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2023-12-31-accounts

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The Mountain Way

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Report and Financial Statements

For the period Jan 1[st] 2023 – Dec 31[st] 2023

Charity Number 1171751

TMW Ref TMW/AR/03

Oct 2024

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Contents Page
Legal and Administrative Information 3
Report from the Trustees 4
Statement of Financial Activities 8
Accounts 10

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Legal and Administrative Information

The Trustees of The Mountain Way presents its director’s report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023. This report covers the Charity’s financial reporting and details activity from 1[st] January – 31[st] December 2023

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity Name: The Mountain Way Charity Registration Number: 1171751 Registered Address: The Mountain Way (1171751) 1 Lime View Victoria Park Newbury RG14 1EL

Board of Trustees

Mr Jonathan Bailey Chair Mr Simon Miller Treasurer Dr Pat Gwyer Head of Clinical Governance

Executive Team

Mr Andrew Shaw Chief Mentor Mr Dominic Moorhouse Fund Raising Director Mr John Lloyd Accountant

Volunteers

Mrs Sonya Chowdhury Advisor Mr Alan Young Fundraising volunteer Mr Kevin Dunford Media volunteer

Bankers

The Royal Bank of Scotland Drummond House No 1 Redheughs Edinburgh EH12 9JN

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Trustees’ Report

Our Aims and Objectives.

The Mountain Way’s aim is to assist UK military veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The recent conflicts in the Iraq and Afghanistan arenas have produced severe mental health challenges for the UK’s veteran community. Additionally, there is an older veteran cohort of those who served in Northern Ireland, the Falklands Campaign and the Balkans who still bear the invisible scars of mental trauma. These effects, in their most serious form, have severe impacts upon every facet of the individual's life. Military PTSD wrecks the lives of sufferers but also those who are closest to them. It is the feelings of isolation, guilt, rage, anger, helplessness and despair that often cause this. Typically compounded by chronic sleep problems, flashbacks and nightmares; returning to normal and regaining their life can seem impossible.

A 2018 study by King’s College, London indicated that among the 280,000 veterans who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, 6.2% had a prevalence of PTSD with a further 21.9% showing a prevalence of Common Mental Disorders (CMD). This would indicate that over 17,000 veterans were likely suffering from PTSD in 2018, some four years after the UK withdrawal of combat troops in Afghanistan and nine years after withdrawal from Iraq.

It is challenging to identify the exact number of veterans currently suffering under the all-consuming dark clouds of complex PTSD. The nature of military front-line service, the horrors of modern warfare and the typical withdrawal of the individual into themselves, causes dramatic social isolation and a reluctance to come forward and ask for help. Even discussing the nature of their problems with close friends, family or former regimental peers seems impossible.

Veteran suicide figures have not historically been published by the UK Government but in April of this year (2024) it has now pledged to begin doing this. Research into the number of veteran suicides is complicated by reporting mechanisms and the ability to gather data although there are independent organisations such as Veterans United Against Suicide (VUAS) who monitor and report these statistics. Their reporting indicates annual veteran suicide occurrences that range anywhere from 50 to 90 per year since 2017. This equates approximately to a rate of one veteran suicide every 4 to 7 days - a truly staggering figure.

Considering the findings of the King’s College Study that there was a prevalence of over 17,000 veterans suffering from PTSD in 2018, it is clear that our work, and that of other military mental health charities, is enormous. The Mountain Way has essentially become the last resort of choice after all other avenues have been explored by the veteran, and for whom there remains few options left. We desperately need to expand our delivery to make inroads into what is essentially a ‘backlog’ of suffering before this group of veterans rolls off the timeline due to natural causes, or the election of suicide.

The effects of this widespread mental health issue are many but include personal isolation, loss of self-esteem, destruction of relationships, inability to find and keep work and in general terms, an inability to conduct what the majority would see as a ‘normal’ life and enjoy sustained relationships. In many cases suicidal contemplations are realised and there is a growing quantity of evidence to suggest that the choice of suicide among military veterans is increasing.

