1>
SLOW
ANNUAL
REPORT
2022-23
## **ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION**
## **SLOW - Surviving the Loss of Your World**
**Year Ending 31[st] January 2023**
|**CHARITY REGISTRATION**|Registered Charity Number 1161337|
|---|---|
|**DETAILS**|Registered April 2015|
|**FOUNDED**|September 2007|
|**FOUNDED BY**|Nic Whitworth and Susie Hanson|
|**TRUSTEES 2022-23**||
|**Chair of Trustees**|Pippa Murray|
|**Treasurer**|Kieran Hull (resigned 20thJune 2022)|
||Cicilia Wan (appointed Treasurer) 20thJune 2022)|
|**Secretary**|Tim Whitworth|
|**Trustee**|Samara Stevens|
|**Trustee**|Cicilia Wan|
|**Trustee**|Paresh Pithiya|
|**Trustee**|Elise Soucie|
|**PATRONS**|Jason Watkins and Clara Francis|
|**CONTACT DETAILS**||
|**Registered Address and**|SLOW, 11 Donovan Avenue, London, N10 2JU|
|**correspondence:**|admin@slowgroup.co.uk|
||Tel 07734 577407|
|**Referrals:**|info@slowgroup.co.uk|
||Tel 07532 423 674|
|**Website**|https://slowgroup.co.uk/|
|**Facebook**|https://www.facebook.com/slowsupport|
||https://www.facebook.com/groups/slowgroup|
|**Instagram**|https://www.instagram.com/slowgroup/|
|**Twitter**|https://twitter.com/slowsupport|
|**Linked in**|https://www.linkedin.com/company/66625688|
SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
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## **OBJECTIVES AND ETHOS**
At SLOW, we have evolved a unique and successful model of bereavement support that is a direct response to what bereaved parents and siblings have told us they need.
SLOW cultivates a stance of ‘coming alongside’ parents, going at their own pace, within a nonpathologising culture. At SLOW we know that grief cannot be fixed, and do not strive to ‘make things better’. Instead, we support and give space to bereaved families, so they may in time harness their own resources in slowly rebuilding their lives. In this way, we believe there is **hope** to be found in connecting with other bereaved families, **relief** in sharing the pain of grief, and **company** in bearing the unbearable, alongside others who are living with the death of their child or sibling.
Our ethos has grown from the roots of a community, facilitated and supported by bereaved families who have experienced firsthand the devastating grief resulting from the death of a child or sibling.
A core feature of SLOW is that all our groups are facilitated by bereaved parents and siblings who have received comprehensive facilitation training with ongoing professional and development support. Many have themselves benefitted from SLOW’s support in the past.
Our Charitable Objects were revised in 2022 and SLOW aims to promote: -
1. The emotional and physical well-being of bereaved parents, siblings and children suffering from grief through expert support of bereaved facilitators promoting self-help and mutual support.
2. And support social inclusion of bereaved parents, siblings and children to fully participate in society.
3. Emotional and physical well-being through the provision of education and training materials on grief and bereavement support.
4. The emotional and physical well-being of other bereaved family members where this contributes to achieving objects 1-3.
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
## **WHY SLOW’S WORK MATTERS**
The death of a child is an incredibly traumatic event leaving parents with overwhelming emotional needs. The grief of bereaved siblings is also devastating, yet this is one of the most neglected types of grief.
A child’s death is a relatively rare event, but when it happens it can have a devastating effect on family life, sometimes triggering depression, anxiety, alcohol / drug dependency and family break up. Our members face the challenge of living in a radically altered world in which close family ties, routines and friendships are impacted and many of SLOW’s members initially report that they feel very socially isolated.
**SLOW support groups make a positive intervention by…**
- Providing a safe space for peer support and reducing isolation.
- Connecting, sharing, validating and normalising grief.
- Finding new ways to manage grief.
- Encouraging members to find ways in which to connect with their child or sibling.
- Creating a transforming community connected through their loss.
- Encouraging bereaved families to regain their sense of wellbeing so that they find purpose in life again.
