ANNUAL REPORT 2022/2023 ## Little Edi Foundation Charity No. 1169242 **ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023** 1 2 ## A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE – TESS GRIGGS Welcome to our 22/23 Annual report. This year has been a year of growth. Our income rose due to grant funding, generous business links and donations from supporters. Community wise, due to the cost-of-living crisis we saw a 62% rise in professional referrals in our services. Our move to Parkside Hub Melbourne allowed us to work in the heart of our community vastly expanding our services and activities. Thanks must be given to our Trustees, staff, Youth Forum and volunteers, who enabled us to grow and support the Essex community. ## **T. Griggs** ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 2 3 **----- Start of picture text -----**
About Us
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## **About the Little Edi Foundation** Founded in 2016, the Little Edi Foundation is an Essex based non-profit where children and young people are at the heart of the organisation. Our organisational objective is to help children and young people have equal access to education and learning development, enabling them to reach their full potential. One of the ways we achieve this is to provide volunteering opportunities for disengaged young people from Essex, which enables them to learn key skills and build their confidence to take on new challenges. During the pandemic, the Little Edi Foundation responded to community needs across Essex, prioritising supporting families from Essex, who are most vulnerable to the virus and its impacts. These families lacked the financial and emotional support we felt was needed and so we launched our community projects – which continue to grow, develop, and thrive. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 3 4 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Fundraising
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Using the knowledge gained in the 2021/2022 grant writing course, this year we concentrated on using the skills to create successful grant outcomes, as a direct result of this we managed to secure grants from the following organisations: - Morrisons Supermarket - Masonic Charitable Foundation - Essex County Council - Albert Hunt Trust - Essex Community Fund - John Lewis Plc - Chelmsford Round Table - Rotary Club - Ladies Circle Presentation at The Masonic Hall Shenfield ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 4 5 ## Fundraising continued - E.C.C. winter warmer - Essex Association - E.C.C. winter grant - Barratt Development - Global Essence - Viewpoint Accountants - Cunningham LEF horse - Widford Parish **----- Start of picture text -----**
Afterschool club helped by
Morrisons Grant
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- St Paul’s Parish - The Essex Alliance On top of the grants obtained we also received the most generous donations from individuals and businesses. A special mention needs to be made for Rebel Racing, who named a racehorse “Little Edi” and donated all the owners’ winnings. ← “Little Edi” winning their second Race Tess and Jockey Hayley Turner → ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 5 6 ## **Community Projects** As children and young people are at the heart of the organisation, our Community Projects aim to reduce the ongoing detrimental impact of COVID-19 to the health, social and mental well- being of children and young people in our communities across Essex. We recognised we needed to support them as a group of families rather than just individuals, to give them a sense of community. To respond to community members urgently in need of our support we have been: Regularly supplying and distributing fresh and dry food parcels and hygiene packs (and providing emergency supplies where needed). Providing school uniform including garments with school logos, Clark’s school shoes, school bags and supplies for children returning to school (please see below for more information). Delivering turkey hampers full of everything necessary to make a Christmas dinner including crackers and extras to all the families in the project. Organising “community based” projects to bring them all together as families. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 6 7 ## Community projects Continued ## **Coffee Mornings** Once a month a Coffee Morning is held in the local church hall. Fresh fruit and vegetables are ordered in for every family in the project invited to attend. Donated clothes for adults and children, books, food, and toiletries are laid out for families to choose from. Tables are set up with art and craft supplies to occupy the children, enabling the adults the opportunity to chat to other parents in the project. Refreshments are provided for everyone. This event has become an important part of the project, as it gives us a chance to engage with our families and children and listen to them. We often have a guest from other local charities and support systems to provide advice and assistance where necessary. New books and Stocking fillers available for the families at our coffee mornings ## **Washing Machine** Our brand-new washing machine arrived thanks to the generosity of the company Smol. Parents in our project now have full access to this with washing detergent and softener supplied and the use is completely free of charge. We ensure no family struggles with laundry due to broken machines, or because they have no money for the meter or detergent. Waiting for the clothes to wash gives parents the opportunity to chat, and many have wanted to volunteer at the same time. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 7 8 ## Community projects Continued ## **Courses** Our families have been offered the opportunity via Multiply to attend courses including budgeting and cooking on a budget. Those that completed both courses were rewarded for their time and effort with either a new slow cooker or air fryer, thereby putting their newly learned skills into action. The budgeting course covered: - creating a household budget - finding an energy supplier - understanding and challenging bills - comparing the price of food and other household goods - deciding between bank accounts The cooking course covered: - learning how to feed the whole family with tasty and affordable meals. - budgeting tips you can apply in the kitchen. - learning how to cook homemade meals on a reduced budget. - practical lessons on cooking. Additional courses offered to our families were: - Coping with anxiety - Managing an abusive relationship ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 8 9 ## Community projects Continued ## **Rugby trip** A group of parents, children, and volunteers joined Chelmsford Rugby Club as their guests for the day to watch Saracens vs Bristol at Tottenham Hotspurs stadium. All the children had an amazing day out and received goody bags and food as part of their day. The money for this trip was raised by Chelmsford Rugby Clubs U13’s squad. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 9 10 ## Community projects Continued CHP Chelmsford Housing Partnership were generous enough to offer us a volunteer day – they came for a site visit at the unit and fixed the office panelling and painted it too. They also installed the washing machine, removed a sink, built shelves, filled in holes in the walls and generally gave the unit a spruce up. We were exceptionally grateful for all their team’s volunteered hours to help us make the unit a more comfortable environment for our team and the families we support. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 10 11 ## Community projects Continued As a charity we understand that winter - and especially Christmas time - can be a challenging time of year for our families, both financially and emotionally. We try to take away as much of this burden as we can. Below are several initiatives we ran over the winter period: ## **Reverse advent calendar** As part of our ongoing fund and resources raising, we decided to try reverse advent calendars instead of asking for donations - these were a huge hit with our sponsors resulting in every family being able to be given a box full of useful items for the Christmas period. ## **Widford Lodge** Families at Widford Lodge School were invited to take a label from one of the gift trees and buy either a toy voucher, an Amazon voucher, or a supermarket voucher. Vouchers were then collected and distributed to families within the project. Families also donated coats, which were laid out at one of the coffee mornings, so that each child within the project had a coat to see them through the cold months. A couple of months later, the families of Widford Lodge School donated items for our bed poverty campaign, which included pillows, duvets, covers, and blankets. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 11 12 ## Community projects Continued ## **Christmas Lunch** With the help of many supporters, we delivered all our families a fresh turkey and all the trimmings for Christmas dinner thanks to the Phoenix Rotary club Chelmsford. Some of our Youth Forum, who had broken up from school early, came to help by packing the boxes and taking them to volunteers’ cars. ## **Presents** All children received a present, with older children receiving a voucher. Stocking fillers were set out on tables at the last coffee morning and parents were invited to fill their own children’s stockings. ## **Parties** We held two Christmas parties, one was organised by the Youth Forum, and another was sponsored by Morrisons. ## **Christmas biscuit treat** All families received a Christmas biscuits treat from Cake Initiative, which put a smile on many faces. ## **Winter Essentials** Families were given a bag containing winter essentials including lightbulbs, socks, thermals, flasks, doorstops, thermometers, and hygrometers. In addition, we distributed donated electric blankets and extra food hampers to families with the greatest need. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 12 13 ## Community projects Continued ## **Award Ceremony** An awards ceremony was held at Hatfield Peverel Village Hall to say thanks to all the volunteers and supporters of the Little Edi Foundation. Without them we would not be able to run the day-to-day activities to help the community. Churches, businesses, and adult and youth volunteers were all nominated and present as well as the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of Chelmsford. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 13 14 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Education
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Due to the impact of local children missing education opportunities during lockdown, the Little Edi Foundation launched its first ever Summer School in July 2020. Due to its success we decided to make it an annual event. We offered the children on our project aged 3-13 years old 1:1 tuition with an experienced schoolteacher offering them the opportunity to go over any areas of difficulty. In addition, during the Summer School the children were able to partake in activities including sports, mindfulness, arts and crafts, an animal petting zoo, a trip to the seaside, and picnic and play events. All children were offered transport, and packed lunches were all paid for by our local sponsor. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 14 15 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Education
