Registered Address: 20, Saxonfields, Snape, Saxmundham. IP17 1QA
Contents
Governance ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Board of Trustees ................................................................................................................................ 2 Structure and Governance .................................................................................................................. 2 Activities .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Activities undertaken to meet the charity’s objects ........................................................................... 3 Fundraising Activities .......................................................................................................................... 6 Volunteer Contribution ....................................................................................................................... 6 Summary of the main achievements .................................................................................................. 7 Financial Review .................................................................................................................................... 10 Policy on Reserves............................................................................................................................. 10 Income 2024 ..................................................................................................................................... 10 Expenditure 2024 .............................................................................................................................. 11 Statement of Finances ...................................................................................................................... 11
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Governance
Board of Trustees
| Anita Grant | Chair and Trustee | Appointed as Chair by Trustees |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin Grant | Trustee | First Charity Trustee |
| Andy Flatman | Trustee | First Charity Trustee |
| Caroline Allison | Trustee | Appointed on 13/05/19 by Trustees |
| Jo Palmer | Trustee | Appointed 17/04/20 by Trustees |
Structure and Governance
Jess Grant Celebration is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered on 23[rd] August 2018.
Constitution
The charity is governed by its CIO Foundation constitution, registered on 23[rd] August 2018 and amended on 17[th] February 2020 to incorporate an additional object to reflect the funding of Ipswich Hospital Music Therapy service.
Board of Trustees
Apart from the initial three Charity Trustees, the selection method for a new Trustee is appointment by the Board of Trustees and is based on specific skills that will add value to the existing Board. Upon appointment, the Trustee is provided with a copy of the charity’s Constitution, including the conflicts of interest policy. A summary of the principal duties and responsibilities of a trustee is included in the charity’s Constitution document and the Essential Guide to Being a Trustee document is also provided. As a charity claiming Gift Aid, the Finance Act 2010 requires that trustees, as managers of the charity, pass the fit and proper persons test. Therefore, the HMRC guidance on the test along with a declaration that the trustee has read and understood the guidance is also provided.
There have been no changes to the Board of Trustees during 2024. The Trustees of Jess Grant Celebration have a broad range of skills that all contribute to the effective running of the charity. There are no plans to appoint any further trustees.
Accounting period
Effective from 2020, the charity reports on a calendar year basis. This is continuing to be effective, as funding for Ipswich Music Therapy Service is provided on an annual basis for the calendar year.
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Objects
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To relieve the needs of children and young people suffering from terminal or critical illnesses, particularly but not exclusively cancer related illnesses, and their families, by providing grants, items and goods to individuals and organisations, including the provision of musical instruments and music therapy.
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To provide the funding to initiate, establish and support a new music therapy service for children, young people and families accessing Ipswich Hospital’s children’s services.
Activities
In undertaking the following activities, the Trustees complied with their duty to pay due regard to the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission.
Activities undertaken to meet the charity’s objects
Ipswich Hospital Music Therapy service: -
This service, which provides music therapy one day a week, for children and neo natal patients under the care of Ipswich Hospital, was in its fifth year of being supported by Jess Grant Celebration during this reporting period. As in 2023, Jess’ charity provided half of the funding required, with the other half being paid by Ipswich Hospital. In 2024, half of the funding equated to £5,514, up from £5,250 per 6 months in the previous year.
The day that music therapy is held changed during the summer of 2023, now being on a Tuesday instead of Wednesday. This has meant that the music therapist has been able to access more patients, as Tuesday is a clinic day for many patients with long term and complex conditions. The Play Specialist reported in her feedback that the music therapist was a very important part of the team in 2024, establishing close bonds with parents, patients and staff.
During the year, the therapist collected feedback from parents and patients. The feedback included the following comments: -
‘We had a lovely time exploring the instruments. It was a nice calming way to spend the afternoon’.
‘I feel much better. I enjoyed playing “Stand By Me” on the harp’.
‘Sophia’s session with my son today was the calm among the storm’
‘During Sophia’s visit, my daughter felt “excited” and “happy”. She smiled more widely than at any other point in the day. Thank you’.
‘Such a lovely calming experience. It helped relax our poorly son and inspired us to buy him his own instruments. Thank you for your warming visit, such a lovely lady’.
‘Awesome! I sang out loud for the first time! I played guitar, and after chatting, I have been inspired to write my own music. Thank you, Sophia, you made my day brighter’.
‘So upbeat and fun, it was “jazzy” and “cool”. Thank you for making my girls smile’.