- Offering hope for the future and building confidence at a time when life can feel hopeless.
Healing for bereaved families can begin as they share their grief with others who validate their experience. They discover they are not alone, and gradually learn ways of managing their grief and coping with their loss. At SLOW, our members come to understand that healing means remembering, not forgetting their child or sibling and we encourage them to be compassionate, gentle and patient with
themselves. In this way bereaved families are building themselves a safety net that will resource them long after they cease to attend the group.
By making room for the experience of grief, parents often say that they leave ‘feeling lighter’. By listening and sharing experiences of coping with life whilst managing grief, parents can slowly make small but significant steps towards rebuilding their lives.
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
## **ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS**
2022-23 was a successful year of expansion for SLOW. In response to member feedback, we continued to provide a blended support service offering of both in person and virtual groups for bereaved families, as well as other social events.
## **Support for Bereaved Parents**
The heart of SLOW lies in the culture and the community of its support groups for bereaved parents. It is here that parents come to find connection, company, comfort and hope after the death of their child.
Our support groups continue to offer a simple structure that allows safety through containment and continuity. An introductory round gives each parent space to reflect and identify areas where they’d like support and these form the basis of the discussion.
**In 2022-23 SLOW ran 142 bereaved parent support groups across London attended by 109 parents. Across the year there were 793 individual attendances at bereaved parent groups.**
In 2022-23 our members could choose from a range of monthly and weekly face-to-face groups in North London as well as monthly and weekly virtual groups for members living across the UK. Our Zoom groups particularly appeal to those with young children, those living further away from London and those who are unable to travel to the groups.
We launched two new weekly groups over the year in response to demand: a new weekly Zoom group for bereaved parents (introduced in May) and a new weekly face-to-face support group in North London (introduced in November). By the end of the year, we were running four weekly daytime groups and two monthly evening groups for bereaved parents.
We also introduced two summer Zoom groups, in response to member feedback, to bridge the six-week summer holiday.
By offering daytime and evening groups, we enable parents who are working or have other commitments to attend a regular support group outside of their normal working day. Each of our groups last one and a half hours and are run by two trained bereaved parent facilitators.
Attendance at our groups is flexible with regular core members attending each week / month while others choose to attend less frequently as and when they need support.
We welcome all bereaved parents (mothers and fathers), of differing cultures and faiths, irrespective of whether their child was an adult or a baby or the varying circumstances in which they died. Members can join at any point regardless of how long ago their child died. Longer term members that no longer require regular support at the meetings often come to our social events or take on active volunteering roles.
Lively discussions characterised all our groups across the year with a strong emphasis on developing strategies for coping, self-care and meeting the demands of surviving children and relationships with friends and work colleagues.
As new parents arrived at the groups, those who had been attending for longer maintained the core values and culture of the group, fostering an atmosphere of warmth and inclusion. In all our groups there is an extremely supportive atmosphere despite the wide range of circumstances in which parents have lost their children.
**By the end of 2023 the SLOW membership base was over 700, which grows as new people contact us** .
SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
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## **ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS**
## **Support for Bereaved Siblings**
## **SLOWsibs 18+**
Our SLOWsibs 18+ support group for bereaved adult siblings has now been running for over a year, having launched in April 2021.
In 2022-23 this group was facilitated by two trained bereaved siblings – Shushma Jain and Michael Ward.
Eleven groups were held across the year, attracting a wide range of newly bereaved siblings of different ages whose brothers and sisters had died in different circumstances.
These meetings, usually held via Zoom, are consistently well attended by core of regular members, while others attend more sporadically and return around the time of significant events such as birthdays and anniversaries.
The members met in Kings Cross in July 2022 for their first face-to- face gathering and in 2023 there have been more frequent in person meetings to complement the monthly Zoom groups.
**“Thank you so much, to be in a group where we all have experienced the loss of a sibling was so helpful whilst also so very sad.”**
**15 bereaved siblings attended our groups with 40 different attendances throughout the year at 11 virtual and in person gatherings.**
SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
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## **ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS**
## **Support for Bereaved Siblings**
## **SLOWsibs**
The ‘SLOWsibs’ workshops provide a safe place for bereaved siblings to meet each other and develop their creative skills, with the aim of reducing isolation, building confidence through making new friends and exploring feelings.
