Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ## **Annual Report and Financial Statements** **Year ended 1[st] April 2022 – 31[st] March 2023** **Charity Number: 1183372** **Report dated January 2024** ## **Medway Parent Carer Forum** c/o Snapdragons, Cliffe Road, Strood, Rochester, ME2 3FF Tel: 01634 333315 (term time mornings only) or 07813 123 984 Email: **medwaypcf@googlemail.com** 1 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ## **Contents** |**Administrative information**|**Page 3**| |---|---| |**Mission, Aims, Objectives and Vision**|**Page 4**| |**Ensuring our activities achieve our objects and benefit the public.**|**Page 5**| |**Review of activities**|**Pages 5 to 7**| |**Future plans and financial planning**|**Page 8 to 9**| |**Management**|**Page 10 to 11**| |**Membership**|**Page 12**| |**Statement of declaration**|**Page 13**| 2 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ## **Administrative information** ## **Trustee’s during the reporting period** June Patey Keith Clear Shenda Smith Anita Oxenham Hannah Burke Jennifer Fretwell Felicity Baker ## **Steering Group** Angela Debont Jayne Pardesi Lisa Scarrott Emma Kelliher Elizabeth Bradley ## **Volunteers** Krystal Sutton Harriet Chatwell Leigh Baseley ## **Bank** HSBC 231 High Street, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4BQK CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ ## **Governing documents** CIO-association registered 13[th] May 2019 Amended on the 6[th] April 2023 3 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ## **Vision statement** The forum has been created to help parents and carers of disabled children to have a say in the way services are shaped and delivered in the Medway area, in Education, Social Care and Health services. ## **Mission** Medway Parents and Carers Forum, work with (not for) the local authority, health, and local services to improve services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and their families, by ensuring that families’ voices are heard by planners and decisionmakers. We provide an opportunity for parents and carers to express their views and input into the planning and delivery of SEND services. Wherever possible, we aim to work in co-production. We signpost, support, and empower families to obtain the best possible support and services for their children. ## **Our Aims** - To have a collective voice, around common issues. - To work in partnership with those who provide services and support. - To raise awareness of what support /services are needed. - To raise awareness of issues faced by our children. - To share experience and knowledge. - To give feedback. - To ensure that the future for our children is a good one. To achieve these aims we need families support, our strength and effectiveness rely upon their opinions and viewpoints. ## **Objectives** - We will continue raising common issues that affect all types of disabilities. - Through shared knowledge, the forum will raise awareness of the groups and services available to the Medway Community. - Work together in partnership, to gain the right outcome on policy making and service provision for all disabilities **.** 4 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ## **Ensuring our activities achieve our objects and benefit the public.** The Forum has been created to help parents and carers of disabled children to have a say in the way services are shaped and delivered in the Medway area, in Education, Social Care and Health services. We support our families and carers with our Family Support Team, in helping with filling in forms and guidance of how to complete them with one to one support. This is a new initiative for the forum, which were able to undertake due to funding received from Kent Community foundation and the National lottery. We benefit the public and our members by being their combined voice in attendance at meetings and planning for services in the Medway area. We are the established and committed individuals that attend the same meetings and put across the parents and carers thoughts, feelings, frustrations, and elation. Ensuring inclusion for all and transforming services for service users. We ensure that all our activities undertaken by the forum meet our Vision, Mission, Objects, and Objectives. At the heart of the forum are Trustees that want to ensure the future of the forum and the community ties that we have already built, in coproduction and consultation. Looking to a future where coproduction is natural and inclusive. This enables our parents and carers the autonomy, confidence and empowering their progression of dealing with the needs of their young persons. They are part of a community of like-minded individuals changing the future of services and support. This year we have helped support various initiatives from the local authority and our parents and carers, we constantly feedback to our members about what has been achieved and to the professionals that supported parents and carers. We have received great feedback from the professionals on how they enjoyed meeting parents and carers, and that felt the sessions achieved what the session objectives were. ## **Review of activities** The forum maintains 3 different Facebook pages. MPCF (Medway Parents and Carers Forum) Professionals page MPCF (Medway Parents and Carers Forum) Professional parents' page MPCF family page also LinkedIn Instagram Twitter We also attend Local Authority meetings for Health, Social Care, and Education. Here are some of the events we attended between 1[st] April 2022 and 31[st] March 2023. At these meetings we represent our membership of parents and carers, engage with the committees and local authority on parents and carers views, feeding back to parents and carers after also. We joined 8 school coffee meetings or SEND events. There were 7 sessions of training for staff around IT, social media, and Forum Participation. This also includes events that the forum attended such as Medway Carnival, Grain Carnival, Family Hub Fun Days, Road Safety Training days for Children and Young People, our preparing for Adulthood event, a SEND Education event and a Health and Social Care event where parents got to meet professionals and senior leaders from Medway Council. 