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In May 2024, the music therapist wrote an article, published by Ipswich Hospital, highlighting the impact of music therapy. Below, are the key points from her article:-
‘Often patients who are admitted to hospital have their level of functionality impacted, and there can be high levels of anxiety, frustration and tension. Children have been removed from their comfort zone; there can be physical and mental stress and sometimes issues with control & empowerment’.
‘Music therapy helps to give back a sense of autonomy and empowerment to patients and often their parents. It also offers the child the chance to access the joyful, playful and creative part of themselves amid the hospital environment and the medical interventions that are taking place’.
‘Familiar songs are often used, along with improvised music, sensory play, song-writing or music for listening & relaxation. Music therapy invites the child to engage in something creative, where they can express themselves, process their emotions, and enjoy something fun and creative during their time in hospital. Song-writing projects with teenage patients have enabled them to directly express their current situations and experiences’.
In 2024, Ipswich Hospital opened their new Children’s Department and Jo Palmer and I were invited to look around. The new department is a huge improvement on the previous setting, with a spacious layout and a large inviting playroom. Whilst the building work was taking place, music therapy sessions had been taking place at the patients’ bedside. Now, the music therapist and patient have far more options as to where their sessions take place: on the ward; in a side room; in a clinic room; in the sensory room; or in the playroom.
Unfortunately, at the end of the year, Suffolk Music Therapy Services (SMTS) were unable to replace the Music Therapist working at Ipswich Hospital when she left their employment. Due to a lack of suitable Music Therapists applying for posts on graduation in 2024, SMTS could not commit to filling the role until September 2025, after the next recruitment drive for newly qualified therapists. As a result of this, the very difficult decision was made to pause music therapy at Ipswich Hospital.
At the time of writing this report, recruitment is going well for SMTS, with a record number of applicants, and potential new recruits having now been shortlisted. It is expected that the Ipswich post will be filled successfully in the coming weeks. The funding required for another 6-month period at Ipswich Hospital, which has increased to £5,964k, has been ‘ring-fenced’ by the Trustees until music therapy is up and running again in September 2025.
- Zest Music Days at St. Elizabeth Hospice, Ipswich:
Zest Music Days provide music therapy sessions one day a month to young people under the care of St. Elizabeth’s hospice. On the first Friday of every month, young people have the opportunity to engage in fun group sessions in the morning, and to receive one to one music therapy or smaller group sessions in the afternoon.
Trustees Jo Palmer, Andy Flatman and myself spent a morning at St. Elizabeth Hospice in August 2024, having been invited to a Zest Music Day. It was a privilege to be a part of the group music therapy session and to see the enormous difference that music is making to these young people. Whether it be keeping time on the drum, strumming the ukulele or guitar, shaking the tambourine, playing the windchimes, hitting the steel drum or relaxing to the beautiful sound of the music therapist playing the harp while the parachute created a gentle breeze - there was something for
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everyone to enjoy and to feel involved in. One-to-one sessions were planned for the afternoon. We have been informed by the music therapist that these sessions are tailored specifically to the individual's needs and have become very popular.
Zest Music Days are a very important part of the activities offered to the young people at the hospice, and this is reflected in the feedback provided by the staff: -
‘The group music session is an opportunity for the young people to have fun altogether and this can be seen by the smiles on their faces and the way in which they respond and play the instruments to their best ability when it is their turn. We often get members of staff from other departments stating how lovely it is to hear the music on a Friday, so it has a wider reach than the young adults themselves, enhancing the general environment at the hospice.’
‘I sat in on a one-to-one session with a young adult who I thought I knew well but I couldn't believe the response that Daisy got from her; she was fully engaged with playing the instruments and although non-verbal she was smiling and fully concentrating during the session.’
‘We have a young man who really looks forward to the music sessions. He arrives on a Friday music therapy day with whatever musical instrument he wants to play on that day from a saxophone to a guitar and he likes to sit near Daisy and watch her play the piano.’
Jess Grant Celebration has been funding this invaluable service since it began in 2021 and funded Zest Music Days throughout 2024, at a cost of £3,000.
Addenbrookes Project: -
As detailed in last year’s Annual Report, by the end of 2023, Jess Grant Celebration had expressed an interest in supporting the provision of music therapy for teenagers and young adults at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, a group that The Trustees had identified as not being currently catered for. The Music Therapist at Addenbrooke’s, having run a successful trial on the Teenage Cancer Trust ward, agreed to write a proposal for the additional hours required. The Trustees were agreed on the need for music therapy for this age group and felt this was an exciting project to be involved with in the future.
