2024-03-31-accounts - Colchester Samaritans

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COLCHESTER SAMARITANS

TRUSTEES

ANNUAL REPORT

Year ending 31 March 2024

Summary of the main ac0vi0es and achievements of the Charity

Colchester Samaritans (hereina1er referred to as the Charity), was incorporated on 17[th] July 2017 and became fully opera@onal on 1[st] October 2017. During the period 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024 the charity was based at Walsingham Road Community Hall Colchester CO2 7BN and con@nued to provide a double-manned telephone and online chat service for the benefit of people in need of emo@onal support both from the local community and from elsewhere in the United Kingdom.

The Charity played a full role in support of Samaritans in the UK and Ireland in line with the objects of the Charity.

Registered name and number

Colchester Samaritans (RC 1173895)

Registered address

Walsingham Road Community Hall Walsingham Road Colchester CO2 7BN

Objects of the Charity

To enable persons in Colchester and the surrounding area as well as elsewhere who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those who may be at risk of suicide, to receive confiden@al emo@onal support at any @me of the day or night in order to improve their emo@onal health and to reduce the incidence of suicide.
To promote be[er understanding in society of suicide, suicidal behaviour, and the value of expressing feelings which may otherwise lead to suicide or impaired emo@onal health.
Objects.

Governance

The Branch is a Charitable Incorporated Organisa@on within the Samaritan Movement.

The ac@vi@es of the Charity are regulated by:

the Cons@tu@on of the Charity dated 21[st] July 2017. A copy is available on applica@on to the Branch Secretary.
the nature of services and policies of The Samaritan Company, as determined from @me to @me by the Council of Management of The Company.

- Organisa0on and Decision making Structure of the Charity

The Branch Director is responsible for and has absolute authority over the day-to-day conduct and management of the work of the Branch in offering help to suicidal, despairing and/or distressed callers. The Director is in charge of all members of the Branch.
branch, ensuring the branch is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit and fulfilling its legal and regulatory responsibili@es, including the upkeep of the Centre, fund raising and expenditure, publicity, and the general management of material resources.

Trustees

the Cons@tu@on of the Charity. Trustees from 1[st] April 2023 to 31 March 2024 were:

David A[erbury Rodney Dass (to 1[st] October 2023) Liz Raczi Philip Moseley (to 1[st] October 2023) Caroline Nicholls Hilary Savage Terry Beech Lynne Finnigan Keith Middleton (Co-opted 19[th] June 2024)

Ofcers at 31 March 2024 were:

Branch Director Lynne Finnigan Secretary Caroline Nicholls Treasurer David A[erbury

Professional advisers at 31 March 2024 were:

Auditor Quan@c Accountancy Ltd, 1 Brewery House, Brook Street, Wivenhoe, CO7 9DS Bankers Barclays Bank, 40-41 High Street, Chelmsford CM1 1BE The Co-opera@ve Bank plc, P.O. Box 250, Skelmersdale, WN8 6WT

Annual accounts

The Accounts for the year ending to 31st March 2024 cons@tute part of this report and are a[ached as an Appendix. They have been prepared on a payments and receipts basis to conform to the Chari@es Act 2011. They have been subject to independent examina@on only by the Auditor as an audit is not required as provided under Sec@on 144 of this Act. The Statement of Financial Affairs records an excess of expenditure over income, excluding deprecia@on, of £9,715.

there were to be a serious decline in income. The Branch needs approximately £65,000 a year to maintain current levels of ac@vity. In addi@on, reserves are needed to maintain the premises and to fund periodic improvements. The current assets are sufficient for these purposes currently.

Use of the Charity’s service

Figures are available for the period 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024:

The Charity maintained a 311-day service as closed for a period to allow refurbishment.
The Charity was contacted by callers using the telephone 18,613 @mes in total.
Our volunteers engaged with 464 online chats.
There were 71requests for contact received (of which contact was made with 56 service users, a success rate of 78%) from our partnership with the EPUT.

Recruitment, selec0on and profle of volunteers

Figures are available for the period 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024:

44 people enquired about volunteering.
Of those, 40 were accepted for training.

We operated our service with 100 ac@ve listening volunteers and 34 support volunteers.
Volunteers on average do 1 duty a week which ranges from 2.5 to 3 hours during the day and 4.5 hours at night.

Related ac0vi0es

The Charity has no employees, and all its work is undertaken on a voluntary basis. This includes considerable addi@onal @me and effort to enable the Objects of the Charity to be met.

In the period 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024 this included:

Outreach work in secondary schools, MCTC and Essex University con@nues, and we have extended our reach to refugees in Clacton, and the homeless.
Fundraising has been fully re-established since Covid including Book Fairs, Collec@ons at retail venues and public events, in-house events and sponsorships. Dona@ons are down on the past and we are having to work harder to cover our costs.
Major refurbishment of our Duty Room has been completed providing a more user-friendly working environment and incorpora@ng the online chat service which previously operated from another part of the building.
Our partnership with the Mental Health Trust (EPUT) con@nues to thrive and we make calls to pa@ents needing emo@onal support who are referred to us from the Trust.

Copies of this report may be obtained by wri@ng to the Secretary at Samaritans, Walsingham Road Community Hall, Colchester CO2 7BN (a small charge will be made to cover postage and prin@ng). Further informa@on about the work of the Charity may be obtained by wri@ng to the Director at the same address.

