CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of The Dog. Duck and Cat (DDC) Trust On accounts for the year ended 31st March 2024 Charity no lif any) 1177187 Set out on pages I report lo the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {"the Trust") for the year ended 3110312022. Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {"the 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 the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145{5}{b} of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have ome to my attention lolher than that disclosed below ') in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in. any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordan￿ with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete the words in the braGkels if they do not apply. Signed: Date: 1010112025 Name: Rachel Gowman Relevant professlonal qualifi¢ationls) or body {if anyl: ACCA Address: 102 Tetlenhall Road Wolverhampton WV6 OBW Se¢tion B Disclosure Only cornplete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32. Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). IER October 2018 Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018 The Dog, Duck and Cat (DDC) [r£b[￿a<￿ Trust- Annual Report 2023- 24 TRUST Finances Income Year Ended 31st March 2024 Year Ended 31st March 2023 Income type Amount Amount Grants £2,495.00 £17,000.00 Commissions £14,545.00 £13,695.00 Donations £2,550.00 £4,435.00 Total £19,590.00 £35,130.00 Expenditure Expenditure type Amount Amount Consultancy- including all development and illustrating £19,346.50 £35,522.60 Printing & Stationery £428.00 £0.00 Operating costs - IT and insurances £2,230.52 £1,255.75 Transport £0.00 £0.00 Equipment £0.00 £0.00 Totsl £22,005.02 £36.778.35 Surplusl{Deficitl for the year (£2,415.02) (£1,648.35) Bank Blfwd £2,493.21 £4,141.56 Bank Clfwd £78.19 £2,493.21 The Dog, Duck and Cat (DDC) tX£bDll&Q(2J Trust- Annual Report 2023-24 TRVST The trustees of the DDC Trust are pleased to present their annual report and financial statement for period year ending 31st March 2024. The DDC Trust is governed by its constitution, adopted 15th August 2017. There are currently 3 Trustees who were re- appointed at beginning of this monitoring period. The board of Trustees come from a range of professional backgrounds relevant to the Charity's objectives. The Trustees met at least quarterly. and 4 formal meetings were held during the period 1st April 2023 to 3151 March 2024,. Finance meetings were also held quarterly. Informal meetings also took place as and when needed to discuss day to day matters. Aims of the DDC Trust For children to learn about staying safe, in a way thal is fun and age appropriate, in their day to day lives and in their local community To address, and educate on, subjects that affect a child's mental health and emotional well being To promote 'safety first, thinking, both inside the home and in the community To ensure children re￿1ve consistent safeguarding messages to prevent household accidents and incidents To assist Parents, Carers and Guardians (PCG) in building rapport with their children To promote Quality Time, between PCGS and their children, to build a child's resilience To provide resources to facilitate Quality time taking place To ensure children know, and they believe, that they have a person in their life, that they trust and can talk to, if they are ever worried or scared about anything. no matter how awful or small their concern may be The Dog, Duck and Cat (DDC) tr£b[￿b&a(2I Trust- Annual Report 2023-24 TRUST About the DDC Trust The trust provides educational, prevenlative, harm minimisalion resources for young people, aged O to 9 years of age, with a focus on safeguarding, promoting safety and developing a child's resilience. The approach is simple yet effective. The Dog, Duck and Cat characters are utilised, in story form, to help adults educate children about a range of different subjects. The resources have also been created to allow older children to use them for themselves, thus increasing opportunities for the messages to be delivered to our audience. The resources are available online, but the trust endeavour to make printed resources available whenever possible, as children have told us they 'like having the story books and activities to play with,. For the trust to be able to reach the children, partnership working is essential. We work with professionals, in the community, in settings such as primary schools, the NHS. early years providers, and the local authority. All partners are then supported, in a variety of ways, to use the DDC resources. All the stories are supported by lesson plans and classroom activities, for use by those working in educational settings, and bespoke programmes have been developed to suit the needs of specific professionals, such as health visitors, midwives, libraries and others. The trust also provides a full set of story resources for Parents, Carers and Guardians (PCG) and the local community to use. To keep children safe, the homes they live in, and the people that care for them, need to be aware of the risks that those children may face. PCG'S and the local community are vital partners for the trust, to omit them would vastly diminish the chances of us achieving our aims. For PCG'S we are also promoting the concept of spending Quality Time with their child(ren). By providing story resources, and activities to be done together, we are looking to those that have children in their care, to 'put down the phone, and spend some fun-time with their children. By doing this we are looking to create positive attachments. This can be a tremendous way to build a child's trust, resilience and thus encourage them to be open and talk if they are ever concerned, worried or scared about anything. The focus, until the end of 2017, had been on helping children stay safe from accidents. but the remit has now been broadened due to demand. Emotional well- being, bereavement, loss, domestic abuse, positive peer relationships, racism, and a range of other subjects, are now being addressed by DDC resources. The Dog, Duck and Cat (DDC) cotXtslQ(kn Trust- Annual Report 2023-24 TRUST Activities and Achievement's in 2023124 Dudley Public Health (DPH), Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council ISMBC and Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council (WMBC) commissions DPH again commissioned the Trust so that all Dudley schools could have open access to all DDC stories, lesson plans and reSoUr￿s. Approx. 