## **Annual Report and Financial Statements** **Year ended 1[st] April 2024– 31[st] March 2025** **Charity Number: 1183372** **Report dated January 2026** **Medway Parent Carer Forum** c/o Snapdragons, Cliffe Road, Strood, Rochester, ME2 3FF Tel: 07813 123 984 Email: info@medwaypcf 1 ## **Contents** |**Contents**|| |---|---| |**Administrative information**|**Page 3**| |**Mission, Aims, Objectives and Vision**|**Page 4**| |**Ensuring our activities achieve our objects and beneft the public.**|**Page 5**| |**Review of activities**|**Page 6**| |**What we have been doing**|**Page 7**| |**Future plans**|**Page 8**| |**Financial planning**|**Page 9**| |**Management**|**Page 11**| |**Membership**|**Page 12**| |**Statement of Accounts**|**Page 13**| |**Statement of Trustees responsibilities**|**Page 13**| 2 ## **Administrative information** ## **Trustee’s during the reporting period** Keith Clear Shenda Williams Anita Oxenham Felicity Gallacher Jennie Fretwell Nicky Lambert ## **Steering Group** Angela Debont Jayne Pardesi Lisa Scarrott Elizabeth Bradley Leigh Baseley Maxi Card Krystal Sutton ## **Volunteers** Sonia Melia Sandra Barrett Sarah Buttery Beth Morgan Heather Stuart Rebecca Wozencroft ## **Employees** Jayne Pardesi Elizabeth Bradley Lisa Scarrott Gem Baukham Kira Ramsden Claire Clayton ## **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 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 decision-makers. 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 and young people - To share experience and knowledge. - To give feedback. - To ensure that the future for our children and young people 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 ## **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. 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 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 they felt the sessions achieved what the session objectives were. We have completed co-production training with the local authority and ICB staff, where we led the training. We have collaborated and worked with the LA the first year of the PINS Project **(** Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools), and ensured that we hit all targets for inclusion, and support at all the schools we were given. After we put in a tender for this project and were awarded it. Community events we have been part of included Welcome to Medway, Carers week, Days out with a male role model, The Big ConSENDsation, Children’s mental health, Sticks and Stones, Child friendly Medway, and All together now Music sessions. We have reviewed and coproduced letters for Health providers and education, run Healthy Parent Carer courses and training for many groups, assisted with the tender modernisation for child health services, and attended Medway Youth Council Conference. So, you can see we are a huge part of Medway serving our families. 5 ## **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 and 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 2024 and 31[st] March 2025. Strategic meetings 355 an increase of 91 Training and Events attended 109 a slight decrease of 5 Coffee mornings/meetings 19 a decrease of 12 Internal down to 41 from 47 A total of 3656 hours of input, which does not include talking to families, managing the social media posts, or creating newsletters, this is further 87% increase year on year in the amount of time the team put into attendance at these meeting and events. This indicates a further huge surge in need, of co production and participation from a forum perspective. 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. Strategic meetings included interviews for commissioning and ICB for the role of deputy DCO. The one-to-one support that the team offer with form filling, and sign posting when in need, has the team in great demand. In this year alone they saw 209 parents and carers. This is an increase of 72 families compared to the previous year. Our family support team go above and beyond to help those in need. The feedback that we receive from families about the team is wonderful and shows the amazing differences they make. We continued 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. The voice of this panel is growing in strength and attracting more families to help develop services across Medway. One of our team Angela DeBont was nominated for a Pride in Medway Award 2025, which she unfortunately did not win, for her continuous volunteering for Medway Parent Carers Forum since day one. 6 MEETINGS AND EVENTS: 2024/2025 TOTALS medwoy parents 6 carers forum Strategic School and Events Coffee Internal 355 19 109 41 (1420 hours) (190 hours) (1308 hours) (738 hours) Total: 3656 hours oftime. ## **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 the Local authority with independent evaluation of ECHP plans. To employ further administration staff to help with supporting our digital voice. To employ further family support officers to support our families and carers with the administration requirements they need. To implement support for our 18-25 young people moving forward, to ensure their voice is heard. To gain further support with funding and grants to ensure the longevity of the forum and to continue offering the family support service. 