## **Caring Altogether on Romney Marsh**
## **Annual Report 2022/23**
## **Our Mission:**
“…to support people living on Romney Marsh and its surrounding rural areas who are socially isolated. Through this support we aim to improve people’s well-being, to help people remain independent for longer and to enhance the quality of life of the rural communities where we operate. In pursuing this Mission we will treat people with dignity and respect.”
**Sir George Earl Benevolent Fund**
## **Caring Altogether on Romney Marsh**
Sunflower House, Rolfe Lane New Romney KENT TN28 8JR Tel: 01233 758122 office@carmromneymarsh.org.uk www.carmromneymarsh.org.uk Registered charity number 1184552
## **Management Committee 2022/23**
Shuna Body MBE – Chair Ruth Smith – Vice Chair Steve Croke – Treasurer Jean Jones Susan Graydon Wendy Body Liam Walsh
## **CARM Staff**
Helen Mattock Manager Sarah Williamson Administration and Finance Officer Fiona Godfrey Reminiscence Co-ordinator Katie Sokolowska Meeting Points Co-ordinator Kerry Fuller Befriending Co-ordinator Zena Befriending Co-ordinator Victoria Carmichael Development, Funding and Marketing Officer
## **Chair’s Report**
## Dear friends
Each year I am truly humbled at both the level and quality of volunteers that we have in CARM. I am also acutely aware of those who have been with us for many years. The people who willingly dedicate their time, energy and passion in order that we can offer such an array of services and support to our local communities. Local people supporting local people, really is a perfect recipe.
But of course, it is not just the hours put in, or indeed the end result – but how that volunteering is carried out. The one quality which unites all of us, is that passion to help others, and the smiles that say it all. Through both my work and church life I am always being told about the CARM volunteer that makes such a
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difference to their lives. One lady I spoke to could almost tell me how many hours and minutes it was until the next visit.
The versatility of our volunteers means that we can offer support wherever you are; at home, residential home or living locally and having somewhere to pop for coffee or try your hand at crafts! I am constantly amazed at the creativity that seems to pour out of CARM.
You will see from the accompanying reports just how busy a year it has been. It has and will continue to be a challenge in attracting funding as many of the core grants have been cut or reduced drastically. But the work that our volunteers and staff undertake is a true incentive to keep searching for new opportunities. So please if you do have any ideas or want to run a fundraising event or attend an event where you’d like to get involved in promoting our work – please let us know!
An example of a lovely fundraiser for CARM during the year was the Rotary Club of Romney Marsh who ran a Burns Night to raise funds for us, they raised an amazing £850.
So a big thank you to you all. Your dedication sets an inspiring example of compassion in every corner of the Marsh, Tenterden areas – and beyond ! Here’s looking forward to another exciting year ahead.
## _**Reverend Shuna Body - MBE**_
## **Treasurer’s Report**
This year, we are reporting a net deficit. Our income for this reporting year was £198,576, against an expenditure for the year of £221,536, resulting in a net deficit of £22,960. (Note: These figures include partnership funding of £50,440 for the Romney Resource Centre, which we disburse to them).
While this is not a sustainable long-term position, we are fortunate to have reserves to fall back on. Our current reserves stand at £206,992. We consider it prudent to ensure that these reserves are sufficient to cover six months of operational costs and committed projects. After accounting for these commitments, and some restricted reserves our unrestricted reserves are £61,106.
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Two years ago, we made significant changes to our funding strategy to bolster our financial resilience. Historically, we were heavily reliant on two main funding sources, namely Kent County Council (KCC) and The National Lottery. However, as funding from KCC reduced, diversifying our grant funding became essential.
We're pleased to report that our revised strategy is starting to bear fruit: This year, our grant income composition improved significantly. We successfully secured 13 individual grants, for which we are very grateful, excluding the National Lottery Reaching Communities grant they account for 44% of our grant funding. We also set an ambitious target to secure 20% of our funding from non-grant sources, such as individual and corporate donations and other income. While we fell slightly short of this target, we almost made the target.
Our total expenses for the year amounted to £221,536, marking a 17% increase from the previous year The largest portion of our expenditure continues to be staff costs, representing 66% of our total spending. Our ability to operate efficiently with a small staff is largely thanks to our dedicated volunteer network, which greatly supports our charity.
Several factors contributed to the increase in our costs this year. Firstly, like many businesses and organisations, we experienced growth in several direct expenses, there was increased activity on our Generations Connect project, we secured funding for a specific piece of work about future marketing and sustainability as well as a specific funded IT project in Tenterden.
We maintain robust financial controls, with regular reviews of our financials at each Management Committee meeting by our Trustees. Additionally, we have a dedicated financial resilience sub-committee.
Despite the challenges we faced this year, we responded by increasing our efforts in fund generation. We believe our strategic approach positions us well to continue the valuable work that CARM contributes to the community in the long term.
We sincerely appreciate your continued support.
