Trustees' Annual Report for the period
| Period start date | Period start date | Period end date | Period end date | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | 01 | 11 | 2023 | To | 31 | 10 | 2024 |
Section A Reference and administration details
Charity name Sullivan’s Heroes
Other names charity is known by
Registered charity number (if any) 1163021
Charity's principal address 74 Selsfield Road Turners Hill West Sussex Postcode RH10 4PW
Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
| 1 2 3 4 5 |
Trustee name | Office (if any) | Dates acted if not for whole year |
Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiona Smith | Secretary | |||
| Richard Smith | Treasurer | |||
| Helen Broderick | Chair | |||
| Lia Lunn | ||||
| Amanda Cooper |
Section B Structure, governance and management
Description of the charity’s trusts
Constitution Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) Unincorporated Association How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) New trustees are appointed by the existing trustees and serve for one year after Trustee selection methods which they may put themselves forward for re-appointment. (eg. appointed by, elected by) All trustees give their time freely and no remuneration or expenses were paid in the year. Fiona Smith remains a Trustee whilst being employed as Operations Manager, as authorised by the Charity Commission and agreed with the Trustee Board.
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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.
Upon appointment, new trustees sign a Trustee Eligibility Declaration, committing to dedicating their time and expertise.
New trustees are given information including a history of the charity and its objects, a copy of the governing Constitution Document and a copy of the Charity Commission’s guidance ‘ The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do ’.
Previous years’ annual reports and accounts are discussed with trustees at trustee meetings, together with the broad strategy and areas of activity for the charity.
- A Conflicts of Interest Policy and Register of Interests is maintained and adhered to.
Section C Objectives and activities
To relieve the needs of children with disabilities and their families by the Summary of the objects of the provision of grants and financial assistance to adapt their home to charity set out in its accommodate the child’s needs as a way of improving their quality of life within governing document their home environment.
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Sullivan’s Heroes provides its fundraising platform and grant making policy to achieve its objects for the public benefit to improve the lives of disabled children, requiring significant adaptations to their homes, to ensure the children can continue to be cared for at home, safely and with dignity.
Together with raising funds towards grants for disabled children, Sullivan’s Heroes also enables families to promote fundraising activities for their child’s adaptations project should they wish to, by providing a website platform where public donations can be made.
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)
Sullivan’s Heroes accepts applications from families with disabled children requiring support. The families who apply need to adapt their homes to meet the medical and care requirements of their disabled child and require to raise funds to meet the costs where they are above the statutory Disabled Facilities Grants, and any additional discretionary funding, available from the local authority, and the costs cannot be met elsewhere.
The charity has carried out fundraising throughout the year to raise funds for grants, via fundraising activities, sourcing corporate donations and funding from charitable organisations, and through direct donations.
Trustees of Sullivan’s Heroes have had regard to the commission’s public benefit guidance, and this has been taken into account in all operations and decision making within the charity.
Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)
Families apply to Sullivan’s Heroes through an application process via the website or by direct email, phone or postal contact methods.
One of the qualifying criteria for approval of application is that the family requesting support has already applied for, been approved for and accessed the Disability Facilities Grant (DFG) or local authority funding offered by UK County Councils for making disability adaptations to a home.
You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:
Applying for a DFG is a detailed process and upon approval by the relevant local authority is sufficient qualification for applying for financial assistance and support from Sullivan’s Heroes.
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policy on grantmaking;
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policy programme related Qualification for support from Sullivan’s Heroes is also obtained through investment; communications with NHS Occupational Therapy and medical teams, community nursing teams and with a requirement of a written report or letter
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• contribution made by of referral from such organisations for application to the charity.
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volunteers.
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Sullivan’s Heroes also requires detailed quotations from suppliers for the building works for approval of application for support, together with details of the DFG funding and any additional funding awarded from the local authority.
The monies Sullivan’s Heroes raises through various fundraising activities are continually monitored to ensure a sufficient number of families with disabled children can be supported through the awarding of grants.
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The website platform has the capacity to assist all families who successfully apply, by enabling them to conduct their own fundraising through the web platform should they choose to.
As agreed by the Board of Trustees and authorised by the Charity Commission as being in the interests of the charity to do so, Fiona Smith has been employed as Operations Manager of Sullivan’s Heroes since 18/05/2020 whilst retaining her position as Trustee of the charity, as one of the co-founders.
A Conflicts of Interest Policy has been established together with a Register of Interests and will be adhered to by all trustees accordingly.
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Section D Achievements and performance
Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year
The trustees report the number of applicants has increased in relation to the previous year, with 23 projects supported in this financial year. Building costs have continued to rise compared to previous years, impacting the adaptation projects and significantly affecting the families supported by Sullivans Heroes. Funds required to meet the shortfall above local authority funding awarded to each project, family savings and Sullivan’s Heroes Grants range from £2,000 to over £100,000 per project; with the majority requiring £30,000 to £40,000 to meet the shortfall.
