St Mary’s Contact Centre Annual Report for the financial year ending 31[st] March 2024 **St Mary’s Contact Centre is registered with the Charity Commission Registration number 1179955** 1 **Principal Office** Norwich Central Baptist Church Duke Street Norwich NR3 3AP **Trustees** Helen Bouttell (Chair) John Easton (Treasurer) Rosemary Horbury Gill Duffy Eunice Walcott Katherine Severson **Bankers** CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ ## **The trustees present their Annual Report the year ending 31[st] March 2024 Structure, Governance and Management** Our Governing Document is the “Constitution for St Mary’s Contact Centre March 2017” Trustee Meetings take place at least 4 times a year. The Charity Trustees are responsible for the oversight of the Contact Centre’s operations, together with the financial and legal aspects of the Charity. We are affiliated to the National Association of Child Contact Centres who audit our policies and procedures. ## **Objectives** The principal objective of Contact Centre is to relieve the needs of children separated from parents and / or other family members through divorce and family breakdown in Norwich and the surrounding area in Norfolk by providing a safe, friendly and neutral environment where children of separated families can spend time with their nonresidential parents and sometimes other family members. A secondary objective is to enable the families to reach a point, where suitable, when they can arrange to meet outside of the centre and move on from needing the facility. ## **Activities** In order to achieve the principal objective, which is set out above, the Contact Centre is open on Saturdays, bi-weekly, for parents to meet with the children that do not live with them. The non-resident parent sits at a table with their child(ren) and they have 2 the option of doing activities / games together. Refreshments are also provided. The resident parents are able to stay in a different room and also enjoy refreshments. Some parents use the centre as a venue to meet and the non-resident parent then takes their child(ren) out. We aim to provide a range of games and activities suitable to the different ages of the children. Families can refer themselves via NACCC to the centre but most referrals come via solicitors, CAFCASS or Children’s Services. We employ a Contact Centre Co-ordinator whose role includes: - Receiving applications for use of the centre and interviewing potential customers - Overseeing the running of the centre when it is open and ensuring everything runs smoothly - Co-ordinating the volunteers who help with the running of the centre We have 14 volunteers. They undertake regular training across a number of areas. There are many related training modules, including Domestic Abuse, Understanding Substance Abuse, and Managing Conflict, which are delivered on a three year rolling programme, following the programme provided by NACCC. The volunteers’ activities at the centre include the following: - Helping set up the centre and clear things away - Serving refreshments - Having an oversight of what is happening in the room where the families are meeting, helping with any queries or issues - Welcoming and interacting with the families and supporting the transition from the resident parent to the visiting parent. ## **Families** The Contact Centre has had 16 families on the books and between 10-14 regularly in attendance over the course of the year. Some families are well established whilst other come briefly and move on quickly. The relationships fostered by the Co-ordinator and volunteers is very good and numbers have increased after a drop as a result of COVID. ## **Financial Review** The Contact Centre raises the funds which it needs to carry on its activities through grant income, application fees and the sale of refreshments. The accounts for 1[st] January 2023 to 31[st] December 2023 are submitted with this report. ## **Future Plans** For the year 2024/25 plans are in place to establish support to the Co-ordinator via a sessional Deputy to offer support and cover due to holiday or sickness. 3 CHARITY COMMISSION , Independent examinerfs report on the FOR ENGLAND AM) WALES | accounts Section A Independent Examiner s Report Report to Ihe trustses On accounls for the year ended Charlty no (If any) Set oul on pages I rewt to the truslees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {Ihe Trust") for the year ended 31 IL 2oLS As the charitys trustees. you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance v￿th the requirements of the Charitl8s Act 2011 (Ihe Aci"). R••pon8lbllltl•s and basls ef report I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's acoounls carrled OLrt under seclion 145 ofthe 2011 Acl and In carying out my examination, I hav8 fdlowed all the applicable Directions given by th8 Charity Commission under SeCt￿n 14515Xb) of the Acl. Independent ￿he charity's gr ccAme exc88ded ,000 8nd18m examlnorf8 Statement undertake examinatbn by b a qualified mem ap e listed body]l. e [ ] M noi appllca linsert na I have completed my examinalk)n. I confimi that no malerial matt8rs hav8 come to my attention in connection with the examination (c￿er￿rnat di%losg&bth ') which gives mè cause to believe Ihat in, any material r8specl'. the accLtunting records wére not kept in accordance vrith s8Ctlon 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not acLXYtI 7Mth the 8ccountThig records.. or the accounts did not comply wlth Ihe applic8ble requiremenls concerniro the form and conl6nt of accounls set oul in the Charitles (Accounts and R8POrts) Regulations 2008 other than any requiremant that the accounts giv8 8 Irue and fair, view which 15 not a matter considered as part of an Independent examinalion. I have no conc£ms and hav8 come across no other m8tt8rs in connection ith the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order lo enable a Fryer understanding of Ihe accounts to be reached. Pleas the in the brackets if they do not apply. Slgned: Dat•: Nam8: Relevant prof•sslonal quallflcatlon(s) or body IER Oct 2018