Annual Report of the Trustees of Chichester Area Talking News for the period from 1[st] July 2022 to 30[th] June 2023
Charity Name: Chichester Area Talking News CIO
Charity Address: Chichester Area Talking News, St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6SE
Charity Number: 1184267
The charity became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) at the Annual General Meeting held on 24[th] October 2019.
Objects: The Objects of the CIO are to relieve visually impaired and other disabled persons by the provision of a recorded news and magazine service.
Main Activities: Every fortnight local news, taken mainly from the three editions of the ‘Chichester Observer’ local newspaper, is recorded and sent out to our blind and visually impaired listeners on memory sticks and also online on our website; via Alexa; and on the British Wireless for the Blind app on smartphones. We also broadcast, and distribute our quarterly audio magazine, ‘Insight’ , which features a wide variety of articles of interest to our listeners. In addition, we issue a Newsletter called ‘Team Talk’ to all volunteers 3 times during the year which contains important information, organisational developments, and includes features about the lives and work of our volunteers and listeners.
Public Benefit: CaTN’s entire operation has the sole purpose of benefiting blind, visually impaired and other disabled people and enabling them to lead safer, more independent and more enriched lives. The Trustees confirm that when reviewing the charity’s activities and devising future plans they have had regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and have complied with their duties under Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011.
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Our programmes engender feelings of inclusiveness in those who, because of impaired sight, can become socially isolated. Listeners welcome the receipt of broadcasts to hear familiar voices delivering their local news: material they can discuss with relatives, friends and carers in the society around them, and which is not always available elsewhere. Letters and cards are regularly received from listeners and their families saying how much they value the service keeping them in touch with local news and events, providing comfort and reassurance and reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation. These letters and cards sometimes include donations to the charity and every donation is acknowledged by a letter of thanks from the Chairman.
Many listeners have led inspiring lives and developed creative ways to manage the practical problems they face. Allowing them time in our programmes to relate their achievements gives enormous encouragement to other listeners to live life to the full.
Listeners say how much they appreciate the social events specifically organised for them by volunteers such as the Listeners’ Lunch and the lunch and entertainment following the Annual General Meeting. These opportunities to meet and mix with each other, and volunteers, during ‘days out’ help to dispel feelings of loneliness. Listeners who attend comment on the friendliness and support they encounter. Volunteers provide transport to these events for listeners where needed.
Broadcast information also includes how to access services from national and local organisations which could enrich listeners’ lives, for example, West Sussex County Council’s Rehabilitation Officers for the Visually Impaired (ROVIs), The Macular Society, RNIB, 4Sight, and free downloads of Talking Books .
CaTN has also received a Community Award from Chichester City Council recognising the social benefit it provides locally.
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Organisation, structure, membership and operation of the
Service: CaTN is part of a nation-wide network known as the Talking News Federation. Whilst taking advice from that Federation, when necessary, CaTN operates as an independent organisation both managerially and financially. Our members comprise our listeners and volunteers, including Trustees.
CaTN is led and managed by the Board of Trustees (the Committee) which normally meets four times a year. Our service is provided entirely by around 80 volunteers. We have no paid staff and our volunteers and Trustees do not receive any
remuneration. They do not normally claim travel expenses but are reimbursed if they are asked to represent the charity at the Talking News Federation Annual Conference, and for purchases of equipment etc. for the charity, bought with the agreement of the Board.
There are no conflicts of interest and there is no relationship with any related parties. All policies required by the Charity Commission have been approved by the Trustees. Trustees and volunteers who visit listeners in their homes are DBS checked. These are reviewed as prescribed. There have been no incidents of any kind during this period.
CaTN carries out an annual analysis of its work, including the assessment of risks to CaTN’s functioning. This assessment is reviewed by Trustees at each of their meetings.
Future plans for the charity are to continue to develop our service, raising its profile through enhanced publicity, our website and information leaflets, and to encourage more disabled people to benefit from the free service our volunteers provide.
The Main Activities and Achievements of the Charity for 2022/2023:
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We held a very successful Annual General Meeting on 20[th] October 2022. At this meeting our current chairman, Ken Pritchard OBE took over from Richard Bunker, who had successfully chaired CaTN for the previous three years, and Bob Money was confirmed as Vice Chairman. Tributes were paid to Richard and to Eileen Raven, a loyal and long serving volunteer who had undertaken a range of roles and responsibilities during her time with CaTN.
A light lunch was followed by musical entertainment arranged by Geoff Porter, our Treasurer, and provided by “The Estuary Men” singing a range of sea shanties with some audience participation! It was a very enjoyable occasion and another good opportunity for our listeners to meet one another, our volunteers and to chat.
We also held a Listeners’ Lunch in a local hotel which provided further opportunities for our listeners and volunteers to meet. Volunteers provide transport to and from these events which some listeners might not otherwise be able to attend.
Geoff Porter, our Treasurer, supported by the Vice Chairman has begun the process of transferring our bank accounts from Barclays to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) bank which provides a range of services more suited to small charities. Due diligence has shown that other clients of the CAF bank are extremely satisfied with the range of support they provide and the good quality of their customer care.
Bob Money, Vice Chairman and the Trustee responsible for the website, publicity and links with the media, has been very active developing our website further, updating our information leaflets, giving talks to local organisations, and arranging “pop-up” stalls in local libraries and a community centre. All of these are vitally important for making CaTN better known in the communities it serves. This increased local awareness of CaTN’s contribution to its communities is evidenced in a number of ways, including a double page article in the Chichester Society magazine, a feature
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article in the local newspapers that provide some source material, and a short piece on the benefits of volunteering in a secondary school newsletter.