_**Steve Croke Treasurer**_
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## **Manager’s Report**
It is lovely to be able to report on a near normal year since my return to CARM in April 2020. When I say normal, I mean without so many pandemic related issues and measures; there were still some measures in place at the care settings where we deliver our reminiscence services, but generally we were able to deliver our services as usual. This was such a relief to everyone involved with CARM, not least to the people who benefit from our services.
You’ll read later in the report many interesting facts, but I feel compelled to mention some of them here too:
- we have reached an all-time high on the number of people who benefit from receiving a **befriending service** from a CARM volunteer.
- we have reached an all-time high on people attending our **Meeting Points** .
- we are delivering **reminiscence services** in new care settings thus increasing the accessibility of the service.
- our **allotment** is up and running.
- our **knitting group** have produced an abundance of items.
As Steve mentioned above in his report above, we are grateful for all of the grants that we have received and I too would like to express my thanks to all individuals and organisations who have donated and funded us during the financial year that we are reporting on. Being nominated as a Charity of the Year is an honour and testament to the work that we carry out within our communities.
The National Lottery Reaching Communities grant and Generations Connect project was due to end on 31 March 2023, but has been extended to 30 September 2023 due to an underspend in the first year due to the pandemic. The project moved full speed ahead during the year, you can read about all of the activities that took place later in the report.
Finally, I want to thank all of our staff, Trustees and volunteers you are all amazing and make CARM what it is - a well-respected and highly valued local charity all pulling together to support our local communities. **You are all much appreciated** .
_**Helen Mattock Manager**_
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## **Reminiscence**
## **Talking Reminiscence**
CARM’s group Reminiscence journey began in 2006 with the introduction of the Our Memories Matter (OMM) service which is delivered by a team of volunteers. In 2015 Caring To Remember (CTR) was introduced, delivered with the help of a single volunteer the service aims to support care settings to deliver their own sessions. Both OMM and CTR are focused on talking reminiscence with an element of music included. These sessions normally operate in care homes, assisted living and day care facilities in 3 blocks of 8-10 weeks annually.
Each week we have a different theme and materials are provided to support the theme and assist in triggering and encouraging memories. Themes for this year have included Family Life then and now, Gadgets and Inventions, Colour and Community Spirit.
Pleasingly in May 2022 face to face sessions resumed in each of our settings and West View reopened to face to face sessions post pandemic for the first time in two years! At the same time, I introduced two additional groups one at Age UK Ashford and the other at Romney Marsh Community Hub. COVID precautions continued to be rigorous for the period May to November with volunteers being required to take two lateral flow tests each week including one on the day before the session, wear masks and in some settings aprons and gloves. During the period, as to be expected, several of the settings were required to close temporarily due to COVID outbreaks and sessions under these circumstances were adjusted accordingly. On 22[nd] December 2022 government guidance requiring the mandatory wearing of face masks was lifted. At a local level some homes risk
assessed and made the decision to continue to wear masks as these have gradually been withdrawn the reminiscence experience in terms of communication and connection has been transformative!
January 2023 saw the introduction of two additional groups one at Balgowan House in Hythe and the other at Halden Heights in High Halden and have been well received.
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## **Musical Reminiscence**
Our musical reminiscence service Musical Memories Matter (MMM) established in 2014 is run with the support of volunteers working in pairs. After an absence of 26 months the service was welcomed back into care settings with great appreciation! Music really does have the potential to bring us together and reach individuals on a very deep level!
## **Volunteer Meetings**
These are held three times a year and offer an opportunity to share good practice, hear from relevant speakers and problem solve as we go along.
## **Working With Schools**
In association with our Generations Connect project I have been working with Homewood School Health and Social Care students and have introduced a reminiscence project aligned to the National Curriculum. The students will be undertaking weekly one to one themed reminiscence sessions with a family member and record their learning.
**12 Years With The Service**
The 28[th] February 2023 saw me celebrate my 12[th] year in post and I can honestly say that I enjoy my job as much today as I did when I started. It is so humbling and inspirational to work with our attendees and volunteers and to be a part of all things CARM.
## **Thank You**
It has certainly continued to be a period of adaptation and change. **Thank you** from the bottom of my heart to all our reminiscence volunteers for your selfless devotion to our attendees and for making the sessions fun and meeting the additional challenges during the pandemic with a can-do attitude!
## _**Fiona**_
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## **Befriending**
**Our Year (April 2022 – March 2023) in figures**
New referrals to the service 82
New volunteers 20
New befriending matches 32
To put the above figures into context people are referred to CARM’s befriending service from several avenues including social prescribers, social services, care navigators, friends & family, Dementia & Me coordinators and of course themselves! When we receive a referral we make contact to book an assessment visit: a chance for us to meet the client and for them to find out more about us and what the service entails – at this stage people might decide they don’t want a visitor likewise the coordinator may decide that they are not appropriate for the service so not all referrals result in an active match.
The figure of 20 new volunteers is for volunteers who proceed to active visiting. We did have around another 15 people who expressed an interest in volunteering for CARM who did not complete the application process, often due to a change in personal circumstances or they never
realised the commitment of what befriending entails.
You may wonder why we had 32 new matches but as mentioned only 20 new volunteers. Over any year a match can break down and the extra 12 matches were made by existing befriending volunteers taking on another client.
