| Trustees' Annual Report | Trustees' Annual Report | Trustees' Annual Report | Trustees' Annual Report | Trustees' Annual Report | for theperiod | for theperiod | for theperiod | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **From ** | Period start date | To | Period end date | |||||
| 01 | 11 | 2024 | 31 | 10 | 2025 |
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 (ifany) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document
To relieve the needs of children with disabilities and their families by the provision of grants and financial assistance to adapt their home to accommodate the child’s needs as a way of improving their quality of life within their home environment.
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| 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 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. 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)
| Youmay chooseto include further statements, where relevant, about: •policy on grantmaking; •policy programme related investment; •contribution made by volunteers. |
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) offered by UK County Councils for making disability adaptations to a home. Applying for a DFG is a detailed process and upon approval by the relevant local authority and child’s medical teams, is sufficient qualification for applying for financial assistance and support from Sullivan’s Heroes. Qualification for support from Sullivan’s Heroes is also obtained through communications with NHS Occupational Therapy and medical teams, community nursing teams and with a requirement of a written report or letter of referral from such organisations for application to the charity. Sullivan’s Heroes also requires detailed quotations from suppliers and contractors 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. |
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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.
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
The trustees report the number of applicants has remained consistent and as Summary of the main predicted in relation to the previous year, with 22 projects supported in this achievements of the charity financial year. during the 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 £4,000 to over £110,000 per project; with the majority requiring between £35,000 to £50,000 to meet the shortfall. Events and fundraising for families have remained slow. 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. Many external charities previously used for sourcing funding 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 2024 to 31st October 2025, the charity received 22 applications from families with disabled children. All 22 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 10 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 2 of these grants paid out were to applicants who applied within the same year timeframe of 1st November 2024 to 31st October 2025. The other 8 grants were paid to applicants who applied during the previous financial year of 1st November 2023 to 31st October 2024. These projects to which the grants have been paid out are now completed, many of which are featured in the completed projects area of the charity’s website at: https://www.sullivansheroes.org/who-we-are-helping/who-weve-helped/
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Section D Achievements and performance
13 of the 22 applicant’s families are fundraising through the Sullivan’s Heroes website to raise additional funds towards their home adaptations, representing an increase on the previous year – with 59% of the families signed up with the charity engaging in fundraising with the charity’s support, compared to 43% in the prior year. This is encouraging to see given the cost-of-living fears of families, although once the pages are set up some families are less inclined to actively fundraise from the general public 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 80 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 charity’s policy on reserves
Sullivan’s Heroes operates a Reserves Policy to maintain a Financial Reserves Fund to provide financial stability for operational costs and future grant allocations for the proceeding 12 months.
At the financial year end of 31/10/25 there is a Financial Reserves Fund in place of £60,336.
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:
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the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
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how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
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investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
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.
Funds have also been raised from events which either the charity attends, or external sources participate in on the charity’s behalf. Individual families and their friends, family and colleagues have undertaken multiple challenges and events towards their target over the course of their fundraising. The general financial climate and cost-of-living concerns experienced during this year’s timeframe has reduced the number of individual families fundraising publicly, though families have still been successful in obtaining donations from the general public where they have proceeded with fundraising activities.
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 has increased by 15% to £161,093 in this financial year, compared with £139,627 in the previous year. Total expenditure decreased by 25%, from the previous year, including Grants and funds paid to applicants, with £177,327 expenditure compared with £236,526 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. 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 highlights the life-changing differences and benefits achieved by these vital 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 Helen Broderick Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)[Secretary ] Chair Date 27/08/2026
