# Family First Charity Commission Report Year Ending March 2025
Submited to Charity Commission Sept 2025
1
## Who we are
Family First are a Christian charity who support families in the Ipswich area to make small changes which make big impacts on family life. Our primary offer is to mentor parents and carers to reach agreed goals to improve family life. We help improve mental wellbeing, build confidence and increase social and support networks.
Family First was set up by a group of Christians in Ipswich in 2013, originally known as Ipswich4family a franchisee of Yeovil4family. In 2016 we became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and in May 2017 we became an independent charity with a new name and renewed focus on the needs in our local area.
The Charity is led by a board of Trustees and a Management Team who possess a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience working in the public, private and voluntary sector. All have a passion to see vulnerable children and families supported to reach their full potential.
## Our Mission Statement:
Family First is a Christian charity who support families in Ipswich. Our staff and volunteers visit parents and carers to listen, support and encourage them to reach their agreed goals. We work with all families regardless of age, race, religion or cultural background.
Our aim is for parents and carers to increase their confidence, build social and support networks to reduce isolation, and improve mental wellbeing.
Our vision is to see families that are resilient, thriving, and happy.
## What we do
Our core offer is to increase the confidence, social support networks and mental wellbeing of parents and carers to see families thriving and happy. We do this by providing mentoring programmes. We talk with families and build a picture of what their life looks like now and how they would like to see it change. We then agree around 3 goals they would like to achieve through working with us. The allocated worker provides regular visits to listen, support and encourage the families, agreeing small steps or actions that can be taken each week which, over time, result in goals being met.
We work on an empowerment model which enables families to grow in confidence and equips them so, when our work comes to end, they are able to keep going and overcome future challenges.
2
## Social Impact
The support Family First offers, is primarily designed to have an early intervention impact. This means that by working with families, we can reduce the likelihood that they will go on to require input from statutory services such as Social Care thus reducing the financial cost to society.
We know that these services are seeing an ever-increasing demand on their time and resources and that they are looking to the charity and voluntary sector more and more to meet this need. We work closely with statutory and voluntary services to ensure the whole family receive holistic care. This could include, for example, referrals for support with finance and debt, domestic abuse or educational support services.
## Case Study F268
Self-referral for support with daughter’s anxiety, mum’s confidence and self-esteem. We helped Mum to look deeper into what was going on for her daughter and used a range of tailored tools such as visual resources and social stories. We worked on how to prepare their daughter for upcoming transitions to a new home and school. This was something she found difficult. Mum said her daughter is now positive about moving.
Our Family Worker supported Mum by giving written information about local SEN support services and working through our self-esteem pack. They concentrated on Mum looking after herself, having her own boundaries and being able to say no.
We have seen positive progress in the family, including Mum feeling confident about her parenting and her daughter being able to cope better with changes due to the support given. The family are aware of how to gain support from the school and what they can put in place to help. Her daughter attended her first residential at school which went well, and she enjoys attending Suffolk Family Carers sessions once a month.
At the beginning of Family First’s involvement Mum’s Self-esteem score was 16 and her statement score was 17. By the end of the support Mums self-esteem score had gone up to 27 and her statement score up to 35, which shows a huge improvement overall.
## Mum’s comments during conversaton:
`I feel in a much better place than before, I feel a lot more confident in dealing with H’s difficulties and not feeling so overwhelmed’.
` I have developed a better understanding of my child and that they may be neurodivergent too’.
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## Review of the year Mar 24 – Feb 25
- The number of referrals into our service increased by 11%, slightly over our target of 10% per year.
- Of the families who completed their work within this year, we saw 100% report an improvement in overall mental wellbeing and self-esteem.
- Overall mental wellbeing score increased by an average of 8 points on a scale of 0-35
- Self-esteem increased by an average score of 5.6 on a scale of 0-30.
As a result of the continued rise in the complexity of work received and the difficulty in recruiting volunteers, we saw a rise in work managed by paid staff rather than volunteers. In response to this we reviewed the paid roles across the team allowing for clearer definition between roles and an increase in hands on time spent with families. We also undertook additional training to support staff in areas such as mental health and formed new or closer relationships with other services. This enabled us to offer a wider and more in-depth range of intervention within our own roles and working alongside/signposting to others.
Staff have reported feeling more confident within their roles.
