Registered Charity 1166411
ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS
For year ending 30[th] June 2025
1. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS
1.1 Charity Name
Keystone Palliative Support Centre (known as Keystone Support Centre) Registered Charity Number 1166411 Incorporated as a Charity on 7 April 2016
1.2 Purpose of the Charity
This is defined in the founding documents as “To relieve the suffering of those with life-limiting illnesses, their carers and the recently bereaved in Alsager and the surrounding parishes of Church Lawton and Odd Rode”.
In practice this means that the charity operates, each week, a Patient and Carer Support Group and a Bereavement Support Group as well as providing a range of therapies (such as Massage, Reflexology, Aromatherapy and Reiki), a social and learning environment (art therapy, board games etc.) and Movement and Balance classes under the banner “Tripudio”.
1.3 Charity's Administrative Address
c/o Homefields 9, Chells Hill Church Lawton Stoke on Trent ST7 3FB
1.3 Trustees holding office during the Financial Year
Jane Kay Chair and Treasurer Joyce Key (ex-officio) Founder and Centre Manager Nicola Edge Kath Knight Mick Salt
1.4 Trustee Board
The above-named trustees form the charity’s board and do not receive a salary or any other fees or allowances for discharging their duties. Trustees are drawn from diverse backgrounds in Public, Private and Health sectors, bringing a wide range of expertise and experience. The Trustee Board is clear about the Charity's aims, focussing on ensuring a viable future for the range of services and compliance with statutory legal and financial requirements.
2. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The Board is committed to meeting the standards laid out in the Charity Commission code and relevant legislation as well as the principles laid out by Cheshire Voluntary Services’ GRIPP programme. Board members have attended appropriate networking and training activities.
The Charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, whose only voting members are its Charity Trustees.
3. BRIEFING BY THE TRUSTEE BOARD CHAIR
3.1 Overview of the Year
Services
Throughout the financial year 2024/25 Keystone has continued to operate the Seasons Bereavement Group and Tripudio Movement and Balance classes at Lawton Memorial Hall in Church Lawton. The Support Group for those living with a life-limiting illness has not restarted , partly due to lack of referrals but some qualifying patients have received Complementary Therapy Treatments by the charity’s qualified practitioner Jane Kay. A new therapist, Colette Turner has been trained at the charity’s expense and had begun to practise in her own right by the end of this financial year.
All the services have been well attended and much appreciated. There has been some turnover of attendees, some have sadly either passed away or become too ill to attend and others have reached a point where they’re able to move on with their lives without Keystone’s support.
Of the new attendees, numbering 7, some have integrated quickly into the group while some remain more comfortable with one to one therapy.
The average number of attendees has reduced a little, to approximately 25 per week.
Volunteers
Volunteer numbers have also declined a little, as the members of the group grown a little older but there is still a solid core of around a dozen and there have been a number of extracurricular contributions to fundraising events such as the market stall at the Alsager Christmas Lights Switch-on event.
Costs
Costs have increased by over 25% this year, from £7,964 to £10401 which is almost exactly the same figure as 2022/23. The increase is due to a couple of things: firstly having been able to operate for the full year, uninterrupted unlike the previous year when the hall was closed for several weeks due to flood damage and secondly to late invoicing by the operators of the hall which meant that some catch-up on the previous year’s hall costs has been incurred.
Income
Total income for the year increased by 10% to £5,037, once again we are extremely grateful to The Lodge Tyre Company for their generous support.
Keystone therefore suffered an operating loss of £5,364 , reserves at the year end were £10,401.
3.2 Moving Forward
Due to several factors, principally the rapid decline of reserves but also issues with the hired premises and the ever-increasing average age of the volunteers, the Trustees have reluctantly concluded that it will be necessary to cease the operations of the charity at the end of this calendar year, 2025.
At the point of closure the charity’s reserves are expected to be around the £8,000 mark and the Trustees are actively seeking other local charities with objects compatible with Keystone’s to whom the remaining reserves can be dispersed once Keystone closes. The closing down process is expected to take the remainder of the financial year, which will end on 30[th] June 2026.
4 Results for Financial Year 2024/25
The results were quite different to the budget, for the reasons discussed earlier.
Operating Results Year Ending 30[th] June 2025
| Actual 2023/24 | Budget 2024/25 | Actual 2024/25 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £4,568 | £5,000 | £5,037 |
| Expenditure | £7,964 | £10,420 | £10,401 |
| Surplus/Deficit | -£3,306 | -£5,280 | £ -5,364 |
Appendix 1 shows the results in more detail