OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2021-03-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period start date Period end date Period end date
01 04 2020 31 03 2021
From To

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name Autism Support Crawley Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1179383 C/O Richard Place Dobson Charity's principal address 1-7 Station Road Crawley West Sussex Postcode RH10 1HT

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(if any)
Maria Cook Chairperson
Heather Eves Secretary
Trustee without a
specific role		 Until 21stOctober 2021
From 22ndOctober 2021
Janet Flanagan PublicityOfficer
Catherine Seiderer Vice Chairperson
and safeguarding
officer		 Until 30/05/2020
Trustee without a
specific role from
01/06/2020
David Padwick Safeguarding Officer Safeguarding Officer
from 01/01/2020
KirstyMiles Officer Until 31stMarch 2021
Charlotte Gover Officer
Vice Chair		 From 31/05/2020
Donna Balkaya Officer Until 31stAugust 2020
Jessica Brand Officer From 22ndOctober 2020
Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees) 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)

March 2012

TAR

1

Type of adviser
Name
Address		 Type of adviser
Name
Address		 Type of adviser
Name
Address
Groups Adviser Karl Parks Crawley Community & Voluntary Service, The Orchard,
1-2 Gleneagles Court, Brighton Road, Crawley, RH10
6AD
Richard Place Dobson
Accountants		 Darren Harding 1-7 Station Road, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 1HT
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

De ���������������������������������

Constitution Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) CIO (Charitable incorporated Organisation) How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Elected at Annual General Meeting and up to two trustees can be Trustee selection methods co-opted during the year by the existing trustees. (eg. appointed by, elected by) All positions are advertised on our closed Facebook page and by email.

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

Policies

Induction of New Trustees

New Trustees are asked to undertake safeguarding training or provide evidence if they have had this training from another organisation.

Autism Support Crawley organisational structure

������������������� isational structure is as follows...

Chair, Founder, Vice chair, Secretary, Librarian, Treasurer, Publicity Officer, Meetings secretary, Membership secretary, Safeguarding Officer, Officers.

Section C Objectives and activities

March 2012

TAR

2

Summary of the objects of the
charity set out in its
governing document
Summary of the main
activities undertaken for the
public benefit in relation to
these objects (include within
this section the statutory
declaration that trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit)		 The objects of the CIO are for the public benefit to promote and protect
the good health and relieve the needs of people and their families/carers
affected by Autistic Spectrum Condition or social communication and
interaction difficulties (with or without a diagnosis) living within the
counties of Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Brighton and Hove by the provision
of support, information and activities and such other means as the
trustees deem fit.
Autism Support Crawley has in the past improved awareness and
understanding of Autism by providing talks by its Trustees to front line
organisations, including Doctors�Surgeries, Tilgate Nature Centre and
staff and managers from the local Job Centre Plus Cluster. However, no
face to face talks have taken place since March 2020.
We also have close links with the Disability Engagement Officer for
Crawley Police. Dave Padwick has attended meetings run by Sussex
Police and given advice about Autism to them. We are part of the
Crawley Pathfinder Local Planning Group, a forum dedicated to
improving mental health in the area.
Our chair, Maria Cook, has been attending meetings for the Crawley
Disability Forum, Gatwick Access Forum and the Crawley Community
Ambassador Forum.
No talks took place in the year 2020/2021, but we have provided talks by
Zoom later in 2021.
Our work with Doctors�Surgeries continues since receiving our
HealthWatch #ItStartsWithYou national award in 2017, but again these
are waiting for us to be able to provide face to face talks. However, as a
charity we have been in contact with the NHS enabling our members to
access priority carer and quiet vaccination sessions through networking
with professionals and publicising these on our closed Facebook page.
We continue to provide a free�Welcome Pack�. This is a short
booklet full of information about our group, Autism and other useful,
reputable charitable organisations we recommend. These are distributed
widely, and we currently give away around 500 a year. We also give out
supportive bookmarks covering various topics, such as transition
between primary and secondary education. In March 2020 we had a
large number of books, but with the ceasing of face to face opportunities
directly, we posted these to organisations and services who would be
able to distribute them to relevant families.
Autism Support Crawley continues to fulfil its public benefit
statement by having a presence at events where member of the public
can find out about our charity, such as WSPCF Coffee and Networking
mornings. We have continued to do this where there is an opportunity via
Zoom. (For example, the WSPCF virtual pop-up, a replacement for their
Coffee and Cake Networking event).
A smaller proportion of the budget is not only used for workshops
given by professionals for the parents and carers, but also for family
inclusive events and parties together with the annual members meal, all
of which are in additional to the monthly coffee mornings and evening
meetings. These events have not been possible in the year 2020/2021,
but we did offer members a virtual meal out by way of takeaway vouchers
and a virtual pamper evening.
We continued with meetings up until the middle of March, but
unfortunately since then we have not been able to meet in person.
Having paid for a Zoom Client subscription we have been able to provide
virtual coffee mornings with guest speakers.
We held our very first Webinar in February 2021 when we invited Jo Luck
to speak about her dual diagnosis of Autism and ADHD, this was
attended by over 100 people.
We have also been able to signpost our members to events provided by

