2024-04-04-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period 2023/24

From 5th April 2023 – 4[th] April 2024

Charity name: FASD AWARENESS Charity registration number: 1176933

Objectives and Activities

Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	The Objects of the charity are: 1. To relieve the needs of sufferers of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and those whose lives are affected by the condition who live or work in the area of benefit or neighbouring areas, through the provision of support, education and practical advice. 2. To advance the education of the public in all areas relating to Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) including the promotion of research for the public benefit in all aspects of FASD and to publish the useful results. The area of benefit is the Southeast of England, County of Kent and Medway Unitary Authority, United Kingdom and worldwide.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	1. To raise awareness of the key features and lived experience of individuals affected by Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) via talks, training, films and social media. 2. To provide support for individuals and families affected by FASD eg via support groups and group outings. 3. To develop relationships with key partners, in particular with the Kent & Medway CCG, and create a system to ensure professionals offer appropriate, expert help. 4. To continue to develop relationships with other FASD & Neurodisability charities both locally and nationwide.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	The trustees have had due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit. They can confirm that all the activities carried out in the year 2023/24 were consistent with this benefit. The trustees met quarterly in-person during the year and discussed issues between meetings via email and the Trustees’ WhatsApp Group.

A new chair (Peggy Murphy) was appointed, and a skills audit carried out to look for gaps in expertise on the board of trustees. New trustees are being sourced as a result.

Achievements and Performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.

2023/24 threw up challenges for us as we unexpectedly lost funding from the ICB, despite the larger number of families we were still supporting. However, we have managed to streamline our services effectively and continue to deliver a vital support to the FASD community whilst creating greater awareness in a wider audience. We may not have been able to expand our services in the way we hoped due to funding cuts, but we have focused on improving the delivery of what we do best and increased our clientele by nearly 200% in 2023. Our support groups and friendship groups continue to be the bedrock of our organisation. Numbers are increasing, but the impact of the sessions is becoming more evident as the years progress. Many of the families who join, have 1:1 emergency sessions, engage with these sessions, and find the strategies and resources have transformed their family lives. The feedback is often touching and profound. Our sourced guest speakers for webinars are led by our service users’ needs. The bonds built in the friendship groups run by Maggie May, are really beginning to gel; a rare thing for individuals with FASD. We have regular attendees who are now requesting 2 sessions per month. We have also identified the need for a “mentorship” programme, siblings group and_Guys_support group. We are including these in our funding applications through 2024. Following the success of our #BeAware educational films and case studies, we completed another case study film#3; “Sushma & Layla’s story”. This film tells the uplifting story of a young child (Layla) diagnosed with FASD who is adopted by her foster family and was launched in FASD Awareness month September2023. Our webinars are proving more popular and are being shared worldwide. Quotes and soundbites from the webinars are being requested by organisations as evidence to support their own awareness campaigns. The Eventbrite evaluation forms are very complimentary and gives us a clear idea of what our attendees enjoy, potential future guest suggestions and also the demographics of the audience. There is a good mix of professionals from all sectors and parent/ carers. It is also adding to our database by 200 per month. We have been able to attract some of the most influential figures in the FASD world to present webinars, from clinicians to those with the lived experience. These have become very popular with our audiences as they provide a greater understanding of what it looks like to live with FASD, as well as what resources,maskingmethods and strategies are commonly

used to get through each and every day. They provide helpful information for families, educators, social care, and medical professionals alike. These webinars are then posted onto our YouTube channel where many people then go on to view the entire series of webinars. We have been delivering a series of online training sessions at different times in the day to suit a varied audience (“An overview of FASD”). These have included an adult with FASD sharing the lived experience perspective. All sessions have been well-attended and cater to the great number of requests from local authorities, public sector workers and parent carers for training. It has also provided the charity with a muchneeded form of income. We also deliver bespoke training “live” in schools and at foster and adoption services. Since the FASD NICE quality standards were launched, we have prepared ourselves to accommodate the increased demand for awareness of FASD and support ICB’s and other sectors to manage the greater numbers of individuals and families needing advice and support.

Achievements against objectives set

We use our Business & Development Plan which includes a tracker that trustees use to monitor progress towards meeting goals. We have collected data and we know that, typically, we have around 30 attendees to the day out events and 6 – 12 people at each of our Youth and Adult support group meetings. An impact report collated all evaluations following webinars, support groups and training sessions. A survey was also carried out to identify key areas of success and areas where we could improve our services. In the large part, these were very encouraging and, at times. incredibly touching. However, it also identified that many families needed alternative timings for the activities that are delivered. We have been networking with local organisations and have developed close connections with other charities, local councillors, fundraising organisations, and trusts. We attended the Medway Voluntary Action AGM and have joined their new online referral service, ‘Joy’. Our connection with Medway Neurological Network has helped us set up the Neuro Café Programme. We have worked closely with Kent Community Foundation and Tunstall Jubilee Foundation to establish continued funding in order to support the future programmes to be able to fill the gaps that we have identified. These long-term relationships will help FASD Awareness grow and be better supported where needed. We have achieved our objective of being a voice for people with FASD. Through the inclusion of many people with FASD in our training and on our Webinar series, we are giving a voice to the lived experience. Locally, we have done that via being a member of the NHS ICB group responsible for FASD and nationally through the FASD UK Alliance. Our #BeAware campaign continues to be shared worldwide and included in training for other medical professionals and organisations worldwide.