Events and fundraising for families have remained slower than previous years. General concerns about the cost of living may have made people more reticent about asking for money through fundraising. Whilst families seemed willing to fundraise through JustGiving and have set up fundraising pages to this end, the families seem more hesitant to share the pages and ask for donations with the challenging financial climate during this period. Families have required significant support due to building cost increases over the previous years, increasing the costs for many of the projects undertaken, whilst the local authority grant funding has remained static with no increase in the amounts awarded to the projects.
Some external charities previously used for sourcing funding have closed or have exhausted their available funding, whilst others are still able to help on an ad-hoc basis. Many are oversubscribed for support periodically, leading to some rejections, or the organisations are temporarily closed to applications for a set period of time. Some organisations revise their eligibility criteria around the funding use on a regular basis to maximise their audience of applicants they can support, requiring strict adherence to specific funding use criteria. Some support was still available for ad-hoc applications through these avenues where the funding use meets the eligibility criteria. Some organisations are advising time constraints on re-applying for funding, to allow them to assist a greater number of beneficiaries over a set timeframe and protect their funds available, therefore the number of organisations available for funding support is reduced. During the period from 1st November 2023 to 31st October 2024, the charity received 23 applications from families with disabled children. All 23 applicants were placed on a waitlist for a Grant, to be pledged closer to the start of their building projects from unrestricted funds available. A total of 7 grants were paid to applicant’s families during this period for projects underway or nearing completion. The remainder of the applicants continue to fundraise towards their targets. Due to the length of time for some of the projects to get underway and completed, only 5 of these grants paid out were to applicants who applied within the same year timeframe of 1st November 2023 to 31st October 2024. 1 of the grants was paid to an applicant who applied during the previous financial year of 1st November 2022 to 31st October 2023; whilst 1 of the grants was paid to an applicant who applied to the charity in the year time period ending 31st October 2022. These projects to which the grants have been paid out are now completed, many of which are featured in the completed
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Section D Achievements and performance
- projects area of the charity’s website at: https://www.sullivansheroes.org/who we-are-helping/who-weve-helped/ 10 of the 23 applicant’s families are fundraising through the Sullivan’s Heroes website to raise additional funds towards their home adaptations, representing a slight decrease on the previous year – with 43% of the families signed up with the charity engaging in fundraising with the charity’s support, compared to 47% in the prior year. This decline might be attributed to the cost-of-living fears of families, making them less inclined to actively fundraise in the financial climate. The charity has provided all the families with fundraising support and information to enable them to reach their targets, and actively sought additional funding to successfully fund and complete their projects. The charity has also provided information to 74 additional families in this financial year, and their relevant Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and other support workers, relating to home adaptations and accessing council grant funding where appropriate. Applications have been received direct from families and through referrals from medical, council, social services and housing agency professionals, plus referrals via other charitable organisations. Many families are also being referred to the charity via previous families supported by Sullivan’s Heroes, and their relevant Occupational Therapists. Sullivan’s Heroes has sourced further funding towards the applicants’ home adaptations through charitable organisations. The charity has enabled the full funds required for the projects to be reached. Without Sullivan’s Heroes support to secure this funding and aid the fundraising these projects would not be able to proceed, and the beneficiaries’ home disability adaptations would not be put in place to meet their care and health requirements. Completed projects can be viewed on the charity’s website at: https://www.sullivansheroes.org/who-we-are-helping/who-weve-helped/ with photos of the completed adaptations provided by the family, together with information from the family about the impact and differences the adaptations have made for their child. Some families have also provided information for full case studies which are available on the website at: https://www.sullivansheroes.org/aboutus/resources/#case-studies, detailing how the fundraising was carried out, and explaining the benefits which Sulivan’s Heroes has brought them throughout their fundraising and adaptations process.
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Section E Financial review
Brief statement of the Sullivan’s Heroes operates a Reserves Policy to maintain a Financial Reserves charity’s policy on reserves Fund to provide financial stability for operational costs and future grant allocations for the proceeding 12 months. At the financial year end of 31/10/24 there is a Financial Reserves Fund in place of £60,102. Sullivan’s Heroes’ policies ensure that all monies raised for its supported families are reserved within restricted funds. Details of any funds materially There are no funds materially in deficit. in deficit
Further financial review details (Optional information)
You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:
The charity’s main principal sources of funds are from donations either made to the charity as a whole or as restricted funds direct to a specific child whom the charity is supporting.