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Following feedback from our families in 2020, research showed there is very limited financial support in Essex for school uniform, for example, statutory grants are only available in exceptional circumstances. To better support local children and young people, we set up a school uniform project to raise funds and provide emergency financial support for those in need. This year we have successfully raised sufficient funds to buy new school uniform for all the children in our project - including shoes. This is especially important to the children, as it makes them feel the same as their peers and helps them to reach their full potential. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 15 16 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Youth Development
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Our organisational objective is to help children and young people, enabling them to reach their full potential. One of the ways we achieve this is to provide volunteering opportunities for disengaged young people from Essex, which enables them to learn key skills and builds their confidence to take on new challenges. We continue to create new opportunities for disadvantaged and disengaged young people to get involved in social action. Some of the activities volunteered for: - Each member of our Youth Forum took care of a child at summer school. - Helped fill, label, and deliver Christmas boxes to the families. - Assisted at coffee mornings and activities. - Organised activities to raise money for all children in the project to receive advent calendars. - Organised and ran Easter and Christmas parties for the children. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 16 17 ## Meet The Trustees Sarah Bonamy Joshua Brown Tess Griggs Sheryl Perry Jo Land ## The Trustees The Little Edi Foundation are a team of unpaid volunteers - their time and knowledge come at no expense to the charity - all the donations and funds raised go straight to the charity. They take responsibility for using the resources efficiently, achieving measurable results and being accountable to the supporters, partners, people, and most of all, the children, and communities with whom the charity work with. ANNUAL REVIEW 2022/2023 17 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR EN61AND *lND WAIES tue Edi FouThlatify) 1169242 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period from 0110412022 3110312023 To Section A Receipts and payments un￿striCted funds Endowment funds Restricted funds Total funds Last y•ar to n&irest £ tolhTr rnarest £ to1￿ rnarost e to t￿ rnar•st £ Al R￿e1 ts )n3tions 59.165 959 59.165 959 31.594 4.OZ9 Fund".3.51n DBS ConiributlQfiS Aid Tn tributiOn5 Grant5 36.430 19.627 ARI 96.554 96.554 55.250 A2 Assèt and invèstment sale$, see table Sub total 96.554 96.S54 55,250 A3Pa ments S-ationery DBS checKS Event &)51S Abd Oolhin9 Cknnarions Just Givln Costs Pro￿tional mtÈn31 95 95 856 33.111 5,910 33.111 5.910 16.B88 6,5Q7 216 216 Z16 5nSufènce tor 4.503 47 4.$03 47 4.076 28 Parting Proles5ionBI PurcnasÈs Ren.. 3.186 8.495 3.186 8.49S 6,367 807 Repairs Sunary 2.267 213 126 482 Trav81 1.090 1.090 795 Sub total .550 59.550 41.100 A4 Asset and investrn8nt purcttases, lsee tatylel Sub total Totalpayménts S9,S50 59,550 41,100 Net of receipts/(paymgnts) A5 Transfers between fund$ A6 Cash funds lasi y•ar ènd Cash funds this year end 37.004 37.004 14.150 36.187 36.187 22,037 36,187 73.t9t 73.191 CCXX R1 accounts ISSI 2810212024 Section B Statement of assets and liabilrties at the end of the period Unrestricted tunds to mare5t £ Restncte¢l funds Endowment funds to ￿are$l £ to r*arest £ B1 Cash funds rrenT ACt￿nt 64.215 t Accwni 8.976 sh Total cash lun(ts 73,191 Unr8Striet•d funds r*arest £ Restricted fund$ Endowmtnt funds to rnar8SI £ to ￿orest £ FwK1 io*trich ass¥t Cwront Val lopti(Ywll 83 Investment assets Cost Iq*1(r￿lI rA￿T￿rt B4 Assets retsined for the charity's ovm use Fuwj to wli¢h liatrAlity relates l¢¥rticfflall B5 Liabilities Tes5 Gryg5 Sonad by one or trusteos on ehalf of ali Ihe Iruslees Sonature Pruit N￿[￿e Date of approval CCXX R2 accounts Issi 2810212024 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to th• trustsesl membors of The irtuè Edi Foundation On accounts for tho year onded 311t March 2023 Charfty no (If any) 1169242 Set out on pag•8 1&2 10 Include fhe F'Ltye nu￿lI￿r$ of Jjdilpiiial 5heetsi I report to the trustee8 on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (Ihe Tru8Y) for year ended 31103 12023. Ro8ponslbillties and A5 the charity trustees of the Trusl, you are responsible for the preparation basis ol rgport of the ac￿unIS in accordance wrth the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 nhe Acr). I report in respect of my examination of Trust's accounts carried OLrt under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed the applicable ￿reCtionS given by the Charty Commission urKler sediijn 14515)(b) of the Ac I have comp18ted my examination. I confim that no material matters have come to my attention { ') in connection with the examination gives me cause to LElieve that in, any rnat8rial Independent oxaminerf8 Statement accounting records were not k8Pt in accordance with section 130 of the Gharities Act or, the accourts do not a¢¢ord with the ac¢ountirg reGord3 the accounts did not comply with the applicable requiroments con￿mIng the fomi and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulatiorvts 2CQ8 other than any requirement that the accounts give a Irue and fairf VEW which is not a matter considered as part of an indeperxlent examinats'on. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention shoukl be drawn in order to enable a proper understsnding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete t words in the br8ckets rfthey do not apply. Slgn•d: 28102r24 Nam•: John Charman Relevant profe88ional qualificatlon(s) or body (if any): ACA Addru•: Unit 3A, Thames Enterprise Centre Princess Margaret Road East filbury. Essex, RM18 8RH IER October 2018 Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to h￿hlIght matters of concem (see CC32, Independent examination of charity acc