Our workshops, for children aged 6 to 15 years, are designed to: -
- Help children and young people understand and express their grief and talk openly about their grief.
- Support each child living with their grief while building a hopeful future.
- Help restore confidence and self-esteem.
- • Commemorate their sibling who died and find positive ways to remember them.
- Express their own unique place in their altered family.
Our siblings are at different places in their development and understanding of death and therefore their expression of grief. Activities are chosen to reflect this variety of experience and allow each child to express themselves at different levels of interpretation and engagement.
**Over the year we held four workshops, Clay Modelling, the SLOW Totem of Hope, Memory Lanterns and Christmas Wreathes.**
Between three and six siblings attended each workshop. We always welcome bereaved parents and adult siblings to join our popular Christmas Wreath Workshop, so an additional nine parents / adult siblings attended this event in December.
SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
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## **ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS**
## **Other Events and Support**
Our parents and siblings have created a transforming community connected through loss that extends outside of the groups. They have created various WhatsApp groups and regularly check in on each other and meet up.
At times, parents may be unable to attend the group for a period of time due to work or family commitments. In these situations, the feedback that we have received is that parents value maintaining contact via email, the website blog, across our social channels and by attending our social events.
We celebrated our **15[th] Anniversary** with an **afternoon tea party** at the Islington Ecology Centre in June funded by a donation from Waitrose Community Matters.
Our bereaved parents and sibs organised a **summer picnic** in Regent’s Park.
We also held a **non-Christmas Supper** in December in Tufnell Park.
## **Email and Telephone Support**
SLOW recognises that the first steps in reaching out for support are difficult to take for many bereaved parents. We offer a prompt telephone, email or social media response to any enquiry, and take care to talk with parents about what has happened and how they would like to be supported. Bereaved parents and siblings are then allocated the most suitable group. If a member hasn’t been for a few weeks, we will follow up by email to check in on them.
SLOW may not meet the needs of every bereaved parent and we will endeavour to signpost them on to other organisations that may provide specific support.
Across the year there was been a steady flow of new enquiries for all our groups.
## **Our new referrals increased from 65 in 2021-22 to 112 in 2022-23** .
SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
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## **OUR IMPACT: A FAMILY’S EXPERIENCE**
_When Rory died suddenly in February 2016, we weren't prepared for the impact it would have on his brothers. Mike spent the entire day talking to counsellors to get advice on how to tell his big brother, Barnaby, who had only 2 years prior donated his bone marrow in the hope of saving him. We will never forget the look on his face when we told him._
_There is not much help out there._
_The help we needed came in the form of Nic and her amazing team at SLOWsibs._
_SLOW - Surviving the Loss of Your World - is a London based charity run by bereaved parents and siblings providing support for bereaved families. For many, it is a lifeline, giving them the chance to connect and share their experiences with other bereaved families._
_Barnaby has taken part in many of the ingenious workshops planned perfectly to allow the children to remember their siblings, create something to remember them by but also to connect with other children who are navigating life without their brother or sister. Barnaby has baked focaccia, planted stunning pots, created Christmas wreaths, designed memory boxes and much, much more._
_Barnaby has had the opportunity to keep the memories of his brother alive, remember his experiences and talk about how he feels with people who understand from first-hand experience._
_This is just one aspect of SLOW's work and they run many other mightily impactful projects._
_Thank you from us both._
Bereaved Parents Lisa and Michael Spinks
SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
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## **CHARITY DEVELOPMENT & GROWTH**
## **Marketing and Professional Outreach**
Referrals come from a wide range of sources, so our marketing focuses on all the touchpoints that bereaved families come into contact with including local NHS paediatric teams, palliative care teams, hospitals, specialist service providers, health visitors and local charities.
