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2023-03-31-accounts

Sliding Doors

Registered Charity No 1182432

Trustees’ Report and Independently Examined Financial Statements

For the period ended 31[st] March 2023

Vision. “to give vulnerable and isolated people, in the Blackburn with Darwen area, access to opportunities, support and enjoyment.”

Address 26 Plantation Road Blackburn BB2 4QA

Bankers Lloyd’s Bank

Church St Blackburn

Independent Examiner D Singh and Co

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Contents

  1. Trustees’ and Activities Report

  2. Financial Review

  3. Trustees’ Responsibility Statement (Report of the Trustees)

  4. Structure, Governance and Management (Report of the Trustees)

  5. Independent Examiner’s Report

  6. Financial Statements

  7. Notes to Financial Statements

Trustees’ and Activities Report

The year started with much excitement, following the announcement that we have been successful in our Lo�ery bid for 4 years funding. The fear of us losing some of our services and support had been a real concern for many of our volunteers, service users and their carers.

We held a big celebra�on event at a local working men’s club which was organised by our volunteers supported by the staff team. The evening was a big success with approx. 200 people a�ending, it was good to see some of our partners joining us. One of our volunteers became DJ for the evening for the first �me and did a great job, he now is our regular DJ for our par�es and events. We also held a coffee morning in the hub invi�ng people from the local community centre to join us for a coffee and cake to meet the staff and volunteers and find out more about what we do and how they can get involved. Several of the people who a�ended now are regular visitors to the hub for our coffee mornings and 2 ladies joined our ladies group.

We recruited Alison our sustainability Officer who soon se�led in and became a very well‐liked member of the team. Alison has worked hard ge�ng to know our volunteers and service users, we pride ourselves in saying that all the staff team know each person who a�ends, Alison soon became one of us and made many new friends. She works closely with a group of young people looking at the enterprise project and is making good links with local businesses and local trusts.

We gave presenta�ons at several mul�‐agency mee�ngs informing them of our success of our funding bid and outlined our plans and explained how they could refer people to the project and how we could work together and avoid any possible duplica�on.

During the past 12 months we have:

We always involve our volunteers and service users in all our projects from the start right through to delivery and evalua�on. We value the input from the people who have lived in experience of the issue we are trying address.

We have recruited 12 new volunteer all with addi�onal needs who have never previously had the opportunity to help others. It has put a structure and sense of purpose into their lives, and we have seen these people grow in confidence and self‐belief.

Everyone no ma�er their abili�es have skills and something to give others. We spend �me with everyone individually finding out what they are interested in and what they would like to do and any barriers there have been in the past that have stopped then reaching their poten�al and most importantly gaining their trust. We buddy people up with our exis�ng volunteers and slowly offering training without scaring them. For someone who has had bad experiences or very li�le in the way of educa�on, the men�on of training can be very scary. Our regular volunteer mee�ngs are the place we begin to introduce some learning enabling people to support each other, this is delivered by a member of staff someone they all know and trust and is done in a very light‐hearted fun way which is adapted in ways to meet the needs of each person. We introduce other training delivered by our selves or other providers gradually for those who wish to par�cipate. For some people the fact they can make brews or set up tables is a massive step, and they don’t want to do anything else. For others with support assist or even deliver their own sessions. We value all our volunteers and celebrate all their achievements and con�nually praise and reward their input and support. We speak to our service users and carers at regular intervals to ensure we are providing the right ac�vi�es/support and o�en adapt or try new ac�vi�es form ideas we have been given from our users. We invite outside agencies to a�end sessions when we feel the informa�on would be relevant and delivered in a way our service users understand.

We have over 300 people a�ending our ac�vi�es on a regular basis, many a�ending 2 or more session, we have some people who a�end every day. We have 24 registered volunteers and many more people who help on a regular basis. Many of our volunteers have some type of addi�onal need. Our target group is adults with disabili�es, learning difficul�es and those who for whatever reason feel lonely and isolated. Most of the people who a�end fit into the above categories. We have people between the age of 18 up to 85 a�ending, with a wide range of needs all coming together to have fun in a safe and friendly place.

