2022-12-31-accounts

Registered Charity Number: 1171466

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] DECEMBER 2022

FOR

PATHFINDERS CAMP (WOODLARKS)

PATHFINDERS CAMP (WOODLARKS)

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st ] DECEMBER 2022

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Charity Number

1171466

Trustees and Key Management Personnel

Ms Sam Dunn Ms Jo Fulford Mr Dave Grosvenor Ms Jane Pyzniuk Ms Karen Selwood

Role

Camp Leader & Trustee Trustee, Treasurer & Secretary Trustee Chair of Trustees Trustee

Bankers

Lloyds Bank plc Account held at Abbeymead, Gloucester branch

Address for correspondence: PO Box 1000 Andover BX1 1LT

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PATHFINDERS CAMP (WOODLARKS)

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st ] DECEMBER 2022

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND TRUSTEES’ REPORT

The trustees present the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31[st] December 2022. The trustees confirm that in their opinion, they have selected suitable accounting policies and applied them consistently; made judgements and estimates which are reasonable and prudent and have prepared the accounts on an on-going concern basis. The trustees believe that the financial statements comply with statutory requirements, the governing document of the charity and the Statement of Recommended Practice relating to charities.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing Document

Pathfinders Camp (Woodlarks) was registered with the Charity Commissioners (registration number 1171466) on 03[rd] February 2017. The charity is controlled by its governing document – Constitution of Pathfinders Camp (Woodlarks), dated 09[th] April 2016.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

Ever since the formation of Pathfinders Camp as a charity, the number of trustees has been set at three, and in line with discussions last year, we chose to appoint two new trustees in September 2022. Our current treasurer, Jo Fulford, was invited to become a trustee, as was Karen Selwood, who was designated as ‘camp nurse’ for many years and who remains a member of the health and wellbeing team for Pathfinders Camp. Additional and/or replacement trustees will be identified by the current trustees. The criteria are that any new trustee would have experience and knowledge likely to benefit the charity. New trustees would be trained by existing trustees. Our next appointments will be drawn from the disabled campers who are members of Pathfinders Camp, as we feel that it is important to have user representation at trustee level. Discussions are ongoing as to which campers may have the abilities needed to represent the breadth of the user voice.

Risk management

A member of the leadership team is responsible for creating and updating a comprehensive risk assessment for all activities undertaken across the week at camp each year. This includes risks inherent in camp daily chores and routines as well as any risks that might ensue during the various activities and leisure opportunities on offer during the week.

All new candidates for Pathfinders Camp are asked to provide the names and addresses of two referees when they apply for a place at camp. This rule applies for both disabled campers and non-disabled volunteers. All volunteer helpers are required to undergo an Enhanced DBS check, that includes clearance to work with vulnerable adults and with children, as a part of their application process. New volunteers are given ‘on the job’ training when they arrive at camp, working with more experienced volunteers until they feel more confident in undertaking personal care tasks more independently. All campers (or their parent/guardian, where more appropriate) sign a declaration which states that they are aware that they will be supported by unqualified volunteer help whilst at camp. Campers and carers are encouraged to submit care plans and details of the support they will need whilst on camp, again as a part of the application process.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Income

See accounts

Expenditure

See accounts

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PATHFINDERS CAMP (WOODLARKS)

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st ] DECEMBER 2022

Public benefit

The trustees are confident that the charity offers services of real and practical value to the applicants who attend the annual camping holiday, whilst also providing affordable and valuable respite to family members and other carers. More widely, by bringing together (mostly) women of all ages above 17, with and without disabilities, it helps to foster inclusive relationships. It therefore complies with the responsibility placed on all charities under the Charities Act 2011 to demonstrate a public benefit.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Building upon the success of our working party at Woodlarks Campsite in August 2021, we chose to recruit a group of volunteers to provide a further working party during a weekend in March 2022. Since Woodlarks Campsite had been closed for almost two years as a result of the pandemic, we were aware that considerable work was likely to be needed to have the site open and ready for ‘business as usual’ during the 2022 season.

In the run up to this year’s camp, work was undertaken behind the scenes to achieve the standard required to be accredited as an Approved Activity Provider (AAP) with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, as we provide a qualifying placement for the residential section of the Gold Award. This entailed a full review of our policies and procedures and the drawing up of other procedures, such as an emergency response plan. Whilst we have assessed many volunteers for their Gold DofE Award over a number of years, in line with our activities and as a registered charity, formal approval as an AAP will now allow us to advertise our opportunity on the DofE website. This widens our reach and should result in an increase in the number of volunteers available to support our disabled campers.

