## **Trustees’ Annual Report**
## **1[st] October 2019 to 30[th] September 2020**
## **Section A: Reference and administration details**
**Charity name**
## **FOUNTAINS COUNSELLING SERVICE**
**Registered charity number 1166723 Charity's principal address c/o 3 The Mount, Mount Lane, Market Drayton, Shropshire TF9 1AG**
## **Names of the charity trustees**
|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole year**|
|---|---|---|
|Lindsay Bashford|Chair||
|Sue Frankfort|Vice Chair||
|Rob Belcher|Treasurer||
|Wendy Bishop|||
|Sandra Davis|||
|Charles Nicklas-Carter||to 27thAugust 2020|
|Caroline Smith|||
## **Section B: Structure, governance and management**
**Description of the charity’s trusts**
|**Type of governing document**|Constitution|
|---|---|
|||
|**How the charity is constituted**|Charitable Incorporated Organisation|
|||
|**Trustee selection methods**|New trustees are selected and appointed by the Charity’s
Trustees|
|||
|**Additional governance issues**|None|
|_(optional information)_||
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## **Section C: Objectives and activities**
|**The object of the charity set**
**out in the governing document**
**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)
**Additional details of objectives**
**and activities**_(optional_
_information)_|To preserve and protect good mental health in
Staffordshire and the surrounding areas by the provision
of a confidential counselling service.|
|---|---|
|||
||Fountains Counselling Service is a voluntary organisation
staffed by professionally qualified volunteer counsellors. It
continues to offer counselling support to adults
experiencing a variety of life challenges including anxiety,
stress and depression, loss and bereavement, anger,
abuse and relationship difficulties.
The Service is accessible to all and does not charge a fee
for counselling sessions (although a donation is
welcomed from those clients who are able to make a
contribution towards sustaining the service).
We confirm that the trustees have had regard to the
Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.|
|||
||None|
## **Section D: Achievements and performance**
## **Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year**
2019/20 was quite a year for Fountains Counselling Service. There have been some significant changes and achievements, including:
- the organisation is developing a vision for its future, and good progress has been made on determining the priorities and working towards achieving them; and
- a substantial gift of £1,500 was received from Foundation Stone Trust, and this will be used to support the future growth of the Service.
In 2019/20 Fountains provided counselling support to 16 clients through a total of 143 counselling sessions (an average of 8 to 9 sessions per client). Clients were seen in Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Market Drayton, and Cannock.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the hard decision was taken to suspend the service, seeking no new clients for 6months. Existing clients were moved to counselling by telephone or video call and there are no longer any clients waiting for counselling. Counsellors were able to extend the number of sessions clients received, providing emotional support during an uncertain time.
This has led Fountains to a significant pivotal point for how counselling could be delivered – not just “In person” but by telephone or video call. The change has become the catalyst for Fountains to engage in an external review process with Restore Counselling network. This is currently ongoing and we look forward to reviewing their recommendations.
There is an ever-increasing need for the services that Fountains provides and with thanks to financial donations, it is in a strong position to adopt new ways of working.
Having started the year with a clear goal to find a way to make our service resilient and
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sustainable, we seek to meet the challenges of providing Counselling in a world whose brokenness seems to be growing and whose need for the love and compassion of our Lord never fades.
## **Section E: Financial review**
|**Brief statement of the charity’s**
**policy on reserves**
**Details of any funds materially**
**in deficit**
**Further financial review details**
_(optional information)_||At present Fountains Counselling Service does not have
an explicit policy on financial reserves. However, this is on
the agenda to address in 2020/21 as part of a review of its
wider Finance Policy and Procedures.|
|---|---|---|
||||
|||None|
||||
|||The headline points are:
At 30 September 2020 (close of annual accounts) the
Service had total funds of**£26,252.05,**a decrease of
£905.44 (3%) on the previous year;
For various reasons the Service’s activities have
been significantly reduced in the 2019/20 financial
year, meaning that both expenditure and income
have been much less than previous years. A
significant gift receipt of £1,500 was received from
the Foundation Stone Trust.