## Update on actons identfed last year:
1. To improve recruitment and retention of volunteers and staff including improving the training offer to ensure workers have up to date skills and knowledge.
UPDATE – induction training was revised and, in line with feedback, now includes a wide range of case studies and input from existing workers sharing their experience. More training was offered to staff and volunteers. We have yet to see an increase in volunteers but staff report feeling more confident.
2. Clarify core service offer to ensure we get appropriate referrals
UPDATE referral form revised to include more clarity on what input is required from Family First and what referrer has done/will do. Conversations undertaken with referrers to clarify what work can/cannot be offered both by Family First and the referring agency.
3. Continue to increase our reach across Ipswich and see referrals received from a wider range of sources.
UPDATE we have seen some new referrers come onboard and the Service Lead has continued her networking to raise profile of Family First.
4
## Finance
We continue to be funded solely by fundraising, grant applications and donations. We have had a good year with some generous individual donations as well as securing a large grant of £50,000. This provides us with financial security for the next 18m-2yrs. It also led to us opening a separate 95 day access interest earning account giving us a small additional income. This will be valuable in supporting us should we need to continue to increase the paid hours as volunteer hours fall.
## Structure and Governance
Family First is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Charity No: 1166175
Registered Address: The Hope Centre, 10 St. Margaret’s Street, Ipswich IP4 2AT
We are governed by a constitution adopted in March 2016.
There has been no change in our trustees who remain:
Dorothy Cordle, Chair, Jan Baker, Secretary, David Sansom, Safeguarding Lead,
Mark Crawley, Daniel Somers, Sajani George
We also have a Patron – Cllr Elizabeth Harsant
We have the following policies in place:
Disclosure and Barring Service, Children and Vulnerable Adult Protection and Safeguarding, Data Protection, Recruitment, Use of Mobile Phones, Health and Safety, Equal Opportunities, Managing Performance, Money Handling, Privacy, Expenses, Supervision and Appraisal, Special Leave, Grievance, Complaints, Lone Worker, Risk Management, Anti-Fraud and Bribery.
All policies are reviewed annually or bi-annually.
## Priorites for next year:
1. Review the organisational structure including balance of paid staff vs volunteers
2. Further review on range and appropriateness of referrals – this may lead to focusing on referrals from specific agencies as priority
3. Improving efficiency of service, reducing overall cost per family
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## **FAMILY FIRST**
## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS**
**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 21ST MARCH 2025**
**Registered Charity Number – 1166175 Address:** Family First The Hope Centre 10 St. Margaret's Street IPSWICH IP4 2AT
**Charity number 1166175**
## **FAMILY FIRST**
## **Receipts and Payments Account**
## **for the year 22nd March 2024 to 21st March 2025**
|**Note**
**Receipts**
Donations, Legacies, Fundraising income
**1**
Grants
**2**
Bank Interest Received
**Total Receipts**
**Payments**
Gifts to families/ self-esteem packs
Staff costs
**3**
Administration and Other costs
**4**
Fundraising costs
**Total Payments**
**Net incoming resources for the year**
**Transfer between funds**
**Cash funds b/fwd**
**Cash funds c/fwd**
**5**|**Unrestricted Restricted**
**funds**
**funds**
**£**
**£**
9,646
0
65,000
1,552
**11,198**
**65,000**
367
87
41,795
2,573
6,198
0
**2,660**
**48,360**
**8,538**
**16,640**
27,961
54,926
**36,499**
**71,566**|**Total**
**£**
9,646
65,000
1,552
**76,198**
367
41,882
8,771
0
**51,020**
**25,178**
**82,887**
**108,065**|**Last year**
**£**
5,441
40,710
849|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**47,000**|
||||1,185
39,687
3,147
50|
||||**44,069**|
||||**2,931**
79,956|
||||**82,887**|
## **Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 21st March 2025**
|**Cash funds**
Bank current account
Lloyds Deposit accounts|**Unrestricted Restricted**
**funds**
**funds**
**£**
**£**
31,827