In 2022-23 we marketed the SLOW service extensively with bereavement charities and organisations across London including Suicide and Co, Widowed and Young, Teddy’s Wish, Mind, the Coroner’s Support Service, Child Death Overview Panels and many more.
We continued to build close working relationships with referral agencies and professionals that share and complement our work including the Life Force team (Palliative Care Team in North London), End of Life Services GOSH, Barnet Bereavement Services, Space2Grieve, the Child Death Helpline and Noah’s House Hospice.
We expanded our programme of social media activity and further developed our website with new fundraising and donations pages, resources and updated content.
## **ITV Documentary Filming**
Our patrons, Clara Francis and Jason Watkins, filmed a documentary in the summer of 2022 highlighting Sepsis, breaking down the taboo of child loss and giving hope to bereaved parents. The heartfelt documentary, which aired in March 2023, raised awareness of SLOW and had a significant impact on new referrals.
## **IT and Operations**
In the summer of 2022, we developed a new **Operating Model** , analysing all areas of the business and recommending new processes and procedures.
In the Autumn of 2022, we developed a comprehensive **Digital Strategy** , mapping our current digital solutions across the charity, analysing gaps and prioritising our IT goals.
Our main priorities in 2023 were to implement new financial software, a CRM and move our emails to Microsoft. We have already implemented new financial software and we have identified a new CRM system for implementation in the Autumn of 2023.
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
## **CHARITY DEVELOPMENT & GROWTH**
## **Evaluating the SLOW Service**
In 2022-23 we continued to work with our partners, the University of Hertfordshire, to evaluate our support services. We are currently working with trainee clinical psychologists, supervised by Dr Lizette Nolte (Principle Lecturer for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology), from the university’s Psychology Department on two research projects:
- A 2-year research study looking at “ _A narrative analysis of parents’ journeys with SLOW through parental bereavement”._ With this research project we hope to understand the impact of SLOW on our members’ grief and mental health.
- A 1-year research study that will look at a comparison of virtual vs in person support.
Learnings from the research conducted in 2021 continue to shape our services and refine our ethos.
SLOW also monitors and track attendance as well as gathering feedback on an ongoing basis.
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
## **CHARITY DEVELOPMENT & GROWTH**
SLOW ran two strategy meetings with Trustees, senior managers and facilitators to prioritise plans for the charity’s future at the start of 2022. We continue to implement the strategic aims prioritised at those meetings and plan for a further strategy day in 2023.
Our key areas of focus for 2023-24 will be to:
## **To provide high quality bereavement support, reaching more bereaved families. We plan to:**
- Run over **226 support events** across London and via Zoom for bereaved families – including both parents and siblings (up from 159 in 2022-23).
- Launch a **new South London weekly group** and a further support group later in 2023 dependent on demand.
- Run **two virtual support groups** for bereaved parents across the six-week summer holiday.
- Devise **a new strategy for SLOWsibs** - increasing the number of workshops and meetings and introducing support for teenage siblings.
- Continue to **build collaborative partnerships** with referral agencies and professionals in the field of bereavement.
## **To develop the charity’s infrastructure to support this growth of services we plan to:**
- **Expand our fundraising sources** , growing sustainable income and inspiring our community to fundraise for SLOW.
- Further **evaluate our support services** with our partners the University of Hertfordshire and disseminate the findings of the research.
- **Appoint new facilitators** to enable the expansion of our support groups.
- Implement the priorities of our **digital strategy** including new financial software and a CRM system.
- Change our **charitable structure** to a CIO and widen our charity’s objectes.
- **Recruit a trustee** with a clinical background to complement our existing board
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
## **Overview**
The charity’s income in 2022-23 was £141,574, rising 123% on the previous year (£63,392). This increase was primarily due to our grant success in 2022 and our phenomenal supporter fundraising. Expenditure increased to £97.8k from £71.6k in 2021-22, reflecting the expansion of charitable activities.
We start the new financial year 2023-24 with £91.9k of funds. This includes carried forward restricted funds of £211 committed to specific activity, as well as £91.7K of unrestricted funds, of which £38K is ringfenced for free reserves and the remainder is designated to the growth of support activities in 2023.
