Trustees' Annual Report for the period
| Period start date | Period start date | Period end date | Period end date | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Month | Year | Day | Month | Year | ||
| **From ** | 1 | 01 | 2024 | To | 31 | 12 | 2025 |
Section A Reference and administration details
Charity name Stand-by-Me Bereavement Support Service for Children Other names charity is known by Stand-by-me Registered charity number (if any) 1161035
Charity's principal address Hitchin Youth Trust Ltd Lambourne House 111 Walsworth Road Hitchin Postcode SG4 9SP
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 ** |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lesley Carol Morag READ |
Chair and Safeguarding |
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| Shirley AVERY | Development | |||
| John BOTLEY | Treasurer | |||
| Keith Stuart WADSWORTH |
Secretary | |||
| Guy SKINNER | Fundraising | |||
| Jane WALTON | ||||
| Natalie BURGESS | HUMAN RESORCES |
|||
| Stacey SLATTERY | Fundraising | |||
| Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees) | ||||
| Name | Dates acted if not for whole year | |||
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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
| Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) | Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) | Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) |
|---|---|---|
| Type of adviser Name Address |
||
| Independent Examiner | Charles Goldstein | Charles Goldstein FCA Heartwood Accountants Ltd Riverside House 3 Place Farm Wheathampstead Hertfordshire AL4 8SB |
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
Section B Structure, governance and management
Description of the charity’s trusts
Charitable Incorporated Organisation (ClO) with a 'Foundation' model Type of governing document constitution which was registered on 24 March 2015 (eg. trust deed, constitution) Charitable Trust How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) New Trustees are appointed by the existing trustees to maintain and Trustee selection methods ensure an appropriate skillset. The Constitution sets terms of office in (eg. appointed by, elected by) order to secure stability and continuity but also change, refreshment and expertise. Fundraising is clearly more and more demanding and a new Trustee was appointed to lead on this, whilst working closely with the reappointed Trustee charged with producing a strategic plan for the charity. It was also considered important to appoint a Trustee with Human Resources and employment law experience. The Trust was fortunate to secure two highly competent people for these roles. The Clinical Trustee retired and this position remains vacant. The Trustees are reassured that there are external consultants who continue to check that the work the charity does is clinically sound and the staff are professionally supported. The Trustees appointed to restructure digital record keeping and commensurate security resigned for personal reasons but changes had been put in place and during the year both its positives and negatives emerged requiring this area to be kept under review. The transformation of both the charity’s social media profile and, therefore, accessibility, and recording and data analysis has been maintained. After a time away a Trustee returned to take on the Development brief in light of changing funding streams. The identification that Trustees were
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having to be more ‘hands-on’ than was sustainable has been reviewed by the Development Trustees and some fundamental decisions have been made regarding the charity’s sustainability. It was decided that the Trust needs to secure the funding to appoint a Director or CEO to take full responsibility for the day-to-day running of the charity, management of the staff, both in terms of their work and their appraisal. It was acknowledged that this would be need to be paid at a level which would attract strong candidates and the Development Trustee was authorised to seek funding streams for such an appointment. Most large donors, like Children in Need by whom we were supported for some years, now do not contribute to ongoing costs but seek to support specific projects and/or to help create sustainability. This significant change in the Trust’s structure was seen as possibly satisfying such a definition and the process was begun with a view to making an appointment as soon as possible.
Additional governance issues (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:
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policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
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the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
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relationship with any related parties;
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trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
Trustees have in place a range of relevant policies including Safeguarding, Code of Conduct and Conflicts of lnterest. The charity's Safeguarding Policy is reviewed annually and was developed significantly to enable online support to take place during the Covid restrictions. The following policies are reviewed every three years: Health & Safety Equality & Diversity Confidentiality Data Protection Lone Working Complaints
and other policies which are not mandatory but which guide the work of volunteers in the various types of work with both young people and adults. Counselling is now being offered to surviving parents and a policy has been devised for this.
Trustees receive induction, safeguarding and prevent training, as do staff and volunteers.
DBS clearance is mandatory for all.
- Strategic planning which has taken place, designed to acquire funding to secure the future of the charity has involved a root and branch analysis of the structure, management and delivery of the service. Governance issues that this might raise are being kept in mind. There might be constitution changes needed in light of the area the charity serves and its relationship with local government area restructuring, for example.
