## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period**
Period start date **Period end date 1 April 2024 31 March 2025 From To**
## Section A Reference and administration details
## **Charity name** FLYNNE’S BARN
**Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any)** 1177897 **Charity's principal address** Thorneythwaite Farm Borrowdale Keswick **Postcode CA12 5XQ**
## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year **|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Anne Darlington|Chair|Until 07/11/2024||
||Anne Mills|Chair|Appointed 02/12/2024|Board of Trustees|
||Louise Andrews|Treasurer|Until 01/06/2024||
||TracyChapman|Treasurer|Appointed 02/12/2024|Board of Trustees|
||Karthica Indramohan||||
||Richard McKerrow||||
||Lizzie Overton||Appointed 02/12/2024|Board of Trustees|
||Matthew Owen||Appointed 07/11/2024|Board of Trustees|
||Dr Ananth Gouri Shankar|Treasurer(temp)|Until 05/12/2024||
||Laura Walter||||
## **Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)**
**Name Dates acted if not for whole year**
## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
**Type of adviser Name Address**
## **Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**
Katherine Bonner (Director and co-founder), Robin Ewart-Biggs (Head of counselling and family support, and co-founder)
## **Section B Structure, governance and management**
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## **Description of the charity’s trusts**
Constitution
Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) Charitable Incorporated Organisation How the charity is constituted
- (eg. trust, association, company)
Every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution Trustee selection methods passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. (eg. appointed by, elected by)
## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant, about:
- policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
- the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
- relationship with any related parties;
- trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
## **Section C Objectives and activities**
**Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document**
Flynne’s Barn works for young people living with cancer to find community and build resilience. Our charitable objects are to promote and protect the physical and mental health of children and young people up to the age of 25 diagnosed and living with cancer (and other illnesses treated by oncology services) by providing therapeutic residentials and counselling services. We offer creative activities, outdoor adventure, access to nature and emotional support.
Nothing in this constitution shall authorise an application of the property of the CIO for the purposes which are not charitable in accordance with [section 7 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005] and [section 2 of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008].
This is the seventh reporting year for Flynne’s Barn. During 2024-25, we have been able to scale up our activities, notably providing a greater **Summary of the main** number of residentials and consolidating our emphasis on _Partnership_ **activities undertaken for the** _Stays_ (as outlined in section D). We have continued providing the **public benefit in relation to** counselling and family support service, and the online community group, **these objects (include within** set up following a residential in 2022/23 to provide ongoing **this section the statutory** connectedness and peer support. Specific activities are listed in Section **declaration that trustees have** D. **had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity**
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**Commission on public benefit)**
The charity continues to support young people living with cancer, and their families, by providing residential visits, creative and outward-bound activities, and emotional and psychosocial support. This advances health, relieves distress, and aims to build community, resilience and wellbeing.
Flynne’s Barn proposes to meet the needs of beneficiaries by providing services and facilities through which young people living with cancer can:
- a. Build community, meet with others going through similar experiences through peer support in a welcoming and nurturing environment, which is safe and secure.
- b. Engage in a range of activities that will help to get away from the stresses associated with illness and treatment, and to build resilience, confidence, teamwork, positive relationships and hope for the future [improved wellbeing], through:
- a creative hub, where young people will be free to explore a range of art, craft and musical materials [peer to peer, expressive activities]
- specialist-led workshops [skill-based interventions]
- outward-bound activities: e.g. abseiling, bushcraft, canoeing, hill-walking [physical and emotional well-being]
- connection with nature and the environment [physical and emotional well-being].
- c. Maintain a sense of community and connectedness, and access ongoing peer support through our Online Community Groups.
- d. Engage in professional counselling and family support.
Flynne’s Barn trustees ‘have regard’ to the Commission's public benefit guidance ‘when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant’.
‘Having regard’ to its public benefit guidance means charity trustees should be able to show that:
- they are aware of the guidance
- they have taken it into account when making a decision to which the guidance is relevant
- if they have decided to depart from the guidance, they have good reasons for doing so
## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include further statements, where relevant, about:
- policy on grantmaking;
- policy programme related investment;
- contribution made by volunteers.
## Section D Achievements and performance
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## Section D Achievements and performance
**Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year**
Flynne’s Barn was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation on 11[th] April 2018. This is the seventh Trustees’ Report.
**Trustees** :
2024/25 was a significant year for the evolution of the Board of Trustees, which has expanded, strengthened and gained new specialist expertise in charity governance, financial management and lived-experience.
We express our gratitude to Anne Darlington who stepped down this year after chairing the board for six years, since the beginning of Flynne’s Barn. She has overseen and guided the creation and evolution of the charity from its inception, and the charity will always be grateful for her commitment and support.