Again, this year, as per advice from the Charity Commission, we have excluded in kind income / expenses. The accounts therefore do not reflect the considerable contribution of our many volunteers who freely donate their time.
## **Income**
SLOW’s funding in 2022-23 came from diversified sources. We were particularly
successful with grant applications and community fundraising picked up after the pandemic. Unrestricted income accounted for 80% of our revenue, while 20% was restricted.
**Grants -** SLOW received multiyear support from **the Lotteries Reaching Communities** , **Garfield Weston** , the **John Armitage Trust** and **Mrs Smith and Mount Trust** . We also received oneyear funding from **Islington Council’s Community Chest** and **Islington’s Local Borough Initiatives Fund** , **The Postcode Lottery** , **The Leathersellers Company** and **Tesco’s Community Grants** .
**Donations -** A special mention should be made to t **he ICCM** for their generous donations and also to **Waitrose Community Matters** . We would also like to thank the following supporters for their very generous donations which have enabled the charity to carry out its essential work supporting bereaved families: Andrew Wright, Carolyn Doy and Angela Costello, Jill Hagland and Roger and Gordana Fox.
SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
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## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
**Supporter Fundraising** – our amazing team of 20 **Royal Parks Half Marathon** runners raised more than £35k, over double the amount raised last year. Huge thanks are also due to the **Yoga Society, Michelle May** and **Sarah Brennikmeijer** for their inspiring and phenomenal fundraising efforts.
## **Expenditure**
Expenses increased by £26.1K year on year primarily due to the cost of employee salaries and related HMRC / NICs and Pension expenses (SLOW’s first full year with employees). Our contractors’ sessional expenses decreased as we employed two members of staff (midway through 2021). Our expenditure on fundraising costs, supervision, compliance and events (15[th] Anniversary Party) all increased.
## **Reserves Policy**
The Trustees’ policy is to follow recommended practice and maintain unrestricted reserves to cover at least three months’ operating expenditure. In 2023-24 SLOW will be dependent on approximately £173K income to sustain its activities therefore the reserves figure equates to £38K. At this level the Trustees believe that they would be able to continue the current activities of the charity in the event of a significant drop in funding while seeking to replace the funding or alternatively wind the charity down. The main concerns of the boards are to ensure that the team can continue working to either secure new funding or close the charity and to support members move onto other services. The SLOW trustees review this policy annually.
SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
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## **THE SLOW TEAM 2022-23**
## **Personnel**
Our support services in 2022-23 were delivered by a team of ten facilitators and an army of volunteers.
We recruited Kate Walsh and Amber Dobinson to facilitate bereaved parent support groups and Michael Ward stepped down from his role as SLOWsibs 18+ facilitator.
- **Sara Portnoy** provided clinical supervision for the facilitators.
- **Lizette, Mollie and Shivani** from the University of Herts evaluated SLOW support.
- And finally, **our Trustees** who continued to donate their time voluntarily to sustain SLOW at a governance level with passion and commitment for the work we do.
## **Our Volunteers**
21 committed volunteers helped SLOW’s work by offering their time and skills. Special mentions should be given to the following volunteers who have dedicated their time in 2022-23: -
- **Susie Hanson** facilitated our Wednesday, and monthly evening support groups.
- **Nic Whitworth** and **Tim Whitworth** volunteered as facilitators at the monthly support groups.
- **Michael Ward** facilitated at the adult sibling support groups.
- **Liz Cancea** and **Maria Wojszwillo** assisted the facilitators at the North London weekly group.
- **Laura Anderson** , **Lisa Barnett** , **Mandi Tolga** , F **atima Fofanah** and **Sarah Shaw** have all assisted at the sibling workshops.
## **Training and Support**
Across the year we further developed our own **in-house facilitation and trustee induction training** . The team also attended external **training courses** provided from a variety of organisations for example Child Bereavement UK, The Big Alliance, Charity Digital and NICABM.
