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2021-12-31-accounts

Arise Counselling Service, Training and Related Services

Charity No: 1183335

Trustees’ Report

End of Year Financial Statement

Year Ending 31 December 2021

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CHARITY INFORMATION

The following were trustees of an unregistered organisation from November 2018, which became a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation on the 9[th] May 2019 and covered the financial year January 2021 – December 2021:

Kate Bryant (stepped down in December 2021) Carol Evans (Current Chair – from April 2021) Alison Morphew Rachel Willis (Chair until April 2021) John Blechynden (appointed 20th April 2021)

Registered Address

Arise Counselling Service Jubilee Community Centre, Charlwoods Road, East Grinstead, RH19 2HL https://arisecounsellingservice.com/

Charity Number: 1183335

Bank: Lloyds Bank 1/3 London Road, East Grinstead RH19 1AH

Independent Examiner

David Robert Ralph FCIE 50 Southwood Road Rusthall Tunbridge Wells Kent TN4 8SP

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TRUSTEES’ REPORT

For the year ended 31st December 2021

Structure, governance and management

Arise Counselling Service (ACS) gained charity status on 9th May 2019 as a Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The trustees are appointed by the Board of Trustees.

ACS is an Affiliate of the Association of Christian Counsellors (ACC) and provides support on any ethical issue that may arise in client work or governance of the counselling service.

Thirtyone:eight is our safeguarding umbrella organisation and provides training for trustees in their overall role concerning safeguarding, as well as a similar supportive role as ACC in advising on specific safeguarding issues that might arise. Each freelance counsellor also has access to an independent qualified supervisor and their chosen national counselling governing organisation to consult on any safeguarding issue that may arise in the course of their work.

ACS is managed on a day-to-day basis by a Counselling Manager, which is a self-employed role within the organisation. The manager meets regularly with the counselling team to provide support and help with any issues arising. The manager attends trustee meetings by invitation of the trustees, to update and advise on current and future matters.

ACS networks with counselling managers within the Restore Network, representatives within Sussex Pathfinders and local churches.

The Charity is insured by Howden; counselling sessions, ancillary activities and trustees are all covered.

Objectives and activities

The objective of the charity is to provide affordable counselling for the public benefit to those living in East Grinstead and the surrounding area. ACS does this by offering counselling to adolescents, adults and couples according to the qualifications of the counselling team. ACS works with qualified freelance counsellors with a Christian faith and is committed to working with trainee counsellors, who have a Christian faith, as a placement organisation. ACS respects each client’s right to make their own decisions in all aspects of life, including faith, and the service is offered to all irrespective of religious background or commitment. It is not the ethos of ACS to teach or advance the Christian faith.

The Trustees are aware of the Charity Commission guidance on Public Benefit and see that the services provided fully meet the requirements of the advancement of health or the saving of lives.

In April 2021, ACS appointed one of the existing counsellors as a new trustee, to provide a counsellor perspective on the Board. In June 2021, one trustee took nine months maternity leave, resulting in a change to the Chair of Trustees, and in December 2021, one trustee stepped down at the end of her three year term of office. The objective is to recruit at least two further trustees in 2022 in order to provide the support that ACS requires as it continues to grow.

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In May 2021, the Trustees and Counselling Manager enjoyed a team development half day, facilitated by an external trainer. This enabled the ACS Board to review its vision and goals and set priorities for the short, medium and longer term future. The priorities agreed are as follows:

  1. Developing effective partnerships with local churches for engagement, prayer and financial support.

  2. Being a counselling organisation of choice; able to attract, retain, train and support counsellors so that they are fully equipped to deliver an increasing range of services of high quality.

  3. Developing systems to evaluate the quality and impact of our counselling services - investment into an appropriate IT system.

  4. Developing further preventative services for good mental health, to complement our counselling offer e.g.

  5. training

  6. specialist services (e.g. addiction)

  7. group therapy

  8. partnerships with other services

  9. Building an infrastructure suitable for the size and scope of ACS to provide operational support - to include IT systems (see priority 3), data management and volunteer roles.

These priorities are reviewed at the quarterly Board meetings and any actions agreed are recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

ACS continues to accept referrals from three main strands:

Counselling sessions are charged at a sliding scale between £15-£60 depending on each person’s household income and so the sessions are affordable on a weekly basis. For those on a minimal income, particularly when this is verified through a third-party referral, the cost is reduced to an amount that is affordable for that person.

Achievements and Performance

Between January 2021 and December 2021, the counselling team grew from 15 - 18 counsellors as we welcomed three more student counsellors. This has enabled us to grow our weekly counselling sessions from an average 29 sessions per week (2020) to 40 per week (2021).