March 2012

TAR

3

other organisations. Autism Support Crawley has a very informative web page autismsupportcrawley.co.uk where anyone can access information about Autism. This includes information about other local services and organisations as well as more general information about Autism and when and where to find our meetings. Joining information for Autism Support Crawley is on our web site.

Our closed Facebook page continues to be a source of peer to peer help, advice and celebration for our members. A pinned post at the top of the Facebook page states our guidelines for the page.

We continue to work closely with other organisations to improve Autism Awareness.. We continue to liaise regularly with Crawley Community Action, including being part of their social prescribing scheme. We also feature in Crawley Older Person � s Directory.

We hope to return to working with The National Trust (Nymans and Sheffield Park) to improve their Autism Friendly provision. Short weekly committee meetings were held at the beginning of the pandemic to keep in touch with each other and the changing situation. These are now held less regularly now that we are holding coffee mornings and other meetings.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

March 2012

TAR

4

Contributions Made By Volunteers

The charity has no employees; therefore, all the work is undertaken by the trustees and a few other volunteers. A huge contribution is made every day by members offering support and answering queries from other members on our closed Facebook page.

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

Autism Support Crawley is very grateful for the time taken and advice given without charge by Crawley Community Action and Richard Place Dobson (accountants).

Autism Support Crawley has had no face to face meetings in the year 2020/2021, but we hope to resume meetings at the premises at the family centre (WSCC) in 2022 and are very grateful to these organisations for offering their premises in the past to us at no cost. We give Manor Green a donation when we use their premises, but they do not charge us directly for use of their premises.

March 2012

TAR

5

Section D Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

Autism Support Crawley began holding coffee mornings via Zoom this year. We send out emails with information about our events and also about other organisations. There is also an email list for professionals, this is so that we can send information out to those interested in our charity, but do not qualify to be members.

We have a popular Twitter page with 764 followers. Our Instagram has 256 followers and our public Facebook page has 1,247 followers.

There are 121 full members, the remainder are associate members. Full members are members who attend events in person or via Zoom. We have 167 associate members on the mailing list who do not attend events. All those on our closed Facebook page are automatically associate members, there is some cross over with some, but not all on the email lists also being on Facebook.

The closed Facebook page has continued to grow in numbers, and we are now have over 1,800, members as at January 2022. Of these, 1,124 were active in the week to 11[th] January 2022.

Our closed page is a lifeline for so many, a perfect social media platform to ask questions, share information and help with the isolation that is experienced by so many parent carers. We have strict guidelines in place to protect ourselves and the individuals that have posts approved on the page. We asked members for feedback and received the following quotes.

Every day reading through posts I have been to evening from Autism Support Crawley meetings, coffee mornings members gives me inspiration, and as a family we have compassion and understanding. I attended parties @ The feel inspired from the love and Knight Pub. Everyone is so support of everyone's posts. helpful and understanding, it When people are having a difficult has helped our family time, I wish I could step into the through difficult times just post and give them a hug! having other people to talk to. The parties have been great for my son as ��������������� ����������������������������� parties and there is no judgement when ���������� to leave early as �������������� Thank you everyone for much for him. X every scrap of advice, for sharing the ups and downs and for just being there

Some of our usual methods of receiving money were not available this year. However, we were still able to receive money from the Waitrose and Sainsbury token schemes. We had a successful application to the Arthur Clark Foundation and received £500. Therefore, although we had a significant drop in income, equally we did not spend as much as usual during the year and therefore our bank balance remains healthy.