11 **Reflective Practice Groups** , ran throughout the year, attended by the growing team of support group facilitators. Meetings are structured to facilitate reflective feedback on group working, co-facilitation and peer support, sharing of ideas, presentation of material and training. These sessions are held in addition to facilitators’ clinical supervision.
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
THE SLOW TEAM 2022-23
Kelly Carter - Business and Development Manager
Nikki Peterson - Bereavement Support Services Manager and Facilitator
Nicola Whitworth - Founder and Support Group Fa¢llltstor
Susie Hanson - Founder and Support Group Fac511tator
Tim Whitworth - Trustee and Support Group Facilitator
Erica Stewart- Support Group Facilitstor
Hattie Deards- Support Group Facllltator
Shushma Jain - Support Group Facllltator
Amber Dobinson - Support Group Facilltator
Kate Walsh Support Group Facilitator
SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
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## **THE SLOW TRUSTEE TEAM 2022-23**
## **Pippa Murray - Chair of Trustees**
Pippa joined SLOW as a Trustee in 2012. She has a background in central government, having held a number of senior posts in HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs. Pippa was also a member of Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Transformation Board between 2008-2012. She was a Trustee of the Brain Tumour Charity between 2008-2022. She is also a non-executive director of Dasic Marine Limited, a marine engineering business. Pippa’s 15-month old son, Lawrence, was diagnosed with a brain tumour and she cared for him until he passed away in September 2007 aged 3 years 9 months. She was an early member of SLOW.
## **Tim Whitworth - Secretary**
Tim has many years’ experience working with the public sector and supporting and advising new and small enterprises. A qualified training practitioner and executive coach, he worked with the Office for Public Management for over 9 years and now has his own consultancy and training practice. Tim has used his personal experience of the diagnosis and loss of his daughter Naomi in running a bereaved dads support group, dads.care since 2011.
## **Cicilia Wan - Treasurer (from June 2022)**
Cicilia works for a bank in the City of London as a Human Resources Executive. She was introduced to SLOW through The East London Business Alliance, which connects local charities with workers at major institutions with an interest in volunteering.
Cicilia has a background in Human Resources, and her career has taken her all around the world. As a mother, Cicilia has deep appreciation for the lifeline that SLOW extends to bereaved parents and is proud to support the work they do.
## **Kieran Hull – Treasurer (until June 2022)**
Kieran works at MUFG, a Japanese bank in the City of London. He was introduced to SLOW through The Big Alliance. Kieran has a background in finance and is keen to get involved in treasury work for charities. As a child, he regularly attended Cruse events, where he gained an interest for organisations helping those with bereavement.
## **Samara Stevens – Trustee**
Samara is a chartered accountant with a 12-year career spanning financial services, transport and the NHS. She also brings a diversity lens to the charity’s operational and strategic goals. She was drawn to SLOW due to the loss of her best friend at a young age and her continued relationship with his bereaved parents. She was matched with SLOW through The Big Alliance.
## **Paresh Pithiya – Trustee**
Paresh was looking to get involved with a charity where he could make a long-lasting difference. He was drawn to the lifeline SLOW provides when parents and siblings cannot see how to move forward with life. Paresh understands the trauma of losing a child having lost his daughter in 2014. Paresh joined SLOW as a Trustee in December 2021 to help the charity grow and reach more people who are suffering from their loss of their child or sibling.
## **Elise Soucie – Trustee**
Elise is an Associate Director at the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) in their Technology and Operations Division leading on Digital Assets and Data Strategy. She has a background in technology, policy, and finance, has also previously held roles in other charitable organisations, and aims to utilise this experience as a SLOW trustee. Throughout her life she experienced loss of her cousins as a child, nearly losing her own brother to cancer, and loss of a close friend to overdose while in university. These experiences with bereavement drew her to SLOW who she was introduced to SLOW through The Big Alliance.
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
## **GOVERNANCE**
SLOW was founded in 2007 by Nic Whitworth and Susie Hanson and became a registered unincorporated charity in 2015. The trustees agreed that the charity should change its charitable structure in 2021 and we are in the process of becoming a CIO in 2023.