We have developed new rela�onships with other organisa�ons and community groups throughout the year. Including our work at Ivy Street, we now use the community venue 2 days a week working closely with the community board and suppor�ng their food parcel project, some of our younger members help pack the parcels. We have worked closely with the staff and volunteers at the venue for them to start a group working with disabled people, we have helped them with the policies and processes, shared resources, promoted the group and a�ending some of the sessions. We have worked closely with the NHS around their health promo�on project, we are seen as the charity they come to when they need to reach people with addi�onal needs or those that are isolated and hard to reach. We have helped them to understand the different communica�on needs and assisted them with any ques�onnaires etc. We influenced the way some of their outreach services are delivered to people with Learning Difficul�es which has increased the number of people undertaking health checks. We have worked with Blackburn

with Darwen Councils Refresh Team, looking at ge�ng people with addi�onal needs more ac�ve. Following the success of the taster sessions with Refresh we applied to Sport England for spor�ng equipment suitable for our users, we were successful with this bid and now have a range of wonderful equipment that we use at all our sessions, ge�ng people more ac�ve and having lots of fun. On a similar theme we now work with a line dancing school who come and deliver Line Dancing lessons, this has proved to be one of the favourite ac�vi�es with many people, the benefits are not only ge�ng people moving they are helping with people’s memories and co‐ ordina�on.

Our project makes a real difference to many people’s lives, people feel less lonely, have new friendships, have a sense of belonging o�en for the first �me in their lives. A�ending the sessions improves people mental and physical health. We do a lot of singing which is proven to improve the well‐being of people and is so beneficial for our users with memory problems and demen�a. By having a safe and friendly place to go and meet other people become less isolated, they can share their fears and experiences with others who have experienced similar things. Many las�ng friendships have been formed; it is great to hear people who didn’t previously know each other arranging to meet up outside the sessions.

For the young people who have turned 19 and no longer able to a�end college our lad’s group and youth club and social evening can be life changing. To suddenly have no structure, nowhere to go, lost contact with friends can be devasta�ng to a young person especially someone with a disability/learning difficulty. Our clubs give them a safe place to go where they can spend �me have fun and learning new skills with other young people, giving them some structure, and helping them to regain confidence and building las�ng friendships. Some of the young people are now volunteers helping to run the sessions and suppor�ng new people, ensuring everyone feels welcome.

Ben a�ended college from the age of 16 but sadly when he reached 19, he was no longer able to a�end. We were contacted by Bens’s mother who was very concerned and upset about her son. She told us he spent most of the �me alone in his room o�en staying in bed most of the day and playing computer games during the night. He had no interest in anything they tried to do with him and became a very angry and unhappy young man. Not only did Bens mental health suffer but so did his physical health, he wasn’t ea�ng with the family but con�nually snacking and ea�ng fast food and was doing no exercise, rarely leaving his home. Ben’s family live in quite a remote area and his only friends had been at college none of them from his local area .

A�er much persuasion Ben did a�end our lads group, he was very subdued and quiet when he arrived, we had one of our young volunteers take Ben under his wing and let him introduce Ben to the others and got him to join in with the games on the Wii, it wasn’t long before we could hear Ben cha�ng and laughing with the others, although he was s�ll quite withdrawn. Ben con�nued to a�end the lad’s group and we began to see the real Ben a happy, outgoing, funny young man. His parents were over the moon when they saw the change and heard him cha�ng on the phone to the new friends he had made. Ben also started to a�end the youth club and social group giving him back some structure to his life. A�er a few months Ben asked if he could become a volunteer, he was very keen to a�end first aid and confidence building training and

soon became a very popular volunteer. Ben is now a member of our Young Peoples Commi�ee, passing on the ideas and thoughts of our younger members to our Board of Trustees. The Young People s commi�ee have secured funding for a trip to take users from all groups on a day trip, they are also involved in the sustainability project working with the Sustainability Officer. Ben has now many friends who not only meet up at Sliding doors they go out together at other �me. We are looking at training Ben to give him the skills to join our Board or Trustees .

