**Annual Report** (1[st] September 2022 – 31[st] August 2023) ## **Charity Details:** Registered Address: 14 Middlesbrough Road, South Bank Middlesbrough TS6 6NR Telephone: 07307 848057 Email: info@rubiescharity.org Website: www.rubiescharity.org Social Media: @Rubies Charity Registered Charity Number: 1177332 ## **Our Board of Trustees:** Chair: Ruth Fox Trustee: Caroline Singleton (Treasurer) Trustee: Vanessa Kirby Trustee: Janet Tuner (Safeguarding Lead) Trustee: Tracey Brittain (appointed April 2023) ## **Our Vision:** Our Vision is to encourage girls to discover their strengths and know their true worth. ## **Our Values:** **R** Respect **U** Understand **B** Believe **I** Inspire **E** Encourage **S** Stay Safe ## **Our Aims:** Our Aims are to support girls to: i) Increase Self-Esteem ii) Build Resilience iii) Stay Safe **Rubies is a CIO. Registered Charity No 117733** ## **A message from our Chair of Trustees** Rubies has continued to support girls from the Redcar & Cleveland and Middlesbrough areas over the course of this report. The schools work and GLOW Groups continue to grow with more girls benefitting and learning that they are true Rubies! Two new GLOW groups have started during the year allowing even more girls to be involved. On behalf of myself and the other trustees, we would like to thank Liz and the staff team for all their hard work and to the volunteers for their dedication and support. The team enjoyed a two-week wellbeing break during the summer holidays. Well-deserved and much needed! We are always on the look-out for more volunteers – if you are interested in learning more, please give Liz a call – she’d love to talk with you. ## _**Ruth Fox**_ ## **Schools Work:** Our Vision is to encourage girls to discover their strengths and know their true worth. Our Aims are to support girls to: i) Increase Self-Esteem ii) Build Resilience iii) Stay Safe During this year we appointed a second Schools Coordinator to oversee our Self-Esteem courses. We worked with over **254** girls across Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland in both primary and secondary schools **234** Year 6 girls and **20** Year 7 girls took part in our Self-Esteem courses: ## **98% of girls reported that working with Rubies had positive impact on their lives** ## **78% of girls reported an increase in SelfEsteem** ## **81% of girls reported an increase in Resilience** ## **67% reported feeling Safer** We also secured a grant from Cleveland Police & Crime Commissioner to make an online safety film to support our ‘Stay Safe’ sessions and to show in schools. This was produced by Wander Films. ## **Counselling Pilot Project:** Thanks to funding from the Lottery’s Awards for All programme Liz, our CEO, began offering a small number of free weekly counselling sessions for girls who can’t access this support elsewhere. The sessions have taken place in schools and in our own room in a local community centre and girls are able to access this on a medium-long term basis. So far **5** girls have received counselling support. ## **Gems:** **4** girls who were referred to us from the Youth Justice Service were supported through an 8-week therapeutic course focused on improving their wellbeing. All of the girls felt the course had helped their self-esteem and confidence. Our patron TV presenter Steph McGovern took time to visit them and then invited them to her Channel 4 studio for a look behind the scenes of live TV. More Gems groups are being planned for next year. ## **GLOW Girls Groups:** **48** girls have attended GLOW this year! Following on from the success of our first GLOW girls group, this year we launched 2 more groups in South Bank and Easterside. The groups are for girls aged 11-16 and run for 50 weeks a year. GLOW is free and offers food, activities and a chance to meet friends and get support in a safe environment. Girls from the South Bank groups took part in arts workshops to produce installations for the Nightfall event in Middlesbrough and also held a Texas night with authentic Tex-Mex food and a visitor all the way from the USA. Steph McGovern visited Easterside GLOW to do a spot of line dancing and girls made their own bath bombs and created Xmas wreaths. They also linked up with the National Literacy Trust to set up a great mini-library. Several girls also took up the opportunity to