## **Volunteers**
As shown in the above figures we welcomed 20 new volunteers over the 2022/23 period. Every new volunteer must attend a short induction session where we discuss relevant CARM policies and challenges/issues that might arise while befriending. During the year we held six group induction sessions which work very
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well as it’s a chance to meet other potential volunteers and learn from their life experiences. We also held a couple of 1-to-1 sessions. We have received very positive feedback on the induction sessions with volunteers saying they found them informative.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
April ’22 Volunteer Meeting
Cream Tea & Memories
**----- End of picture text -----**
Over the course of the year, we held three volunteer meetings – a chance to get together with other volunteers to share experiences and maybe learn something new. Our April ‘22 meeting included a cream tea and a fun reminiscing session with childhood photos and the memories they evoked. It was also the first chance many volunteers had to meet Kerry (Befriending co-ordinator for the Tenterden area) as she was new in her role back then.
Our July ’22 volunteer meeting was held in Appledore with lunch and a speaker from the Cinnamon Trust (The National Charity for older people and their pets) – we had our highest attendance to date with 32 volunteers present. Our November ’22 meeting was back in New Romney with a speaker from Kent Fire and Rescue advising us on home fire safety – which is really useful for our volunteers going into people’s homes.
As we can all remember, the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health guidelines that led to over 2 years of many changes to befriending visits and in May ‘22 the last restriction was lifted – our volunteers were no longer required/expected to carry out lateral flow tests before each visit. We continue to ask volunteers not to visit clients if they have cold/cold symptoms or any illness, a common sense approach.
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In early July a small group of befrienders attended a wheelchair handling course at Cinque Ports Mobility in Folkestone. With this training and a client specific risk assessment, a befriender can take their client out for a wheelchair excursion which is great. Cinque Ports Mobility felt that CARM’s work is so relevant and worthwhile they kindly ran the course at no cost to us.
## **Service Promotion**
The befriending service always has a waiting list, during the reporting period it averaged at 19 people so the need for more volunteers is an ongoing issue.
In April ’22 as _Kerry_ got re-familiarised with the role she distributed the ‘we need volunteers’ leaflets to her whole service area, sadly there was no response from this.
In August with the support of Victoria we drove a social media campaign using ‘pen pictures’ of some of our complex, harder to match clients. We saw an increase in our social media presence, but again this did not result in any new volunteers.
The new Strategic plan 2023 -2025 objective 2 states _To grow the volunteer base by 20% (15 new volunteers) for the befriending service in order to reduce the waiting list and waiting time for people on the waiting list_ in order to achieve this we developed a befriending volunteer recruitment plan for 2023. This includes producing new literature, distribution of new literature to all towns and villages over the area, holding recruitment events and recruitment stands in supermarkets. The Coastal area saw a flurry of new volunteers at the beginning of the year, but the Tenterden area has had little growth as yet.
## **Telephone Befriending**
Over the year a few more ‘pandemic’ matches closed usually due to volunteer issues, but there are still matches made in the first weeks of the pandemic going strong over three and a half years later.
In April ’22 we held a volunteer meeting specifically for telephone befrienders. A relatively low attendance of 7 is to be expected as many telephone befrienders squeeze their volunteering in around work. Zena presented a short slide show
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including the history of CARM’s telephone befriending service and how it changed over the pandemic – the attendees participated and shared experiences. For such a small group there was a great buzz and all those who attended enjoyed the session and valued the chance to meet other telephone befrienders.
In July Zena attended the company picnic at Givaudan and recruited one new volunteer who is now enjoying her volunteering. In October Zena visited Givaudan for the first face to face meeting with volunteers since pre-pandemic times. One of our Givaudan volunteers has been telephone befriending for 6 years although sadly recently she has seen a decline in her befriendee’s health.
## **Overview**
Here are some quotes from our clients:
_The befriending services gives me something to look forward to each week._
_Thank you so much CARM and the wonderful volunteers who give their time to help people, it is so very much appreciated._
_My CARM befriender is fantastic and gives lots of support._
Overall, this year we’ve seen the usual ups and downs of befriending with matches closing due to changes in both clients and volunteers circumstances, even so the number of matches has peaked at record high of 90 active matches and this would not be possible without the support of our fantastic, committed volunteers – **we thank you.**
_**Zena & Kerry**_
## **Meeting Points**
Nine new volunteers have been recruited during the reporting period, and three have retired. At the end of March 2023, we had 40 active volunteers looking after 172 attendees at 10 Meeting Points. This is an increase in the volunteer team size as historically, we generally only had 3 volunteers at each Meeting Point. This is in part because there has been an increase in attendee numbers, as well as an increase in workload for the volunteers.
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Sixty Meeting Point attendees responded to our Autumn 2022 questionnaire. The largest age group and average age of respondents was 81-85 years old, of whom 42 live alone. 46 people said they felt less lonely as a result of attending their Meeting Point, and 49 said they felt less socially isolated. 59 people said they look forward to Meeting Points, and all 60 said they were happy to recommend their MP to other people, reflecting the fact that 49 were extremely or very satisfied with their MP, and the rest were satisfied. This is really heartening to hear, and reflective of the appreciation attendees express when I visit their Meeting Points – for the company, friendships, and volunteers who so often go that extra mile to make sure they are welcomed and included.