8 ## **Financial planning** Every year, we work 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 5 years, which is reviewed yearly. We apply for a grant from the Department of Education yearly, via Contact. Which we have been successful in receiving for the last 16 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. Our funding for the family support team for the one-to-one work they do, has been funded from alternative sources that we have bidded 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 16 years. 9 Jayne and Maxi, being visited at our stand by Cllr Teresa Murrey. The team spend a lot of time out and about at events. Meeting parents and carers around Medway, networking with other charities and service providers. 10 ## **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 implementing 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 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 received any benefit from the Medway Parent Carers Forum. Lisa Scarrott is employed by us, 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 Oxenham is not involved in anything regarding the employment of Lisa. 11 ## **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. In 2024/2025 we had around 1216 members recorded, having completed a membership application form this is an increase from 1014 on the previous year. These members have full voting rights. 49 are associate members with no voting rights. All members have been supplied with a new membership number and membership card. We also have members divided amongst our Family pages of 830. The Professional page has 126 members. The Professional Parent page has 149members. Our public page has 1.6k followers at present. The members of the public page do not have voting rights as they are not signed up members. This has been steadily increasing, via word of mouth, information days, Charity events, Facebook advertising on other groups, through the children’s centre at Snapdragons and promotion by other council services. 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. Members include those whose young people are now over our 0-25 remit, and wish to stay in touch and help others within the SEND world. 12 ## **Statement of Accounts** Please see separate document for statement of accounts 2025 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 £74,566 from which £31,651 is unrestricted. Unrestricted cash fund decreased by £8327 on last year from the previous year’s closing amount of £39,978 Our team has worked hard to ensure funding coming into the forum and enable us to be employers and ensure the running of the forum. Funding is harder to come by for core costs such as wages, and the forum has unfortunately missed out on some funding streams. This is represented in our overall cash funds and has dropped since the previous year. The Trustees of the charity are pleased to present their report together with the accounts for the period ended 31 March 2025. The accounts comply with current statutory requirements, the governing document, and Charity Commission guidance. ## **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 CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) has income over £25,000 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. We have had our accounts audited as we are now receiving higher funding. Late in 2024 we changed our accounting system to QuickBooks. Which has enabled our team to keep the records and streams of funding clearer, and in line with what the auditors need to submit to the Charity Commission. Our thanks to our very dedicated team for this. Approved by the Trustees and signed on its behalf by: Anita Oxenham and Keith Clear on the Statement of Accounts 2025 Shenda Williams Trustee Date 20[th] January 2026 13 Medway Parents and Carers Forum CIO Receipts and Payment5 for year ended 3tsE Marth 2025 Charhy No 1183372 2025 20Z5 Unrestrlcted Restrlcted funds funds Total fund5 2025 Z024 Notes Total fund5 Receipts Pèrticipation Grant D￿ administered by Contact Grant5 Other Grant5- PINS Grant5- Healthy P3rent ca￿r5 Parent C3rer Ptnel Interest Paypal Donations Donation & Refunds Total Receipts 17,494 2,465 20.