**Annual Report and Financial Statements** **Year ended 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024** **Charity Number: 1183372** **Report dated January 2025** **Medway Parent Carer Forum** c/o Snapdragons, Cliffe Road, Strood, Rochester, ME2 3FF Tel: 01634 333315 (term �me mornings only) or 07813 123 984 Email: **medwaypcf@googlemail.com** 1 ## **Contents** |**Contents**|| |---|---| |**Administra�ve informa�on**|**Page 3**| |**Mission, Aims, Objec�ves and Vision**|**Page 4**| |**Ensuring our ac�vi�es achieve our objects and beneft the public.**|**Page 5**| |**Review of ac�vi�es**|**Page 6**| |**What we have been doing**|**Page 7**| |**Future plans**|**Page 8**| |**Financial planning**|Page 9| |**Management**|**Page 10**| |**Statement of Trustees**|**Page 11**| |**Membership**|**Page 12**| |**Statement of accounts**|**Page 13**| 2 ## **Administra�ve informa�on** ## **Trustee’s during the repor�ng period** June Patey (Re�red 20.03.2024) Keith Clear Shenda Smith Anita Oxenham Hannah Burke (Resigned 28.06.24) Felicity Baker Jennie Fretwell ## **Steering Group** Angela Debont Jayne Pardesi Lisa Scarro� Elizabeth Bradley Leigh Baseley Maxi Card Krystal Su�on **Volunteers** Sonia Melia Sandra Barre� Sarah Bu�ery Beth Morgan Heather Stuart ## **Employees** Jayne Pardesi Elizabeth Bradley Lisa Scarro� Belinda Woodhams ## **Bank** HSBC 231 High Street, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4BQK CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ 3 ## **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 Educa�on, 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 educa�onal needs and/or disabili�es (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-produc�on. We signpost, support, and empower families to obtain the best possible support and services for their children. ## **Our Aims** - To have a collec�ve 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. their opinions and viewpoints. ## **Objec�ves** - - 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 disabili�es **.** 4 ## 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 Educa�on, Social Care and Health services. and guidance of how to complete them with one to one support. and planning for services in the Medway area. We are the established and commi�ed individuals that a�end the same mee�ngs and put across the parents and carers thoughts, feelings, frustra�ons, and ela�on. Ensuring inclusion for all and transforming services for service users. We ensure that all our ac�vi�es undertaken by the forum meet our Vision, Mission, Objects, and Objec�ves. At the heart of the forum are Trustees that want to ensure the future of the forum and the community �es that we have already built, in coproduc�on and consulta�on. Looking to a future where coproduc�on is natural and inclusive. This enables our parents 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 ini�a�ves 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 mee�ng parents and carers, and that they felt the sessions achieved what the session objec�ves were. 5 ## **Review of ac�vi�es** MPCF (Medway Parents and Carers Forum) Professionals page MPCF (Medway Parents and Carers Forum) Professional parents' page MPCF family page also LinkedIn Instagram Twi�er We also a�end Local Authority mee�ngs for Health, Social Care, and Educa�on. Here are some of the events we a�ended between 1[st] April 2023 and 31[st] March 2024. Strategic mee�ngs 264 Training and Events a�ended 114 Coffee mornings/mee�ngs 31 Internal 47 A total of 3200 hours of input, which does not include talking to families, managing the social media posts, or crea�ng newsle�ers, this is 3 �mes the figure of the previous year. This indicates a huge surge in need, of co produc�on and par�cipa�on from a forum perspec�ve. At these mee�ngs we represent our membership of parents and carers, engage with the commi�ees and local authority on parents and carers views, feeding back to parents and carers a�er also. team in great demand. In this year alone they saw 137 parents and carers. We received funding this year to facilitate the Parent Carer Panel (Family Hubs and start for life Parent Carer Panel) Helping make sure that all parents and carers can access services from pregnancy through to their child’s early years. We were nominated for a Pride in Medway Award 2024, unfortunately we did not win this year. 6 medwa pofenEs & CQfefS Forum WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING IN 21-249 264 Strategic meetings attended Over 3200 hours of input 31 coffee meetings 114 events/schools and training sessions atteded 47 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. ## **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 mee�ng the needs of our members, by being their voice at local authority and charity mee�ngs. 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 Mee�ngs. Ensure that co-produc�on carries on between ourselves Health, Educa�on and Social Care. Keep our membership growing, whilst retaining our current members, and whilst safeguarding our young people. Engaging and networking with other chari�es to support the voice of our parents and carers. Carry on suppor�ng individual family needs with applying for EHCP’s, and Form filling. Carry on suppor�ng parents/carers and Local authority with independent evalua�on of ECHP plans. To employ further administra�on staff, for day to day running of the office. requirements they need. 8 ## **Financial planning** Over the past few years, we have worked �relessly to coproduce with both the Local Authority and Health to help shape Children’s services. Coproduc�on is well known to increase both cost efficiency and consumer sa�sfac�on. 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 implica�ons on the Forum, and we have been becoming increasingly stretched to coproduce whilst s�ll covering our everyday ac�vi�es. It is now usual in most authori�es for the LA to match the Department for Educa�on funding to Forums to allow them to coproduce effec�vely. We have put together a business plan for the next year. We apply for a grant from the Department of Educa�on yearly, via Contact. Which we have been successful in receiving for the last 15 years. Since we were formed in 2009. costs and events, these can be seen on the financial records. Our funding for the family support team for the one to one work they do, has been funded from alterna�ve sources that we have bided for funding for. 