Building on our positive attitude to continuous improvement we have developed our service further in a number of ways. An analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats enabled Trustees to look ahead and plan to ensure that CaTN continues to flourish in the future. This process identified a number of desirable areas of development which have all been acted on. For example, we secured greater confidence in business continuity by improving succession planning. We have reviewed policies to ensure compliance. We have involved four sixth formers from local schools recording material for our programmes which gives them experience of volunteering in the charity sector and also the opportunity to develop a range of useful, employable skills for their futures. Many listeners, and volunteers, have led inspiring lives and developed creative ways to manage the practical problems they face. Allowing them air time to relate their achievements gives enormous encouragement to other listeners to live life to the full. Consultation with listeners and volunteers through our broadcasts and Team Talk led to greater inclusion of items from volunteers and listeners in our programmes. This revealed wing-walking and skiing activities by blind listeners amongst other things. In addition, an update to the music that introduces our broadcasts and the tracks within them made broadcasts livelier whilst maintaining the familiarity that our listeners love.
The service continues to work well and volunteers and listeners enjoy contributing to that sense of doing important work. We currently have 310 members, including 83 volunteers, and 227 listeners who receive the news on memory sticks. This is a slightly lower number than last year and is accounted for by those who have died, been taken into care, or who have moved far away to
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be nearer family and no longer listen to CaTN. However, numbers listening online, from our website, Alexa, via the British Wireless for the Blind app and other electronic means continue to increase. We are trying to establish precise numbers so that we know the total size of our audience and are consulting closely with the Talking News Federation (TNF) nationally on this.
Listeners continue to tell us how much they value our service and how it helps them to feel part of their local community. We receive many cards and letters of thanks which are much appreciated and also serve to confirm that we are contributing to public benefit as a charity.
We express our sincere thanks to everyone in CaTN - volunteers, listeners and friends - for all the help and support we receive throughout the year.
Review of the charity’s financial position at 30[th] June 2023: Full details are given in the attached Financial Statements. The Trustees have reviewed the financial position and consider it to be satisfactory. The reserves held are sufficient to manage any change in its financial situation which might include very substantial expenditure on finding and equipping a new recording studio and office if there was a need to move at some stage in the future. Trustees have not identified any significant risks facing the charity; and they consider there are no uncertainties about it continuing as a ‘going concern’.
Principal sources of funds: The charity is funded by legacies and donations from individual members and from grant-making trusts, and also from fund raising. These income sources vary in size from as much as £1,000 to as little as £5. All donations are acknowledged by a letter of thanks from the Chairman, pointing out how valuable they are in continuing to support out work.
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Governing document: The charity’s governing document is its Constitution, dated 22 June 2019. The charity is a CIO – a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
Appointment of trustees and volunteers: The Trustees, who form the Committee, are appointed by the Board of Trustees having regard to the needs of the charity and the attributes of the individuals. The Board includes two visually impaired trustees. Appropriate training and induction arrangements are in place and trustees and those volunteers who visit the homes of visually impaired listeners are subject to DBS checks. At the AGM of October 2022, Ken Pritchard was appointed as Chairman of CaTN and Bob Money was appointed as Vice Chairman. In accordance with the requirements of the Constitution, no other trustees were eligible to retire by rotation. However, Richard Bunker resigned as a Trustee and as Chairman. John Goodman replaced Richard Bunker as a Trustee.
Trust Details:
Principal Office:
Chichester Area Talking News, The Studio, St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester,
West Sussex PO19 6SE
Tel: 01243 775050 Email: studio@catn.org.uk Website: www.catn.org.uk
Registered Charity No. 1184267
Trustees:
| 1 | Trustee name | Office (ifany) | Dates acted if not for whole year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr K. Pritchard | Chairman | From 20.10.2022 |
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| 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 |
Mr R I Money | Vice Chairman | From 20.10.2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr G Porter | Treasurer | ||
| Mrs E Bush | Secretary | ||
| Mrs H Pinn | |||
| Mrs A Brearley- Smith |
|||
| Mr D Bathurst | |||
| Mr CJenner | |||
| Mr M Bevis | |||
| Mr C Mustchin | |||
| Mrs C Mustchin | |||
| MrsJPenn | |||
| Mr J Goodman | From 12.06.2023 |
Bankers: Barclays Bank plc East Street, Chichester
Independent Examiner of Accounts: Evans Weir, The Victoria, 25 St Pancras, Chichester West Sussex PO19 7LT
The Trustees’ Report was approved by the Board of Trustees
Signed on behalf of the Trustees
Ken Pritchard OBE
(Chairman) Date 20[th]
November 2023
Registered Office: The Studio, St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester PO19 6SE
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
| Report to the trustees/ members of On accounts for the year ended Set out on pages |
Charity Name Chichester Area TalkingNews |
Charity Name Chichester Area TalkingNews |
Charity Name Chichester Area TalkingNews |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30th June 2023 | Charity no (if any) |
1184267 | |
| (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) 1-2 |
Report to the trustees/ members of
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended DD / MM / YYYY 30/06/2023 .
Responsibilities and As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the basis of report accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent ~~[The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to~~ examiner's statement ~~undertake the examination by being a qualified member of [insert name of applicable listed body]].~~ ~~Delete [ ]~~ ~~if not applicable~~ .
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination ~~(other than that disclosed below *)~~ which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
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the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
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.
- Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Signed: Date: 1st August 2023 Name: Jennifer Hoult
Relevant professional FMAAT qualification(s) or body
Oct 2018
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IER
(if any):
Address: Evans Weir, 25 St Pancras, The Victoria, Chichester, PO19 7LT
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
Oct 2018
2
IER