Section C Objectives and activities
To provide and protect the health of bereaved children and young people aged 0-19 living in North Hertfordshire and Stevenage by helping to prevent the negative outcomes of grief affecting their health, education Summary of the objects of the and future life prospects through the provision of information, advice, charity set out in its support and guidance to them, their families, carers and associated governing document professionals involved in their day-to-day care. In direct response to feedback from children and young people this has recently included developing targeted support for surviving parents in relation to their own support of their child/ren. The feedback was saying “help my Mum/Dad
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and you’ll help me“. This is not specific adult bereavement counselling but parents take part in groups running concurrently with the young peoples’ groups. There is limited support offered on an individual basis.
Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)
'Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life.' (Anne Rolphe). All trustees read the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit when they were drafting Stand-by-Me's charitable objects as part of the successful application for charity registration as a ClO. Stand-by-Me's charity classification is: • the advancement of education • the advancement of health or the saving of lives. Trustees continue to receive explicit evidence from self-assessment questionnaires completed by bereaved children and teenagers and both oral and written feedback from parents and family members that the charity's website and newsletter, free telephone advice line, and group programmes have all been beneficial and made a material difference to their lives following bereavement. These activities have 1. helped children and young people know what is happening and what can help 2. helped parents to understand and support their children 3. given professionals information to support bereaved children and young people 4. provided ways for bereaved families to meet and share their experiences. The main benefits to children and families have been • the provision of an open access, early intervention, free at the point of need, varied level of bereavement support • reduction in the need for referral to specialist services and target agencies because of escalating levels of need • support for families to understand their grief reactions and enhance family functioning • reduction of the social isolation frequently highlighted by children and families by creating new contacts with others experiencing bereavement • provision of opportunities for forging new friendships and learning from others
Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)
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During the period covered by this report the charity has continued to enjoy support from two types of volunteers:
- (1) Volunteers, of which new ones have been trained and others upskilled by building on their experience of running group programmes for bereaved children and teenagers. These group programmes remain at the core of what Stand-by-Me is seeking to provide as described above in its objects. Without the volunteers the delivery of the group programmes would be impossible. Two recipients of the Stand-by-me programme have become volunteers themselves. After the pandemic it became apparent that some young people are reluctant to attend the group sessions, or begin the course but drop out. A review of the content of the sessions was undertaken and the strategic review is considering alternative ways of delivering the content.
You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:
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policy on grant making;
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policy programme related investment;
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contribution made by volunteers.
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(2) Fundraising volunteers, continue to organise various events and actively participated in fund-raising events, organised by donors. These have been vital in providing funds to strengthen the charity's ability to make a direct approach to bereaved children, teenagers and their families. They have also considerably raised public awareness of what Stand-by-Me has to offer bereaved families and of what resources are needed from donors in order to deliver the charity's services. There is remarkable local support for the Charity and several organisations have nominated it for modest and significant donations from their own events.
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(3) Trustees attend various functions to acknowledge the generosity of donors, raise awareness of the charity and educate people about the need for such a charity. A Trustee always attends to receive a donation and extend the charity’s thanks. Response to such presentations is always remarkably positive.
Volunteers continue to organise and manage the now annual 'Remember-me' day when young people who have used Stand-by-me’s programme, and their families, can reconnect. The Charity continues to enjoy free accommodation provided by Letchworth Heritage Foundation, Hitchin Youth Trust.
All volunteers received a specially commissioned Safeguarding leaflet to explain the responsibilities placed upon them in accordance with the charity's Safeguarding Policy; and certificates for training have been created.
The Young Ambassadors programme has initiated a number of fundraising activities with young people who have benefited from the charity’s programme now raising its profile and taking a lead in promoting it and raising funds. This programme is a powerful continuation of the effectiveness and positive outcome of the clinical programme. Some of the Young Ambassadors have featured in national events on national ‘ ’ television, radio and volunteer competitions .