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 15 years. In 2024 we celebrated our 15[th] Birthday of the forum being founded. In this photo our Trustee’s Keith Clear, Shenda Smith and June Patey are cu�ng the celebra�on cake. 9 ## **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 overall. The work of implemen�ng most of the policies is carried out by the members of the Steering Group, who meet monthly, to plan and enable events to take place, to meets with the needs of our parents and carers. The Steering Group prepare the papers, manage the accounts and the review of any ma�ers arising. They also deal with the day to day running of the Forum, including but not exhaus�ng social media, emails, telephone enquiries and running of the office. All trustees give of their �me freely and no remunera�on was paid in the year. Expenses were paid in the year. Scarro� in the previous year, due to a conflict of interest, (Lisa’s Mum is one of our Trustee’s) we sought and received permission from the Charity commission for this and Anita is not involved in anything regarding the employment of Lisa. The below photo is Keith Clear receiving his life �me achievement award. Fantas�c. 10 ## **Statement of Trustees Responsibili�es.** The Trustees are responsible for preparing a Trustees 'Annual Report and Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accoun�ng Standards. Medway Parent Carer Forum CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisa�on) has income over £25,000 and has therefore elected to prepare the financial statements on a Receipts and Payments basis in line with the Chari�es Act 2011. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accoun�ng records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any �me the financial posi�on of the charity. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence taking reasonable steps for the preven�on and detec�on of fraud and other irregulari�es. submi�ng them to the charity commission once they had been verified, unfortunately. However, they were all passed. Late in 2024 we changed our accoun�ng system to QuickBooks. We have taken the �me to update all the accounts from 2023-2024 to QuickBooks to enable the auditors a speedier �me of checking them. Our thanks to our very dedicated team for this achievement. 11 **Membership** A member may be an individual, a corporate body, or (an individual or corporate body represen�ng) an organisa�on which is not incorporated. Membership of the CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisa�on) 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. In 2023/2024 we had around 1014 members recorded, having completed a membership applica�on form this is an increase of 340 on the previous year. These members have full vo�ng rights. 30 are associate members with no vo�ng rights. All members have been supplied with a new membership number and membership card. This figure has risen from the previous figure of 674 members. We also have members divided amongst our Family pages The Professional page has 110 members. The Professional Parent page has 131 members. Our general public page has 1000+ followers at present. The members of the general public page do not have vo�ng rights as they are not signed up members. This has been steadily increasing, via word of mouth, informa�on days, Charity events, Facebook adver�sing on other groups, through the children’s centre at Snapdragons and promo�on by other council services. The pages enable our members to interact with each other, support and encourage and share informa�on. This is always encouraging to see members suppor�ng each other and helping us to change the future of services for our young people. Instagram has 245 followers Twi�er has 585 followers 12 ## **Statement of Accounts** Please see separate document for statement of accounts 2024 In summary and 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 £15000. Total cash fund at year end was £75,888 from which £39,978 is unrestricted. Unrestricted cash fund increased by £18,416 on last year from the previous year’s closing amount of £21,562. The Trustees of the charity are pleased to present their report together with the accounts for the period ended 31 March 2024. The accounts comply with current statutory requirements, the governing document, and Charity Commission guidance. Approved by the Trustees and signed on its behalf by: Anita Oxenham and Keith Clear on the Statement of Accounts 2024 Shenda Smith Trustee Date 28[th] January 2025 13 |**Medway Parents and Carers Forum CIO**
**Receipts and Payments for year ended 31st March 2024**
Notes
1
**Receipts**
2
Participation Grant
DfE administered by Contact
Grants Other
Parent Carer Panel
Interest
PayPal Donations
Donations
**Total Receipts**
**Payments**
Bank Charges
DBS Checks
Insurance
IT Support
Laptops & tablets
Meetings and Events
Mobile Phone SIM Free Handset
Mobile Phone SIM only Contract
Office Costs ink stationery etc
Parent Carer Expenses
3
Professional Fees
4
Promotional Items
Software licences
Storage Unit
Training
Uniform
Wages and Salaries
4
Website
**Total Payments**
**Net of receipts/(payments)**
**Transfer of Funds**
5
**Cash Funds last Year End**
**Cash Funds this Year End**|**Charity No 1183372**
**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**2023**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds Total funds**
**Total funds**
0
17,256
17,256
14,734
15,000
10,286
25,286
11,765
0
33,891
33,891
0
415
0
415
61
241
0
241
0
827
0
827
703
16,483
61,433
77,916
27,263
0
120
120
132
0
73
73
73
0
873
873
600
0
1,533
1,533
1,485
0
438
438
1,137
0
2,305
2,305
2,667
0
0
0
260
0
540
540
421
0
1,763
1,763
1,526
0
652
652
948
0
393
393
387
0
1,397
1,397
1,994
0
0
0
427
0
1,451
1,451
1,295
0
536
536
2,130
0
76
76
114
0
24,462
24,462
12,410
0
1,440
1,440
0
0
38,052
38,052
28,006
16,483
23,381
39,864
(743)
1,933
(1,933)
0
0
21,562
14,462
36,024
36,767
**39,978**
**35,910**
**75,888**
**36,024**| |---|---| Page 1 of 3 **Charity No 1183372** **Medway Parents and Carers Forum CIO Statement of Assets and Liabilities As at 31st March 24** |Notes
**Cash Funds**
5
Current Account
HSBC
Current Account
CAF
Savings
CAF
PayPal
**Total Cash Funds**
**Other Monetary Assets**
**Assets Retained for the Charity's own use**
_* based on the estimated valuation of the assets used._
**Liability**
Outstanding Supplier Invoices
Accounts Fees
Signature.................................