From January to December 2021, ACS saw a 42% increase in the number of counselling sessions given with a total of 2019 sessions, as compared with 1468 in 2020. Despite our waiting list growing significantly (see below), it is worth noting that the total number of sessions in 2021 exceeded the total number of sessions from December 2018 through to December 2020 (2019 compared to 2007) showing an overall 50% increase in client sessions for 2021.

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ACS continued to provide counselling for all target groups: adults, adolescents and couples. During the reporting period, 177 people contacted ACS for counselling. We were able to place 80 (45%) new clients. Our waiting list grew toward the latter end of the year and we had 65 clients awaiting counselling by the end of December 2021. Of these, 32 have been placed with a counsellor in the first half of 2022, whilst 25 either changed their mind, did not return communication or were inappropriate for counselling. We believe the increase in referrals from June onwards was due to restrictions lifting and other services having a limited pool of counselling services to which to refer. It became apparent that not only had the pandemic itself impacted people’s mental health but the isolation element of restrictions had brought up past traumas.

Although referrals continued to come from each of the main three anticipated avenues stated above, ACS saw a shift in the percentage of referrals, with church related referrals down to 15% (from 26% in 2020). The percentage of referrals from Time to Talk, GPs and local Mental Health Teams (23%) and other third party organisations (6%) were similar to those recorded in 2020. ACS also saw a drop in referrals through counsellors in private practice (6% compared to 10% in 2020) but an increasing number of new referrals coming through recommendations from current clients (17% compared to 10% in 2020) and through publicity / social media (14% compared to 10%).

Referrals by gender continued with almost twice as many females as males seeking counselling in 2021. ACS also saw an increasing number of adolescents referred to ACS (14 compared to 4 in 2020), a steady number of couples (11 compared to 12) and one family. There were a steady number of referrals from the 20-29 age group (19 in 2021 and 2020), a decrease in the overall number of referrals in the 30-59 age bracket (43 compared to 65 in 2020) and an increase in those referred who were 60+ (19 compared to 6). The largest number of referrals overall come from the 10-39 age group (31%), with 54% of all referrals from East Grinstead (31%), the surrounding villages (12%) and Crawley (11%).

Reasons for initiating counselling varied with the most common causes or combination of causes stated as:

Since revising the client feedback form and moving it online in May 2020, 31 clients have completed an evaluation of their counselling experience following their final session. All feedback is reviewed by the Counselling Manager who will contact the client about their responses if they have indicated they would like this. Feedback is only shared with their counsellor or used in reports and publicity if the client has given their permission. ACS continues to look at ways to encourage more clients to provide feedback to inform the continued improvement of the service offered.

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The majority of the feedback received remains extremely positive. For example, 28 out of 31 respondents said they were very likely to access counselling with ACS again if needed and 30 out of 31 were very likely to recommend ACS to a friend or colleague if they needed counselling.

We are always grateful for those clients who give us feedback and agree for us to share it:

“My life opened up as my counsellor had said it would - in a word my time with [my counsellor] has been ‘miraculous’.”

“I ’ m so grateful for the service you provide and especially for [my counsellor] . Her caring and compassionate heart allowed me to openly talk about my deepest struggles. She offered me consistency that I needed and gave me strategies to use in my daily life. It ’ s been a long journey but definitely worth it. I would recommend your service to all my friends.”

“I was naturally apprehensive and especially unsure doing my sessions over Zoom. I was made to feel so valued, accepted and un-judged, which made it easier to open up without feeling ashamed.”

“I have had previous counselling in the past, some went well, some didn't. But I have never had the opportunity to continue counselling until I am ready to end my sessions. I found it so beneficial having no limit on sessions. This enabled us to work through everything I needed to and learn coping strategies. I feel ready and able to cope with the struggles life may throw [at me] .”

Due to the on-going Covid-19 restrictions in 2021 the majority of sessions (72%, n=1458) were given online or by phone and only 28% (n=561) were given face-to-face. This was a similar split to 2020 but as restrictions lifted in the latter part of 2021 there has been a gradual return to face-to-face sessions. ACS continues to offer a hybrid service of online (video), telephone and in-person sessions to accommodate counsellor and client preferences.

The Trustees would like to thank the counselling team for their continued commitment to ACS, through what has been a very challenging time. The continued expansion of the team and the number of sessions offered in order to meet increasing local demand, are a tribute to the vision and hard work of the Counselling Manager, Lizzie Venter.

Going into 2022, ACS has successfully appointed a volunteer to support the Counselling Manager and trustees with administration duties. ACS also plans to appoint an Assistant Counselling Manager to share the administration responsibilities with the existing Counselling Manager, as the service continues to expand.

Financial Review

The attached financial report shows ACS’s receipts and payments for the year ending 31 December 2021.The development and implementation of a new financial policy in early 2022 will formalise and provide clarity for the processes already in place.

