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2025-12-31-accounts

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 .......................................................................................................................... 5 Volunteer Contribution ....................................................................................................................... 5 Summary of the main achievements .................................................................................................. 6 Declaration .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Financial Review ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Policy on Reserves............................................................................................................................... 8 Income 2025 ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Expenditure 2025 ................................................................................................................................ 9 Statement of Finances ........................................................................................................................ 9

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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

The following report has been prepared by Anita Grant, Chair of 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 2025. 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.

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Objects

  1. 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.

  2. 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: -

First launched in December 2019, this service provides music therapy sessions for one day per week on the Children’s ward at Ipswich Hospital. Jess Grant Celebration continues to support this position on an annual basis, providing funding that represents half of the total funding required.

At the start of 2025, the very difficult decision was made to pause music therapy at Ipswich Hospital. Unfortunately, at the end of 2024, 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, following the next recruitment drive for newly qualified therapists. The funding required for this post, which had increased from £5,514 to £5,964, was ‘ring-fenced’ by the Trustees until music therapy was up and running again.

2025’s recruitment drive went well, with a record number of applicants, and potential new recruits being shortlisted. The Ipswich post was successfully filled and the new Music Therapist commenced his post in September, as planned. In December I was invited on to the Children's Ward at Ipswich Hospital to see and hear about the enormous difference the new Music Therapist is making to children receiving treatment. The Lead Health Play Specialist spent time telling me about the positive stories of patients who have benefited from music sessions. It was inspiring to hear about a young oncology patient whose clinic days have been transformed by music therapy. To see firsthand how excited he was to see the Music Therapist and how much he enjoyed singing and playing music with him, and then to see how calm he was prior to receiving chemo, was very moving. From making up songs for a young patient who loves numbers, to supporting teenagers with their mental health, it is incredible to see the impact music therapy is having on children at Ipswich Hospital.

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- 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.

Fellow Trustee Caroline Allison and myself were invited to a Zest Music Day in June 2025. We were privileged to attend a one-to-one music therapy session and once again to see the positive impact music therapy has. According to The Zest Lead Nurse, ‘Music therapy is such a big part of the Zest service and so important for the young adults to experience’. In September we, the trustees of Jess Grant Celebration, agreed to fund the Zest Music Days for another year at a cost of £3,120 for one day per month.

: -

As detailed in the Annual Report for 2023, following meetings with Addenbrooke’s and a successful trial on the Teenage Cancer Trust ward, by the end of that year 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. By August 2024 Jess Grant Celebration committed to funding one day a week for one year, at a cost of £12,500, in order to provide a great start to the new service.

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. It was agreed by the Trustees 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.

Thankfully, recruitment was able to re-commence and a Music Therapist was successfully appointed to start the role in November. Funding for the post is being requested by Addenbrooke’s via invoices on a monthly basis and at the time of writing, Jess Grant Celebration has made payments for work completed in November and December 2025.

In March 2026, Kevin Grant and I were invited to visit Addenbrooke’s to see the impact that the new Music Therapist is having on this age range. We heard how the Music Therapist is able to engage and connect with these patients through music. We were told about the patients that he has been helping: newly diagnosed and in unfamiliar surroundings; patients who are very poorly and have been in hospital for a long time; patients receiving regular treatment in hospital; relapsed patients struggling with their mental health. The Music Therapist, who is actually also working on the Children’s ward at Ipswich Hospital, mentioned that he now sees some patients at Addenbrooke’s, who he provides sessions for at Ipswich, which is excellent for continuity of care.

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Fundraising Activities

This reporting period has been successful in terms of fundraising for Jess Grant Celebration.

Fundraising included organising and running two events this year: Jess’ Celebration Cake Sale in March and a Music Quiz, run by Barry Martin, in September, both of which were extremely successful in raising funds, with the Cake Sale raising £915 and the Music Quiz £975.

As in previous years, supporters raised a significant proportion of the funds contributed to Jess Grant Celebration. In 2025, over £6,900 was raised by supporters of Jess’ charity organising their own events, taking on their own challenges and making their own generous donations.

The main fundraising activities consisted of: -

Tamsin and Xanthe Tate’s London Marathon Walk

Jess Grant Celebration Cake Sale

Alex Howis’ Manchester Marathon

Kesgrave Community Centre Music at the Bandstand

Jess Grant Celebration Music Quiz

Laura Holland’s 2026 London Marathon

The Dove Street Inn Pub Quizzes

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 2025 include: -

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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 that benefited 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 2025.

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. A total of £8,793 was raised in 2025. 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. As a result of this, the charity is able to fund three projects at Ipswich Hospital, St. Elizabeth Hospice and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in 2026.

The main achievements include: -

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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 11[th] May 2026

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.

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, the Trustees agreed to ‘ringfence’ the agreed funding of £12,500 to the end of 2025 and to review again towards the end of the year. As mentioned in the Addenbrooke’s Project, a Music Therapist was recruited later in the year and was in post by November 2025. Jess Grant Celebration is now actively funding this post for a year, paying via monthly invoices.

As mentioned in the Ipswich Hospital Music Therapy Service section, Ipswich Hospital did not resume their Music Therapy service until September 2025, and Jess Grant Celebration’s funding of £5964 was ring-fenced until November 2025.

Therefore, the sum of £18,500 was allocated to Reserves for the majority of the 2025 financial year. At the time of writing, Jess Grant Celebration has funded Addenbrooke’s for the first two months of work and still has £8,809 ring-fenced for the remaining funding of the Music Therapy post at Addenbrooke’s. Please note, this post is actually costing a total of £10,424 for one year of funding, which is over £2,000 less than the original £12,500 pledged.

Income 2025

Listed below are the events and challenges undertaken for Jess Grant Celebration and the donations made by supporters during this period:-

Tamsin and Xanthe Tate’s London Marathon Walk

Jess Grant Celebration Cake Sale

Alex Howis’ Manchester Marathon

Kesgrave Community Centre Music at the Bandstand

Jess Grant Celebration Music Quiz

Laura Holland’s 2026 London Marathon

The Dove Street Inn Pub Quizzes

EasyFundraising Donations

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Monthly Donations

Individual Donations

These events, challenges and donations raised the following income:-

JustGiving donations net of charges £2,606.14
JustGiving Gift Aid net of charges £469.07
Other donations £5,717.76
Total Income raised £8,792.97

Expenditure 2025

Funding expenditure is as follows:-

expenditure is as follows:-
Funding for Ipswich Hospital Music Therapy Service £5,964.00
Funding for Zest Music Days at St. Elizabeth Hospice £3,120.00
Total Funding Provided £9,084.00

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 2025
JustGiving donations £2,606.14
JustGiving Gift Aid £469.07
Other donations £5,717.76
Total Income £8,792.97
Expenditure Dec 2025
Funding for Ipswich Hospital Music £5,964.00
Therapy Service

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Funding for Zest Music Days at St. £3,120.00 Elizabeth Hospice

Total Expenditure £9,084.00

12 m/e 12 m/e
31 Dec 2025 31 Dec 2024
Income £8,792.97 £4,788.01
Expenditure £9,084.00 £5,514.00
Profit for Year -£291.03 -£725.99

Bank Reconciliation

Bank Balance at 01/01/25 £14,512.57 Income £8,792.97 Expenditure £9,084.00 Bank Balance at 31/12/25 £14,221.54

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 11[th] May 2026

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:-

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