How our Activities deliver Public Benefit

We design and deliver unique programmes employing intensive one-on-one mentorship, guidance and counseling and follow this with continued mentorship throughout the sufferer’s post-traumatic growth journey.

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The programmes are designed by our founder and Chief Mentor, Andy Shaw, in conjunction with our Head of Clinical Governance, Dr Pat Gwyer BSc, PhD, DClinPsychol, MSc. Andy is a former Royal Marine and suffered from PTSD for thirty years following some devastating experiences in the Falklands Campaign in 1982. His experiences and selfdesigned recovery techniques are brought to bear in the design of therapeutic programmes employing peer-to-peer support techniques. You can read his story here.

After first contact with a veteran, a process we call ‘Open Door’ begins. Initial discovery, identification of some of the key issues and the veteran’s commitment to the process are completed over 3-4 days. The main programme lasting two full weeks then begins where the full range of therapeutic counseling techniques are employed. We believe that group activity is never as effective as dedicated one-on-one support in these severe cases of complex PTSD, and that this is best delivered by a veteran with shared experiences using a common language. Following completion of this programme, our ‘Pathway’ phase is one that never ends: the veteran has continual access to their mentor as they continue to practice and employ the techniques learned during the programme.

This process offers the opportunity for sufferers to come to terms with what caused their condition, relegate PTSD to merely a component of their lives (rather than it being the sole driver) and enable them to begin re-establishing a more normal, balanced and positive place in society.

Responsibilities of the Trustees

The key responsibilities of the Board are governance and decision-making. Collectively, the role of governance spans the following areas:

Decision making is conducted routinely via quarterly and annual board meetings in addition to extraordinary meetings as required. Decisions required of the Board include:

Responsibilities of the Executive Team

The small Executive Team often works with other volunteers on a project-based approach to:

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Key Activities in this Reporting Period

Key activity during the period January 2023 – December 2023 includes:

Assistance to PTSD sufferers

This reporting period saw the Charity conduct three full programmes for PTSD sufferers in addition to detailed work with three previous ‘graduates’ of the system – coaching, monitoring and assistance with establishing the permanence and efficacy of their post-traumatic growth journey. This work was delivered by our Chief Mentor despite his personal health continuing to deteriorate. Core-OM (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation - Outcome Measure scoring methodology) continues to enable the Charity to monitor, review and improve our internal procedures and continually improve our offering.

Several visits to the UK by our Chief Mentor led to the identification of nineteen potential attendees who are candidates to undertake our ‘Open Door’ programme – the necessary precursor to being identified as suitable for attendance on one of our full programmes. The waiting list, or ‘pipeline’ is always long but significant skill is required to identify those ready to commit to the complete process and who are displaying the determination required to make change in their lives.

As the family of veterans we have assisted grows larger, so does the workload in the continual monitoring and support of their post-traumatic growth journey. We have a real need for additional mentors who, with the required personal characteristics and especially empathy, can take responsibility for their own groups of veterans throughout all stages in our process - a real commitment. It is clear to us that the preponderance of severe PTSD in the UK’s military veteran cohort continues – although often hidden from view – to destroy the lives of this community’s members and families.

External Activity

A significant potential opportunity with a High Net Worth individual was discovered and prosecuted through this period with potential financial support sufficient to fund much of our ambitious five-year strategy and development plan. Additionally, approaches were made to the Royal Marines Charity for funding and a Royal Air Force station to explore ideas of fund-raising support. Meetings were also conducted with SSAFA representatives (Soldiers’ Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Association), to discuss funding opportunities from their resources.

We continue to work with the ‘Coming Home Centre’ in Glasgow – this facility provides invaluable support to local veterans and has been a partner since the creation of the Charity. It is a useful funnel to identify veterans who require our assistance and who are ready to commit to the programme.

Our social media / web communications strategy continued to improve with decent trends emerging in the statistics for new visitors to our website. We have seen a huge increase in the number of people wishing to sign up for our newsletter and other communiques and this segment of the public often turns into regular small-size donors. The website contact format that was designed for veteran sufferers to reach us also continues to prove effective. Whilst operating budgets for advertising and publicity remain small to non-existent, better utilisation of all channels must be achieved.