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the truste members of SULLIVAN'S HEROES On accounts for the year ended 4111(Y2025 Charity no Irf any) 116121 Set out on pages Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements: Pages 14 Receipts and Payments Accounts (Form CC16a): Pages 1-2 I report to Ihe trustees on my examination of the ¥cots of ts above arity rthe Trusf) for the ar ended 3111012025. Responsibilities and As Ihe tharity trustees of the Tru are respmsible for tt)e preparation basis of report of the accounts in a(X0rd the requiremerrts of Ihe Chartlies Act 2011 fthe A<f. I reFQrt in resped of my exaninatirm of Ihe Trusys accounts carried out urmjer section 145 of the 2011 Ad and in (2rrying out my examinatson, I have followed Ihe appli&2ble Diredions given by Ihe Chanty C(xnmission urwjer section 145(5){b) of the ACL I have completed my eXamation. I confim that no material matters have come to my attention in connecticn the examination vthith gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. accounting records wern not kept in ac£ordanc8 wth section 130 of the Act or Independent examinerfs statement I have no COnM$ and have come acxoss no other matters in connection ryth the examination to vthich attention shId be drawn in order to enable proper understandng of the accounts to be reathed. . Please (*lete the woth in the brackets if do rn)t appty. Signed: Date: 2 August 2026 Name". Flppa Forde Relevant professional qualifi&itionls) or body (rf any): AAT Level 3 IAB Addre. 45 Thorpe Roal Pudsey LS28 7NG IER October 2018
REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1163021
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2025
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 2025
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 2025
| 2025 | 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INCOMING RESOURCES | ||||
| Bank Interest Earned | 808 | 1,395 | ||
| Easy Fundraising | 132 | 185 | ||
| Ebay | 0 | 0 | ||
| Fund Raising Events | 0 | 0 | ||
| Gift Aid received | 4,289 | 7,866 | ||
| Gifts and Donations Income | 146,222 | 135,058 | ||
| Grants | 9,575 | -4,905 | ||
| Sales | 66 | 27 | ||
| 161,092 | 139,627 | |||
| COSTS OF INCOMING RESOURCES | ||||
| Events | 0 | 70 | ||
| Just Giving Fees | 584 | 1,173 | ||
| Other charges/Fees | 0 | 24 | ||
| Grants Pledged by SH | 9,575 | -1,211 | ||
| 10,159 | 56 | |||
| OPERATING COSTS | ||||
| Accounting fees | 707 | 364 | ||
| Bank Charges | 116 | 107 | ||
| Fundraising Equipment | 0 | 23 | ||
| IT Costs | 5,950 | 4,449 | ||
| Office Expense | 129 | 459 | ||
| Phone costs | 202 | 270 | ||
| Platform fees from Just Giving | 562 | 562 | ||
| Postage and Delivery | 4 | 57 | ||
| Professional Fees | 0 | 132 | ||
| Salaries and Wages | 23,400 | 23,228 | ||
| Pension | 936 | 577 | ||
| 32,005 | 30,229 | |||
| GRANTS AND PAYMENTS TO FAMILIES | ||||
| Funds paid to families | 125,588 | 198,241 | ||
| Grants paid to families | 9,575 | 8,000 | ||
| 135,163 | 206,241 | |||
| NET INCOMING RECOURCES | -16,235 | -96,899 | ||
| RESERVES BROUGHT FORWARD | 123,635 | 220,534 | ||
| RESERVES CARRIED FORWARD | 107,400 | 123,635 | ||
| REPRESENTED BY | ||||
| Main bank account | 52,927 | 64,370 | ||
| Business Reserve account | 55,353 | 59,893 | ||
| Uncleared Bank Deposit | 0 | 0 | ||
| Less Creditors A/C Payable | -880 | -627 | ||
| Cash at Bank | 107,400 | 123,635 | ||
| Page3 | of4 |
FUNDS
Unrestricted Funds General Funds 1,997 3,241 Financial Reserve funds 50,102 60,570 Restricted Funds Allocated monies for Families 55,301 59,824 Total Funds 107,400 123,635
These financial statements are a true reflection of the financial position of the charity for the period ended 31 October 2025. The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 27/08/2026 and were signed on its behalf by:
27/08/2026 ........................................................................ ........................................................................ 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 |
01/11/2024 Period start date |
To | 31/10/2025 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 |
- | 140,320 | - | 140,320 | 116,820 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sullivan's Heroes General Fund | 20,773 | - | - | 20,773 | 22,807 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 20,773 | 140,320 | - | 161,093 | 139,627 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||||||
| 139,627 | |||||||||
Supported Families |
- | 144,843 | - | 144,843 | 205,186 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sullivan's Heroes General Fund | 32,484 | - | - | 32,484 | 31,340 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | 32,484 | 144,843 | - | 177,327 | 236,526 | ||||
| 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 |
|||||||||
| 236,526 | |||||||||
| - 11,711 | - 96,899 | ||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| 63,811 | 220,534 | ||||||||
| 52,100 | 123,635 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
27/08/2026
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unre5trirtÈd Restrictwd funds Endowment Catsgori85 Details funds funds to rnarest £ to rw8rÈ5t t to tarest É B1 Cash funds 52.ID 55.301 Total cash fiv 52.100 55,301 Unr8Stiicted funds Restricted fund$ Endowment fund5 to r¥st £ Details iD rreSt£ to r¢ar¢sl £ Clwrert val Detalls belry B3 Investment assets elrrf C05t I"cl} CLrret val D•tai B4 Assets retained for the charity's own use tOwl*eh liability r•lal•s Detall$ B5 LiabilTties Sun&(5 by one ortKO trustees on behaK of al the thjstees S¥Jnature Print Naffle Date of approval F. SMIl¥l CCXX R2 accounts ISSI 2710812026