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Section D Achievements and performance
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Section D Achievements and performance The Stand-by-me group sessions for children and young people remain Summary of the main at the heart of the Charity's work and have now supported over 750 achievements of the charity bereaved children and young people. The demand continues and a list of during the year prospective participants is maintained with support offered as early as possible. All children and young people are professionally assessed to ensure they are ready for involvement in group sessions. These full assessments, carried out prior to the young people joining a group, have increasingly led to volunteers offering support to other members of the children's families. It should be said that there are issues regarding some young people committing to the groups. Some show interest, do the assessment but then do not attend. Some start the course and drop out. This seems to reflect issues schools are experiencing with attendance but the content of the programme is continuously reviewed in response to feedback – which it should be said is almost entirely very positive from those who complete the course. The Big Lottery donation which initially funded a Family Bereavement Support Worker (FBSW) ended and a successful application was made for Global Make Some Noise funding was made in order to continue this part of Stand-by-me’s work. This allows for the employment of a person to draw a link between the children/young people, their families and their schools. This has proved to be enormously successful in linking school, families and bereaved young people but has also led to ‘pressure’ to provide support directly to bereaved parents. A successful pilot was run and this is now a fixed part of the delivery – surviving parents attend their own sessions, in another room, at the same time as their children attend their own sessions. The Global Make Some Noise funding will come to an end and the Trustees are keen to find other sources of funding to continue the parent groups. The Contact-me programme for schools has been adopted by all the secondary schools in the Charity's area and most of the primary schools, schools, with volunteers (the primary author of the scheme and a clinician) continuing to provide training sessions primarily in schools. This revision and retraining programme will continue as schools seek more and more support in their work with bereaved children. All schools are facing increasing numbers of young people with mental health issues and bereavement is another factor which schools are expected to respond to. The growth in the scale, and success, of both these aspects of the Charity's work required a review of staffing in line with a full review of the Charity's business plan, in terms of its future sustainability. The Charity finds itself taking enquires from schools outside our area and the author and staff member of the Contact-me programme were invited to a national conference exploring young people’s well-being where they delivered a workshop on the Contact-me model. The Young Ambassadors programme has proved to be of great benefit to both the participants and to the Charity in terms of its profile and fundraising, with impressive presentations being made by the young people at various high-profile local events. Compilations of videos made by the young people themselves are used for fund- and awarenessraising purposes and this approach will be used with new ambassadors to involve them fully.
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Section D Achievements and performance
Funding is constantly under review and the continuation of the Uniting Families programme, supported by Global Make Some noise may depend on securing other funding streams.
The ‘regular giving’ scheme the Trust designed has so far generated less than hoped but the marketing Trustee is actively seeking ways of promoting this, including exploring the possibility of contributions from local business.
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Section E Financial review
Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves
The Trust’s policy is to hold reserves to cover no less than six rather than three months expenses.
Details of any funds materially in deficit
Further financial review details (Optional information)
The Trust has no funds invested. lts income is entirely through charitable donations from individuals, local organisations, fund-raising organisations outside the locality which have identified the Charity as one which they wish to support on a one-off basis and from national supporters i.e. Children in Need and Global Make Some Noise.
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:
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the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
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All income is directed exclusively to providing support for children and
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• how expenditure has young people who have been bereaved and without the funding the Charity could not continue. Whilst all the clinical and therapeutic support
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supported the key objectives is delivered by volunteers, they cannot also provide the essential
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of the charity; administration, paperwork, etc. and this work is carried out, largely, by