We have taken people out of the area on day trips, due to a variety of reasons including accessibility, finance, fear or no one to go with many of our users never leave their local area. The places we visit are suggested by our users and supported by our volunteers. We always provide fully disabled access transport, research the area and ensure everyone can be included. To someone who has never le� their local area to visit the seaside, or the lake district can be over whelming to see their faces when they step off the coach is incredible. We put people into small groups with a staff member of volunteer to support then and lots of friendships have been formed on these ou�ngs. Some of the people who are more independent they have gone on day trips themselves with people they met on our ou�ngs, if necessary, we help them plan and book the ou�ngs, o�en using local community transport.

Irene is a lady in her 70’s who was widowed, her husband passed away suddenly during the pandemic, leaving her alone. She has no family living close by and found herself very lost and lonely. We were contacted by the help hub a local scheme that was set up during the pandemic who explained her GP had contacted them to arrange for Irene to receive a food parcel as she had covid and couldn’t leave the house. We arrange to deliver a food parcel and Irene told us about her loss, she gave us her phone number and we added Irene to the list of people we contacted daily. We put Irene in touch with Kath one of our older lady volunteers who was also a widow, they cha�ed every day and although they had never met, they became friends. When the lock down was over and we were able to start some support groups we invited Irene along, however she didn’t feel confident enough to leave the house. We delivered food parcels, collected prescrip�ons, and took ac�vi�es for Irene every week. Kath stayed in regular contact and telling all about the sessions she a�ended and eventually Irene agreed to meet Kath for a coffee, they con�nued to do this for a while and one day Kath turned up at the ladies’ group with Irene. It turned out Irene also know one of the other ladies that a�ends, and she was soon a regular member of the group. Irene now a�ends several other groups and classes with some of our ladies, she has been on all our ou�ngs, she tells us that Sliding Doors changed her life, she had never believed that she would be able to have a full life with new friends a�er she lost her husband.

This year the project has confirmed that many people are isolated and overlooked because they are seen to be different. People are so busy with their lives they don’t no�ce people around them. The increased use of technology has caused an even bigger challenge for people to fit in. In the current world if you cannot use technology, you cannot access even the most basic of things including bus �metables, benefit help, confirm hospital appointments etc. this can leave people very vulnerable and o�en miss out on services they really need. The use of debit cards/cashless is causing a big problem for people with learning difficul�es and some disabili�es including sight loss, these people are unable to use cards safely and again are excluded. One of our volunteers with no sight walked 30 minutes to a coffee shop and was turned away as he didn’t have a debit card, how can this be right?

We have adapted our support and training to include basic IT skills for more people, delivered in a very informal way only teaching then the things they need to know. However no everyone has the capacity to use technology. We therefore have laps tops available at our sessions and a member of the staff team or an experienced volunteer can assist people when needed. Many people are embarrassed to say they cannot do something so leave it un�l it reaches a crisis point, we feel that the special rela�onship we have with our users enables them to turn to us with their problems. If we are unable to help, we can point people to the right services, o�en speaking to the agency before their appointment or a�ending with them. Unfortunately, we can only see this ge�ng worse and the need for more of our type of support being needed in the future.

We are very proud of the way we adapted our ac�vi�es to include more physical ac�vi�es. With the support from Sport England, we have been able to introduce many fun ac�vi�es that we can

adapt for everyone, whatever their needs/abili�es. We play Boccia, Curling, Bowling, Javelin things that someone with a disability never expected to experience.

People are very keen to get involved when they see others having fun. The health of people has improved, they are more ac�ve daily, there is much comradery and laughter, no one feels judged or embarrassed. The line dancing is also a great physical and fun ac�vity that we will con�nue to deliver. We are planning to introduce Bollywood and Salsa dancing to the sessions in the future.

The Lads group has been another success, the numbers a�ending have doubled, we now have some older men a�ending with learning difficul�es who although they may be and look older their mental capacity is of a much younger person, making them very vulnerable. We have increased the range of ac�vi�es and experiences for the group and the feedback from parents/ carers is very posi�ve. Our concern is the venue will no longer be big enough to meet the increased need for the group.