In 2024, several meetings were held with the Director of Allied Health Professionals and the Music Therapist at Addenbrooke’s to discuss the proposal. The Trustees all agreed we would like to support this project but we could not commit to meet the full cost of 2 days a week, as written in the proposal. To ensure what we felt would be a great start to providing music therapy for teenagers and young people at Addenbrooke’s, in August we committed to funding one day a week for one year, at a cost of £12,500. We felt that one day a week would be a great start to demonstrate the benefits of the new service and one year would allow sufficient time to secure alternative funding in the likely case that we would be unable to provide further funding at this level. Additionally, the Trustees felt that it would be good for the service to start as soon as possible and hopefully one day a week would allow for this. We agreed that regular updates would be provided and that the funding would be paid in two instalments.
Once the finances for the new post had been approved by the NHS, the role was eventually advertised in January 2025. However, unfortunately the process was paused at the end of February, when the hospital put a freeze on all recruitment due to immediate financial pressures. At the time of writing, the role is still paused , and we are awaiting an update from Addenbrooke’s as to whether
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the new post is still viable. At our last Trustees’ Meeting, it was agreed that we would ‘ring-fence’ this funding until the end of 2025 and review again towards the end of the year, should a Music Therapist not have been recruited by that stage.
Fundraising Activities
Due to personal reasons, fundraising activities were relatively limited compared to previous years. Jess Grant Celebration did not organise any of their own events in 2024, but did attend and support other events in aid of Jess’ charity. Very kindly, supporters again took on their own challenges and arranged their own fundraising events during the year. Also, a significant proportion of the funds raised were from individuals’ donations. These donations were made as one-off and monthly payments.
The main fundraising activities consisted of: -
Gary Jeffrey’s 100km Walk Sept 2023
Sam Linassi’s London Marathon
Marcus Kwan’s London Marathon
Ipswich Hospital Community Choir donation
Kesgrave Community Centre Music at the Bandstand
Kesgrave Parkrun Cake Sale
Tamsin and Xanthe Tate’s 2025 London Marathon Walk
EasyFundraising Donations
Monthly Donations
Individual Donations
Volunteer Contribution
As Chair of the Board of Trustees for Jess Grant Celebration, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Trustees and volunteers who are supporting the charity.
All the charity activities undertaken on behalf of Jess Grant Celebration have been carried out on a voluntary basis. The charity’s Trustees and volunteers all donate their time and expertise completely free of charge, ensuring there are no salaries or personal overheads to take care of.
The contribution of the Trustees is greatly appreciated. Each Trustee brings different skills that complement each other effectively. Trustees’ Meetings were held both in person and via online Zoom sessions, as the charity’s Constitution allows. Highlights from the work the Trustees were involved in during 2024 include: -:
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Attending meetings with Addenbrooke’s Hospital and being instrumental in making decisions about the scope of funding Jess Grant Celebration can commit to the provisioning of music therapy for teenagers and young adults receiving care at the hospital.
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Visiting Ipswich Hospital’s new Children’s Department and planning for the future funding of music therapy at the hospital.
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Attending St. Elizabeth Hospice to participate in a Zest Music Day and promoting the valuable work that is being done through music therapy.
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Responding quickly and effectively to changes at Ipswich and Addenbrooke’s hospitals that are out of our control.
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Ensuring that all the funds raised are dedicated to the funding of music therapy, with no expenses being incurred by the charity.
The Trustees would like to thank everyone who undertook challenges for Jess Grant Celebration during this period or organised their own fundraising campaigns or events. Supporters set up their own JustGiving pages or Enthuse pages, and promoted the charity to their friends and families, in order to raise their targets. Supporters also held their own events specifically for Jess Grant Celebration, going to great lengths to put on these events and to raise as much money as possible. Finally, thank you to all the supporters who made one-off or monthly donations to the charity in 2024.
The website, logo and branding for Jess Grant Celebration was designed by CHP Design free of charge in the months leading up to the launch of the charity in December 2018. Mark Hall at CHP Design has continued to host the site and make changes to the functionality of the website, as and when required. Jess Grant Celebration is extremely grateful for this company’s ongoing support.
Sir Brian May has continued to support Jess Grant Celebration as the charity’s Patron, and we are very grateful for his support.
Summary of the main achievements
The Trustees of Jess Grant Celebration are very pleased with the achievements made in this reporting period. Despite limited fundraising activities by the charity, £4,788 was raised in 2024. It is clear that awareness of Jess Grant Celebration and what we are trying to achieve is continuing, with new supporters undertaking fundraising activities for the charity. Going forward, 2025 has got off to an exceptional start with fundraising and the charity is well placed to be able to fund the new Addenbrooke’s post should it still be able to go ahead, to continue supporting the funding of music therapy at Ipswich Hospital, once the new music therapist is appointed, and to fund another year of Zest Music Days.
