2021-12-31-accounts

PHOENIX COUNSELLING SERVICE

ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2021

On Behalf of the Board of Trustees

Phoenix Counselling Service is registered with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The Charity Registration Number is 1177399. During 2021 Phoenix Counselling Service has continued to carry out its charitable function of providing counselling for adults in Burntwood, Lichfield and the surrounding area who cannot access counselling via the NHS and cannot afford private counselling.

At the beginning of 2021 the new management structure was in place and the processes were developing, however it is only in taking on new roles that issues emerge and in February Dawn decided that she would continue counselling within Phoenix but would not continue as manager of the service. Phoenix is very grateful to her for the work she contributed to leading Phoenix forward through that time of change. The Trustees decided to advertise more widely for a manager who would bring management and fundraising expertise to the service and Alison Johnson was appointed as manager in March.

At the same time a great deal of work was involved in providing the monitoring information for the Coalfields Regeneration Trust grants – eventually this was completed with a week to spare!

In March Jill Page, who had been a trustee since the start of Phoenix, stepped down at the end of her term of office. We are all very grateful to Jill for all her work as a trustee, particularly taking the minutes for the trustee meetings, collating the information from the Client Satisfaction Questionnaires at the end of each year and providing a great deal of support, encouragement, and common sense as Phoenix has evolved. We are grateful to Erica Knight for becoming a trustee and to Emma Pipe who is now a trustee, bringing her counselling experience to the role.

We are enormously grateful to the Board of Trustees and our volunteers for their loyalty and continued support – their commitment to Phoenix is very much valued and allows us to continue to offer our service to the highest standards.

John Wharton

1

Chair

Management

During the Covid19 pandemic we transferred our service from face-to-face counselling to on-line, to conform with government guidelines. During 2021 we started to offer face to face appointments again which satisfied our service users and counsellors. The number of referrals dropped, as it did with similar services, but the number of sessions we delivered increased, due to clients have deeper issues to deal with. During 2021 we provided 610 counselling sessions.

----- Start of picture text -----
Statistics for 2021 20 202 20 20 20 20
21 0 19 18 17 16
Number of appointments 610 306 456 343 283 217
attended
Number of referrals 51 62 101 107 71 54
Number of people starting 46 77 85 57 42 36
counselling
Number of people completed 641 59 78 49 40 30
counselling ?64
Number of people of the waiting 6 17 27 18 8 10
list at
the start of 2021
Number of people on the waiting 9 1 17 27 18 8
list at
The end of 2021
----- End of picture text -----*

Our WriteUpp Management system is now fully operational and although not totally appropriate for Phoenix we have adapted our processes so that it meets our needs. Following a period of change the service is now well managed through the careful work of the Manager and Volunteers. We have this year updated all our policies, and these are easily accessible to everyone within the service.

To help with our Waiting List times, we have successfully recruited an additional volunteer counsellor and we will continue to recruit into 2022.

Financial Summary

Finances remain challenging for the service with the rising costs of overheads. We remain heavily reliant upon fundraising, donations and contributions for counselling sessions. Clients are asked to make a small contribution towards sessions dependent upon their financial situation, with about half of clients receiving sessions free of charge.

Fundraising Report

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Fundraising is essential to the service; without it we would be unable to continue. We are very grateful to Support Staffordshire Community Fund, Lichfield District Council Locality Deal Fund and C and VS Fund, We Love Lichfield, Staffordshire County Council Doing our Bit Fund, Coalfields Regeneration Trust and the Trusts and Foundations who have supported us. This positive support is crucial to us and makes a very big difference to the lives of the people we support.

The Covid19 pandemic has made fundraising very competitive with the Trust fundraising being the only access to funds available for many charities. We will continue to endeavour to keep the momentum going and secure funds for the years ahead.

What Phoenix Service means to me

To help us monitor and further develop our service and ensure we are meeting our aims, we ask clients to complete a Client Satisfaction Questionnaire at the end of counselling. Here are just a few comments made:

The service offered by Phoenix has been invaluable to me.

Thank you so much, I do not know what I would have done.

My counsellor made me feel so relaxed, I could speak openly about anything.

This is an amazing service, I am so grateful. I could not have accessed private counselling anywhere else.

I am so grateful to Phoenix, my counselling has helped me so much. It is so good to know I can return to Phoenix should I need too.

I really feel that I now have the tools to deal with my issues and able to move forward with my life, thank you.

Development of Phoenix in relation to “aims for 2021” highlighted in the 2020 annual report

 Continue the development of the service including the roles of manager, trustees and volunteers

This has continued and the management has settled down – (See Management above)

 Further develop use of WriteUpp

This is ongoing as we refine our use of this system - (See Management above)

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• Work towards Phoenix becoming a financially sustainable service

At present we continue to look for possibilities for this to happen

• Fundraising

This is continuing – (See Fund raising report above)

• Explore possible contracting with the NHS

In 2020 local primary care managers were investigating whether they could fund Phoenix to take referrals directly from the NHS. At present they are not taking this option forward.

Aims 2022

• Implement a “Safer Recruitment” process.

• Continue to develop the service.

• Recruit 1-2 more volunteer counsellors.

• Research all possible Fundraising avenues and build relationship with Trusts and the community.

• Develop our website and social media.

• Recruit an additional Trustee.

• Explore possibilities of enabling Phoenix to become viable as an organisation. Either continue to develop it in its present structure, another organisation to take it over, individual(s) to run it or alternative.

Balance Sheet

Insert balance sheet

Alison Johnson Manager

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Phoenix Courtselling Servi On accounts for the year ended 3151 December 2021 Charity no (rfany) 11r1399 Set out on pages 1-3 I report to the tsustees on my examination of the accounts of the atrK)ve chariky (Ihe Tru") for the year ended 3111212021. As the tharivs trustees. you are responsib￿ for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act.). I report in resrect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under SeCt￿n 145 of the 2011 Ac and in carying out my examination. I have followed all the applirAble Directions given ty the Chaiity Commission under section 145(5){b) of the Ad. Responsibilities and basis of report Independent I have completed my examination. I confinn that no material matters have examinerfs ststement come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disdosed below"} which gNes me cause to believe that in. any material respect: the accounting records were not kept in accordance Imth section 130 of the Charibes Act; or the accounts did not accfjrd wilh the accounting records.. or the a¢courrts did not comply wtih the applicable requirements con￿MIng the form and content of acwints set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulats"ons 21J)8 1)ther than any requirement that the accounts give a Irue and fairf view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no Con￿￿5 and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should drawn in this report in order to enable a F(oper understandirKJ of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: Name: PtWgcSr Relevant professlonal qualification(s) or body (rf any): I f A IER Oct 2018

Address: kJsi Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concEm (see CC32, I￿lePendent examination of tharity accounts: directs'ons and guidance for examiners). Give here brief detsils of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER Oct 2018