One of our greatest successes is our wonderful team of volunteers who we have seen grow and, in some cases, we hardly recognise the person who came to us at the beginning. They play such an important role in everything we do. We could not be the charity we are without these amazing people. They tell us what we should be doing, how we should do it and they certainly are not shy at telling us when we get it wrong|! We were all delighted when our volunteers won an Award at the Blackburn with Darwen CVS Volunteer awards for the work do to support the community.

We have faced challenges throughout the year. We have sadly lost 2 of our of volunteers, which caused a great deal of upset and took quite a long �me to support people and help them to understand and deal with their grief. One of our staff team had a serious stroke which le� a big hole both emo�onally and physically, our volunteers stepped in to help but again the shock and upset was something we had to deal with especially for the people with learning difficul�es who found it hard to understand.

The impact of Covid is s�ll with us and people are afraid of illness, a sniffle can cause people to panic and worry, we s�ll have procedures in place to ensure we deliver things in a safe way.

Another concern is the size of the venues, although we deliver some session in big community halls the number of people a�ending is increasing and we are almost at capacity on some days. We do not want to turn people away, however due to staff resources we may have to, we are currently looking at how we manage this safely within the limita�ons of our staffing hours.

There are opportuni�es for more smaller groups run by our volunteers, however we need to deliver more training if a member of staff would not be on hand. We will con�nue to run our ou�ngs and are hoping to book at weekend break.

One of things we share with others is give people �me, let people be themselves, be adaptable and willing to change. Small steps are o�en the biggest steps for people with addi�onal needs.

It has been a great year, with many happy smiles, lots of laughter some pain, lots of experiences and many friendships formed.

Financial Review

2022/23 has been a year of consolida�on, a year of normal trading following three years of instability.

We have con�nued to receive superb support from the Na�onal Lo�ery and are very grateful to them and to a number of other grant‐giving trusts who have supported us throughout the year.

General posi�on

Lo�ery Grant. We are extremely grateful and fortunate to have received a further grant for 4 years, which will ensure our stability un�l the summer of 2026.

Group income. Before the pandemic, weekly group income had risen to its highest level ever, an average of £1,700 per month. This reduced to prac�cally nothing throughout the 3 lockdown periods and had just begun to recover by the end of the 2020/21 financial year. By the end of 2021/22, group income was regularly over £2,000 per month. In 2022/23 this had increased to approximately £2,500 per month, this has been achieved mainly through addi�onal foo�all, rather than a large increase in sessional fees.

Reserves Policy. The Trustees have decided that a sum of £7,500 should be placed in a special reserve account, to pay the redundancy costs for staff as well as other winding up costs. When determining the appropriate level of reserves each year, the trustees monitor the economic background including the current climate of significant public sector funding cuts and massively increased compe��on for grant funding. In accordance with our Reserves Policy, we aim to maintain unrestricted reserves equivalent to a minimum of three months unrestricted expenditure. We currently have 2 months' running costs in unrestricted reserves. This posi�on has improved significantly during 2022/23.

Going Concern statement

After making appropriate enquiries, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements

Trustees’ Responsibility Statement

Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.

• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

• prepare the financial statements on the “going concern basis” unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities

Structure, Governance and Management

Sliding Doors became a registered Charity on 19[th] March 2019 and is governed by a constitution and set of rules, which have been approved by the Charity Commission

The Board of Trustees is the body responsible for the government and management of the organisation. The trustees, who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the

Paul Fish

Sandra McNeil

Ian Parker

Darren Pilkington

Diane Turner

The trustees are responsible for the strategic direction and policy of the charity.

The Trustees have delegated the day‐to‐day running of the charity to the Director and staff team.

Approved by the board of trustees on 9[th] January 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

………………………………

Sandra McNeil

Trustee

SLIDING DOORS

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2023

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Sliding Doors

I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31st March 2023, which are set out on the following 4 pages.

Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

It is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act

to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 act

to state whether particular matter have come to my attention.

Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the next statement.