We have identified, through our support program, that many families are struggling with individuals transitioning into adulthood and getting involved in the Criminal Justice System. As a result, our CEO has become part of a collaborative project to research and collate data around FASD in the CJS. Meetings are being held regularly with multiple agencies including, the Police, Judiciary, Legal, Probation, Charitable organisations, Academics in Salford, Bristol and Cardiff Metropolitan Universities and families with lived experience. We have added this as a goal to our Strategic Plan moving forward in 2024. Internally, we are looking to further strengthen our board and have a small group of committed trustees who give many hours to the charity. We have also looked at the growth and sustainability of the charity. We are looking to bring in a company to support these ends.

Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set

We met our fundraising target for the year, despite some initial challenges. Significant time and resource was reallocated to meet this target.

Financial Review

Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Despite a difficult time sourcing funding, we have been able to increase our reserves, while focusing on streamlining our activities and support offer. A much better year financially, gives the charity a good base to move forward into the next financial period whilst focusing on our key deliverables.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	As funding becomes ever more difficult to source, the charity took the decision that it would be good practice to ensure we hold a minimum of 3 months core running costs as a reserve. This was estimated to be the minimum period of time that services could be streamlined as required whilst additional funding is sourced.
Amount of reserves held	£ 10,000
Reasons for holding zero reserves	N/A
Details of fund materiallyin deficit	N/A
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a goingconcern	N/A
The charity’s principal sources of	Our main sources of funding are grant-giving trusts. In addition, we receive a small amount of money from individual donations and from businesses.

funds (including any fundraising)
Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	We have not adopted an Investment Policy as do not have funds to invest. We have a small amount of reserves which is kept in our savings bank account.
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Lack of funding and not maintaining our staff and volunteers are our biggest risks. Our staff are under constant pressure to do a lot with not very much resource. There is also a risk in that the charity relies heavily on a very small number of people. In order to mitigate these risks, we now have clear funding priorities and clear costings of projects and core work. This has helped us to maintain a steady growth in funding. We are also looking at sourcing an outside company to help us with the charity’s growth and sustainability.

Structure, Governance and Management

How is the charity constituted?

Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), only voting members are its charity trustees. ‘Foundation’ Model.

Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions.

In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the trustees have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO and what skills are missing from the trustee board. Apart from the first charity trustees, trustees are appointed for a term of 3 years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees; normally this is our AGM. They may stand for a second term but after that there must a gap of at least one year before re-appointment. Trustees are interviewed in accordance with the Safer Recruitment policy and all necessary DBS checks and references are taken.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have found that our focus on the Business & Development Plan which includes a tracker that trustees use to monitor progress towards goals, has helped us streamline our operations without distraction. This has helped us to target the areas that have the greatest impact whilst looking into improving other key areas of our work. We are always grateful for the tireless work of our small team, and the constant stream of appreciative messages from the families, organisations and individuals that we support.

Reference and Administrative details

Charityname	FASD Awareness
Other name the charity uses	FASD Awareness South East
Registered charity number	1176933
Charity’s principal address	1b William Street. Rainham, Gillingham KENT ME8 8HN

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person who interviewed/ appointed trustee
Peggy Murphy	Chair	Appointed as Chair on 14th June 2023	A Keeping and Andy Nichols
Dr Adesoji Abiona		2018 (reappointed at AGM)	Founding trustee
Deborah Matthews	Treasurer	Appointed January 2020	A Keeping and P Rorison
Paul Allen		2018 (Reappointed at AGM)	Founding trustee
Andy Nichols	Vice – Chair	Appointed 20th September 2021	A Keeping and W Spears
Sophie Cartwright		Appointed July 2020	A Keeping and W Spears
Lyndon McLean		Appointed 20thSeptember 2021 Stood down on 13th September 2023	A Keeping and W Spears

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Peggy Mur h p y Deborah Matthews Full name(s) Peggy Murphy Position (eg Secretary, Chair Treasurer Chair, etc) Date October 8th 2024

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to tho trusteesl members of A)? On accounts for the year ended Charity no (if any) 1171, (33 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {"the Trust") for the year ended Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordan￿ with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (llhe Act") I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145151(bl of the Act. Independent IThe charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 and l am qualified to examiner's statement undertake the examination by being a qualified member of linsert name of applicable listed bodyll. Delete I l if not 8pplicable. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examinalion lolher than that disclosed below ') which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not keo 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 with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 otherthan any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter onsidered as part of an independent examination. I have no concems and have Gome across no other matters in connertion with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date: 2v Name: Relevant professional qualificationls) or body LOrf/&£i i) //Jiii . 1-6oE.HIq Oct 2018 IER

lif any): Address: rtLLo¢JfiLL Si i /ihJ6"_4c. c k Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlighl material matters of con￿rn (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disGlose. J/k IER Oct 2018