## King’s Lynn Debt Centre Annual Report and Accounts for the year to 31 December 2020 Charity number 1167702 November 2021 ## **King’s Lynn Debt Centre** ## **Report of the trustees for the year ending 31 December 2020** The trustees are pleased to present their annual report and accounts for the year ending 31 December 2020. The report complies with Charity Commission guidance and the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and reporting by Charities (SORP 2005). ## **Chairman’s report** The past year has been like no other. We have faced the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic, working from home, no longer being able to have face-to-face appointments, and not being able to host social events. We were not even able to hold and AGM last year. However, we have found new ways of working online and our clients have continued to receive our best service. I would like to thank Emily, our debt centre manager, for the magnificent way she has adapted and maintained such a positive attitude. You will see from her report just how much has been achieved despite the challenges. We are pleased to note that during 2021 the King’s Church joined us, to become our fourth partner church. We are sorry to see Kevan Crane, Mark Willetts and Ken Hubbard leave the trustees after being with us since the foundation of the debt centre. They have been tremendous help guiding us through our early years. We would particularly like to thank Ken who has held the position of treasurer throughout. We also acknowledge the work of Dan Tansey, who also stands down as a trustee. His experience with CAP has been invaluable over the last four years. We are pleased to welcome our new trustees Terry and Vera Harsant, Clare Mallett, Chester Noble, and Rachel Osborne. I would like to thank everyone for their commitment to the centre over the past year. ## **Our purposes and activities** The purposes of the charity are: - (a) The relief of poverty for persons living in North-West Norfolk who are in conditions of need, hardship, or distress by reason of their financial circumstances. - (b) The advancement of education in all matters relating to the management of personal finances. - (c) The advancement of the Christian faith through care, compassion, practical and spiritual help. During the year our programme of activities focused on helping people get out of debt and equipping them with the tools and confidence to take control of their finances. In planning our activities for the year, we kept in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. ## **Centre Manager’s report** ## Introduction At the beginning of 2020 CAP were coming out of the season of reflection and review called ‘Time to Breathe’. We had just begun seeing clients again and had a full 3-month client waiting list when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and Lockdown #1 was enforced. CAP had already implemented a work-from-home policy and paused all client appointments a week before full lockdown. After 6 months of not taking appointments due Time to Breathe, appointments were stopped again. It took CAP head office a few weeks to move our service from a face-to-face appointment system to an online/phone appointment service. Every change had to be approved by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) to ensure we continued to provide a compliant service. ## Clients Throughout the pandemic we were **not** short of clients and managed to keep a waiting list throughout. Over the phone appointments presented challenges as we sought to get the right information, but some things got easier. The amount of paperwork from clients was reduced significantly. It could be uploaded to the client’s personal Nextcloud link, making the whole process Covid-19 friendly and more efficient. The Nextcloud link now remains and has reduced the risk of paperwork getting lost in the post. It also means a budget can be created more quickly. We are grateful that face to face appointments have started again but are also pleased that we now have the facility to help over the phone, should we need to in the future. A disadvantage of phone appointments was that volunteers were not able to interact with new clients. Emily had to carry the load herself. Even though the clients were invited to the virtual connect group, many chose not to participate. ## Events At the beginning of 2020 we started our first Alpha course. We had 3 clients attend in person. When the pandemic hit, we moved this online. A virtual Connect group was formed out of clients and volunteers. We completed Alpha and continued the group, running a course called ‘Jesus is….’ by Judah Smith. These sessions were such good times of connection and relationship building. In the Christmas of 2020, we were able to bless clients with Christmas Hampers and toys. Lots of people from the different churches, as well as those from outside of the church, were involved putting together the hamper donations and purchasing gifts. Since we were unable to run client events, we gave each of our CAP families a movie basket which contained ‘The Star’ movie (the nativity story from the perspective of the donkey), popcorn, fizzy drink, and sweets. ## Volunteers With the pandemic in full swing in 2020, volunteers were not able to participate in appointments, but they could join the connect group. We were saddened earlier in 2021 to lose Mick of Cornerstone King’s Lynn Baptist Church to Covid-19. His death impacted everyone in the group as he had played a vital part. Mick will always be remembered for all he did for Kings Lynn Debt Centre. Looking ahead we do need to increase our volunteers from all churches. We particularly need some male volunteers to attend appointments. A key volunteer role is being a befriender, helping to make connections with our clients and encouraging them on their journey to becoming debt free. Volunteers do not need to be money experts just people who can listen, support, and encourage. We are very grateful for the many hours our volunteers have spent helping us. Without this valuable contribution of time, energy and care we would not have been able to achieve so much. ## Now & looking ahead We are starting to see the impact that Time to Breathe and the Covid-19 pandemic have had on the centre. One of the biggest challenges has been maintaining good connection with referral agencies. Prior to Time to Breathe we had a greater variety of referral agencies working with us. Now organisations and charities are functioning in different ways. Some key people have left or been moved to different roles, and it has felt like we have had to start from the ground up again, which has been difficult. We know that there will be more need for our service going forward with the £20 a week uplift not being made permanent - this uplift was needed not because of the pandemic but due to inflation during the benefits freeze. Also, with furlough ending, people may lose their jobs. As we look ahead and see how energy prices are rising, taxes are rising, and the cost of food is rising, it is not hard to predict that more people are going to struggle. We are thankful to have Laura Joslin working as a volunteer Debt Coach and she has been a great addition to the team. Laura, having previous mental health experience, has the muchneeded tools to help those of our clients who struggle with mental health. We’ve been running the course ‘The Well-being Journey’. We hope to run it again in January 2022 when more clients will jump on board. Most of our clients struggle with poor mental health. ## CAP client report Each year, Christians Against Poverty carry a client report - you can view the most recent report via this link https://capuk.org/connect/policy-and-government/client-report-21 ## Statistics: In 2020 we had 21 new client households that consisted of 25 adults and 23 children In 2020 ‘7’ households went debt free Since opening in April 2016 we have seen 34 households go Debt Free, we have helped 110 households, 131 adults which in turn has also impacted 108 children. ## **Reference and administrative details** **Charity number:** 1167702 **Principal Office:** Cornerstone Baptist Church, Wisbech Road, King’s Lynn, PE30 5JS **Bank:** HSBC, 23 New Conduit Street, King's Lynn, PE30 1DE **Trustees, who served throughout 2020** Canon James Nash Chair (elected 2 March 2016) Kenneth Hubbard Treasurer (elected 2 March 2016) Kevan Crane (elected 2 March 2016) John Currey (elected 2 March 2016) Neil Hubbard (elected 2 March 2016) Mark Willetts (elected 2 March 2016) ## **Debt Centre Manager** Emily Hart ## **Governance** King’s Lynn Debt Centre is a registered charity with the Charity Commission of England and Wales. It is governed by a constitution adopted 2[nd] March 2016. The charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Meeting in October. The trustees are responsible keeping proper accounting records that disclose, with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the charity. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **Financial review** ## **Reserves policy** Cash at bank at 31/12/2020 was £7667 in unrestricted funds. The main financial risk to the charity is loss of grant funding and reduced donations. The funds are held to cover 3 months operational costs in the event of a loss of income and to meet any unforeseen expenditure that may occur. ## **Funds** Our main source of funds this year has been donations from partner churches, other churches, and individuals. We did not receive any grant funding. The major expenses were staff costs and the subscription to CAP Bradford. The Revd. Canon James Nash (Chair) 9 November 2021 3)19 10.W.92 IZBTr.92 O.CO 11S19.92 o. 7.Lrocii I.￿0) 5.0240) I•￿0￿•2 o ro i.9)JCI) O W 5.024Cn 8.257 85 31807.71 Lao x857.7T 12.W.63 13.W5.44 419.yj O.OJ I&K6.44 41&>J O.m >)3 CO 921.￿ Tth 164.55 0.0] 164.* 14.X74S OCQ 14.357 QCO 2.C*O4 D(YJ 1.71457 OCO 6.CO)O) 3.11&74 276 18 6.CO).D) ZJ.252t8 Ocll 1113 74 cknt••* 1.71457 6.co)r 151 7￿13 7.71&Ql 13 X637 8•* 14.C6337 1Z4>)87 IIEfA88EfS AEPAE8EMTED DY 7.￿￿ 124>).87 3)19d£10.CWtW*•<*¢¢1£5.COJ Wth t•lww r•*w¥fnn£l2(O)knf8,(fl) KII.HLWJIDC.P.FA Ind•p•nd•frt EX￿n•￿0 R•port D* 921*12&