COVID 19 thankfully did not feature so much during the reporting year. There were a few cases, including my own on the day of our annual Meeting Point volunteer meeting in June. My thanks to Helen, Fiona, and Sarah for stepping in at the last minute and facilitating the event. Twenty-four people attended on the day at Brookland Village Hall and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. In particular, the volunteers enjoyed the opportunity to chat with volunteers from other Meeting Points and found Liz Taylor’s discussion about dementia very informative with two Meeting Points subsequently booking Liz to come and speak to their attendees.
_Meeting Point Volunteer Annual Meeting June 2022_
There were several requests for First Aid training from volunteers, and CARM issued all Meeting Points with First Aid kits, which are especially useful for outings.
There have been a number of changes in this period. The demand for Burmarsh Meeting Point didn’t outlive the pandemic and after much discussion, and feedback from locals via a visit to a local group and a survey, CARM made the decision to close this Meeting Point. There have been other changes - three Meeting Points changed venues: Appledore moved from the Methodist Church when it was sold, to Appledore Village Hall and now meets twice a month rather than weekly;
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Dymchurch moved from their local Methodist Church to the larger Dymchurch Village Hall to accommodate their rapidly expanding group; and Rolvenden, for cost reasons, moved from their village hall to Monypenny, a retirement housing complex. All three have transitioned well to their new homes.
A large piece of work this year has been to revise the grant system for Meeting Points to be rolled out at the start of the 2023/24 financial year. The costs of hiring venues, heating, and refreshments, as well as coach hire have all risen and the £400 yearly grant that was given to all Meeting Points, irrespective of the frequency of their meetings, size of group, or rent, needed to be updated. We set up a steering group to discuss a fairer system for grant allocation and after surveying the volunteers, devised a new grant system based on the above factors so that all of the venue costs are covered by CARM via a venues grant, as well as an activities grant toward trips and events.
For the Jubilee in June, each Meeting Point was given a string of knitted bunting and pompoms in red, white and blue, produced by the Generations Connect Nifty Crafters. These were much appreciated by all. There were tea parties at most of the Meeting Points, some simple, some more lavish. Woodchurch enjoyed strawberries and cream, along with their cucumber sandwiches, and there was enough cake for the entire retinue!
_Jubilee tea party at Woodchurch MP_
Many trips took place this year – Dymchurch went to Westwood Cross and Minnis Bay, The Range & Ripleys Garden Centre; The Bridge went to Bybrook Barn Garden Centre. Lydd went on the ‘Fish and Chip Steam Special’ from Tenterden to Bodiam, and Wittersham to Dungeness for fish and chips. Brookland had a lunch out, and trip to the cinema, and Rolvenden went to the Walpole Hotel in Margate. Beach48 remains popular, with both Dymchurch and Tenterden visiting. I can’t mention every trip here, but I would like to say a big thank you to the volunteers for making these happen. They represent a lot of effort and mean so much to the attendees. We have revised our risk assessment and the volunteers now have a checklist to complete, to make the paperwork a little easier for them.
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_Rolvenden MP at Walpole Bay Hotel, Margate_
Every Meeting Point enjoyed a Christmas lunch out in 2022 – a welcome return to normality. Appledore and Wittersham enjoyed their lunch together at The Black Lion. ‘It was lovely to combine these Meeting Points and we felt very much part of the CARM family.’
The knitted hats, scarves, mittens, and balaclavas that had been pouring into CARM as part of the CARM and Romney Marsh Community Hub winter knitting project were very well received. Everyone enjoyed having a rummage and finding their perfect match, see pictures.
_Winter Knitting Project results at Greatstone, Wittersham and Appledore Meeting Point Christmas lunches!_
We can count among our regular visitors to Meeting Points Mark Blamey from Connect Well East Kent, Tony Hooper from Romney Marsh Community Hub, HiKent hearing aid clinics, and Community Wardens. I sent out an updated list of free and paid for speakers to each MP, and collectively we have booked speakers from Kent Fire & Rescue, St John’s Ambulance, Guide Dogs, among others. The in-house Musical Memories Matter sessions remain as popular as ever, as does New Age Kurling – so popular that in March the new position of ‘Meeting Point Games volunteer’ was advertised. It is our hope that we can recruit a pair of volunteers for the Tenterden area, and a pair for the Romney Marsh area, who will deliver
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New Age Kurling, Quoits and Cornhole Tossing to our groups on a regular basis for those who enjoy getting a little more active.
Once again, I would like to say a huge **thank you** to our wonderful volunteers, without whom none of this would be possible.
## _**Katie**_
## **Development, Funding and Marketing Officer**
## **Networking**
We have been chosen, once again, as one of the charities that The Marsh Network is supporting this year. I have also attended the Wealden Business Network Group in Tenterden to talk about all things CARM. Everyone that attended was interested and impressed by everything that CARM does across the local community.