80 % of Dudley schools are now registered to use DDC resources. SMBC continue to receive free of charge a¢￿sS to all Trust resources. Approx. 780/0 of Sandwell schools are registered to use these resources. IJVMBC also commissioned the Trust so that all Wolverhampton schools could have open access to all DDC stories, lesson plans and resources. Complimentary access began in summer term 2022-23 with formal ac￿$$ beginning at the start of academic year 2023-24. The Trust has worked extensively with school colleagues across the Black Country to ensure they are able to deliver Trust resources to the best of their abilities. The Trust CEO continues to carry out a great many teacher training events, school staff meetings and school events to show the resources and how to use them, and attended larger professionals events to promote the Trust and get people involved and accessing Trust resources. The Trust are also working with a more diverse group of professionals in the community. Links have been made with school health nursing servI￿s, family hubs, SEND providers and other community groups, to further advertise the Trust resources and to encourage people to engage with us. Partnership with Connex Education Academy As with many other charities in the UK the trust has found income generation more challenging than ever before. The Trust began conversations with Connex Education Academy (CEA) about entering into a Memorandum of Understanding {MoU) to begin on April 1st 2024. CEA had approached the trust as they wanted to use the existing DDC schools, resources, invest in them, develop new DDC schools reSoUr￿s, and then market them to schools for sale. The trust CEO and trustees discussed this at some length, looked into the validity of this approach and proposed the following to CEA. The Mou would agree that CEA would fund: The Dog, Duck and Cat (DDC) C£EbltsQ(2J Trust- Annual Report 2023-24 TRUST A free of charge to access DDC web site containing all existing DDC stories for members of the public with a focus on Parents and carers of children aged 9 and below. All newly created stories for schools would also be replicated for this web site ensuring new content now and in the future. Free of charge health education resources for schools featuring the DDC characters for children aged 9 and under. A number of free of charge education reSoUr￿s, covering various subjects. for schools featuring the DDC characters for children aged 9 and under. Access for all Dudley and Sandwell schools to the full range of DDC educational resources until 31st August 2026. Essentially the Mou states thal CEA have will fund the goals and objectives of the Dog, Duck and Cat Trust charity, in perpetuity, and this will essentially be the 'fee' to CEA. The trust will monitor the Mou from April 1st 2024 to ensure it is being upheld. Moggy's New Medicine- Asthma awareness project In October 2022 a conversation began between The Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Trust to work together to create a resource on asthma awareness. A number of ideas were discussed, and a plan was devised that resulted in funding being received in April 2023. It was decided that a story would be Greated covering asthma, what is it and how it can be successfully managed, which would then be backed up with lesson plans for schools to use. The story and resources were created in partnership with ICB, with their expertise and knowledge being invaluable. A Dudley primary school became a key partner in the development with staff and pupils all contributing to the development of the resour thus ensuring it's coproduction. When shared wider feedback was immediately very positive, with primary schools especially complimentary about the simplicity of the resource and how ac￿Ssible it was for the children to use. This resour￿ was still in development as of 31st March 2024 but when completed will be free of charge to access as part of the health education DDC schools resources. Auntie Duck- air quality resource This piece of work began in September 2023 and the Trust were successful in gaining funding from Sandwell Public Health (SPH). Working with SPH partners it was identified that air quality was an issue worrying children and adults that work and live with them. The quality of the air we breath is The Dog, Duck and Cat (DDC) crDcJts113(kn Trust- Annual Report 2023-24 TRUST impacted by a number of factors, and tt was decided to highlight these, and whal could be done about them, as the focus of the work. This resource will be completed in summer 2024 and then be part of the DDC health education portfolio that will be free of charge to access. Broadening the reach - social media The Trust has active social media accounts and continues to develop this element of the business. Regular posts are made and links to national awareness days are utilised wherever possible to ensure Trust resources are used effectively by partners who need them. Finances Please see attached report for a full financial breakdown for the trust for 2023 - 24.