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Internal Activity

Our team of part-time volunteers grew significantly in this period and we now have the support of a UK charity CEO offering advice and support, an independent film maker and a retired military veteran with time to give and with significant local networks. This is a fantastic development and bodes very well for 2024’s plan.

This year’s AGM developed the strategy from the previous year, adding more detailed targets and laying out the plan for 2024. The opportunity with the High Net Worth individual, if successful, could see the Charity being able to finance all its strategic aims out to the three-year point and enable the most pressing requirement of additional mentors to be satisfied. Some of the key critical decisions and desired outcomes that form our strategic plan are listed below:

Our fundraising for this period fell slightly short of last year’s partly due to a decision taken to cease the organising of our own events due to lack of organic resources to do so. We judge it far more effective to leverage the efforts of others who wish to fundraise on our behalf, providing as much guidance and assistance to them as possible - it has simply become impossible for our small team to organise events such as the dragon boating and marathon running fundraising efforts. With fundraising being below our forecasted budget, we were unable to hire a part-time fundraiser this year and this must be a priority for next, independent of other funding opportunities in the coming period. Our financial year was saved only by one large corporate donation.

The six-monthly and annual reviews of key policies and internal operating procedures were conducted as usual and amended where appropriate to reflect experience gained from the Charity’s operation over the previous year. With the benefit of completing three programmes this year, the Charity had significant additional data points with which to conduct reviews and improvement of our delivery. We believe that with every cycle of this process, we evolve to serve veterans better, achieve longer-lasting outcomes for them and produce time and financial efficiencies.

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Statement of Financial Activities

Financial Review

This period saw total donations from all sources amounting to £32,196 and spending by the Charity totaling £28,291 with cash funds at the year-end for this period totaling £17,405.

Fund Raising Categories

Successful fund raising for this period fell into the following categories:

Principal Funding Sources

We were the beneficiary of an extraordinarily generous donation of £20,000 from a single corporate donor. This proved to be the saving of this period’s fundraising results, amounting to over 50% of this year’s income for the Charity. GoFundMe and Just Giving donations persisted including recurring donations from some of our oldest supporters.

An application to the Armed Forces Covenant was submitted towards the end of the year but was unsuccessful.

It should be noted that we continue to enjoy incredibly generous support from a UK veteran business owner who finds all our vehicle and fuel costs. This is an invaluable benefit to UK operations where our Chief Mentor travels huge distances to spend time with PTSD victims – both candidates for upcoming programmes and past participants who receive ongoing support.

Plans for Future Periods

The review of our five-year strategy plan resulted in the following key areas and objectives being identified:

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Summary

This period was a successful year in terms of assistance to our veteran community, both with new participants on the programme and the continued support to those past. This was despite lacklustre income – only saved by a single, large corporate donation. Time resources of the almost exclusively volunteer team are short, while the ambition to help many more veterans has grown. The addition of the new volunteers to the Team is a major win and should drastically improve our ability to fundraise, but also promote our cause to a far wider audience.

Our ultimate vision is to eradicate military veteran suicide. Clearly this is not achievable within five years, but our strategy is a bold plan to grow a team of mentors, deliver concurrent programmes and fully ratify a widely accepted model. The operational delivery will be surrounded by the minimum necessary support infrastructure so that we can remain as financially efficient as possible.

Ultimately at the end of this five-year period, we aim to have our specialist model - suited for the most complex forms of PTSD - so successfully embedded within the wider landscape of psychological remedial techniques, that it can be employed within other uniformed services and emergency response organisations.

