2025-03-31-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 01/04/2024 Period start date To 31/03/2025 Period end date

Charity name: Dylan’s Quest

Charity registration number: 1180823

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	To relieve the needs of children and young adults suffering from life limiting conditions or terminal illnesses and their families. These children are referred to us by Southampton Children’s hospital and Naomi House Children’s hospice. The young adults are referred to us by the Teenage and Young Adults Cancer Ward at Southampton General Hospital. We can provide: Magical memories for them and their families following diagnosis, or financial relief as a direct result of diagnosis of their child. We also provide treats for siblings of poorly patients.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	Dylan’s Quest raises funds from the public via donations or fundraising. We do not work with a professional fundraiser. Main activities held during this financial year: Romsey Relay Marathon Endure 24 Dragon Boat Racing Ibiza night at local pub Southampton 5k race Southampton inflatable race
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	All trustees when performing charity duties are aware of the guidance and have taken it into account when making decisions in order to make the charity of public benefit.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

SORP reference

Para 1.38 Policy on grant making Para 1.38 Policy on social investment including program related investment Para 1.38 Contribution made by volunteers Other

Achievements and Performance

	SORP reference
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	Dylan’s Quest is a small established charity. We are there to provide magnificent memories or financial help for families of children and young adults with life limiting conditions. In this financial year, we have directly provided assistance to 41 families. - We provided 5 families the opportunity to make magnificent memories, comprised of : - a theatre trip and hotel; costs towards passports and treats for a trip to Disneyland Paris; funds towards the cost of an overnight zoo visit; a hotel stay, trip to an aquarium and a package of toys/books and a contribution towards the cost of an animal lodge and spending money. - We provided 23 families with a financial grant to help with the additional costs that come with either a poorly child, such as travel expenses, or, for young adults, the expenses of trying to live whilst not being able to work. - Under the banner of financial assistance, we also provided 12 families with ‘goods’ which ranged from essentials such as the cost of a window repair; mattresses; a tumble drier, to items to help the development of, or to help occupy,

	children who are/have been in
	hospital for long spells and who
	would benefit from items for therapy
	that the parents are unable to afford
	at a time when most are either not
	able to work, or on severely
	restricted incomes as a result of
	their child’s illness. These items
	included a swing seat; an outdoor
	playhouse, a slushie machine and
	development/sensory toys for young
	children.
-	We have also been able to help
	siblings, who often spend months
	away from their parents whilst their
	sick brother or sister is in hospital.
	Through our work with the charity
	Young Lives vs Cancer (YLvsC) we
	provide small denominations of
	Amazon vouchers to distribute to
	siblings so that they know they have
	not been forgotten at a time when
	their parents’ attention is naturally
	focussed on the poorly child or
	young adult.
-	we continue to provide small
	denominations of vouchers for
	YLvsC to provide to families in
	hospital for use in the food outlets –
	the cost of eating from such outlets
	soon builds up and this action eases
	the pressure on a family’s finances.
-	We also provided YLvsC with books
	aimed at younger children, for them
	to distribute to families on wards, to
	enable the children to understand
	what is happening to them and their
	families in an age appropriate way.
-	We again partnered with 7 other
	charities, the founders of which
	have all lost a child and who support
	our local hospital. The event was
	‘dragon boat racing’, held at a local
	marina and helped to raise our
	profile, and that of the other
	participating charities and
	demonstrated that whilst we all
	support the local hospital and we
	have different objectives, we all
	work together to help families
	negotiate the difficult journey of a
	life limiting illness.

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Achievements against objectives set	Para 1.41
Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set	Para 1.41
Investment performance against objectives	Para 1.41
Other

Financial Review

Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	In our 5th year as a registered charity, Dylan’s Quest raised £15,534.46, with a net income gain over expenditure of £1,131.87. Our primary fundraising was through supporters participating in physical challenge events as well as another Ibiza evening at a local pub, which was well supported. We also secured grants totalling £4,783 from 2 sources. We continue to be well supported by a local firm who have provided a number of donations in this financial year. A significant donation received at Christmas enabled us to provide £60 of M&S & Costa vouchers to each of the families of the wards that we cover, who were spending Christmas Day in hospital. This was to enable them to have some treats at a difficult time and we felt would benefit the whole family, rather than just the child/young adult who are fortunate to receive gifts from other charities at Christmas time. Our expenditure, outside of our charitable activities has been minimal, with our overheads for operation limited to costs such as web domain costs and insurance. As we had a number of physical events ongoing, with donations being received regularly through the fundraising platform JustGiving, we decided to upgrade our membership with JustGiving to enable the production of more detailed fundraising reports. We purchased a laptop for our Founder to use exclusively for Dylan’s Quest related activities as she had limited access to a family one at home. This has been recorded as an asset of the charity. We continue to review each referral for assistance on an individual basis; however, the Trustees voted to limit the assistance received by any one family to £750, in order to ensure that we have sufficient funds to assist families well into the future. The limit of £250 for a financial grant still stands, but we will allow requests for other assistance – e.g. a memory making activity, or an essential item/therapy item