We also attended and had a stand at both the Spirit of Tenterden Festival in July and The Romney Marsh Ploughing Match in September. We spoke to many people on both days about our services and volunteering.
## **Social Media**
Alongside in-person networking, social media has been used to build a network of followers online. Followers on all three sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) have increased. Social media helps to connect us to the community allowing us to share news, ask for support and show our community links to schools, and other local groups. We have started to post more regularly this year, an example of this is our #MeetingPointMonday posts which have been popular. Posting more regularly has seen an increase in engagement from our followers, leading to more people engaging and seeing what we do.
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Some of our Meeting Points took part in a TikTok dance project during Spring 2022. With the help of Charlotte from Betty Towsend Dance school Meeting Point clients and volunteers learnt some dance moves from the past as well as ones seen in modern TikTok videos. It was great fun and a wonderful video was created.
## **Newsletters**
Regular newsletters have been sent out to CARM clients, volunteers and supporters. They have included, some tasty recipes, funny jokes as well as articles on funding, volunteering and a Meeting Point overview. In September 2022 CARM celebrated 25 years as a registered charity, to celebrate we made a fabulous photo book full of photos from the past 25 years.
## **Funding**
We have been very lucky to receive some wonderful support from community fundraisers over the last year. In July 2022 The Marsh Network held a golf day to raise money for their chosen charities which included CARM.
Littlestone Golf Club also chose CARM as one of their charities of the year, their fantastic donation was over £4000.
The NFU Mutual Ashford, Tenterden & Whitfield branches selected CARM as one of their charities and made a very generous donation to us of over £6000.
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In January The Rotary Club of Romney Marsh held a Burns Night fundraising event for CARM and raised £850.
We have been part of the Ashford Community Lottery for a year now. With only a few supporters we have raised over £300 as 60% of every £1 ticket goes to CARM as their chosen charity.
Unfortunately, Amazon have stopped their Amazon Smile fundraising system. Instead, we have started to use Easy Fundraising. If you shop online just go via easy fundraising and CARM will receive a small donation each time you shop at an eligible store (most online shops). It is an easy way to raise money and it doesn’t cost you a penny.
## **Volunteer Thank You**
We held a volunteer thank you event in March 2022 at London Beach Hotel. It was fantastic to have most of our volunteers all in one place. We enjoyed a quiz and afternoon tea and the room was filled with smiles and laughter. It was a real celebration of our wonderful volunteers. To top it off London Beach Hotel presented Helen with a cheque for £1886.50, so the event didn’t cost us a penny.
## _**Victoria**_
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## **Partnerships**
## **Alliance IT Project - Tenterden**
CARM was part of a successful partnership bid, led by EK360, that secured some funding to run one to one IT sessions for older people in Tenterden. We recruited an exceptional IT trainer called Cath to train our interested clients. The first session took place on the 22 June 2022 with the final session taking place on 7 December 2022. Cath facilitated nine sessions with a total of ten people receiving one or more one to one sessions across the duration of the project. Clients mainly learned how to use features on their mobile phones and iPad / tablets. The project was a great success and it was a good opportunity to work in partnership with other organisations.
## **Generations Connect**
## **Nifty Crafters**
During the year the Nifty Crafters group, who meet every other week, knitted strings of Jubilee bunting and made strings of pompoms for Jubilee celebrations at CARM Meeting Points and various other locations across the area, including St Mary’s in the Marsh Church, New Romney Sainsburys, Romney Resource Centre and the Romney Marsh Community Hub. Two of the Nifty Crafters taught students at the Marsh Academy to make pompoms. The group also knitted some figurines and historic landmarks to help celebrate the Jubilee, these were placed in New Romney Sainsburys and at the Romney Marsh Community Hub.
Over the winter they hastily knitted hats, scarves, mittens and wrist warmers – to help keep people warm either indoors or outdoors, as part of CARM and the Romney Marsh Community Hub’s Winter Knitting Project to help people during the winter fuel crisis. Other willing members of the community helped with the Winter Knitting Project and in total 300 items were distributed to CARM Meeting Point attendees, Romney Marsh Community Hub, Tenterden Social Hub, local Dementia Cafes, Brookland church and a local Food Bank.
A bunch of twiddle muffs were also knitted for people living with dementia.
A flower cascade is the Nifty Crafters current project.
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## **Community Allotment**
In June we took over an allotment in New Romney. Due to the extremely hot weather in the summer, it was difficult to get the allotment fully operational, however there were some fantastic outcomes. Local branches of the National Farmers Union Mutual – who also made a generous cash donation to CARM – provided a working party for a day and we were able to mainly clear the allotment, erect a shed and build a composting area on that day. A group of men from a Masonic Lodge also spent an evening helping to clear the allotment.
Councillor Tony Hills made a donation to CARM from his County Council Members grant fund which paid for the storage box and several gardening tools.
Thanks to other donations, we had a small patio laid and a pallet seat made so that our volunteers and participants can take a rest during their gardening sessions.