5 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 medwa PQfenEs & CQfefS Forum RL- Jislorod Chgriv 11fj337 WHAT DOING HAVE(WE BEEN IN°22-239 169 Strategic meetings attended Over 1100 hours of input 16 coffee meetings 35 eventslschools and training sessions atteded 37 internal meetings Strategic meetings are any meeting where decisions are made and parents views are raised Many events/schools and training sessions are approx 5hours per session usualLy needing more than I colleague. Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ## **Future plans** Our future for the Medway Parent Carer Forum is to engage and recruit more Trustees into the forum and elevate the number of volunteers we have. Carry on with our successful coffee meetings. Carry on meeting the needs of our members, by being their voice at local authority and charity meetings. Ensure training is available to our members for subjects they feel they need support in. Enlist the help of more professionals for our Meet the Professionals Coffee Meetings. Ensure that co-production carries on between ourselves Health, Education and Social Care. Keep our membership growing, whilst retaining our current members, and whilst safeguarding our young people. Engaging and networking with other charities to support the voice of our parents and carers. Carry on supporting individual family needs with applying for EHCP’s, and Form filling. Carry on supporting parents/carers and Local authority with independent evaluation of ECHP plans. To employ further administration staff, for day to day running of the office. To employ further family support officers to support our families and carers with the administration requirements they need. ## **Financial review** Over the past few years, we have worked tirelessly to coproduce with both the Local Authority and Health to help shape Children’s services. Coproduction is well known to increase both cost efficiency and consumer satisfaction. The fulfilment of what is for the authority a legal requirement, (that underpins both the Children and Families Act and the Care Act) has however financial implications on the Forum, and we have been becoming increasingly stretched to coproduce whilst still covering our everyday activities. It is now usual in most authorities for the LA to match the Department for Education funding to Forums to allow them to coproduce effectively. We have put together a business plan for the next year. We apply for a grant from the Department of Education yearly, via Contact. Which we have been successful in receiving for the last 14 years. Since we were formed in 2009. We have sought funding from various establishments for costs incurred in employment of staff, core costs and events, these can be seen on the financial records. We are truly grateful for any funding we receive that supports our families, carers and allows us to keep doing what we are passionate about for the last 14 years. In accordance with our governing document and financial policy, the forum should have funds available, in case of any need arising. This should consist of 4 months of running costs including salaries or £1000 whichever is greater, which currently stands at £9335 Total cash fund at year end was £36,024 from which £21,562 is unrestricted. Unrestricted cash fund increased slightly last year from the previous year’s closing amount of £20,971 8 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ILa Y"411¥￿7 11 I,,I,11 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ## **Management** The trustees are responsible for the overall management and control of the Medway Parent Carers Forum and meet monthly to support the needs of the steering group and the forum on the whole. The work of implementing most of the policies is carried out by the members of the Steering Group, who used to meet 6 times a year, but this has been elevated to 12 times a year to meets with the needs of our parents and carers. The Steering Group prepare the papers, manage the accounts and the review of any matters arising. They also deal with the day to day running of the Forum, including but not exhausting social media, emails, telephone enquiries and running of the office. All trustees give of their time freely and no remuneration was paid in the year. Expenses were paid in the year. No trustee or person connected with a trustee received any benefit from the Medway Parent Carers Forum. ## **Statement of Trustees Responsibilities.** The Trustees are responsible for preparing a Trustees 'Annual Report and Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards. Medway Parent Carer Forum has income below £250,000 and has therefore elected to prepare the financial statements on a Receipts and Payments basis in line with the Charities Act 2011. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. This is the first year where we an income above this threshold and we will have our accounts independently verified. 