Independent Examiner’s Statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Mr Daljinder Singh

Date: 9[th] January 2024

D Singh & Co Chartered Certified Accountants 2 Wookey Close, Preston PR2 9HE

SLIDING DOORS

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] MARCH 2023

Income
Income from activities/Groups
Grants Received
Job retention scheme payments received
Bank interest received
Donations
Total Income
Expenditure
Accountants fee
Activities
Cleaning materials
Equipment expensed
Food
Insurance
Telephone
Raffle Prices
Resources
Room Hire
Salary & Pensions
Stationery
Subscriptions
Sundries
Training
Travelling Expenses
Volunteers Expenses
Total Expenses
Net of Income/ (expenditure)
Transfer between funds
Total Funds brought forward
Total Funds carried forward		 Unrestricted
£
33,361
13,822
‐
59
5,860
53102
735
‐
‐
260
483
259
192
87
2,884
5,160
25,655
‐
289
100
‐
50
1,390
37,544
15,558
(9210)
8,507
14,855		 Restricted
£
5,252
29,740
‐
‐
‐
34,992
‐
‐
‐
570
888
‐
192
‐
5,119
2,320
53,501
‐
‐
‐
300
681
4,080
67,651
(32,659)
9210
70,944
47,495		 Total
2023
£
38,613
43,562
‐
59
5,860
88,094
735
‐
‐
830
1,371
259
384
87
8,003
7,480
79,156
‐
289
100
300
731
5,470
105,195
(17,101)
‐
79,451
62,350		 Total
2022
£
22,987
74,235
10,068
5
‐
107,295
1,085
600
101
1,132
934
259
438
335
1,833
6,486
71,287
319
319
1,487
‐
1,225
3,160
91,000
16,295
‐
63,156
79,451

SLIDING DOORS

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31ST MARCH 2023

Notes
Current Assets:
Bank balances
1
Debtors & Prepayments
2
Current Liabilities:
Creditors and Accruals
3
Net Current Assets
Total Assets
Represented by:
Reserves
Unrestricted Reserves
Restricted Reserves		 2023
£
£
62,350
‐
62,350
‐
62,350
62,350
14,855
47,495
62,350		 2022
£
79,451
‐
79,451
‐
8,507
70,944
£
79,451
79,451
79,451

The notes on the appended pages form part of these financial statements.

Approved and signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees on 9[th] January 2024 by:

………………………………………… Trustee

Date: 9[th] January 2024

SLIDING DOORS

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2023

1.
Bank balances
Current Account
Deposit Account
Fixed Term Deposit
2.
Debtors & Prepayments
Prepayment
Grants receivable
3.
Creditors and Accruals
Accruals		 2023
2022
£
£
19,782
24,942
29,568
54,509
13,000
‐
62,350
79,451
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐

SLIDING DOORS

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2023

4. Reserves

Details
Details
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Reserves
Unrestricted
Sewing
Total unrestricted Reserves
Restricted
CVS
Youth
CVS
CVS
CVS
SDYPC
RC
Progress
Baily
Lottery‐covid
Awards for all
(Lads in
the Lead)
Awards for all
(Plat)
Postcode
FAFFA
Lottery
Coronation
Total restricted Reserves
Total Reserves		 Opening
Balance
(01/04/2022)
8,437
70
8,507
32
920
‐
‐
33,384
75
10,000
5,000
6,465
7,565
7,503
‐
‐
70,944
79,451		 Receipt
51,697
1,405
53,102
‐
‐
770
532
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
28,510
5,180
34,992
88,094		 Expenses
(37,544)
‐
(37,544)
‐
(130)
‐
‐
(21,240)
‐
‐
‐
(6,465)
(9,565)
(4,503)
(25,748)
‐
(67,651)
(105,195)		 Transfer
between
reserves
(9,210)
‐
(9,210)
‐
‐
‐
210
‐
‐
‐
‐
2,000
‐
7,000
‐
9,210
‐		 Transfer
between
reserves
(9,210)
‐
(9,210)
‐
‐
‐
210
‐
‐
‐
‐
2,000
‐
7,000
‐
9,210
‐		 Closing
Balance
(31/03/2023)		 Closing
Balance
(31/03/2023)
13,380
1,475
14,855
32
790
770
742
12,144
75
10,000
5,000
‐
‐
3,000
9,762
5,180
47,495
62,350