## **ANNUAL REPORT 2020** ## **1. Review of the year** Butterflies started the year with a clear and positive plan for our 4[th] Year of full operation in a clear way. We started the year with increasing numbers of attendees at our group sessions and new venues plus we saw the first significant increase in the number of people accessing our counselling services both face to face and some telephone support sessions. Across Hampshire, we found a slow but increasing demand on our services and were able to slow adapt and respond to the increasing requests for help and support. In the first quarter of 2020 we also saw the development of services on the Isle of Wight with bereavement groups, counselling, and significant collaboration with the statutory services on the island and one of the key areas of the work was supporting bereaved people within a twice monthly support group in Sandown and a weekly group in Cowes. We also provided 20 hours of counselling to bereaved people on the island each week through the volunteer counsellors and student counsellors with effective results. Our work supporting the bereaved by suicide was also taking shape as was the much-needed prevention service. Our work on the island is much needed and needs to be very adaptable to the different needs of the islanders and location issues that we take for granted elsewhere. The arrival of the pandemic had a massive impact on how we were able to meet and at the same time on our income. The restrictions at venues made group sessions difficult both in being able to communicate at a distance but also the venues restrictions in numbers, resulted in making choices on who could attend sessions and who could not, and this was not a situation that we wanted to be in and felt the need to re-visit our ways of doing things in response to Covid-19. We therefore changed to virtual groups from March until December 2020 in response to the need and held zoom sessions to replace all the existing face to face group sessions and these were overall well received and became the ongoing link. 1 Those who were unable to participate in online sessions then received weekly phone calls from our volunteers to maintain contact and again these were very well received by our regular service users. We managed to secure a Government Exemption during the 2[nd] Lockdown that allowed groups of up to 15 people to meet in person as we are a key frontline service and we used this at times to ensure that the most vulnerable and in need were able to access our services face to face. 2020 has proved a challenging year both with the significant number of new clients, amending groups to the situation and decreased income. But Butterflies has remained operational throughout 2020 offering support to the bereaved and lonely to over 400 people in person and over 20000 virtually and we are proud of our achievements. ## **2. Group Updates** With the challenges that 2020 brought we were still able to see significant increases in the number of support services and groups created and maintained throughout both lockdowns and in the face of the restrictions faced by working from home. ## **The Tuesday Bereavement Support Group** The group has met both physically during 2020 at Hilliers Garden Centre in Botley and more recently at Pavilion on the Park in Eastleigh. The weekly numbers have been around 20 and at times have increased significantly and with age ranges from 23 – 94 and equal numbers of men and women. The group has developed and continues to grow as able and will be returning to the weekly attendance once again after Christmas. The group managed a socially distanced Christmas Tea that was well liked and helped those who would spend Christmas away from their families this year. ## **Support for those bereaved by suicide.** This group has grown and developed over the year and continues to support anyone bereaved by suicide – either recently or over the years through online support, discussions, group sessions and supporting families at inquests. 2020 also saw us linking into inquests from the Butterflies Centre for the first time to comply with Covid-19 restrictions. Towards the end of 2020 we started to create a brand-new vision for anyone affected by Suicide and look forward to developing this service across the County in 2021. ## **The Romsey and North Baddesley Bereavement Support Group** This group was faced by many challenges during 2020 with a new venue and becoming an established part of the community with support and guest speakers. The virus meant the venue was closed for the rest of the year and we reverted to telephone and zoom support that work well. We were able to open in North Baddeley in November in Beadles Tea Rooms for a smaller number before the 3[rd] Lockdown started and plans are already in place for a fresh start in 2020. ## **The Winchester Bereavement Support Group and Friendship Groups** The Winchester group had a particularly good start in 2020 at Hilliers in Winchester with a steady flow of new people joining us each week and we were close to outgrowing the venue when we were forced to close due to the pandemic. Throughout 2020 we have worked on supporting people in Winchester through telephone support and this has worked well. We have created the new friendship service in Winchester in association with both statutory and voluntary bodies and this has met a great social need and has established us a frontline support network winning many accolades. 2 ## **Young and Bereaved support group** We have found an increasing number of younger people needing to access our services during 2020 than ever before especially when other age-related services have stopped. Young people have been coming to our office with parents to chat about their losses in an honest and frank way and this is part of a greater service plan for supporting younger bereaved people in 2021 and beyond. ## **Suicide prevention support** Our suicide prevention support service has been very proactive in 2020 and we have seen 52 clients and at the end of 2020 – we have only had one client take his life. Our support service provides the chance for those struggling with negative thoughts to meet with a specialist counsellor or support team member and be able to talk openly. We then provide an action plan with long- and short-term solutions and ensure that they feel wanted and needed in our society. Several members have gone onto support others. 