## **ANNUAL REPORT AND STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS** **KEYNSHAM AND SALTFORD DEMENTIA ACTION ALLIANCE FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31[ST] 2025** Registered Charity Number 1181589 ## **KEYNSHAM & SALTFORD DEMENTIA ACTION ALLIANCE** ## **Annual Trustees’ Report for 2025** ## **CHAIR’S FOREWARD** 2025 has been another memorable year for the Keynsham and Saltford Dementia Action Alliance, and I want to begin by thanking everyone who has played their part. We remain continually grateful for the support of our local community, the people who attend our sessions and their families and carers, and of course our fantastic volunteers whose time, kindness and reliability keep everything moving forward. One of the real highlights of the year was the generous support and the donation towards my first Bath Half Marathon in March, which raised around £1,000. It’s definitely inspired me to repeat and will strengthen our ability to provide enjoyable, supportive activities for people living with dementia and those close to them. As the year moved on, it was heartening to see how much our programme of social activities and trips meant to everyone involved. The day out to Oakham Treasures in Portbury was, once again, thoroughly enjoyed, along with the October railway trip into Bristol. As we approached the end of the year, the continued attendance and enthusiasm at sessions was a timely reminder of why this work matters: creating welcoming, familiar spaces where people can feel included, understood and supported. It remains especially rewarding to hear the feedback from families and carers about the value of the group, how much the sessions are appreciated, and how meaningful it is to have something consistent to look forward to. Those comments are never taken for granted; they motivate us to keep improving, and they underline the importance of dementia-friendly communities built around real connection. Behind the scenes, I would also like to recognise the hard work of our treasurer and the wider management committee for the careful oversight that enables our activities to happen. It will always be a challenge to build on the progress we have made, but I am confident that with the continued commitment of volunteers, the generosity of supporters, and the ongoing encouragement of families and carers 2026 will be another positive year for Keynsham and Saltford Dementia Action Alliance. Thank you again to everyone who has contributed, attended, donated, volunteered or simply helped spread the word. ## **BACKGROUND** The Keynsham & Saltford Dementia Action Alliance (K&SDAA) was established in December 2016 with a view to making Keynsham and Saltford more dementia friendly. The term “dementia” describes a set of symptoms that may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem solving or language. Our group covers the area of Keynsham, Saltford and the surrounding area. The first meeting of the committee was in late 2016 and we decided to start up by doing something positive to help those in our area who are living with dementia. We began by running music sessions called Music for the Mind and the first one took place in May 2017. The number of attendees increased steadily so we agreed to run the sessions on a fortnightly basis in a local church hall in Keynsham. We decided early on that we wanted these sessions to be free of charge and open to all. Each person living with dementia has to be accompanied at all times by a carer who could be a relative, a friend or a paid carer. We also invited local care homes to bring along any residents with dementia. We pay a trained facilitator to run our sessions and refreshments, cakes and biscuits are provided. Last month we celebrated our ninth anniversary and altogether we have run over 160 sessions since we started. The only sessions we missed were during Covid ## **FOCUS ON 2025** We enjoyed another successful year on several fronts. Our Music for the Mind sessions which are run twice a month continued to attract steady numbers with on average between 50 and 70 people present. This includes those living with dementia, their carers and our volunteers. Altogether there were 23 sessions last year and all but 2 or 3 were led by Lindy, our paid facilitator. An additional feature we have been running for the last few years has been boccia sessions. Whenever there are 5 Thursdays in the month, normally 3 or 4 times a year, we play boccia which is an indoor game similar to bowls but is played while seated. It is a perfect game for people of all ages and abilities.and everybody gets really involved and look forward to the next session. We also arranged some outings during the year. These proved very popular as it gives our friends with dementia and their carers more time to talk to each other in a relaxed atmosphere. We had 2 cinema trips to the Chocolate Quarter in Keynsham to watch a film in the morning followed by lunch in the nearby restaurant. We also had a day out to Oakham Treasures in Portbury where you can go back in time to recollect on how things have changed during our lifetimes. Again, we had lunch before returning home. Another trip was organised by Faye who works for the Severnside Community Rail Partnership. She met us at Keynsham railway station and we took the train to Bristol. We had a look around the M- shed, had fish and chips at a nearby restaurant before getting the train back to Keynsham. Faye’s aim was to show us all how accessible the rail system can be for people with limited mobility as long as the journey is planned beforehand. Everybody thought that it worked very well and the day was a great success. Our final trip was an annual Christmas trip in November to Cadbury’s Garden Centre to give our friends a chance to have a good day out, have a nice lunch and buy some Christmas presents. All the trips were well attended and enjoyed and special thanks to our volunteers and also to Keynsham Dial-a-Ride for their assistance with transport. We had our annual afternoon tea party in August organised by our head of kitchen, Judith. Hot and cold drinks were provided on arrival and then Lindy, who was accompanied by Geoff on organ, sang some of her favourite songs and Geoff read some poetry. Judith also told a couple of jokes which always go down well. After that everyone was served with tea that included, scones with jam and cream of course. For the third year we ran a special Music for the Mind at the Keynsham Music Festival which ran from July 4th to July 6th. We had our own slot on Friday morning in the Big Tent in Keynsham Park from 10am until 12.30. We started off with a couple of circus acts, juggling and acrobatics, followed by a man blowing massive bubbles and then a very good singer. Then Lindy took over and lead a special Music for the