meet their MP to find out what it’s like to be a member of parliament and to ask questions relating to their views about growing up inTeesside. ## **Staff Team:** We began 2023 with a focus on staff training so that we felt more equipped to support girls with increasingly complex needs and circumstances. As challenges with self-harm, anxiety, dis-ordered eating and low self-esteem are becoming more common, we felt it would be beneficial for staff to become trained Youth Mental Health First Aiders and 8 staff members and volunteers completed the 3 day course in January 2023. We also focused on training in the ‘Philosophy for Children’ discussion model ready for the launch of our secondary schools project next year and all staff received training in Adverse Childhood Experiences, First Aid and Safeguarding. Liz attended the UK Youth Thriving Minds Conference at Warick University in Feb 2023. This was a great opportunity to receive training and to find out what other organisations are doing to support young people’s mental health across the country. We employed 2 new part-time Project Workers to support with our schools work and GLOW groups. _“Since working at GLOW I’ve met so many incredible girls with the potential to achieve great things. GLOW has enabled me to empower girls to believe in themselves and recognise their worth in a place where this may not always be acknowledged._ _Moreover, my work delivering self-esteem courses has been truly rewarding, as I can see the outstanding impact the course has for the girls. Observing the change in their ability to understand their emotions and learn about themselves has been an amazing experience. The girls engage well with the course content and share their experiences and feelings with us, which is always an honour._ _Although I live in Middlesbrough and felt I was aware of the struggles people face, the circumstances I have encountered have been challenging and upsetting. Working at Rubies has opened my eyes to the challenging lives some young girls live and how our support is absolutely necessary to their overall wellbeing. Such experiences and my colleagues’ expertise have enabled me to learn so much in a short period of time.”_ ## Alisha Threadgill, Project Worker In April 2023 we launched a new website to give a more accurate picture about our work and our goals to stakeholders and families. Several of the girls from GLOW insisted on being shown in the photos for the new site as they were proud to be associated with the work of Rubies in their local communities. We also worked with Lamplight, a charity database specialist, to design a new database to help us improve our recording and monitoring systems as we continue to grow and develop as a charity. ## **North East Charity Awards:** Rubies was delighted to be a finalist in the ‘Best Small Charity’ category at the North East Charity Awards in July. A great night was had by all staff who attended and it was good to hear about the work of other organisations across the whole North East region who are also making a huge impact in their communities. ## **Trustee Board:** We were delighted to welcome Tracey Brittain to the Trustee Board in April 2023. Tracey has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the voluntary and VAWG sectors and is passionate about Middlesbrough girls reaching their potential. ## **Volunteers:** **26** wonderful women gave up their time to support Rubies in schools, GLOW girls groups and behind the scenes this year. This equates to more than 750 hours of support! We are really thankful for all our volunteers and for their dedication and commitment to our work supporting local girls. In August 2022 we held an event to show our appreciation for our volunteers and to celebrate our 5[th] birthday as a registered charity. ## **Fundraising:** We would like to say thank you to the following funders for supporting our work this year: Awards for All Ballinger Charitable Trust Comic Relief Cleveland Police & Crime Commissioner Darlington Building Society Greggs Foundation Middlesbrough Community Chest People’s Postcode Lottery Tees Valley Community Foundation UK Youth Wates Family Enterprise Foundation Warbutons (JO Annual Accounts (I" September 2022 - 31" August 2023) CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENfjLAND AND WALES Rub Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For thg period from 011W022 3110812023 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestri&tsid fund8 R•strict8d fvnd8 Endowmèni lunds Totsl funds LaBtygar tr*lh• nmrmte toth• n•ar•it£ to ¢h• n•4r••t£ A1 Rècol t8 Grants Restric￿￿ Granti LSnro¥lrKted 77 42,6fp) 57.4Q3 27.863 14.254 J.573 744 10.J04 324 744 Ircome Schools Girls Group 10.49D 154 906 324 51 720 835 Rugul8r DD￿al￿￿ FAB50 doneibny 720 4J6 226 Lolto 89 Sub totall m$s income for AR) A2 Asset an*J Invèlbnont 8alo1. 