￿0 5.966 17,494 2,465 20,OLK) 5.966 17,256 25,286 33.891 415 241 827 77.916 752 752 630 1.382 630 47.307 45.925 Payments Bank Charges DBS Checks 35 60 260 519 95 260 519 1.641 299 1,931 120 73 873 1.533 438 2,305 IT Support Laptops & tablets Meetings Ind Events Mobile Phone SIM Free Hands Mobile Phone SIM only Conrract Qffice Costs ink staiionery etc Parent Carer Expenses Professional Fees Promotional Items Software licen￿5 Storage Unit 794 299 1,523 408 102 217 536 2,125 1,096 1,720 2,270 638 2,342 1,243 2,145 2,914 540 1,763 652 394 1,397 147 425 1,177 4SO 1,177 814 1,451 536 76 24,462 1,440 364 ijniform W3ge5 and Salaries Website 32,367 244 32,367 244 Total Payrnents 3.136 45.493 48,629 38,052 Net ol recelptsllpaymentsl 11,7541 432 39,864 Transfer of Funds 6,573 ash Fund$ lastyear End 39,978 35,910 75,888 36,024 Cash Fund5 this Year End 31,651 42,915 74,566 75,888 Pagelof4 Medway Parents and Carers Forum CIO Statement of Assets and Llabllltles A5 at 31st March 25 Charhy No 1183372 Note5 2025 Llnrestricted funds 2025 Restritted funds 2025 2024 Cash Funds Total Funds Total Funds Current Accounts Current Accounts Savings Paypal HSBC CAF CAF CAF AccDUnt Ckn5ed**Jv24 6.343 41.860 27.444 241 75.888 19,539 11.871 241 31.651 26.685 16.230 46,224 28.101 241 74.566 42.915 Other Monetary Assets Assers Retalned forthe Charllv'sown use 143 143 143 143 742 742 "bG5erlon the estymotedvoluotion of the 055etS USEd. Uabllty Accounts Fee5 882 882 882 882 SiÈned byone ortwo trustees on behalf of the trustees Signature.-- Signature.................. Anita Oxenham Name.................................... 03103126 Date of Approval......................... Date of Approval......................... Pa8e2of4 Medway Parents and Carers Forum CIO Charity No 1183372 Note5tothe Account5 For the period ended 31 March 2025 Plotes l Basis of preparation Thls Flnancial Statement has been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basls. iDllne with Charity Commisslon guldance 2 Fvndlng 2025 E025 Unrestricted Restricted funds funds 20E5 1024 Totsl fund5 Totsl funds I P8rticipation fjt4nt DfE administered by Contact 11 P8rtnershipfor Inclusion of Neurvdiversity inSthrJob IPINSI G￿nt 111 H￿althY Parentcarer (Joyfunding adrnini5tered by MVAI Gtsnt par*nt Carèrsufw NHS Engag&rnent v U¥e MusicNow E¥ents vi Supported inttmshipevent Imedway Council) Vii Parent Support Projett Philip & Connie Phillip5 Foundation GTrnt l Y&ar 17,494 20,0(N) 5,966 2,OCK) 280 IBS 17,494 20,000 5,966 2,000 280 185 17,256 I YEir I YEar Gttnt 7.786 IS.(￿0 33.891 500 76.433 Gttnt ix Unl¥ersal Parent CarerPanel Medw3yCouncil x MLG IT Eouipment Contract 2 Year5 45,925 45,925 i Department for Education Annual Grant is restricted forthe purpose of f3cilitatin8 parent participation throu8h the development of the Forurn and a550ciated runnin8 COSt5. Any underspend must be returned. li Gr3nt to enable MPCF to fulfil theirtask5 as part of PINS ProjectlKent and Medway ICB and Medw3yCouncill ill Grant to enable MPCF to provide wellbeing training for p3rent carers Fundingto provide feedback on a specified group of que5tiOn5 Wlthin an a8reed timescale v Fundingto enable MPCF engagement at SEND Mu5ii events vl Fundingto enable MPCF to support virtu315UPPOrted inter5hip event vli Continuation of our project to help parent carers with form filling and peerto peersupport viii To fund forum running costs to support pèrticipètion and co production within Medwèy ix MPCF were successful in their bid for a 2 yeartontract to set up and facilitate a universal panel for parents Usingfami￿ hubs x Fundingto purchase 2 tablets and cases 3 Parent Carer expense5 No remuneration, eitherdirectlyor indirectly, h35 been paid to the Trustee5 during the accounting period. Travel costs that have been reimbursed at HMRC approved r3tes are included in this cate80ry. 4 Staffin6 Costs 2025 2024 Employed Staff Self employed Staff 31,403 732 231 525 32.891 24462 Payroll Costs 393 24.855 Pa8e3of4 S Restricted Fund5 Current Year Balance IApr Balance 31 Mar 25 Re¢elpts 17,494 Payments 17,5 6,588 2,469 11,138 6,9 283 280 185 150 45,493 Transfers Transfer from MPCF General Fund Pareni Support Pareni Carer Panel PINS Healthy Parent Carer Live Music Now Supported Internship Event NHS Engagement 6,588 2,484 33,419 22,281 13,100 5,683 20,0 5,966 280 185 2,OCM) 45,925 1,850 42,915 35,910 6,573 Balance on completed projetts tr3nsfered to Non restritted Previousyear ealance IApr 23 1,493 5,836 7,133 Balance 31 Mar 24 Recelpts 17,304 7,786 Payments 18,790 11,138 7,110 470 512 120 38,140 Transfers Parent gupport Medw3y MLG Parent Carer Panel NHS En8a8ement 2,484 SCI) 33,931 2,0 61,521 33,419 11,8801 14,462 35.910 8alance on completed projert5 tran5fered to Non restricted 6 Taxation Medway Parents and Carers Forum is not registered forVATor Gift Aid Page4of4 ## **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 2025. ## **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 The Grain Store Hills Barns Appledram Lane South Date: 04.03.2026 Chichester, West Sussex PO20 7EG