		separately providing the total for all help remains within the £750 limit. We intend to continue to review each referral on an individual basis to ensure that we are providing targeted and meaningful assistance.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	£0
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22	The trustees continue to consider it prudent that reserves remain unrestricted and should be sufficient to enable the operation to continue for minimum of 12 months, whilst we source other means of income.
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24	n/a
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23	In the current financial climate, fundraising continues to be difficult, as the cost-of- living crisis leaves supporters with less disposable cash to give to charities; nonetheless, we continue our fundraising efforts through events and grant applications. Our income has again exceeded expenditure, so we remain satisfied that the charity can continue as a going concern for some considerable time.
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements		where relevant about:
The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47
Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Para 1.46
Other

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)	Para 1.25	Constitution
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	CIO
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	Any new trustees must be appointed by a resolution passed at a meeting of the current charity trustees where at least 3 agree to the appointment. There are currently 4 trustees.

Additional information (optional)

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Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees	Para 1.51
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works	Para 1.51
Relationship with any related parties	Para 1.51
Other

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	Dylan’s Quest
Other name the charity uses
Registered charity number	1180823
Charity’s principal address	25 Goldcrest Gardens Lordswood Southampton SO16 8FG

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee(if any)
	Michelle Vanhear	Founder
	Isla Lipscomb
	Katrina Lush	Treasurer
	Sarah-Jane Challis

– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved Director name none

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name	Dates acted if not for whole year
none

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets none held in this capacity Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of	Name	Address
adviser

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

Other optional information

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date
	Michelle Vanhear	Katrina Lush
	Founder	Treasurer
	07/01/2026
	07/01/2026

Dylan's Quest Financial Summary

1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025

	income	expenditure		£37,340.57
APRIL	£2,903.18	£530.31		£39,713.44
MAY	£1,061.39	£647.37		£40,127.46
JUNE	£19.10	£1,324.86		£38,821.70
JULY	£851.66	£2,212.40		£37,460.96
AUGUST	£716.04	£672.00		£37,505.00
SEPTEMBER	£1,882.40	£1,712.58		£37,674.82
OCTOBER	£1,290.62	£1,806.30		£37,159.14
NOVEMBER	£280.51	£1,696.05		£35,743.60
DECEMBER	£1,308.55	£2,254.34		£34,797.81
JANUARY	£21.35	£488.44		£34,330.72
FEBRUARY	£529.45	£263.00		£34,597.17
MARCH	£4,670.21	£795.04		£38,472.34
OPENING YEAR BALANCE £37,340.57 INCOME £15,534.46 EXPENDITURE £14,402.69 CLOSING BALANCE £38,472.34 brought forward £37,340.57 income: donations £2,861.94 charitable activities £7,889.19 other trading activities £0.00 grants £4,783.33 expenditure raising funds £580.00 charitable activities £13,023.39 merchandise £83.50 expense - asset £321.00 insurance £172.51 web domain £219.45 Other ancilliary costs £323.84

Dylan's Quest Statement of Financial Activities 1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025

	Unrestricted Funds	Restricted Funds £	Total	Prior period
	£		Funds £	Total funds £
Income:
Brought Forward				£37,340.57
Donations	2,861.94	£0.00	2,861.94	0.00
Charitible Activities	7,889.19	£0.00	7,889.19	10,153.93
Other Trading Activities	0.00	£0.00	0.00	0.00
Grants	4,783.33	£0.00	4,783.33	7,500.00
Other	0.00	£0.00	0.00	0.00
TOTAL	15,534.46	£0.00	15,534.46	17,653.93
Expenditure:
Raising Funds (including
entry fees)	580.00	£0.00	580.00	334.53
Charitable Activities	13,023.39	£0.00	13,023.39	8,760.75
Merchandise	83.50	£0.00	83.50	18.49
Expense - Asset	0.00	£0.00	0.00	0.00
Insurance	172.41	£0.00	172.41	166.45
Website Domain	219.45	£0.00	219.45	190.65
Other Ancillary costs	323.84	£0.00	323.84	165.11
TOTAL	14,402.59	£0.00	14,402.59	9,635.98
NET INCOME	1,131.87	£0.00	£1,131.87	£8,017.95
Reconciliation of Funds
Total funds brought
forward	37,340.57	£0.00

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 38,472.34

Dylan's Quest Balance Sheet at 31 March 2025

	TOTAL FUNDS	PRIOR YEAR
FIXED ASSETS	£0.00	£0.00
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors	£0.00	£0.00
Cash in bank and in hand	£38,472.34	£37,340.57
LIABILITIES
Creditors	£0.00	£0.00
TOTAL NET ASSETS	£38,472.34	£37,340.57
TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS	£38,472.34	£37,340.57

Approved by the Trustees on 01/10/2025

Signed