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the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
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Funds have also been raised from events which either the charity attends, or
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any fundraising); external sources participate in on the charity’s behalf. Individual families and
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• how expenditure has their friends, family and colleagues have undertaken multiple challenges and supported the key objectives events towards their target over the course of their fundraising. The general of the charity; financial climate and cost-of-living concerns experienced during this year’s
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• investment policy and timeframe has reduced the number of individual families fundraising publicly, objectives including any though families have still been successful in obtaining donations from the ethical investment policy general public where they have proceeded with fundraising activities. adopted. Direct donations from corporates and other charitable organisations remain similar with the previous year, whilst JustGiving donations decreased by half year on year.
The overall income of the charity decreased by 29% to £139,627 in this financial year, compared with £197,092 in the previous year. Total expenditure increased by 79%, from the previous year, including Grants and funds paid to applicants, with £236,526 expenditure compared with £132,466 in the previous financial year. The comparatively increased expenditure is a result of payments being made for some large building projects, which has been fundraised for in the previous financial year.
The charity continues to operate in an entirely online presence. Charity expenditure is kept to a minimum. Salary paid to Fiona Smith for employment as Operations Manager as of 18/05/20 has been intentionally kept to a minimum level comparable to similar roles. Other expenditure is to cover running costs for the website, events, office software and third-party fees associated with online fundraising portals.
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Section F Other optional information
The Trustees of Sullivan’s Heroes are pleased with the achievements of the charity over the course of the year, especially in a cautious and challenging financial climate. The number of charity applicants has remained similar year on year, and the families supported during this period have required and received the additional support from the charity to meet their requirements for their adaptation projects.
Whilst the overall funds raised this financial year has reduced year on year, the grants and funds awarded to these beneficiaries has remained consistent with the charity’s objectives, and the charity has successfully continued to support every eligible applicant to the charity.
As awareness of the charity continues to grow the Trustees look forward to supporting an increased number of beneficiaries in the future.
As with previous years’ reporting, it continues to be encouraging to see the number of medical, council and housing agency professionals who know of the charity and are directing their clients to apply to the charity; together with other charitable organisations referring families to apply to the charity.
The benefits which the adaptation projects bring to the children who the charity is supporting are reported and documented on the charity’s website once the projects are completed.
These website articles all contain wording, quotes, photos and videos supplied by the families supported, with full permission for usage, compiled from Feedback Forms provided to each family on completion of their project. The articles offer valuable insight and understanding into the impact each project has brought to the child, and highlighting the life-changing differences and benefits achieved by these home adaptations.
These articles and case studies can be found at:
Who we’ve helped: https://www.sullivansheroes.org/who-we-are-helping/who-weve-helped/
Case Studies: https://www.sullivansheroes.org/about-us/resources/#case-studies
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) Fiona Smith Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)[Secretary ]
Helen Broderick
Chair
Date 26/04/2025
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WAIES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts ¢tlon A Independ•nt Examlrnrfs R•port Report to the trusteesl member5 of SULLIVAN'S HEROES On accounts for the year ended 31111Y2024 Charity no (if any) 1163021 Set out on pages Report of the Twslees and Finanaal Stalements: Pages 14 Receipts and Payments Accounts (Fomi CC16a).' Pages 1-2 I report to Ihe Iruslees on my examination OF Ihe accounts of the above charity {-ihe Ttustl for the year ended 3111012024. Responsibilities and As the thanly trusl&s of the TfU5t, you are responsible for the prEparatn basis of rEPOrt of Ihe accounts In aCCOfdance vath the requirements of the Chants"es Ad 2011 {'Ihe Act") I report in respect ol my examination of the Trust's accounts carTTed out under secti¢)n 145 01 the 2011 Ad and in carrying out my examinatson. I have followed Ihe applicable Direclions given by the Chanty Cornmission under section 145{5}{b) of the Act I have completed my examination. l Confirm 1hat no material matters have come lo my attenlicft in connecb.on wth the examinalpjn which gives me cause to believe Ihal in. any malerial respecL' accounting records not kept in accordance ryth section 130 of the Act or the accounts do Th)t accord with Ihe accotir records Independent examinerfs statement I have no concems and have come across no olher matters in connection wilh ihe examination lo which attents'on should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reathed. Signed: Date: 2- Marth 2025 Name: Pippa Forde Relevant professional AAT Level 3 qualificationlsl or body IAB (if any): Address: 8 Dean House Gale Allerton BradFord BD15 8HF IER October 2018
REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1163021
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2024
FOR
SULLIVAN’S HEROES
Richard Smith, Treasurer Sullivan’s Heroes 74 Selsfield Road Turners Hill West Sussex RH10 4PW
SULLIVAN’S HEROES
CHARITY INFORMATION FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2024
TRUSTEES: Mr Richard Smith Mrs Fiona Smith Mrs Lia Lunn Mrs Helen Broderick Ms Amanda Cooper REGISTERED OFFICE: 74 Selsfield Road Turners Hill Crawley RH10 4PW CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1163021
Page 2 of 4
SULLIVAN'S HEROES STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2024
| 2024 | 2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INCOMING RESOURCES | ||||
| Bank Interest Earned | 1,395 | 1,014 | ||
| Easy Fundraising | 185 | 146 | ||
| Ebay | 0 | 0 | ||
| Fund Raising Events | 0 | 0 | ||
| Gift Aid received | 7,866 | 16,137 | ||
| Gifts and Donations Income | 135,058 | 170,197 | ||
| Grants | -4,905 | 2,503 | ||
| Sales | 27 | 7,096 | ||
| 139,627 | 197,092 | |||
| COSTS OF INCOMING RESOURCES | ||||
| Events | 70 | 0 | ||
| Just Giving Fees | 1,173 | 2,277 | ||
| Other charges/Fees | 24 | 20 | ||
| Grants Pledged by SH | -1,211 | 2,503 | ||
| 56 | 4,801 | |||
| OPERATING COSTS | ||||
| Accounting fees | 364 | 412 | ||
| Bank Charges | 107 | 136 | ||
| Fundraising Equipment | 23 | 10 | ||
| IT Costs | 4,449 | 5,291 | ||
| Office Expense | 459 | 18 | ||
| Phone costs | 270 | 277 | ||
| Platform fees from Just Giving | 562 | 562 | ||
| Postage and Delivery | 57 | 160 | ||
| Professional Fees | 132 | 0 | ||
| Salaries and Wages | 23,228 | 17,165 | ||
| Pension | 577 | 328 | ||
| 30,229 | 24,357 | |||
| GRANTS AND PAYMENTS TO FAMILIES | ||||
| Funds paid to families | 198,241 | 89,557 | ||
| Grants paid to families | 8,000 | 13,751 | ||
| 206,241 | 103,308 | |||
| NET INCOMING RECOURCES | -96,899 | 64,626 | ||
| RESERVES BROUGHT FORWARD | 220,534 | 155,908 | ||
| RESERVES CARRIED FORWARD | 123,635 | 220,534 | ||
| REPRESENTED BY | ||||
| Main bank account | 64,370 | 68,274 | ||
| Business Reserve account | 59,893 | 148,369 | ||
| Uncleared Bank Deposit | 0 | 4,250 | ||
| Less Creditors A/C Payable | -627 | -360 | ||
| Cash at Bank | 123,635 | **220,534 ** |
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FUNDS
Unrestricted Funds General Funds 3,241 11,774 Financial Reserve funds 60,570 60,570 Restricted Funds Allocated monies for Families 59,824 148,190 Total Funds 123,635 220,534
These financial statements are a true reflection of the financial position of the charity for the period ended 31 October 2024. The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 26/04/2025 and were signed on its behalf by:
26/04/2025 ........................................................................ ........................................................................ Mrs Fiona Smith – Trustee Date
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| Charity Name | No (if any) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sullivan's Heroes | 1163021 | ||||
| Receipts andpayments accounts | CC16a | ||||
| For the period from |
01/11/2023 Period start date |
To | 31/10/2024 Period end date |
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
||||
Supported Families |
116,820 | - | 116,820 | 152,543 | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sullivan's Heroes General Fund | 22,807 | - | - | 22,807 | 44,549 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 22,807 | 116,820 | - | 139,627 | 197,092 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
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| 197,092 | |||||||||
Payments to supported Families |
- | 205,186 | - | 205,186 | 103,615 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sullivan's Heroes General Fund | 31,340 | - | - | 31,340 | 28,852 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | 31,340 | 205,186 | - | 236,526 | 132,466 | ||||
| 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 |
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| 132,466 | |||||||||
| - 8,533 | 64,626 | ||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| 72,343 | 155,908 | ||||||||
| 63,811 | 220,534 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
08/04/2025
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period UnRstri¢ted Re¥tfiCted funds Endcwm•nt Catggorles Details funds fund5 to nvdrest £ to nearÈst £ to r?r8%t £ B1 Cashfunds .811 59,824 Totalcash furtds 63.811 59,B24 Unrestricted funds to #r¢st e Restricted funds Endowmenl funds to rarest £ Detall$ tonyarest £ Cwrert value D¢tails •t IiLYAII B3 Inv8strnent assets telc•Js C<6t {ONlc¢MII Wdl IWtYo11 Dotalls B4 Assets retained for the charity'$ own use Vthèn d DetaÉls Itaiility relates B5 Liabilitias Sed by one or iwo tW5tees on b8haK of all the trustees SiJnature Ftrt N8m8 Date of approval CCXX P2 accounts ISSI 3010412025