Our strategic plan is summarised below:

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Accounts

Section A Receipts and payments Section A Receipts and payments Section A Receipts and payments Section A Receipts and payments Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Total funds Last year
to the nearest
£
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
32,196 - - 32,196 39,032
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total(Gross income for
AR)
32,196 - - 32,196 39,032
A2 Asset and investment
sales, (see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 32,196 - - 32,196 39,032
A3 Payments
28,291 - - 28,291 34,765
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
**Sub total ** 28,291 - - 28,291 34,765
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
**Sub total ** - - - - -
Totalpayments 28,291 - - 28,291 34,765
Net of receipts/(payments) 3,905 - - 3,905 4,267
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds lastyear end 13,500 - - 13,500 9,233
Cash funds thisyear end 17,405 - - 17,405 13,500

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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories Details Details Details Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B1 Cash funds RBS 17,405 - -
- - -
- - -
Total cash funds 17,405 - -
(agree balances w ith receipts and payments
account(s))
OK OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets - - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
Details Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional) Current value
(optional)
B3 Investment assets - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Details Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional) Current value
(optional)
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Details Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
When due
(optional)
B5 Liabilities -
-
-
-
-
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
Signature Print Name Date of
approval
Jonathan Bailey 16thOct2024

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Oct 2024

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Jon Bailey Chairman On behalf of the Trustees of The Mountain Way

October 2024

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Oct 2024

Charity Name

The Mountain Way
Charity Name

The Mountain Way
Charity Name

The Mountain Way
No (if any)
1171751
CC16a
For the period
from
Period start date
1-Jan-23
To Period end date
31-Dec-23
Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts
32,196
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
32,196
-
-
Sub total -
Total receipts 32,196
A3 Payments
28,291
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Sub total 28,291
-
-
Sub total -
Total payments 28,291
Net of receipts/(payments) 3,905
A5 Transfers between funds
-
A6 Cash funds last year end
13,500
Cash funds this year end 17,405
Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest £
Sub total(Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
Endowment
funds
Total funds
to the nearest £
32,196
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
32,196
-
-
-
32,196
28,291
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
28,291
-
-
-
28,291
3,905
-
13,500
17,405
Last year
to the nearest £
- 32,196 39,032
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- 32,196 39,032
- -
- - -
- - -
- 32,196 39,032
- 28,291 34,765
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- 28,291 34,765
- -
- -
- - -
- 28,291 34,765
- - 3,905 4,267
- - - -
- - 13,500 9,233
- - 17,405 13,500

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B3 Investment assets
B5 Liabilities
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
Details
RBS
Details
Details
Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
to nearest £
17,405
-
-
17,405
OK
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Unrestricted
funds
Unrestricted
funds
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
liability relates
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Restricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Amount due
(optional)
to nearest £
Endowment
funds
-
-
-
-
OK
to nearest £
Endowment
funds
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees

Signature Print Name
Jonathan Bailey
Date of
approval
Jonathan Bailey 16th Oct 2024

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO AJ40 WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustsesl membars of Chanty Ngme The Mountain Way On accounts for tho year ended 31 St December 2023 Charity no (If any 1171751 Set out on pages Ir8mern￿rtO indude tho paoé Thu￿berS of adI￿Onal $heetsl I report to the trustees on my ex￿InatIon of the accounts of the above charity I'the Trust.) for the year ended 31112 12023. Respon$ibilitios and basis of report As the charity's trustees, you are responsible forlhe prep¥ation of the accounts in accordance with thè requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('Ihe Acr). I report in respect of my examination of tre TrusY$ accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent I have completed my examination. I confinn that no material matters have •xamlngr'$ 8tatement Come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records Kere not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act,. or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records., or the accounts did not comply V￿th the applicable r8quirements conceming the form and content of accounts set crtrt in the Charities {AcccMJnts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a Irue and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connectir with th8 examination to which attention should drawn in this report in order to enabl8 a proper understandirKJ of the accounts to be reached. Slgned: Dat•: 18 October 2024 Name: Samuel SpuThY8y Relevant profosslonal quallflcallonlsl or body Ilf any): ACCA-2142095 Address: 15 New Road Ilminster Somerset TA19 9AF IER Oct 2024

Section B Disclosure Only complete If Èhe examiner needs to highlight material matters of COnGern (see CC32, Independent examination of charily a￿Ounts.. directions arKI guidance for examiners}. Give here brief detslls of any iiems that the examlner wlshos to disclose. IER Oct 2024