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• investment policy and paid employees of the Trust. As the Charity moderately expands its work, objectives including any the administrative support required commensurately increases. The ethical investment policy Trustees keep that carefully monitored, ensuring that staff are properly adopted. remunerated, supported, trained and, when possible, upskilled.
Section F Other optional information
The Charity faces a period of significant challenge. Funding streams are likely to significantly reduce whilst the quality and depth of what the Charity offers has grown. A great deal of work and many hours was devoted to assessing the implications and devising strategies to secure the long-term future of Stand-by-me, a plan was formulated and decision reached by the Trustees as to what the long-term future of SBM would look like. Key to this would be securing the funding to appoint a Director who could take on the management and report to the Trustees rather than the different Trustees managing different parts of the charity’s work.
Section G Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s)
Full name(s) Keith S Wadsworth Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Secretary etc)
Date September 2 2026
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| 31Dec20253lDec 2024 | 31Dec20253lDec 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Endowment | TotalfundsTotalfunds | |||
| funds | fund | fund | ||||
| Notes | f | f | f | ff | ||
| INCOMINGRESOURCES | ||||||
| Incomingresourcesfrom | ||||||
| generatedfunds | ||||||
| Children inneed | 8,323 | |||||
| Global MakeSomeNoise | 10,000 | 10,00; | 27,000 | |||
| NorthHerts Prosperity Fund | 8,119 | |||||
| Letchworth Heritage Fund | 9,000 | |||||
| Herts Community Fund | 5,000 | |||||
| OtherFunds | 200 | 20; | 1,500 | |||
| FundraisingEvents | 18,826 | 18,826 | 2,782 | |||
| JustGiving | 10,276 | 10,276 | 5,632 | |||
| Grants anddonations | 36,584 | : | 36,584 | 39,694 | ||
| EnthuseDonations | 7,191 | 7,191 | 4,195 | |||
| Investmentandother income | 1,070 | 1,070 | 1,583 | |||
| Totalincomingresources | 73,947 | 10,200 | 84,147 | 111,818 | ||
| RESOURCESEXPENDED | ||||||
| Costs ofgenerating funds | ||||||
| Costsof generatingvoluntary | ||||||
| income | ||||||
| Charityrunningcosts | 63,446 | 31,208 | g4,65; | 96,443 | ||
| Charitableactiyities | ||||||
| Govemance | ||||||
| Directcharitablespending | 16,976 | 6,475 | 23,451 | t5,763 | ||
| Totalresources expended | 80,422 | 37,683 | 118,105 | 112,206 | ||
| EXCESS OFEXPENDITURE | ||||||
| OVERINCOME | (6,475) | (27,483) | (33,958) | (387) | ||
| Gain/(Loss)onrevaluationof | ||||||
| investments | ||||||
| NETDEFICIT/SURPLUS | ||||||
| FORTIIE }'EAR | (6,475|(27,483) | (33,958) | (387) | |||
| RECONCILIATIONOF | ||||||
| FUNDS | ||||||
| Transfersbetweenfunds | 145 | (14s) | ||||
| Totalfundsbrought | 66,460 | 27,828 | 94,288 | 94,676 | ||
| forward | ||||||
| TOTALFUNDSCARRIED | ||||||
| FORWARI) | _{utg | 200 | 60,330 | 94,288 |
| 31Dec20253lDec 2024 | 31Dec20253lDec 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | EndowmentTotalfunds | Totalfunds | ||
| funds | Restricted | fund | ||
| sf | fund | tff, | ||
| FD(EDASSETS | ||||
| Investments | ||||
| CURRENTASSETS | ||||
| Debtors | ||||
| Cashatbankandinhand | 60,13; | 200 | {qi3q | 94,288, |
| 60,130 | 200 | 60,330 | 94,288 | |
| CREDITORS | ||||
| Amountsfallingduewithinone | ||||
| yeat | ||||
| NET CURRENTASSETS | 60,130 | 200 | 60,330 | 94,288 |
| TOTALASSETSLESS | ||||
| CURRENTLIABILITIES | 60,130 | 200 | 60,330 | 94,288 |
| NETASSETS | _{qEg | 200 | 60,330 | 94,288 |
| FTJNDS | ||||
| Unreshicted funds | 60,130 | 66,460 | ||
| Restricted funds | 200 | 27,828 | ||
| Endowment funds | ||||
| TOTALFUNDS | _qqilg | 94,288 |
| unrestricted | restricted | 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| s | f | f | s | f |
| Grants | ||||
| Children InNeed | 8,323 | |||
| Global MakeSomeNorse | 10,000 | 10,000 | 27 -000 | |
| NorthHertsProsperityFund | 8,1 19 | |||
| Letchworth Heritaee Fund | 8,000 | |||
| Herts CommunirvFund | 5,000 | |||
| Other Funds | 200 | 200 | 1,500 | |
| EnthuseDonations | 7,191 | 7,191 | 4.185 | |
| Donations | 36,584 | 36,584 | 39.693 | |
| JustGivine | t0.276 | t0.276 | 5.632 | |
| Fundraisingevents | 18.826 | 18.826 | 2.782 | |
| Other income | 1,070 | 1.070 | 1.s83 | |
| total | 73.947 | 10.200 | 84.147 | 111.818 |
| Payments | unrestricted | restricted | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fff.L | ||||
| ProiectManasersSalanes | 34,437 | 27.145 | 61,582 | 58,761 |
| Administrator&other salarycosts | 25.289 | 3.433 | 28.722 | 30,846 |
| Clinical/assessmentcosts | ||||
| Recruitment | ||||
| Supervision&Trainins | 154 | ts4 | t-344 | |
| TravelexDenses- volunteers/clients | 493 | 493 | s36 | |
| Group- Resources/expensesincurred | 1,560 | 1.560 | 1,877 | |
| Family Event&OtherChildrens | ||||
| Grouo | 543 | |||
| DBSClearance | 247 | 247 | 273 | |
| YouthAmbassadorsProjectfunded | ||||
| HCF | 606 | 606 | 827 | |
| UnitingFamiliesProject-otherdirect | ||||
| costs | 660 | 630 | 1.290 | 1.435 |
| Communications-Mobiles /Postase | 1.373 | L,373 | r.416 | |
| Schools Programmecosts | 80 | 80 | ||
| WebsitesuDDort/ITcosts | 4,039 | 6.475 | 10,513 | 6.872 |
| Access Insurance -Public&Liability | ||||
| Insurance | 856 | 8s6 | 8s6 | |
| Stationery/officecosts | 42s | 42s | 429 | |
| Fundraising&Marketingcosts | 7.668 | 7.668 | 4,075 | |
| Accountancv | 918 | 918 | 720 | |
| Other miscellaneouscosts | 1.618 | 1.618 | 1.395 | |
| Total | 80,422 | 37.683 | 118,105 | 112.206 |