18e& tablg). 60.112 77N28 1J7.510 117WJ ub total 60.112 77,428 1J7.640 IIY.313 A3P• Aomln rnonts 101 $10 $.649 & runnin coi 1.008 6,260 60 44,111 7,110 7.000 & Promot Sthv ¢oBIy sia1fTra￿nin 6.000 25.231 71 272 Volun￿¢1 Co¥t¥ S¢n¢ois court•&Vffjlk8h 2,110 7.2BO 1.367 387 1,70Q 2,227 40 479 Po¥ii4V• P¢$1 Pi 2.172 241 42• 236 Uipm•nt Svmmer Worktsno Sorial Actiwu Accounts 430 412 188 388 41 3.740 198 76,YJO Girls Grou Ju51 Glvin YQ,567 216 119.246 216 Sub total 41J13 A4 AB8et and Inv•$lm•nt r¢ha8•8. ••• tabl• Sub lotsl 76,933 42,313 119.24$ 76.73Q Net ofrecelptsl(paymentsJ A5 Transfafs b*￿een funds A6 Cash funds lastyear end Cash funds thls year end 16,821 30.11S 18,294 40,623 $7,700 40.879 21.309 56.424 79,009 97,303 3B,386 79.009 CCXX R1 accounts ISS) 3011112022 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrnstrfetsd Rè8tri¢tèd funds lund8 to n•amt£ Endowm?nt lund8 ¢0 noaTestt B1 Ca•h lunds P•wca8n 8aDk 362 $S.82S rotalcash funds 41,478 55,826 UnMtri6l•d fund8 Ro8trlct•d nd$ Endowrnent fund¥ to n•ire•t£ FuNltowhlch Cwl loptro￿lI Curr•ntviluo Fundtowhlch ¥•t b• Co•t loptlon•ll Currert vily• 84 A886ts rotalned for thè ch•rlty'• own *mou￿t￿ onal Whon du• relat•1 85 Llabllltl•• SvJned by one OT l¥yo tr￿1885 behalf of all the Irtk4lee5 Prsnt Nam8 Date of roval CCXX RZ acrnunls ISSI 3011 112023 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Rubies On accounts for the year ended 3118123 Charity no (if any) 1177332 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above Charity Ilhe Trust.) for the year ended 31108 12023. Responslblllllos 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 A 2011 ￿h@ Acr). I report in resFect of my examination of the Trust's accounts ¢8rried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying 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 confinn that no material matt8r8 have come lo my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in. any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance wrth section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord wth the accountiThJ records Independent examinerf8 Statement I have no concem8 and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Slgned: Data: Name: Relevant professlonal quallflcation(s) or body Irf any): MT Diploma in Charrty Accounting (The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) Address: 44 Nuneaton Drive Hemlington TS8 9PR IER October 2018 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 Rubies On accounts for the year ended 3118123 Charity no (If any 1177332 Set out on pages l ￿port to the trustees ¢)n my examination of the accounts of the above charity ('the Trust.) for the year ended 31108 12023. Rosponslbllltleg and As the charity trustees of the Trust. you are responsible for the preparation basls of report of the a￿ount$ in ac¢ordance 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)Ib) of the Act. I have completed my examination. l ¢onfimi that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the 8xamination which gives me cause to believe that in. any material respect: a¢¢ounting records were not kept in ac￿rdanCe with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do nol accord wrth the accounting records Indépendent examinèr's ststsment I have no ¢oncem8 and have Come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a prop8r understanding of th8 accounts to be reached. Slgnod: Date: q. 11.1 Name: Relevant professional quallfication(s) or body (If any): MT Diploma in Charity Accounting (The Institute of Chartered A¢¢ountantb in England and Wales) Addro88: 44 Nuneaton Drive Hemlington TS8 9PR IER October 2018 Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to htghlight matters of concem (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Glve here brlef detsils of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018