Following that donated plants were planted up: tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes and chilli peppers grew successfully which meant that we were able to provide elderly attendees at the Romney Marsh Community Hub with free produce to take home and use.
In the Autumn a local community spirited family came out in force, including adults and children, to plant 500 daffodil bulbs. We were than able to distribute bunches of daffodils at the end of March to CARM clients (befriending and Meeting Point), Romney Marsh Community Hub clients and random people on the street, without fail every person who received a bunch said that it had made their day!
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## **Recycled Tyre Planters**
Used, donated tyres from a local garage were donated to the Generations Connect project, participants repurposed the tyres into planters during July 2022. This project saw a total of 5 young people and 5 older people work together to paint the tyres in bright colours, patterns and designs. They were then sited at various locations across our operating area.
## **Jubilee Tea Party: 8 June 2022**
Firmager Funeral Service kindly funded a Jubilee themed tea party at The Old School in New Romney. A scrumptious array of food awaited those who attended, and much fun was had by all completing a Jubilee wordsearch and a Royal Quiz. Attendees included the Generations Connect Nifty Crafters group who had made beautiful bunting and figurines for the Jubilee, students from the Marsh Academy who had made lots of pom poms for the Jubilee and attendees from CARM’s Bridge Meeting Point.
## **Family Flower Craft Workshop: 31st May 2022**
This intergenerational workshop was a great success, it was run with the help and expertise of the Romney Marsh Flower Arrangers who came up with the theme and arrangement that could be created by all participants. The theme was the Queens
Platinum Jubilee, and the flower arrangement was a crown. We had 13 attendees, Kerry and Helen from CARM and 7 helpers from the Romney Marsh Flower Arrangers Group. Ann from the Romney Marsh Flower Arrangers gave half an hour tuition on making the arrangement and then with the assistance of the 7 helpers from the Romney Marsh Flower Arrangers the attendees had a lot of fun and got to work making their own arrangements.
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## **Quiz – Cotton Hill House, Hamstreet – Friday 3rd March 2023**
The Quiz was a great success! This was run by the Ruckinge Guides who read out all the questions and marked and scored all the answers. There were six rounds of fifteen questions. We had six teams, most of four people, a good laugh was had by all! When the Quiz finished Helen presented the prizes of wooden spoons to the losing team and a hamper to share between themselves for the winning team. Refreshments were then served to all with Helen and Kerry making the drinks and the Guides serving them. It was enjoyed by all so much we were asked when we would return to do another Quiz!
## **Other activities**
Various other intergenerational activities took place under the banner of the Generations Connect project, organised by staff from the Romney Resource Centre, our partner for the project including: IT sessions; string pull painting, mosaic bowls workshop, Tenterden mosaic, abstract art at Springwood Court, a Spring tea party at Prescott House organised by students from the Marsh Academy, quilling plus a host of other art and craft activities. Much learning and fun was had by all participants.
## _**Helen**_
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## **Caring Altogether on Romney Marsh (CARM)**
## **Annual Accounts**
**For the year 1 April 2022 to 31[st] March 2023**
## **Registered Charity Number: 1184552**
**Charity name** : Caring Altogether on Romney Marsh (CARM) **Registered Charity Number** : 1184552
## **Charity’s principal address** :
Sunflower House Rolfe Lane New Romney Kent TN28 JR
## **Current trustees:**
Shuna Body Chairperson Ruth Smith Vice Chairperson Steven Croke Treasurer Wendy Body Sue Graydon Jean Jones Liam Walsh with effect from 24 August 2022
Manager: Helen Mattock
## **Structure, governance and management**
CARM is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and registered charity with a maximum of ten trustees who have overall responsibility for the charity’s business. CARM became a registered charity in 1997 (charity number 1067189) and changed to a CIO in 2019. CARM is governed by a constitution dated 23 July 2019, amended 30 September 2020.
## **Charity objectives and activities**
To relieve persons on Romney Marsh and the surrounding areas who are in need by reason of their age or disability, in particular by providing a range of services and activities which promotes their social inclusion and good health and wellbeing.
## **CARM’s Mission and Services**
CARM’s mission is to support older people living across Romney Marsh, Tenterden and its surrounding rural areas who are socially isolated. Through this support, we aim to improve
1 of 5
people’s wellbeing, to help people remain independent for longer and to enhance the quality of life of the rural communities where we operate. In pursuing this mission, we will treat people with dignity and respect.
Please see our separate Annual Report for 2022/23 for full details of services and activities that were carried out during the period.
## **Report of the Management Committee for the year ended 31[st] March 2023**
The Management Committee presents its report in a separate document entitled Annual Report 2022/23 and the independently examined financial statements for the year-end 31[st] March 2023.
## **Results:**
The incoming resources for the year amounted to £198,576 expenditure was £221,536 resulting in a net deficit of £22,960. Reserves stand at £206,992.
## **Reserves Policy**
The trustees consider it prudent that general reserves should be sufficient:
[a] to cover six month’s administration and support costs;
[b] to provide a pool equal to 10% of the average charitable expenditure over the preceding two years, from which funds can be designated to specific projects.