Received and approved by vote of the Trustees:

Director: Lynne Finnigan

Secretary: Caroline Nicholls Date:

Received by the membership at the AGM, 6[th] October 2024

Director: Lynne Finnigan

Secretary: Caroline Nicholls Date:

COLCHESTER SAMARITANS

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH 2024

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Colchester Samaritans

I am reporting on the Accounts of Colchester Samaritans ended 31st March 2024 which are set out on Pages 2 to 7.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and the examiner

Charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act), and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair” view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention (other than that disclosed below):

which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act;
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the
accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or
to which in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Name: Mr Stuart Foster (FCCA) Professional Qualification: ACCA

Address: Quantic Accountancy Ltd, 1 Second Avenue, Halstead, Essex CO9 2SU Date: 24 July 2024

Page 2

COLCHESTER SAMARITANS

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31st MARCH 2024

	Note	All Funds 2023 £	All Funds 2023 £	All Funds 2024 £	All Funds 2024 £
Incoming Resources Book Fair Donations and Gifts Fundraising Events Grants Receivable Gift Aid Insurance Refund Profit on Sale of Van Interest			1,605 13,704 11,768 3,500 1,229 - - 14		3,000 48,637 4,305 9,500 5,444 23 10,000 14
Total IncomingResources			31,820		80,923
Resources Expended Depreciation of Fixed Assets Direct Charitable Expenditure Fundraising and Publicity Costs Management and Administration Costs	3 4 5		8,435 13,217 7,333 73,000		9,405 55,664 8,116 26,858
Total Resources Expended		102,047		100,043
Net Incoming /(outgoing) resources Balance brought forward at 1 April 2023		(70,227) 581,723		(19,120) 511,496
Balance carried forward at 31 March 2024		511,496		492,376

The notes on pages 4 to 7 form part of these accounts

Page 3

COLCHESTER SAMARITANS

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st MARCH 2024

	Note	2023	2023	2023	2024	2024
		£	£		£	£
Tangible Fixed Assets Current Assets Cash at Bank	6	163,998	347,498		108,831	383,545
Current Assets		511,496			492,376

Net Total Assets				347,496		492,376
Represented by: General Fixed Assets	7 7	163,998 347,496		511,496	108,831 383,545	492,376

The notes on pages 4 to 7 form part of these accounts

Page 4

COLCHESTER SAMARITANS

Notes to the Accounts for the period ending 31st March 2024

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

a) Basis of Accounting. These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the applicable accounting standards and the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting by Charities (“the Charities SORP”).

b) Voluntary income received by way of donations and gifts is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (the “SOFA”) when received. Gifts in kind are valued and brought in as income and the appropriate expenditure.

c) Gross fund-raising income from events organised by the charity itself is included in the SOFA when received. Where deemed material, fund-raising proceeds not yet received by the charity at the end of year end have also been taken into income at the Trustees’ estimate of ‘likely receivable amount’.

d) Gift Aid and other income received by the charity in respect of which a claim for repayment of tax has or will be made is grossed up for the tax recoverable and this gross amount recognised in the SOFA.

e) Income from legacies is included in the SOFA when received or when the Trustees are satisfied the charity has a legally enforceable right of receipt of a conservatively measurable sum.

f) Revenue grants for immediate financial support and assistance are recognised in the SOFA on receipt and on satisfaction of any preconditions.

g) Premises overheads are aggregated and allocated to the various functional activities of the charity on a percentage basis determined by the Trustees and disclosed in a note.

h) Any costs which cannot be specifically identified to another functional activity of the charity are included in the management and administration function.

i) Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets of material value held by the charity for its own use on a straight line basis so as to write off their costs over the estimated useful lives as follows: Freehold Property 50 years Computers and other office equipment/furniture 4 years

j) No provision for taxation is included in the accounts as the charity is entitled to the exemption from tax afforded by Section 505 on the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988.

Page 5

			Page 5
			% 65 25 10 100
	2023	2024
2. PREMISES OVERHEADS Water, Light and Heat Repairs and Renewals Cleaning and Housekeeping Office Telephone Insurance Rent	2,791 4,244 3,180 1,393 2,712 164	4,879 18,597 2,915 1,534 2,472
Total for Year	14,484	30,397
Allocated to: - Direct Charitable Expenditure Fundraising and Publicity Management and Administration	9,415 3,621 1,448	19,758 7,599 3,040	% 65 25 10
Total Allocation for Year	14,484	30,397	100

3.DIRECT CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE Emergency Telephone Volunteers Training and Support Costs Volunteers Expenses Publicity Postage, Stationery & IT Share of Premises Overheads (see note 2)	1,427 168 1,654 385 168 9,415	1,143 312 28,290 4,353 1,808 19,758
Total for Year	13,217	55,664
4. FUNDRAISING AND PUBLICITY COSTS Fundraising Expenses Share of Premises Overheads(see note 2)	3,712 3,621	517 7,599
Total for Year	7,333	8,116
5. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION COSTS Regional Conference Bank Charges Contribution to General Office Support Three Rings Professional Fees Van Expenses Branch Visit Sundry Expenses Share of Premises Overheads (see note 2)	1,121 242 67,928 261 1,930 70.00 1,448	1,861 243 19,468 326 180 1,705 35 3,040
Total for Period	73,000	26,858

Page 6

6. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

7. RECONCILATION OF FUNDS

General Fund: Funds are held available for the ordinary purposes of the charity.

8. STAFF COSTS AND NUMBERS.

No staff were employed by the charity during the period 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024.

Page 7

9. TRUSTEES’ REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES

None of the charity’s trustees were directly or indirectly remunerated in any way. It is the policy of the charity to reimburse in full all expenses properly incurred by its volunteers in connection with its charitable activities. During the year, the total amount reimbursed to the trustees, members of the charity’s Management Committee, in respect of travel costs for attending meetings. telephone, postage and other similar expenses is disclosed in page 5, note 3.

10. INDEMNITY INSURANCE.

Samaritans has centrally effected professional indemnity insurance to protect employees, Trustees, Directors and other volunteer members of all Samaritan branches.