10 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 11.1 a ir Pii li Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ## **Membership** A member may be an individual, a corporate body, or (an individual or corporate body representing) an organisation which is not incorporated. Membership of the CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) is open to anyone who is interested in furthering its purposes, and who, by applying for membership, has indicated his, her or its agreement to become a member and acceptance of the duty of members. We currently have around 674 members recorded, having completed a membership application form. These members have full voting rights. The membership is currently under review, and all members are being asked to submit a new membership form and being supplied with a new membership card. This figure has risen from the previous figure of 93 members. We started to have a real deep dive of data and membership this year, and ensuring we were 100% compliant in all areas. In doing so, all members received a new membership card and membership number. We also have members divided amongst our Facebook pages, The Professional page has 64 members, The Professional Parent page has 100 members, up from 90 members. The Professional page has 100 members. The Family page has 1800 up from 1179 members the previous year. This has been steadily increasing, via word of mouth, information days, Charity events, Facebook advertising on other groups, and through the children’s centre at Snapdragons. These members do not have voting rights until they have completed a membership application form. The pages enable our members to interact with each other, support and encourage and share information. This is always encouraging to see members supporting each other and helping us to change the future of services for our young people. 12 Medway Parent Carers Forum Charity number 1183372 ## **Statement of declaration** The Trustees of the charity are pleased to present their report together with the accounts for the period ended 31 March 2023. The accounts comply with current statutory requirements, the governing document, and Charity Commission guidance. The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees report above Signed on behalf of the Charities Trustees: Shenda Smith Trustee Date 28[th] February 2024 13 Medway Parontsand Carers Forum CIO Charrty No 1183372 Receipts and Paymerts foryearerKl¢d 3tst Marth 2023 2023 2023 Z022 lund5 Totsl fvnds Totalfunds Recelpts Grants DfE Grants Other Interest DtrnÈtyons & Refunds Total Re(elpts 14.734 11.765 14.734 11,765 61 703 27.263 9.304 61 703 508 17,312 764 26.499 Payments Parent Carer Expenses St¥fftnK Cost Laptops Mobile Phone 5tora8e Unlt Insurance MeetSn8s and Events Trainln8 Promotlonal Items Uniform DBS Checks Software Il¢en¢es Professlonal Fees 84nk Char8eS IT Support Telephone Office Costs Ink Stat￿rtery ￿¢ Webslte 922 12.797 1.137 260 1,295 12.797 1.137 260 1.295 987 1,139 363 139 1.867 2.931 339 122 892 2,667 1.957 2.667 2.130 1.994 114 73 427 173 114 427 132 132 1.485 421 1,526 iii 1.187 421 1526 1.230 2,379 rot41 Paymer 173 27.833 28,006 15,752 Nèt of receiptsllpaymeTrtsl 591 11,3341 17431 1.560 Cash Funds last Year End 20.971 15.796 36.767 35,207 Cash Funds this Yèar End 21.562 14,462 36,024 36.767 MÈdWaYPaM￿?Thd Carers Forum (Y) Chartty No 118337Z Notes IZJ 2022 TLtsI FuThJ5 Totsl Futhds CurrentAccounts 6A92 7.970 4492 27.518 2.014 36.024 23,072 11.695 CAF CAF 19.548 2.014 I1￿1 Vill6S 14.*162 36,767 As¥¢ts Retalnedforthechrftysown 3,87fj 3,876 2.307 2.307 Ilabllty Outstandlng Svppller Invokes Accounr5 Fees 2,707 1047 3,487 Sl8n•d by om ortsm truste•son behallofthe tntstets.. inature.. P4ame". P4amt'. Oate of Approval.. t i .1.0 4..1 L*........._. Datsof*pproval.. ..L.L.. Meth*dyParÈnts and Carers Ftyumao Chartty No 1183375 Notesto ￿A(Cou￿s￿OrthQ peiiodeThled31 MarthZOZ3 FL*thtperlodended 31 M8r¢h2023 Notes Thi5 Financial Ststemert has beets prep3red ty)a Receipts and Paynws ba5iK in11rewith￿0(ty Commiss￿nSu1dan funds TotslfiN Tot*llwM15 Department for EOv(atknn Parent Sup5XSrt Prole¢t 14734 11,7&5 14,734 11.765 26.493 26A99 16*04 Departmentlor Edutatkn Grant Is rtstrlrted lor ihepury*)se oftsciiitatlw parnfttp•rtldpalon through the thdopment of the forum and associat￿ runnir$8c05ts. Any underspend mustbe returntl. Pareni Stspport Fundln8 tosetup anétraln staff &¥dunteersto parentswlthcomp1e￿0n of OLA& PIPforms No reMUnerat￿Tr. t￿h¢r d[r¢rttyorlndlrect￿, has been pald t0th¢T￿$t&s*hrfnSthe ac(o¥ntlw perfod. Travel costs that have beeth reimbursed 4t HMRCaFvroved ratesare induded ID this¢ategory. 4 staffi￿(05￿ employed Part4lrre Staff Self Efflployed Parent Reps Payrdl Costs i( 387 12.796 Thls was L￿rIrStYearern￿QY1￿I part-timestaff tosupport the do1￿ ￿nnIn￿o1th2 Forurn and toset up ourParent&Jpport Project. 5 Resirfrted Fur C￿r￿n* Year l Aprtt Rerdp 4,ty26 14,n4 11.770 Tr•rthrs 31 P&ar 23 LYE Medwav ParemSuppDrt 172 4.637 5.929 27.833 L493 7,133 5,836 14.462 11.765 26,499 15.796 Grantfrom Medwayto 5uppr*t partIcipat￿)n Meth*aya5 For ayeed bu56r￿pIan. Preslou5Year B•l¥ry¢e 31 Mar21 10,430 4,314 14.744 15.7C 4.026 11,770 15.796 Medway 16W4 15.75Z Taxation 6 MedwayPareThts and Carets Forum isnot registered forVATor&ftAid ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS** Report to the trustees/members of Medway Parent and Carer Forum on the accounts for the year ended 31st March 2023. ## **RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES AND EXAMINER** The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 144 (2) of the Charities Act 2011) and that an independent examination is needed. 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 Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act), and - to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **BASIS OF INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S STATEMENT** My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the organisation 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 the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the trustees have not met the requirements to ensure that: - proper accounting records are kept (in accordance with section 130 of the Act); and - accounts are prepared which agree with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act; or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Zita Derbak MAAT AATQB Sign: Independent Examiners Ltd Unit 2 The Broadbridge Business Centre Delling Lane Date: 12.04.2024 Bosham PO18 8NF