Administration and support costs include the salary costs of CARM’s day to day administration, the rent for CARM’s office base, and the costs of meeting the legal obligations relating to staff redundancy and termination of contracts should sufficient funds be unavailable or unlikely to become available to continue specific projects or pieces of work or the charity be dissolved.
Specific projects include services deemed by the trustees to be necessary in order to continue to support the beneficiaries of the charity so that the objects of the charity are met.
Currently reserves stand at £206,992 of which £80,850 is a designated reserve to cover the above items [a] and [b], £65,036 are restricted funds with the remaining £61,106 being unrestricted reserves.
## **Independent Examiner**
This report has been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and the examination was carried out under section 145 of the Act.
Approved by the Management Committee and signed on its behalf by:
**Reverend Shuna Body MBE (Chair) Date: 22/09/2023 Steven Croke (Treasurer) Date: 22/09/2023**
2 of 5
CHARITY (OMMISSION
FOR ENGIAND AN'D IIAIES
Independent examlnefs report
on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Roport to L
Camj AIWI on R¢Nrw Vorsh ICARMI
On accounts for
th• y•ar end•d
31 Marth 2023
Ch•rhy
{w
4arn15
tharity 111* Twsn icrf Ihe year eTrJed 31h)3r2023.
Respon81111•*
and t*sii of
r•port
As the chaity's Intstees. yrAI are resF
**Receipts**
Grants
Gift Aid
In memoriam donations
Corporate donations
Individual donations
Meeting Points
MP Income transfer
Sponsors
Lottery / shopping income
Fundraised Income / donations
Interest earned
**Sub total**
**Payments**
Partnership Payments - joint projects
Salaries
Staff pension scheme
Props and client activities
Premises overheads
Staff and volunteers expenses
Training: staff and volunteers
Volunteer Thank you event / expenses
Telephones
Printing, publicity and stationery
Postage
AGM
Subscriptions
Newsletter production
Computer and general maintenance|**1 April 2022 to**
**31 March 2023**
**1 April 2021 to**
**31 March 2022**
**Total funds**
**Total funds**
**£**
**£**
**160,481**
193,355
**414**
-
1,144
**19,403**
23,937
**2,568**
3,035
**12,704**
9,115
**100**
1,411
**40**
50
**697**
**90**
356
**2,079**
100|
|---|---|
||**198,576**
**232,503**|
||**50,790**
50440
**111,975**
101362
**5,339**
4745
**4,326**
1119
**5,965**
5463
**6,567**
4565
**673**
377
**2,045**
77
**1,709**
488
**1,724**
1283
**877**
856
**552**
760
**1,189**
831
**400**
154
**987**
858|
4 of 5
|Insurances
Sundry costs
Office moving costs
Meeting Points - individual spending
Donation - Meeting Points
Alliance IT project
Correction of reserves classification of
2 MP balances in 2021/22 (Twaterhe
Bridge + Greatstone)
External Consultancy fees
New computer equipment
Accounts and payroll costs
Bank charges / interest paid
**Sub total**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**Transfers between funds**
**Balance from 2020/21**
**_Cash funds this year end_**
**Total funds - cash and bank**
**Total cash funds**|**954**
901
**1,193**
1645
**767**
0
**13,315**
7645
**4,047**
4277
**663**
**1,549**
**3,150**
573
**616**
800
**164**
16|
|---|---|
||**221,536**
**189,235**|
||**-22,960**
**43,268**
**-**
**229,952**
**186,684**|
||**206,992**
**229,952**|
||**206,992**
**229,952**|
||**206,992**
**229,952**|
**Breakdown of Reserves as at 31 March 2023**
Restricted: 15,782 Meeting Points 49,254[Generations ] Connect Designated: 80,850 Closure planning Unrestricted: 61,106 balance **Total reserves 206,992**
Included within 2022/23 grants income was a grant from **The National Lottery, Reaching Communities Fund** for £129 334, of which £50 440 was disbursed to the Romney Resource Centre.
5 of 5
## **Caring Altogether on Romney Marsh (CARM)**
## **Annual Accounts**
**For the year 1 April 2022 to 31[st] March 2023**
## **Registered Charity Number: 1184552**
**Charity name** : Caring Altogether on Romney Marsh (CARM) **Registered Charity Number** : 1184552
## **Charity’s principal address** :
Sunflower House Rolfe Lane New Romney Kent TN28 JR
## **Current trustees:**
Shuna Body Chairperson Ruth Smith Vice Chairperson Steven Croke Treasurer Wendy Body Sue Graydon Jean Jones Liam Walsh with effect from 24 August 2022
Manager: Helen Mattock
## **Structure, governance and management**
CARM is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and registered charity with a maximum of ten trustees who have overall responsibility for the charity’s business. CARM became a registered charity in 1997 (charity number 1067189) and changed to a CIO in 2019. CARM is governed by a constitution dated 23 July 2019, amended 30 September 2020.
## **Charity objectives and activities**
To relieve persons on Romney Marsh and the surrounding areas who are in need by reason of their age or disability, in particular by providing a range of services and activities which promotes their social inclusion and good health and wellbeing.