Flynne’s Barn now welcomes four new members to the board, including our new Chair, Anne Mills. As an award-winning director and nurse professional, she has extensive experience in leadership and governance roles across the third and public sectors, specialising in cancer policy and healthcare. We are honoured that Matty Owen has joined the team – as a returning visitor he has been part of the Flynne’s Barn community prior to taking on this role and now brings a young person’s perspective to the Board. Tracy Chapman, a chartered accountant with over 30 years in senior financial management roles, was appointed as our new Treasurer. Lizzie Overton has also joined the board; having headed two schools and various other educational projects, she brings a wealth of relevant experience to the development of Flynne’s Barn.
## **Strategy 2024-2025**
Going into 2024/25, our broad aims were to:
- Strengthen governance structures and appoint specialist trustees;
- Continue networking with national and local organisations working with young people living with cancer to deliver _Partnership Stays_ and enable increased access to peer support and wellbeing recovery to young people, particularly to those from marginalised communities;
- Develop specialist knowledge relevant to the mental health of young people living with cancer, through our Counselling and Family Support Service.
During the winter, we produced a Development Plan to extend and detail these aims. This was an opportunity to step back after the intense period of launching the charity and establishing services:
March **2012**
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Section D Achievements and performance
By the end of 2024, Flynne’s Barn had run 29 residential stays for 197 young people with cancer (as well as 16 _Family Stays_ ) and received 140 counselling referrals. Through this work, through the depth of knowledge and experience of the staff we met on _Partnership Stays,_ and especially through learning from the young people who have been to Flynne’s Barn, we were able to make plans for defining and developing the Flynne’s Barn model and its services.
These will be based on the values we hold dear:
- **Meaningful relationships** _as part of a diverse community_
- **A safe and inclusive environment** _where people feel listened to and choose how to participate_
- **Creativity** _for self and collective expression_
- **The restorative power of nature** _drawing on the calming effects of wild landscapes_
- **Being led by lived experience** _“Nothing about us without us”_
Our strategy for 2025/26 will aim to:
**1.** Consolidate the residential service
**2.** Establish counselling service capacity
**3.** Develop Flynne’s Barn peer support community
**4.** Improve monitoring and evaluation systems
**5.** Extend networks and partnerships
**6.** Strengthen Flynne’s Barn infrastructure and organisational sustainability
## **Residentials and networking**
It has been an important year for the development of the charity – we have upscaled residential provision and continued to strengthen connections with partner organisations.
During 2024/25, we provided 17 residentials, supporting a total of 128 beneficiaries (compared with 89 over 12 residentials the year before).13 of these were _Partnership Stays_ , with Teenage Cancer Trust, Ellen
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Section D Achievements and performance
MacArthur Cancer Trust, Spread a Smile and Edinburgh After Care. Three were independent _Flynne’s Barn Stays_ . One was a _Family Stay_ . Strong, mutually supportive relationships have developed with hospitalbased staff, some of whom have now brought groups to Flynne’s Barn on multiple occasions. Our pre-stay communication and planning processes have become more refined, allowing us to tailor each visit to the specific needs of the group. Combined with the skills and support of our local partners, this has enabled us to welcome young people with more complex medical and emotional needs. Many of these young people have had defining, life-changing experiences during their stay, with staff reporting significant emotional shifts and personal developments. Over the course of these residentials we have continued to strengthen existing relationships with local supporters and activity providers. We are continually looking to enhance the stay experience for our service users. We work closely with our chosen activity providers to plan and deliver fully inclusive experiences. For example: adaptive seating is used for canoeing, sensory materials used for creative projects, including aromatherapy. Our providers, in turn, are gaining a greater understanding of the needs (both emotional and physical) of our service users. We place great emphasis on building trusting relationships. At Flynne’s Barn, we focus on the links between mental wellbeing and spending time in nature. Researchers have highlighted the health benefits brought about by simple access to green/blue spaces: White et al., (2019); Valatin et al., (2021); White et al., (2021). These findings point to a combination of elements such as stress reduction, physical activity, social cohesion and air quality. Our services have been developed in line with this research: providing accommodation in a highly biodiverse and beautiful valley and giving access to a range of outdoor activities through which to further engage in the natural environment.
The environment in and around the barn is nurturing, welcoming, and intentionally designed to be inclusive. We have created flexible sleeping arrangements within the open-plan space, including single and bunk bed bays with privacy curtains. This setup offers greater flexibility and better accommodates the needs of young people, including considerations around gender identity.