March 2012

TAR

6

Section D Achievements and performance

Pre-pandemic we were resident supporters at London Gatwick Airports twice yearly Accessibility Days, usually held in April and November, regularly helping 40 plus families familiarise themselves with the Hidden Disability Programme by visiting check ins and security searches, meeting the police, border force and their dogs and the fire brigade as well as a ride on the assistance buggies, visit the Sensory Room, access an aircraft and talk to staff about how they can navigate the airport successfully when they go away. There have been no accessibility sessions this year, but our chair, Maria Cook, continues to liaise with staff at Gatwick Airport. There have been multiple staff changes during this time, but we are hopeful that the assistance for Hidden Disabilities will continue to improve.

The Hawth was due to host a Relaxed Panto in January 2021, but unfortunately, this had to be cancelled as we went into our third lockdown before it had taken place. The Relaxed Panto was held at The Hawth in January 2022.

Impact of Talks and Events

The talks given by trustees have been very well received and the recipients have been able to put the information to good use following the talks.

We received the following feedback from our first virtual talk.

Just wanted to say a huge thank you for attending our meeting on Wednesday, I had some lovely feedback afterwards and you gave us some great techniques for questioning and working smarter with those who have been diagnosed autistic.

March 2012

TAR

7

Section E Financial review

Reserves Policy The ch ���������������������������� s running costs in the Brief statement of the bank account ( around £2,000). ��������������������������� s Details of any funds materially in deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

Financial Position

Section F Other optional information

Autism Support Crawley continue to have a good relationship with Manor Green Primary and Manor Green College, the local schools for children with Special Needs. We have been able to use their buildings when we need more space for evening meetings, conferences or other events we hold, although this has not happened since the start of the pandemic.

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on our events this year. We have had no face to face events since March 2020. However, our closed Facebook page has remained active and our chairperson has regularly delivered a message to our members. The committee has met most weeks via Zoom and Skype, this has been more often than usual and has helped the trustees keep in touch with each other and respond quickly to any issues that arise.

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have ap �����������������������������������

Signed on behalf of the charity ������ stees

Signature(s) ~~Heather Eves~~ Full name(s) Maria Louise Cook Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Chairperson Date 28/01/2021

March 2012

TAR

8

Autism Support Crawley Autism Support Crawley Autism Support Crawley 1179383 1179383 1179383 CC16a
For the period
from		 01/04/2020 To 30/03/2021
Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest
£
96
1,950
1,747
168
333
15
-
-
4,309
-
-
-
4,309
530
189
25
287
200
-
-
-
-
1,231
-
-
-
1,231
3,078
-
10,434
13,512		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6,979
6,979		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Total funds
to the nearest £
96
1,950
1,747
168
333
15
-
-
4,309
-
-
-
4,309
530
189
25
287
200
-
-
-
-
1,231
-
-
-
1,231

3,078		 Last year
to the nearest £
amazon 96
gymgroup 1,950 -
donations 1,747 6,542
paypal 168 -
waitrose 333 -
crawleycommunityaction 15 -
fundraisingevents - 5,948
Miscellaneous - 277
Sub total(Gross income for
AR)		 4,309 12,767
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
-
- -
Sub total - -
Total receipts
A3 Payments
12,767
other expenses 530 3,413
advertising, promo and welcome books 189 1,585
panto 25 270
insurance 287 287
gifts 200 128
transfer to restricted funds - 12,600
speakers and conferences - 2,410
- -
- -
**Sub total ** 1,231 20,693
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
-
-
**Sub total ** - -
Total payments
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end
Cash funds this year end
20,693
3,078 - -
3,078		 - 7,926
- - - - -
10,434 6,979 - 17,413 25,339
13,512 6,979 - 20,491 17,413

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

28/01/2022

1

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B4 Assets retained for the
���������������
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets		 Details
Details
bank account
petty cash
Details
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Details		 Unrestricted
funds
to nearest £
13,441
71
-
13,512
OK
Unrestricted
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
liability relates		 Restricted
funds
to nearest £
6,979
-
-
6,979
OK
Restricted
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Cost (optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Amount due
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees

Signature

Print Name
Maria Cook		 Date of
approval
Maria Cook 28/01/2022

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

28/01/2022

2