2021 will see the launch of a brand-new dedicated service in Hampshire that hopes to see the reduction in the number of people taking their own lives. ## **3. Counselling** 2020 saw the person-centred counselling sessions take a significant part of our work a step forward. As the pandemic hit, we were able to turn the service around into a significant telephone service where clients were counselled on the phone every week by both our trained counsellors and student counsellors. At the peak of 2020s lockdowns we were counselling 180 people per week, which is a great achievement for a small charity such as ours. We pay tribute to the small but growing team of trained volunteer counsellors who have been at the forefront during 2020 and to the 27 Student Counsellors who have worked with us primarily from City College in Southampton, Eastleigh College and Chrysalis who have had placements with us and have become very much part of the Butterflies Family during a challenging year. Towards the end of the year, we were able to re-introduce face to face counselling sessions in the Butterflies Centre and these are proving popular and the new dedicated counselling suite will open in the New Year. We were honoured – through the dedication of all members of the counselling team to have been nominated and subsequently won the Bereavement Counselling Service of the Year in 2020 for Southern England and this is an award for the whole team rather than one person. ## **4. Training and development** During 2020 we created significant numbers of opportunities for all volunteers to undertake more training than in years beforehand. We were pleased to see large numbers of volunteers achieve the level 2 in counselling as the firm basis for our work and this is something, we encourage all volunteers to undertake. 3 We have also seen more volunteers undertake the Diploma in Grief and Bereavement and there have been many who have passed with distinction and have gone on to play a greater role in supporting the bereaved through our work. We have also encouraged over 50 volunteers to undertake some suicide prevention and support training as part of our own suicide prevention service. The training and development of volunteers remains a key part of services provided, and Butterflies ensures that everyone is given the chance to learn new skills to be used with our clients. ## **5. Volunteers** Volunteers play a key role in every aspect of running Butterflies. As a charity that has no paid staff members and run entirely by volunteers, we have continued to see significant growth when other charities have had to go online or close completely, these are challenging times for us all. By the end of 2020 we had 90 volunteers working every week to support the bereaved and isolated in our community in many ways. We have also welcomed volunteers from the Armed Forces who are engaging with our projects and users. The sheer dedicated use of time, skills and talents is overwhelming, and we remain committed to their service and cannot praise them enough for their continued help and support. Everyone is with us on an equal basis and everyone equally deserved the praise for all that they do in making butterflies a success. ## **6. The Butterflies Centre** When we started butterflies, there was always a vision for a dedicated bereavement resource centre in the heart of the community. Who would of thought that during a pandemic that we would turn that dream into a reality? The Butterflies Centre opened in Eastleigh in late September 2020 and proved incredibly challenging in the first couple of months due to building issues but remained an impressive community resource. By creating this resource point, we have been able to streamline the services and ensure every service is accountable, has an established base and we can build in this further. The new counselling suites have been created as well as a dedicated meeting point for coffee and a chat and our admin team are placed within the centre as well providing a warm welcome to anyone who calls us or comes in person. 4 The centre gives us a clear and firm base for the future and an asset to our work. ## **7. Trustees** Butterflies is managed by a team of dedicated trustees from all walks of life. They bring a wealth of experience and even in the challenges of 2020 have managed to work in the background to keep Butterflies on a firm footing. We are grateful for the support they give and clear guidance. ## **8. Annual Accounts** Colin Shaw has been our treasurer for the past year and has provided advice and support regarding funding our services in 2020 and the accounts have been filed with the Charity Commission and will be presented at the AGM in 2021. 2020 has seen significant decrease in the income for Butterflies and we have adopted a clear strategy to save money and this has worked but there is an urgent need to raise funds next year to bring the potential to fruition. We are grateful to those who made grants for our work during the year and for the donations from service users, without these we would have struggled to survive. ## **9. Closing Comments** There is no doubt that 2020 will be remembered for the challenges that it brought and for the sheer dedication of volunteers to achieve so much in difficult times. As Butterflies enters its 5[th] full year, there has been so much to be grateful for and the honour of supporting a record number of bereaved people in their time of need. The Friendship Service has also seen record numbers and will continue to grow significantly. 2020 also saw a significant step forward in development of new services that will come to full fruition in 2021 and beyond. In looking back at all we have achieved over the years; we can look forward to hopefully moving out of restrictions and the possibilities to create more support services for the lonely and bereaved across Hampshire. 5 ## ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2O20 |**Income**
Lottery IOW
Hampshire County Council
Fair Oak Parish Council
Co-operative Society
Groundwork UK
CAF
CoVid-19 Response
Rotary Club Romsey
Hampshire & IoW Community Fund
Co-operative Society
Hendy Foundation
Interest
Returns
Individual Donations
Counselling Receipts
Opening Balance
General
Counselling
Reserve
Closing Balance
General
Counselling
Reserve|9,950.00
1,091.25
700.00
1,775.10
500.00
2,400.00
5,390.00
250.00
2,000.00
1,903.38
1,000.00
2.39
490.52
6,332.54
3,313.50
**37,098.68**
3,108.82
1,119.02
5,001.20
**9,229.04**
12,656.26
2,192.74
8,681.85
**23,530.85**|**Expenditure**
Venue Fee
Volunteer Training
Volunteer Expenses
Phones/Helpline
Administration
Publicity/Outreach
Adverts
Sundaries
Activities
DBS Checks
Insurance
Bank Fees
Honorary Fee
Supervision
Office
Fundraising|1,398.30
558.40
1,069.32
731.36
1,223.96
3,952.49
1,458.07
291.20
274.31
12.75
3,150.00
200.00
8,153.71
323.00
**22,796.87**| |---|---|---|---| ||||| 6