2021 saw the same financial model as similar years with counsellors being paid a nominal sum of £15/session, including late cancellations and DNAs. This is our most significant outgoing, followed by

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rent and then payments for the Counselling Manager administration and other administration. In 2021, the Trustees agreed to raise the session fee to £16/session once qualified counsellors had been with ACS for 2 years. This decision will be reviewed annually with the intention to raise the fee to £17/session and upward in future years.

In April 2021, one of the counselling team joined the administrative team to oversee the weekly revenue from client payments and assist the Counselling Manager in this process. This meant two members of the counselling team were paid for extra administration duties, the other being for referrals. These were contracted on a freelance basis of £10/hour, the same rate as the Counselling Manager.

2021 saw our finances in a robust state owing to a significant decrease in the amount of rent paid in 2020 because of the Covid-19 government lockdown. The Trustees decided to use the equivalent of one month’s rent payment to pay for Trauma Counselling CPD for the whole counselling team. The rest of the surplus was kept in reserves for when our expenses increase and to continue to enable ACS to be able to meet the increasing demand for low-cost sessions.

As the year continued, the number of clients paying £15 or below for counselling reached 40% of our referral intake. In October 2021, ACS also benefited from the kind donation of £3000 from The Anchor Foundation. This supported the supplementation of up to 34 clients for 281 sessions over a four month period from November 2021 - February 2022.

During 2021, ACS agreed to partner with Turning Tides, a charity focused in ending local homelessness, for their residents in living in East Grinstead. In order to cover the full fee for sessions ACS secured a protected grant of £4000 from the Albert Trust Fund. This grant will enable ACS to cover the costs of all clients referred by Turning Tides, including specialist supervision. The aim was to start this partnership in January 2022 but this was delayed due to staff changes at Turning Tides in the early part of 2022.

No Trustees received payment for their service as a Trustee, as did none in 2020. Since his appointment as a Trustee in April 2021, John Blechynden has only been reimbursed expenses for his services as a Counsellor, rather than receiving the standard rate per session. However, when such matters are discussed, he declares an interest and takes no part in setting the revised fee. No Trustees claimed expenses in 2021.

This report was approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Alison Morphew Dated: 15/08/2022

Trustee

Carol Evans

Dated: 15/08/2022

Trustee

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Receipts and Payments Account - Arise Counselling Service, Training & Related Services 01 Jan 2021 to 31 Dec 2021

Opening Balance
Receipts
Client Income
Grant
Fundraising
Training/Workshop Income
Voluntary Donations
Total receipts
Payments
Counsellor payments
Rent
Advertising & Website
Administrator Fees
Counselling Manager Fees
DBS Checks
Equipment
Insurance
Membership Fees
Postage
Printing and Stationery
Professional/Governance Fees
Telephone & Internet
Trustee Expenses
Supervision Costs
Sub-Total
Asset and investment purchases
Total
Net receipts/payments
Balance to carry forward to 2022		 Unrestricted
Restricted
Funds
Funds
Total Funds
£
£
£
16022
0
16022
42060
0
42060
3000
4000
7000
145
0
145
0
0
0
1546
0
1546		 Prior Year
Funds
£

8591

31456

4500

462

60

1469
46751
4000
50751
37948
28,996
0
28,996
2,886
0
2,886
645
0
645
2,135
0
2,135
3,976
0
3,976
193
0
193
912
0
912
414
0
414
175
0
175
8
0
8
41
0
41
259
0
259
259
0
259
- 0 -
638
0
638		 20571
3718
677
630
3495
258
262
247
175
0
182
117
145
40
0
41537
0
41537
30517
0
0		 0
41537
0
41537
30517
5214
4000
9214
7431
21236
4000
25236
16022

Statement of Assets & Liabilities - Arise Counselling Service, Training & Related Services Year Ending Dec 2021

Year Ending Dec 2021
Cash assets as at 31 Dec 2021
Current Bank Account
Total cash assets		 £
25236
25236

This financial report was approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Alison Morphew Dated: 15/08/2022 Trustee

Carol Evans

Dated: 15/08/2022

Trustee

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Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Arise Counselling Service, Training & Related Services.

This report on the financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31st December 2021 which are set out on pages 1 to 8, is in respect of an examination carried out under s145 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

Respective responsibilities of trustees and independent examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Charities Act”) and that an independent examination is needed. Where the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified Fellow of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners .

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. 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 the 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 statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

  1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:

  2. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and

  3. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act

  4. have not been met; or

  5. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

D R Ralph

David R Ralph IEng JP FCIPD MIET FCIE HMCE MLR No. 12338775

15[th] August 2022

50 Southwood Road Rusthall Tunbridge Wells Kent. TN4 8SP

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