Our volunteer base has grown significantly this year. Many young people who have accessed our services want to continue being part of our community through volunteering. When visitors see someone further along in their recovery journey actively supporting others, it sends a strong message - that they’re not alone. This shared journey fosters connection, trust, and a sense of belonging that is at the heart of everything we do.
We also now have a growing base of local volunteers who are inspired by our community and bring empathy, warmth, and enthusiasm to their roles. Many of our visitors tell us they feel instantly at home—safe, valued, and truly listened to. It’s the collective contribution of everyone
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## Section D Achievements and performance
involved in the Flynne’s Barn community—staff, volunteers, and service providers—that makes this possible.
## **Counselling and family support project**
With the onset of the pandemic and subsequent cancellation of our pilot group visits in 2020, the momentum Flynne’s Barn had been gathering was put on hold. We therefore decided to set up an online and telephone counselling and support service for young people and their families in 2021. As part of this, we initially linked up with several organisations in Cumbria and the Northwest.
Since then, the project has stabilised and become an ongoing and core service. Referral pathways are now established and come primarily from colleagues working directly with young people in specialist treatment centres throughout the UK; the majority of these are from The Teenage Cancer Trust and Young Lives vs Cancer.
Cross-referrals between the residential and counselling services have begun to increase, and young people are showing the ways in which they can use the different Flynne’s Barn services complimentarily.
We now have sufficient volume of referrals and work carried out to commission an independent evaluation of the service, which will be taking place during 2025/26.
Our small counselling team has remained unchanged and continues to develop itself through professional development and training specifically related to working with young people living with cancer. The work that they have carried out through 2024/25 is invaluable and much needed to support young people with the stress of a cancer diagnosis.
For 2024/25, the number of referrals (40) has remained stable compared to 2023/24, while the number of sessions delivered has increased (from 266 in 2023/24 to 306 in 2024/25).
## **The Flynne’s Barn Community**
Community Stay In February 2025, we ran a _Community Stay_ for young people who had previously been on a stay and had expressed an interest in being further involved with Flynne’s Barn.
We worked together on three main areas: volunteer training; assessing outcomes; and ‘What next?’.
- Volunteer training – looking at the ethos of a Flynne’s Barn residential and the core skills for a volunteer supporting a residential.
- • Outcomes, impacts and evaluation – working together on the Flynne’s Barn theory of change, what outcomes and impacts we aim for and how we can evaluate these.
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## Section D Achievements and performance
• ‘What next?’ – this session focused on how we can create lasting changes for people following a stay at Flynne’s Barn, through developing the community as a whole and different community activities.
We now have a programme of work to continue developing each of these three strands of work. We are incredibly grateful to all the young people who attended and to the others who have also been involved in building the Flynne’s Barn community. Jenny Wright, our youth coordinator, has been leading the volunteering programme.
## Community Group
Following the creation of the Online Community Group after our first Flynne’s Barn Group Stay residential in 2022/23, the group has continued into 2024/25. It entails a monthly online meeting over Zoom to maintain connections and provide continued access to peer support for visitors. The core group since its inception continue to participate, alongside some new members. This group is part of the work of the _Community Stay_ and is involved in discussions about the ‘What next?’ question (see above).
## Book Club
In July 2024, we launched an Flynne’s Barn Book Club. During residentials, people often relax with a book or discuss their latest reading. From this, a Flynne’s Barn visitor suggested a book club. The group meets online every couple of months to discuss books of their choice. As well, as promoting reading and book discussion, the group is an excellent way of keeping in touch and continuing to support each other after a residential, and becoming part of the broader Flynne’s Barn community.
## **Summary**
This 2024/25 period has been successful, particularly in terms of refining our core services and shifting focus towards partnership stays, and strengthening our governance structures and Board of Trustees. The support we offer has expanded and evolved throughout this period – with a new Development Plan, we are excited to see how the Flynne’s Barn community moves forward.
## **Section E Financial review**
The trustees will consider the level of reserves that is prudent for **Brief statement of the** Flynne’s Barn to have when agreeing the annual budget. Consideration **charity’s policy on reserves** will be given to future strategy, potential redundancy liabilities, and any other significant factors that should be taken into account were Flynne’s Barn to close or move to new premises. The specific reserves policy including any designation of reserves for specific purposes will be agreed by trustees on an annual basis.
**Details of any funds materially** Non-applicable **in deficit**
March **2012**
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## **Further financial review details (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant about:
- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
- how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
- investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
## **Fundraising:**
There have been a range of imaginative fundraising endeavours. Flynne’s Barn supporters have raised over £12,000 through activities and events throughout the year; including sponsored walks, runs and a Christmas sale, to name a few.