Following the hiatus caused by the pandemic, which had made it impossible for Pathfinders Camp to run the annual camping holiday, the trustees of the charity were relieved and delighted to be able to offer a camp in August 2022 with 69 people attending. The total population at Pathfinders Camp in August 2022 comprised 23 disabled campers and 46 non-disabled volunteers. Within that total, the leadership group, or ‘crew’, comprised 17 people, whose roles ensured that the 52 other Pathfinders were able to participate in a week’s camping holiday with a full programme of activities, on-site. This was a considerably smaller camp than we have run in previous years, but like many other organisations, we found it more difficult to recruit volunteers post-pandemic. However, since many people had become less comfortable with being amongst large groups, as a result of restrictions during the COVID years, a smaller camp was deemed to be more appropriate.

Of the disabled campers, 19 had been to Pathfinders previously and 4 were new campers, some of whom may have attended other camps at Woodlarks and some who had never camped anywhere previously.

Of the volunteer helpers, 7 were ‘first time’ volunteers and again, some members of the returning volunteer group of 39 people have been attending Pathfinders Camp for 40 or 50 years. Thus, Pathfinders Camp continues to maintain a loyal group of regular attendees but still enables new campers and new volunteers to take part. The youngest attendees this year were 17 years old, and the eldest attendee was 71.

Although Pathfinders Camp is set up primarily as a provision for women, 7 men attended the 2022 camp. Male attendees are predominantly members of the leadership group and usually have no personal care responsibilities. There was an exception to this rule this year, as one of the male attendees is doing nurse training and we were able to allocate him as second helper to a camper who is happy to be supported by both male and female helpers, in line with how she is cared for at home.

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PATHFINDERS CAMP (WOODLARKS)

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st ] DECEMBER 2022

It is an important tradition within Pathfinders Camp that everyone attending pays the same level of camp fees, whether they attend as a disabled camper, as a volunteer helper or as a member of the leadership team. This enables the charity to keep the cost of the holiday as low as possible, with a view to ensuring that even where attendees may be totally reliant upon benefits for their income, attending Pathfinders Camp should remain a possibility. In addition to this general principle, there is a mechanism whereby all or part of the camp fee can be waived for an individual, at the camp leader’s discretion, where funds are tight for whatever reason. This rule can be applied both for disabled campers and volunteers. The level of donations received each year has thus far allowed these costs to be absorbed without the need to ‘ringfence’ a separate amount for this purpose.

Pathfinders Camp took the opportunity provided by the two-year break to review how we operate, and several significant strategic changes were introduced in 2023, primarily to improve training for our volunteer helpers. In thinking about delivering a more focused orientation to providing personal care for new helpers, it was recognised that this could also be a valuable refresher update for the entire helper cohort including crew members, very much like the statutory and mandatory trainings delivered annually within the NHS. A programme covering topics such as manual handling, safeguarding, emergency procedures, privacy and dignity, amongst other related matters was drawn up and delivered by members of Pathfinders Camp crew during the morning session before the campers arrived.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Reserves policy & financial risk

Our policy is to maintain a cash reserve between 50% and 100% of the expenditure of the previous year’s camp. This “buffer” enables us to continue our policy of keeping costs to disabled campers and volunteer helpers as low and affordable as possible, whilst at the same time reducing any financial risk to the charity.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

The trustees foresee no changes in their objectives in the forthcoming year.

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP and FRS 102;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

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PATHFINDERS CAMP (WOODLARKS)

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st ] DECEMBER 2022

The trustees are responsible for keeping sufficient accounting records that 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 Charities Act 2011 and the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. 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.

SIGNED BY THE CHAIR OF TRUSTEES

Jane Pyzniuk

Date: 2[nd] October 2023

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PATHFINDERS CAMP (WOODLARKS)

REPORT OF THE CAMP LEADER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st ] DECEMBER 2022

ACTIVITIES

Being able to camp in person again in 2022 was wonderful and the entire atmosphere of camp was one of being back ‘where we belong’. Camp was smaller for the first year post COVID, in accordance with the request from Woodlarks Campsite Trust that all camps, for their first year back, looked at reducing their numbers, to get back into the rhythm of camp and allowing for any indoor spaces to be less crowded. There were also restrictions around only accepting attendees who had had both COVID vaccinations, and we were able to comply with this. We also required each of our attendees to have an ‘exit plan’ in place, such that if they became ill, they would be able to return home, or to some other defined retreat and to confirm that they had a transport plan in place to ensure that this ‘evacuation’ could happen if needed.

The change in the ‘shape’ of the week, with campers and helpers arriving on Sunday rather than Saturday and departing on the Friday was something we wanted to trial, and we found that it was very successful, to the point we will be keeping that pattern for next year. Feedback from our disabled participants was that it made their arrival much smoother and allowed for appropriate discussions with parents / carers for a hand-over where needed. All folks felt less exhausted by the end of the week, so it very much felt like a better-quality experience.

Activities were ‘back to usual’ in many ways, although our big activity was a little ‘lower octane’ than previous years, with accessible mini golf, nerf targets and a nerf gun shooting alley, together with some traditional fairground-type games as well, such as’ hook a duck’ and lucky dips.