Income
Overall income has been significantly less in 2019/20
over the previous year, the difference largely being
the significant ‘one-off’ grant of £8,000 from Stafford
Borough Council’s Bereavement Services in 2018/19;
Client donations have been much reduced in 2019/20
(£962.37, from £2,913 in the previous year), mainly
due to the restricted level of service for a
considerable part of the year. They still made up 30%
of income;
Donations from churches remaining similar to the
previous year (£809 – including Penkridge Methodist
Church (£50); Church Lane, Stafford (£509); and St.
Luke’s Church, Cannock (£250);
There were no fundraising activities during the year.
Expenditure
The main area of annual expenditure was for
administrative services costs (£2,160 – 51% of
overall outgoings);
The other significant item of expenditure was for
counsellors’ expenses and supervision costs
(£1,495.70 – 35% of overall outgoings);
2019/20 has seen a huge decrease in room hire
costs largely due to the restricted service provision
during the year.|
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## Summary
2019/20 has not been a typical year for the Service as activities were greatly reduced for at least half of the period. The unexpected charitable gift of £1,500 from the Foundation Stone Trust has been extremely welcome, helping to offset this year’s expenditure and deficit. The accounts currently therefore remain in a healthy state. However, without that grant the Service would have seen a decrease of circa £2,400 over the year. Thinking ahead to 2020/21 year, trustees should be aware that:
- if we return to ‘normal’ operations the service’s annual costs are likely to be circa £6,000, with administrator services and counsellors’ expenses/supervision expenditure making up around 80-85% of that;
- to reiterate what was said last year, there is much scope to focus on increasing annual income from sources other than client donations, i.e. church and individual donations, charitable donations and grants, and fundraising activities; and
- the Service should seriously consider how to generate and sustain at least an additional £2,000 per annum in order to cover regular running costs.
## **Section F: Other optional information**
None
## **Section G: Declaration**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees.**
## **Signature:**
**Full name:**
**Professor Charles Lindsay Bashford**
**Position:**
**Chair of Trustees**
**Date:**
**August 9[th] 2021**
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## **FOUNTAINS COUNSELLING SERVICE ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 30/09/2020**
|**(1) Unrestricted Funds**
**Receipts**
**Donations etc**
Church donations
Client donations
Individual donations
Charitable donations and grants
**Other**
Gift Aid rebate
Fundraising activities
Easyfundraising
**Total**
**Payments**
**General**
Administration service costs
Counsellors' expenses and supervision
**Administration**
Administrator and other expenses
Telephone costs
**Other**
Insurance
Professional membership
Professional training - ACC conference
Room hire
Website hosting
Purchase of new laptop computer and software
Miscellaneous
**Total**
**Net of receipts (payments)**
**Cash fund last year end**
**Cash fund this year end**|**2019**
**£**
830.00
2,913.00
236.00
8,100.00
474.05
0.00
76.21
**12,629.26**
1,560.00
2,805.31
436.95
132.30
168.10
0.00
300.00
610.00
86.26
465.98
65.00
**6,629.90**
**5,999.36**
21,158.13
£27,157.49|**2020**
**£**
809.00
962.37
60.00
1,500.00
0.00
0.00
18.05|
|---|---|---|
|||**3,349.42**|
|||2,160.00
1,495.70
9.32
135.48
168.10
140.00
0.00
60.00
86.26
0.00
0.00|
|||**4,254.86**|
|||**-905.44**
27,157.49|
|||£26,252.05|
## **(2) Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 30th September 2020**
## **Monetary Assets**
|**Bank and Cash balances (no cash held or cash transactions)**
**Total held in bank account**
minus value of unpresented cheques at year end
plus value of unbanked receipts
total|**year end**
**year end**
**30.09.19**
**30.09.20**
**27,612.89**
**26,357.05**
595.40
105.00
140.00
0.00
£27,157.49
£26,252.05|
|---|---|
## **- Other assets (non endowed)**
The Service holds the following assets of value: 2no. laptop computers and a printer. One laptop and printer were purchased in 2011 at an approximate cost of £650. Their current resale value is considered to be nil. The other laptop was purchased in 2019 and has a notional value of £100.
## **No other accounts held, no other funds held, no liabilities.**
## **For and on behalf of Fountains Counselling Service Management Committee**
**Rob Belcher (Treasurer)**