- The E.C. Graham Trust, Robert Gavron Charitable Trust, Albert Hunt Trust and the National Lottery Community Fund have all contributed valuable grants and donations towards our work.
We enormously value our core regular donors who contribute monthly.
We are very grateful to all who make regular contributions and who think of unique ways of raising funds for Flynne’s Barn.
As part of the _Strengthen Flynne’s Barn infrastructure and organisational sustainability_ strategic aim, we plan to prioritise resources for fundraising during 2025/26.
## **Section F Other optional information**
## **Section G Declaration**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)** Lizzie Overton **Position (eg Secretary, Chair,** Chair of Trustees **etc)**
**Date** 05/11/2025
March **2012**
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|**Charity Name**||**No (if any)**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Flynne's Barn**||**1177897**|||
|**Receipts andpayments accounts**||||**CC16a**|
|**For the period**
**from**|Period start date
01.04.2024|**To**
Period end date
31.03.2025|||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**A1 Receipts**
Donations
**12,841**
Grants
**13,000**
Fundraisingactivities
**12,241**
Partnershipresidential fees
**-**
Bank interest
**1,680**
**39,762**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total receipts_ 39,762**
**A3 Payments**
Residential services
**16,657**
Counsellingservices
**4,139**
Staffingcosts
**43,366**
Service development
**5,445**
Charityadministration
**3,358**
Fundraisingcosts
**816**
**_Sub total_ 73,781**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total payments_ 73,781**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ - 34,019**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**-**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**87,702**
**_Cash funds this year end_ 53,683**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**_Sub total_**(Gross income for AR)
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|**to the nearest £**
**-**
**28,509**
**-**
**4,000**
**-**
**32,509**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**32,509**
**12,509**
**14,545**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**27,054**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**27,054**
**5,455**
**-**
**-**
**5,455**
**Restricted**
**funds**|**to the nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**12,841**
**41,509**
**12,241**
**4,000**
**1,680**
**72,271**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**72,271**
**29,166**
**18,684**
**43,366**
**5,445**
**3,358**
**816**
**100,835**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**100,835**
**- 28,564**
**-**
**87,702**
**59,138**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**12,841**|**22,749**|
||||**41,509**|**22,000**|
||||**12,241**|**17,206**|
||||**4,000**|**-**|
||||**1,680**|**1,533**|
||||**72,271**|**63,488**|
||||||
|||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**||
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||||
|||**-**|**72,271**|**63,488**|
||||||
|||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**29,166**|**25,806**|
||||**18,684**|**13,512**|
||||**43,366**|**17,090**|
||||**5,445**|**7,215**|
||||**3,358**|**4,791**|
||||**816**|**1,157**|
||||**100,835**|**69,571**|
||||||
|||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|**-**|
||||||
|||**-**|**100,835**|**69,571**|
||||||
||**5,455**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**- 28,564**|**- 6,083**|
||**-**||**-**|**-**|
||**-**||**87,702**|**93,785**|
||**5,455**||**59,138**|**87,702**|
|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**||
|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees|**Details**
Current account
Deposit account
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
Signature
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**2,437**
**1,000**
**51,246**
**4,455**
**53,683**
**5,455**
OK
OK
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
Lizzie Overton
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**|**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
||||Date of
approval|
|||Lizzie Overton|11/5/2025|
|||||
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's report on the
accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trustees
On accounts for the year
ended
Charity no
(if any)
77
Set out on pages
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity ltthe Trust") for the year endedQ i103110
As the charitvs trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the
accounts in accordance wilh the requirements of the Charities Acl 2011
{"the Act").
Responsibilities and
basis of report
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{b) of the Act.
Independent tThe Charity's
ss income e
eeded £250
examinerfs statement underta
e examin
y being
ble liste
dyll- Delete I I
not applic
Oandl
ualified
erof li
name of
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have
come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that
disclosed below"} which gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect..
the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130
of the Charities Act., or
the accounls did not accord with the accounting records., or
Ihe accounls did not comply with Ihe applicable requirements
concerning the form and contenl of accounts set out in the Charities
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requiremenl
that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter
considered a5 part of an independent examination.
I have no cOnmS and have come across no other matters in connection
th the 8xaminalion 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 fhe brackets if they do nol apply.
Signed:
Date:
Name:
Relevant professlonal
quallflcatlon{s) or body
IER
Oct 2018
(if any):
Address:
Section B
Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern
{see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and
guidance for examiners).
Give here brfef detail$ of
any items that the
examiner wlshes to
disclose.
IER
Oct 2018