Name....................................
Date of Approval.........................
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of the trustees
A Oxenham
27/01/2025|**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total Funds**
**£**
**£**
**£**
0
6,343
6,343
15,000
26,860
41,860
24,737
2,707
27,444
241
0
241
**39,978**
**35,910**
**75,888**
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
742
742 *
0
742
742
0
0
0
0
840
840
0
840
840
Signature.................................
Name....................................
Date of Approval.........................
K Clear
28/01/2025|**2023**
**Total Funds**
**£**
6,492
27,518
2,014
0
**36,024**
0
0
2,307
2,307
2,707
780
3,487| |---|---|---| Page 3 of 3 **Notes to the Accounts For the period ended 31 March 2023** **Medway Parents and Carers Forum CIO Charity No 1183372** **Charity No 1183372** **Medway Parents and Carers Forum CIO** ## **Notes to the Accounts** ## **For the period ended 31 March 2024** ## **Notes** ## **1 Basis of preparation** This Financial Statement has been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis, inline with Charity Commission guidance ## **2 Funding** |i **Participation Grant**DfE administered by Contact
Grant
1 Year
ii **Parent Support Project**Philip & Connie Phillips Foundation
Grant
1 Year
iii **Participation Grant**Medway Council (Public Health)
Grant
2 Years
iv **Parent Carer Survey**NHS Engagement
v **Universal Parent Carer Panel**Medway Council
Contrac2 Years
vi **MLG**IT Equipment|**2024**
**2024**
**2024**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Total funds**
0
17,256
17,256
0
7,786
7,786
15,000
0
15,000
0
2,000
2,000
0
33,891
0
0
500
500
15,000
61,433
42,542|**2023**
**Total funds**
14,734
11,765
0
0
0
0
26,499| |---|---|---| i Department for Education Grant is restricted for the purpose of facilitating parent participation through the development of the Forum and associated running costs. Any underspend must be returned. ii Continuation of our project to help parent carers with form filling and peer to peer support iii To fund forum running cost to support participation and co production within Medway iv Funding to provide feed back on a specified group of questions within an agreed timescale. v MCPF were successful in their bid for a 2 year contract to set up and facilitate a universal panel for parents using family hubs vi Funding to purchase 2 tablets and cases ## **3 Parent Carer expenses** No remuneration, either directly or indirectly, has been paid to the Trustees during the accounting period. Travel costs that have been reimbursed at HMRC approved rates are included in this category. ## **4 Staffing Costs** |Employed Part-time Staff
Payroll Costs|**2023/24**
24,462
393
24,855| |---|---| We employ 4 part-time staff to support the daily running of the Forum and our Parent Support Project. ## **5 Restricted Funds** ## **Current Year** |DfE
Parent Support
Medway
MLG
Parent Carer Panel
NHS Engagement|**Balance**
**1 Apr 23**
**Receipts**
**Payments**
**Transfers**
1,493
17,256
18,742
0
5,836
7,786
11,138
0
7,133
0
7,110
(23)
0
500
470
(30)
0
33,891
472
0
0
2,000
120
(1,880)
14,462
61,433
38,052
(1,933)|**Balance**
**31 Mar 24**
7
2,484
0 *
0 *
33,419
0 *
35,910| |---|---|---| _* Balance on completed projects transferred to Unrestricted funds_ ## **Previous Year** |DfE
Medway
Parent Support|**Balance**
**1 Apr 22**
**Receipts**
**Payments**
**Transfers**
4,026
14,734
17,267
0
11,770
0
4,637
0
0
11,765
5,929
0
15,796
26,499
27,833
0|**Balance**
**31 Mar 23**
1,493
7,133
5,836
14,462| |---|---|---| Grant from Medway to support participation within Medway as per agreed business plan. ## **Taxation** **6** Medway Parents and Carers Forum is not registered for VAT or Gift Aid Page 3 of 3 ## **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 2024. ## **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: 29.01.2025 Bosham PO18 8NF