2021-03-31-accounts

Samaritans of Taunton & Somerset

Financial Statements

Year Ended 31 March 2021.

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31[st] March 2021. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in Note 1 to the accounts and comply with the Charity’s trust deed, Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (FRS102).

About the Samaritans.

The Charity maintains a centre for receiving telephone calls, e-mails and texts from members of the public and also welcomes any visitors to the Branch. The centre is staffed by unpaid volunteers and the branch is open 365 days a year.

The main objective of the Charity is:

To listen to and talk with persons who are suicidal, despairing or in a state of emotional distress who are predominantly resident in the Taunton and Somerset area but not exclusively so. The volunteers are selected and trained to undertake the sensitive task of listening to callers and help them resolve their issues in accordance with the laid down procedures and if appropriate guide them to appropriate professionals who may be able to assist them.

The trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity’s aims and objectives and in planning further activities.

We work to achieve this Vision by making it our mission to alleviate emotional distress and reduce the incidence of suicidal feelings and suicidal behaviour.

We do this by:

Being available 24 hours a day to receive calls for people requiring emotional support.

Reaching out to high risk groups and communities to reduce the risk of suicide.

Working in partnership with other organisations and agencies.

Raising awareness of the challenges to reduce the incidence of suicide.

We are committed to the following values:

Listening, thereby alleviating the distress of the caller and allows the caller to reach a better understanding of their situation.

To ensure and stress the total confidentiality of the call and resultant conversations.

To ensure that callers feel that they are making their own decisions and refrain from telling callers what to do.

To be totally non judgemental as callers want to be able to talk without fear of rejection.

Giving callers undivided attention and empathy meets fundamental emotional need and reduces distress and despair.

Director’s Report

Structure, Governance and Management.

The Samaritans of Taunton and Somerset is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed by its constitution and is a registered charity number 1170637. This Charity was registered on 8[th] December 2016 as an affiliate branch of the Central Charity.

The Charity is run by a Branch Committee the majority of whose members are elected by the Annual General Meeting of the members of the Charity. The Branch Committee is made up of a maximum of 10 elected members plus the Director, the Secretary, The Publicity Officer and the Treasurer. It has the power to co-opt additional members as appropriate up to one third of its membership (excluding co-opted members).

There are sub-committees for Publicity and Fundraising.

The Committee meets regularly and is responsible for the general management of the administration of the Charity and its property and affairs.

The elected members of the Branch Committee automatically become Trustees of the Charity. The Committee endeavours to maintain a broad mix of skills and to ensure that this balance is maintained with individuals who are invited to offer themselves for election when the need arises.

The Trustees are familiar with the practical work of the Branch the majority being listening volunteers themselves. All new Trustees, who are not volunteers, attend training courses offered by the Samaritans.

The Trustees keep under review all risks and use risk assessment to ascertain any risks that the Branch may be exposed to especially in respect to the operations and its financial integrity. At the present time there are procedures in place to mitigate any exposure to ant major risks.

Treasurer’s Report.

As can be imagined this last financial year has been most challenging. The deficit for the Year amounts to £??????. Besides the usual expenditure associated with running a Branch the two major items of expenditure are the Branch contribution which amounts to £?????? and Depreciation which amounts to £6,874. This last item has the advantage that although it is charged to the accounts it is not a cash item and therefore does not affect our cash balances.

Fundraising has been almost impossible this year but a large proportion of that raised, namely £4,751, was due to the efforts of Wendy who raised well over £1,300 by the sale of the magnificent masks which were on sale not only within the Branch but also within Taunton itself. Our grateful thanks go out to her. Donations and Covenant Income have held up remarkably well over the period.

Due to the circumstances, we have incurred a large expenditure on providing headsets to Volunteers so that it provides an added safety measure when they come to the Branch to undertake their duties. In spite of a small respite during the worst of the “lockdown” we still have had to pay the Council large amounts for the pleasure of using their Wood Street parking facilities which this year amounted to just under £2,000.00.

Apart form the payment of £14,936.00 to the Centre being our Branch contribution for the financial year ending March 31[st] 2020, our net usage of cash in the year amounted to about £2,900. Luckily, we have sufficient reserves to cover this but fundraising activities must continue when

circumstances allow to ensure that we can continue to have healthy bank balances.

It is difficult to forecast the future at the best of times but this year it is even more difficult as future national policy is uncertain; while events are moving to a more “normal” way of life the unpredictability of this virus makes planning very uncertain together with any national reaction to adverse trends; there are sufficient cash reserves in the accounts at present but these cannot go on forever and we must manage our affairs so that are expenditure does not exceed our income by any large amount in the coming year if fundraising is still curtailed.

Finally, The Committee’s thanks go to our Independent Examiner for scrutinising our accounts. We are grateful that they ensure that our accounts reflect current standards and that we adopt best practice.

On conclusion of this meeting The Accounts will be submitted to The Charity Commission. Anyone requiring a full copy of the accounts can apply to me.

Responsibilities of the Trustees.

The Constitution of Samaritans of Taunton and Somerset requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the surplus or deficit of the Charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements they are required to :-

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• Prepare the financial statements on a goi ng concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.

They are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Reference and Administrative Details.

The reference and administrative details disclosed on Page 1 form part of the Trustees’ Report.

Reserves Policy

To safeguard financial risks and to ensure the financial viability of the charity, it is our policy to maintain general reserves at a figure of at least 18 months general expenditure. We currently have £??????? At the year end. Please refer to note 6 of the accounts for detail in rekation to designated and restricted reserves.

On behalf of the Branch Committee

Mrs J.M.Crawford Director