The main achievements include: -
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£4,788 was raised for Jess Grant Celebration in 2024. This sum was raised through a wide range of fundraising events, challenges and individual donations.
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Fundraising challenges and activities were organised by existing and new supporters who introduced a wide range of new audiences to Jess Grant Celebration, thus raising awareness of the charity and its objectives.
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The charity allocated £5,514 to Ipswich Hospital Children’s ward in 2024, representing half of the funding for 2024, with Ipswich Hospital sourcing the other half of the year’s funding.
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- £3,000 was allocated to Zest at St. Elizabeth Hospice in December 2023, to fund a year’s worth of Zest Music Days in 2024.
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Declaration
The contents of this Annual Report are consistent with the recommendations contained in Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice 2005 (the Charities SORP) as they apply to smaller charities.
Approved by the Board of Trustees on 3[rd] June 2025.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:-
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Financial Review
Policy on Reserves
The Reserves Policy for Jess Grant Celebration is specifically driven by projects - those we have confirmed will be supported, plus those for which new or continued support is anticipated and under consideration. The policy intention is also to be flexible, understanding that timescales for our supported projects may change due to external factors. Therefore, the policy is to agree the financial commitment to a given project and then 'ring-fence' that money until requested.
The trustees will regularly review the status of all projects to which a commitment has been made. This review will be an agenda item for each meeting of the Trustees. Should circumstances change dramatically, for example the project is cancelled, the trustees will consider re-allocation of the funding commitment.
2025 Statement of Policy
In February 2025, recruitment for a new Music Therapist at Addenbrooke’s was frozen, due to immediate financial pressures on the hospital as a whole. As a result of this latest development, the Trustees have agreed to ‘ring-fence’ the funding of £12,500 to the end of 2025 and to review again towards the end of the year, should a Music Therapist not have been recruited by that stage.
As mentioned in the Activities section of this report, Ipswich Hospital will not be resuming their Music Therapy service until September 2025, and Jess Grant Celebration’s funding of £5964 will not be required until 2026. Therefore, this funding has also been ‘ring-fenced’.
At the time of writing this report the current bank balance is just over £21,000, of which £18,500 has been allocated to Reserves until the end of the 2025 financial year.
Income 2024
Listed below are the events and challenges undertaken for Jess Grant Celebration and the donations made by supporters during this period:-
Gary Jeffrey’s 100km Walk Sept 2023
Sam Linassi’s London Marathon
Marcus Kwan’s London Marathon
Ipswich Hospital Community Choir donation
Kesgrave Community Centre Music at the Bandstand
Kesgrave Parkrun Cake Sale
Tamsin and Xanthe Tate’s 2025 London Marathon Walk
EasyFundraising Donations
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Monthly Donations
Individual Donations
These events, challenges and donations raised the following income: -
| JustGiving donations net of charges | £2,078.12 | |
|---|---|---|
| JustGiving Gift Aid net of charges | £271.01 | |
| Other donations | £2,438.88 | |
| Total Income raised | £4,788.01 |
Expenditure 2024
Funding expenditure is as follows: -
| Funding for Ipswich Music Therapy Service | £5,514.00 |
|---|---|
| Total Funding Provided | £5,514.00 |
The monthly expense of £18 to pay for the charity to use the JustGiving platform is not paid by Jess Grant Celebration. £216.00, representing 12 monthly payments in this period, was paid by K&A Grant.
Statement of Finances
| Income | Dec 2024 |
|---|---|
| JustGiving donations net of charges | £2,078.12 |
| JustGiving Gift Aid net of charges | £271.01 |
| Other donations | £2,438.88 |
| Total Income | £4,788.01 |
| Expenditure | Dec 2024 |
|---|---|
| Funding for Ipswich Music Therapy | £5,514.00 |
| Service | |
| Total Expenditure | £5,514.00 |
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| 12 m/e | 12 m/e | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Dec 2024 | 31 Dec 2023 | ||
| Income | £4,788.01 | £13,193.54 | |
| Expenditure | £5,514.00 | £8,250.00 | |
| Profit for Year | -£725.99 | £4,943.54 |
Bank Reconciliation
| Bank Balance at 01/01/24 | £15,238,56 |
|---|---|
| Income | £4,788.01 |
| Expenditure | £5,514.00 |
| Bank Balance at 31/12/24 | £14,512.57 |
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Approved by the Board of Trustees on 3[rd] June 2025.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:-
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