ANGELS LTD

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

Independent examiner's report to the trustees

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 31 August 2023, which are set out on pages 32 to 41.

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and the charitable company’s trustees as a body in accordance with section 154 of the Charities Act 2011. My independent examiner’s work has been undertaken so that I might state to the charitable company’s trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an independent examiner’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company, the charitable company’s members as a body and the charitable company’s trustees as a body for my independent examiner’s work, for this report, or for the opinions I have formed.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

HPH, Chartered Accountants Conyngham Hall Business Centre Bond End Sarah Wearing, FCA, DChA KNARESBOROUGH 16 May 2024 HG5 9AY

AutismAngelsUK

E: info@autismangels.co.uk w: www.autismangels.co.uk Registered Charity No. 1160289

Contents

Sarah

Vision

Sessions Delivered

Total of 495 Sessions delivered Sept 22 to Aug 23

Growth

Taster Conversion Rate

Easter Trail

Family Sessions

Kids Clubs

“I feel so alive”

‘At Autism Angels young people and parents are empowered that they know the answers for themselves, and for their family life.’

‘We’d found a safe place’

‘It’s a happy place for our whole family’

‘Wonderful Halloween event as always, thank you for everyone’s hard work’

‘I felt lost and needed support’

Sarah

Amanda

Yvonne

Katharine

Cath

Rachel

Howard

Paddy

Catherine

Kindness of others

Corporate Volunteer days at the farm:

Other Donations

Duck Race

Duck Race Thank Yous

September

November

January

October

December

February

March

May

April

June

Directors and trustees

Key Management Personnel for 2022 - 2023

Trustees/Directors

Structure, governance and management

Governing Documents

Appointment of trustees

Trustee training and induction

Organisational structure

Objects of the charity

Financial review and reserves

Risk management

Reference and administrative details

Charity number 1160289

Company number 8168948

Advisors

Related parties

Trustees responsibilities in relation to the financial statements

Patrick Hammond

Independent Examiner:

Bankers

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