4,672
71,566
**36,499**
**71,566**|**Total**
**£**
31,827
76,238
**108,065**|**Last year**
**£**
27,887
55,000|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**82,887**|
Signed on behalf of the trustees:
D Cordle
……………………………
……………………………
9/11/2025
**FAMILY FIRST**
**Charity number 1166175**
## **Notes to the Accounts**
## **for the year 22nd March 2024 to 21st March 2025**
## **1) Donations, Legacies Fundraising Income**
|Donations
Gift aid
Fundraising income|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
9314
9,314
0
0
332
332|**2024**
**£**
4,122
242
1,077|
|---|---|---|
||**9,646**
**0**
**9,646**|**5,441**|
## **2) Grants received**
|**Grants received**|||
|---|---|---|
|The Grant Foundation
Ropes Trust 2
Ropes Trust (specific expenses)
Ropes Trust 3
Irving Memorial Trust
Irving Memorial Trust 2|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
0
0
0
15,000
15,000
0
50,000
50,000|**2024**
**£**
4,500
10,000
1,210
0
25,000
0|
||**0**
**65,000**
**65,000**|**40,710**|
## **3) Staff Costs**
|Salaries and Staff Costs
Non-salaried family workers' fees
Employer pension costs
Travel costs
Phone costs|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
34,134
34,134
5,257
5,257
327
327
1,680
1,680
87
397
484|**2024**
**£**
33,790
4,190
354
915
438|
|---|---|---|
||**87**
**41,795**
**41,882**|**39,687**|
## **FAMILY FIRST**
## **Charity number 1166175**
## **Notes to the Accounts (continued)**
## **for the year 22nd March 2024 to 21st March 2025**
## **4) Administration and Other Costs**
|Flyers/leaflets/banners/publicity
Equipment - phones
Equipment - laptops
Office/venue hire
Training
Legal / Licences
DBS checks
Postage, stationery, printing
Insurance
Software and IT support
Website expenses
Meeting / hospitality expenses / refreshments
Gifts to Volunteers/ Staff
Subscriptions
Bookkeeping / admin expenses
Accountancy / Independent examination fees|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**2025**
**£**
**£**
**£**
150
148
298
152
90
242
1,088
1,143
2,231
86
86
105
114
219
47
47
75
75
20
249
269
592
592
600
2,677
3,277
305
162
467
16
16
527
527
0
0
31
144
175
250
250|**2024**
**£**
270
138
0
541
243
35
101
175
440
404
0
22
291
267
0
220|
|---|---|---|
||**2,573**
**6,198**
**8,771**|**3,147**|
|**Restricted Funds cf 21st March 2025**
Ludlow Trust 2022
Ludlow Trust 2022 (2)
Smith and Mount Trust (2)
The Grant Foundation
Ropes Trust 2
Ropes Trust 3
Irving Memorial Trust
Irving Memorial Trust 2
Total cash and bank funrds|**Cash funds**
**Fund**
**Fund**
**Tfr to**
**at 21st March**
**income**
**expenditure unrestricted **
**2024 in the year in the year funds**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
2,429
(2,429)
11,287
(11,287)
1,710
(1,710)
4,500
(1,291)
10,000
(10,000)
0
15,000
(1,142)
25,000
(20,501)
50,000|**Cash funds**
**at 21st March**
**2025**
**£**
0
0
0
3,209
0
13,858
4,499
50,000|
|---|---|---|
||**54,926**
**65,000**
**(48,360)**
**0**|**71,566**|
**5) Restricted Funds cf 21st March 2025**
Inde
ndent Examlnerfs Re
rt to the Trustees of Famll Flrst
For the
r ended 21" March 2025
Charf
number 1166175
I report to ihe trustee5 on rny examination of the account5 of the above charity for
the year ended 21 March 2025.
Res
nsibillties and basls of re
ort
As the charity trustees. you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in
accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 Ithe Charities Actl-
I report in respert of my examination of the charivs accounts carried out under
section 145 of the Charities Act, and in carrying out my examination, I have followed
the applicable directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of
the Charities Act.
Ind
enden
exarnln
I have completed my examination. I confimi that no materlal matters have come to
my attentlon In connectlon wlth the examinatlon whlch 8lve me cause to believe
that, in any material respect. accountlng records were not kept in accordance with
section 130 of the Charitles Act. or that the accounts do not accord with the
accountin8 records.
I have no concerns. and have come across no other matters In connectlon wlth the
examlnatlon to which attent)n should be drawn in order to enable 8 proper
understanding of the accounts to bè reached.
Sl8ned:
2£
Mrs. Carole Cowglll ACA
4 Penny Meadow
Capel St. Mary
Ipswich
IP9 2UU
ICAIW
CHARTEREO
ACCOUNTANT