## **CARM’s Mission and Services**
CARM’s mission is to support older people living across Romney Marsh, Tenterden and its surrounding rural areas who are socially isolated. Through this support, we aim to improve
1 of 5
people’s wellbeing, to help people remain independent for longer and to enhance the quality of life of the rural communities where we operate. In pursuing this mission, we will treat people with dignity and respect.
Please see our separate Annual Report for 2022/23 for full details of services and activities that were carried out during the period.
## **Report of the Management Committee for the year ended 31[st] March 2023**
The Management Committee presents its report in a separate document entitled Annual Report 2022/23 and the independently examined financial statements for the year-end 31[st] March 2023.
## **Results:**
The incoming resources for the year amounted to £198,576 expenditure was £221,536 resulting in a net deficit of £22,960. Reserves stand at £206,992.
## **Reserves Policy**
The trustees consider it prudent that general reserves should be sufficient:
[a] to cover six month’s administration and support costs;
[b] to provide a pool equal to 10% of the average charitable expenditure over the preceding two years, from which funds can be designated to specific projects.
Administration and support costs include the salary costs of CARM’s day to day administration, the rent for CARM’s office base, and the costs of meeting the legal obligations relating to staff redundancy and termination of contracts should sufficient funds be unavailable or unlikely to become available to continue specific projects or pieces of work or the charity be dissolved.
Specific projects include services deemed by the trustees to be necessary in order to continue to support the beneficiaries of the charity so that the objects of the charity are met.
Currently reserves stand at £206,992 of which £80,850 is a designated reserve to cover the above items [a] and [b], £65,036 are restricted funds with the remaining £61,106 being unrestricted reserves.
## **Independent Examiner**
This report has been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and the examination was carried out under section 145 of the Act.
Approved by the Management Committee and signed on its behalf by:
**Reverend Shuna Body MBE (Chair) Date: 22/09/2023 Steven Croke (Treasurer) Date: 22/09/2023**
2 of 5
CHARITY (OMMISSION
FOR ENGIAND AN'D IIAIES
Independent examlnefs report
on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Roport to L
Camj AIWI on R¢Nrw Vorsh ICARMI
On accounts for
th• y•ar end•d
31 Marth 2023
Ch•rhy
{w
4arn15
tharity 111* Twsn icrf Ihe year eTrJed 31h)3r2023.
Respon81111•*
and t*sii of
r•port
As the chaity's Intstees. yrAI are resF
**Receipts**
Grants
Gift Aid
In memoriam donations
Corporate donations
Individual donations
Meeting Points
MP Income transfer
Sponsors
Lottery / shopping income
Fundraised Income / donations
Interest earned
**Sub total**
**Payments**
Partnership Payments - joint projects
Salaries
Staff pension scheme
Props and client activities
Premises overheads
Staff and volunteers expenses
Training: staff and volunteers
Volunteer Thank you event / expenses
Telephones
Printing, publicity and stationery
Postage
AGM
Subscriptions
Newsletter production
Computer and general maintenance|**1 April 2022 to**
**31 March 2023**
**1 April 2021 to**
**31 March 2022**
**Total funds**
**Total funds**
**£**
**£**
**160,481**
193,355
**414**
-
1,144
**19,403**
23,937
**2,568**
3,035
**12,704**
9,115
**100**
1,411
**40**
50
**697**
**90**
356
**2,079**
100|
|---|---|
||**198,576**
**232,503**|
||**50,790**
50440
**111,975**
101362
**5,339**
4745
**4,326**
1119
**5,965**
5463
**6,567**
4565
**673**
377
**2,045**
77
**1,709**
488
**1,724**
1283
**877**
856
**552**
760
**1,189**
831
**400**
154
**987**
858|
4 of 5
|Insurances
Sundry costs
Office moving costs
Meeting Points - individual spending
Donation - Meeting Points
Alliance IT project
Correction of reserves classification of
2 MP balances in 2021/22 (Twaterhe
Bridge + Greatstone)
External Consultancy fees
New computer equipment
Accounts and payroll costs
Bank charges / interest paid
**Sub total**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**Transfers between funds**
**Balance from 2020/21**
**_Cash funds this year end_**
**Total funds - cash and bank**
**Total cash funds**|**954**
901
**1,193**
1645
**767**
0
**13,315**
7645
**4,047**
4277
**663**
**1,549**
**3,150**
573
**616**
800
**164**
16|
|---|---|
||**221,536**
**189,235**|
||**-22,960**
**43,268**
**-**
**229,952**
**186,684**|
||**206,992**
**229,952**|
||**206,992**
**229,952**|
||**206,992**
**229,952**|
**Breakdown of Reserves as at 31 March 2023**
Restricted: 15,782 Meeting Points 49,254[Generations ] Connect Designated: 80,850 Closure planning Unrestricted: 61,106 balance **Total reserves 206,992**
Included within 2022/23 grants income was a grant from **The National Lottery, Reaching Communities Fund** for £129 334, of which £50 440 was disbursed to the Romney Resource Centre.
5 of 5