## **Organisational Structure**
The trustee board meets at least four times per year to agree the strategy and activities of the charity and to review the finances, fundraising and risks. All Trustees give their time voluntarily and no trustee remuneration was paid in the year. Day-to-day operations and management are delegated to the Business and Development Manager and the Bereavement Support Services Manager who both regularly report to Chair of Trustees on performance and operations.
## **Recruitment / Appointment of Trustees**
The objective is to have a range of Trustees with skillsets relevant to the activities of the charity. The skills of the existing Trustees are taken into consideration when recruiting new Trustees and skills / diversity gaps identified. SLOW recruits Trustees through a variety of means, either they are approached personally, the positions are advertised, or they are recruited via the Big Alliance.
New applicants are interviewed by existing Trustees and appointed at one of the trustee board meetings throughout the year. All new Trustees are given induction training and are DBS checked.
## **Risk Management**
Trustees adopt a risk appraisal and mitigation approach as part of future development. The SLOW risk register is reviewed annually. The major risks for the charity in and mitigating actions in 2023-24 are:
## **Finance and Fundraising**
In order to ensure that there is back up for the Business and Development Manager in terms of finance and fundraising responsibilities, actions were agreed including: implementation of accounting software, developing a customer relationship strategy and securing assistance with finance and book-keeping duties.
## **Confidentiality and Data**
In 2023 SLOW plans to implement a new CRM. This risk has been temporarily highlighted while the migration of data – emails and member data – is transferred to a new system.
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
## **THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS**
SLOW would like to thank its employees, contractors, volunteers, trustees and our patrons for their hard work and dedication. None of our work would be possible without the support of our new and continuing funders listed below.
We are especially proud of the fundraising events organised by our members and are extremely grateful for donations from our members, their friends and families.
## **Thank you**
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
## **GET IN TOUCH**
Anyone who is a bereaved parent, bereaved adult sibling (18+) or young bereaved sibling (6-15 years) can attend our support groups and workshops. Referrals can be made directly, or we can be contacted by a family member or health professional. Our Bereavement Support Services Manager will contact the bereaved parent / sibling within a few days to arrange a convenient time to phone and discuss how the SLOW groups may be able to help.
## **Get in Touch**
**slowgroup.co.uk @slowsupport https://www.facebook.com/slowsupport https://www.facebook.com/groups/slowgroup/ @slowgroup**
**Bereaved Parents and Young Siblings Referrals**
**07532 423 674 info@slowgroup.co.uk**
**Bereaved Adult Siblings Referrals**
**07506 272 309 adultsibs@slowgroup.co.uk**
**Any Other Enquiries (including Fundraising and Donations)**
**07734 577407 admin@slowgroup.co.uk**
**https://www.justgiving.com/slowgroup**
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SLOW Annual Report 2022-23
**1161337**
**SLOW - Surviving the Loss of Your World**
**CC16a**
## **Receipts and payments accounts**
**For the period from** 01/02/2022 **To** 31/01/2023
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**41,500**
**1,000**
**40,063**
**1,014**
**28,064**
**1,004**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**41,500**
**1,000**
**40,063**
**1,014**
**28,064**
**1,004**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**28,929**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**28,929**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**70,429**
**1,000**
**40,063**
**1,014**
**28,064**
**1,004**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**70,429**
**1,000**
**40,063**
**1,014**
**28,064**
**1,004**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Grants|**41,500**||**28,929**||**-**||**70,429**||**28,429**|
|Charitable Retail Schemes|**1,000**||**-**||**-**||**1,000**||**333**|
|Fundraising|**40,063**||**-**||**-**||**40,063**||**17,498**|
|Individual Donations|**1,014**||**-**||**-**||**1,014**||**1,724**|
|Donations from Organisations|**28,064**||**-**||**-**||**28,064**||**15,005**|