We had decided to keep all activities on camp this time, so discontinued the usual team outing day, again following post-COVID guidance on avoiding contact with larger random groups of people outside of camp. For the same reason, we chose to bar day visitors to camp this time, again minimising contact beyond the camp complement. There was a total ban on lighting fires in or adjacent to the edge of the woodland, as there had been brush fires very near to camp, and the tinder-dry condition of the forest floor rendered open fires in these areas too risky. Woodlarks Campsite Trust reluctantly imposed a fire ban on the campsite for the entirety of summer 2022. We trialled a new day-time activity of sending teams on a ‘hike lunch’, and whilst these have always been available for teams to plan for themselves, this was offered this time as a scheduled team activity, undertaken with a specific member of crew helping to organise and support teams. Due to the fire ban already mentioned, this was offered as taking a picnic lunch into the woods and building catapults as a team to fire wet sponges at each other – it was very successful, got teams out into the woods exploring and much fun was had by all. Our ‘woodland edge’ cook site was also still able to run, by dint of running electric power to the site and using induction hobs instead of wood fires.

We had four arts & craft-based activities, with four ‘take home’ items which folks could make linked to our ‘Four Seasons’ theme, and these were all very popular and well received.

INCIDENTS

We had one individual with recurrent health issues which resulted in ambulances being called on a number of occasions late at night. As a result, we were unable to sustain supporting this individual on camp and we had to arrange for her family to come and pick her up on Thursday morning.

We had one individual who was unhappy that we do not, and will not routinely manually lift them, when they are usually hoisted at home. We have hoists provided by the campsite, in order to safeguard not only the campers as individuals, but also the volunteers providing their care for the week. There was a prolonged discussion with the individual on arrival day, with me as Camp Leader, a representative from our Health team, the volunteers who would be providing their care for the week and the individual’s personal assistants from home, who had driven her to camp.

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PATHFINDERS CAMP (WOODLARKS) REPORT OF THE CAMP LEADER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st ] DECEMBER 2022

The outcome of this discussion was that the individual chose to remain at camp for the week and honour our stance but remained unhappy throughout their week with us.

No other significant issues were seen, other than standard first aid incidents, such as one might expect to see when camping with a large group.

REFLECTIONS

The changes made to the structure and shape of the week were successful, and I believe will continue to be successful with some minor changes as we continue to learn and improve each year.

Yet again, everyone involved with camp, whether in person, in crew, virtually in the background or coming to camp as participants have done a fantastic job in facilitating Pathfinders to be held in person again such that it can continue to grow in the future.

The trustees entered into appropriate correspondence post-camp with the individual unhappy with our position on routine manual lifting, laying out in writing our stance against routine manual lifting, and left the decision up to that individual as to whether they would accept our policy for future years, or choose not to return. We also used the opportunity post-camp to strengthen our manual handling policy and to include reference to this in application forms for future years.

We have continued to maintain our zoom license so far, but this will be reviewed in 2023 to see if this is an expense we wish to continue with.

SIGNED BY THE CAMP LEADER

Sam Dunn

Date: 13[th] October 2023

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PATHFINDERS CAMP (WOODLARKS)

REPORT OF THE TREASURER FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st ] DECEMBER 2022

Notes INCOMING RESOURCES Camp fees 1 Donations 2 Fundraising 3 Total incoming resources RESOURCES EXPENDED Campsite fees 4 Food 5 Activities 6 Planning and administration 7 Merchandising 8 Donations 9 Other 10 Total resources expended NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD Notes	2022 £ 7,927.65 240.93 2,579.76 10,748.34 5,335.00 3,839.26 1,827.11 1,612.17 1,051.83 0.00 325.00 13,990.37 -3,242.03 10,799.06 7,557.03	2021 £ 1,261.00 581.17
		1,842.17
		396.21 153.17 462.13 700.00 4,041.00
		5,752.51
		-3,910.34
		14,709.40
		10,799.06

1. Fees from campers and volunteer helpers

2. Significant donors:

3. Mr & Mrs Petch

4. Kitty Holmes

5. Fundraising throughout the year – noteworthy contributions from:

6. Clitheroe Mountaineering Club

7. ‘Pennies for Pathfinders’ collecting tins, Amazon Smile, easyfundraising and PayPal

8. Fees to Woodlarks Campsite Trust inc. electricity and gas

9. Food for campers and volunteers inc. tuck shop

10. Activities put on at camp

11. Costs of consumables other than food at camp and any administration costs such as postage and DBS checks

12. Purchase of stock for fundraising

13. Donations to Woodlarks campsite = 2020 + 2021 for years of virtual camping

14. Financial assistance for participants unable to afford their camp fees

SIGNED BY TREASURER

Jo Fulford

Date: 14[th] October 2023

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