Mind session with everybody joining in. The event was well attended and enjoyed by everyone who attended. At the start of the year our group was nominated by one of our members for the King Charles’ Award for voluntary Services. A representative for the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset came to one of our Music for the Mind sessions and was impressed with what we do and we were put forward to be a national panel for overall consideration. In November we heard that we had been unsuccessful. However, the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset invited two of our committee to a special Christmas concert in Westminster Abbey organised by Princess of Wales. It was a wonderful evening and a fitting tribute to all the hard work that our volunteers put in to making our music sessions so enjoyable. A special thank you to Lindy for leading the singing and holding it all together, ## **THE TRUSTEES** At the start of 2025, Steve Edwards replaced Judith Lynn as a trustee. That meant we still only had 4 trustees, Tim Blowers, Chair of Trustees), Liz Edwards, Steve Edwards and Mike Knight (Treasurer). We have tried advertising for more trustees but had not been successful until one of our volunteers, Brian Bolton, agreed to join us. Brian was enrolled at our next trustees meeting in January 2026. We now have 5 trustees but we will continue to get one of two more. The trustees meet up 3 times a year. We recently met up in May 2026 to discuss and approve all our financial details for 2025. ## **PRESENTATION AND ADOPTION OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS FOR 2025** The Annual General Meeting of the trustees was held on Monday 18[th] May 2025 when the main item was the presentation and adoption of the financial accounts for 2025 The balance sheet for 2025 and separate sheets detailing each item of income and expenditure were circulated to all the trustees before the meeting. The final detailed figures were checked out by Steve who works with me with the finances. He was happy that the figures were correct. At the meeting all our monthly bank statements and receipts were available for inspection. It was agreed by the 5 trustees that the information was accurate and the accounts were duly adopted and signed off. A full breakdown of our income and expenditure can be found in the table at the end of this report. The trustees had set an income target of £5,000 for 2025 and we achieved this with £6,241. 56% of that came from 7 donations from local organisations and 12% from a single grant we applied for from Tesco. Our total expenditure was £4,665 which is a 6.4% increase on last year. Music for the Mind sessions are responsible for 64% of our expenditure. Our Chair of Trustees, Tim, entered the Bath Half Marathon in March and agreed to raise money for our group. He trained hard for several months and ended up putting in a very good performance on the day and ended up raising £1,000 for our group. The hall fees for 2026 have been increased by 20% which will add approximately £300 to our annual expenditure. The overall balance at the end of 2025 was £20,330.85 which the trustees all agreed was very healthy. It was agreed that we would again target an income £5,000 for 2026 but we could look to spend more on other things if we could justify the expenditure. More outings were suggested so we need suggestions. ## **MANAGEMENT TEAM** We now have 8 members on the management team. June Brassington Is our Lead, Merrial Knight is Secretary and Mike Knight is Treasurer. Trish Wilson has taken on the role of coordinating the volunteers and Christine Hall has recently taken on the role of organising outings along with Mike Knight. The other management team members are Liz Edwards, Jane Leaves and Tim Blowers (chair of trustees). Meetings are generally held about every 2 months and Trish is also responsible for writing up the minutes. ## **VOLUNTEERS** We have a loyal group of about 17 volunteers who are mainly involved with ensuring that the Music for the Mind sessions run smoothly. They do an excellent job preparing the tables in the hall, meeting and greeting our friends in the car park and helping to get any wheelchair users into the building. The kitchen team of Judith, the team leader, Jayne and Jenny do a magnificent job. Judith has been with us since the start and has missed very few sessions in that time. She provides the drinks, cakes and biscuits and also arranges an annual tea party in August does an occasional comedy act as well. Our other volunteers include June, our Lead of Committee, who accompanies Lindy expertly on her accordion. We pay Lindy to lead our singing sessions and she has also been with us since our first session in May 2017. On arrival our friends are registered and provided with drinks, biscuits and cake before we start the singing. Once everybody has left everything has to be cleared away and the hall left in a tidy state. A number of our volunteers first came to our sessions as carers but on losing their partner have returned as volunteers. They have a great understanding of what our guests are going through. We always have a friendly and supportive atmosphere in the room during our sessions and it never fails to raise people’s spirits. We do regular surveys asking our friends for suggestions on how we could improve what we do This could involve adding more music to our repertoire or the films we arrange or ideas for outings. ## **GOING FORWARD** Our aim for 2026 is to continue providing Music for the Mind sessions twice a month. They will be free of charge. We will run boccia sessions whenever there are 5 Thursdays in the month and we will organise a number of external trips out during the year if there is sufficient interest. We are still trying to find new trustees and we still need a liaison officer to link up with local businesses and organisations as our aim continues to be to make Keynsham and Saltford more dementia friendly. Mike Knight Treasurer and Trustee Keynsham and Saltford Dementia Action Alliance July 2026 ## **KEYNSHAM & SALTFORD DEMENTIA ACTION ALLIANCE** ## **Balance Sheet for period 1 st January 2025 to 31 st December 2025** ## **Balance in bank on 1/1/2025 £18,755.17** |**Income**
Money received from grants (1) £750.00
Donations from organisations (7) £3499.21
Donations from individuals (3) £422.00
Donations in memorium (1) £560.00
Donations from collection tins £265.00
Charity run by Tim £745.07

|**Expenditure**
Music for the Mind£2964.14
Public liability insurance £197.25
Excursions (3) £573.66
Safequarding £395.00
Dial-a-Ride £290.00
First Aid course £100.00
Stationary £85.40
Charity Christmas tree £59.94| |---|---| **TOTAL INCOME £,6241.07 TOTAL EXPENDITURE £4,665.39** **INCOME MINUS EXPENDITURE + £1,575.68** **Balance in bank on 31/12/25 £20,330.85**