|Group voluntary donations|**1,004**||**-**||**-**||**1,004**||**402**|
|**_Sub total(Gross income for AR)_**|**112,645**||**28,929**||**-**||**141,574**||**63,392**|
||**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**|||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).**||||||||||
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**||||||||||
||**112,645**||**28,929**||**-**||**141,574**||**63,392**|
||**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**42,257**
**11,579**
**2,827**
**-**
**646**
**536**
**596**
**-**
**1,002**
**130**
**1,610**
**328**
**4,344**
**-**
**53**
**762**
**439**
**201**
**-**
**-**
**699**||**Restricted**
**funds**
**9,929**
**11,264**
**-**
**1,948**
**20**
**167**
**1,580**
**523**
**508**
**-**
**833**
**775**
**-**
**192**
**413**
**267**
**1,000**
**20**
**-**
**370**
**-**||**Endowment**
**funds**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**Total funds**
**52,186**
**22,843**
**2,827**
**1,948**
**666**
**702**
**2,176**
**523**
**1,511**
**130**
**2,443**
**1,103**
**4,344**
**192**
**466**
**1,029**
**1,439**
**221**
**-**
**370**
**699**||**Last year**|
|Salaries and NICs|**42,257**||**9,929**||**-**||**52,186**||**21,428**|
|Sessional workers|**11,579**||**11,264**||**-**||**22,843**||**36,958**|
|Pensions|**2,827**||**-**||||**2,827**||**1,211**|
|Supervision|**-**||**1,948**||||**1,948**||**1,720**|
|Support group workshop refreshments|**646**||**20**||**-**||**666**||**248**|
|Sibs workshop materials|**536**||**167**||**-**||**702**||**324**|
|Premises rental|**596**||**1,580**||**-**||**2,176**||**993**|
|Professional development, events and training|**-**||**523**||**-**||**523**||**571**|
|Home phone, broadband, and mobile|**1,002**||**508**||**-**||**1,511**||**1,424**|
|IT expenses|**130**||**-**||||**130**||**216**|
|Marketing - website and publicity|**1,610**||**833**||**-**||**2,443**||**2,602**|
|Volunteer Expenses|**328**||**775**||**-**||**1,103**||**742**|
|Fundraising Expenses|**4,344**||**-**||**-**||**4,344**||**736**|
|Travel|**-**||**192**||**-**||**192**||**210**|
|Stationery, books, postage and equipment|**53**||**413**||**-**||**466**||**288**|
|Insurance and compliance|**762**||**267**||**-**||**1,029**||**474**|
|Trustee board development and expenses|**439**||**1,000**||**-**||**1,439**||**-**|
|Meeting expenses and gifts|**201**||**20**||**-**||**221**||**309**|
|Recruitment|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**345**|
|Evaluation and Focus Groups|**-**||**370**||**-**||**370**||**826**|
|Events - Anniversary|**699**||**-**||||**699**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**68,008**||**29,810**||||**97,818**||**71,624**|
||**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**|||
|**A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see**
**table)**||||||||||
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|||
|**_Sub total_ **|**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**||||||||||
||**68,008**||**29,810**||**-**||**97,818**||**71,624**|
|||||||||||
||**44,637**||**- 881**||**-**||**43,757**|||
||||||||**-**|||
||**47,236**||**1,092**||||**48,328**|||
||**91,873**||**211**||**-**||**92,084**|||
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
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## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees of SLOW - SUPPORTING BEREAVED PARENTS AND SIBLINGS**
**I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the SLOW - SUPPORTING BEREAVED PARENTS AND SIBLINGS (SLOW) for the year ended 31 January 2023.The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis and are set out in the standard Charity Commission format.**
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
**As the charity trustees of SLOW you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act').**
**I report in respect of my examination of SLOWs accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.**
## **Basis of independent examiner's report**
**An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.**
## **Independent examiner's sta ement**
**In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:**
**(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect:**
- **accounting records were not kept in respect of SLOW as required by section 130 of the Act; or**
- **the accounts do not accord with those records; or**
**(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.**
## **Signed:**
## **�**
**Name: Relevant professional qualification: Address: Date:**
**Matthew Emmerson**
**Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)**
**35 Cranbome Crescent, Potters Bar, Herts, EN6 3AD, UK**
**29 September 2023**