2022-12-31-accounts

(CIO Reg. No.: 1185114)

Trustees’ Annual Report and accounts for the 12 months to 31 December 2022

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The Trustees have pleasure in presenting The Treasure Basket Association’s report together with the financial statements for the 12-month period ended 31 December 2022.

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Our Mission and Activities
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Our mission is to support,
through a natural and non-intrusive
process, the emotional well-being of
disadvantaged children and families in
the community, by improving access to
professional therapeutic resources and
evidence-based play intervention.
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Operating from a base in Goring-By-Sea, West Sussex, the Treasure Basket Association was founded in 2016 and became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in 2019. Our founder member Felicia had worked previously as a professional play therapist and continues to play a key and fundamental role in the charity.

The Treasure Basket Association is passionate about helping to create calm and clarity for disadvantaged children who are experiencing emotional distress, particularly in the pockets of deprivation in the geographical area in which we operate, some of which are in the top 20% of the most deprived areas in the UK. We do this in two principal ways:

• By providing Play Therapy to children with emotional and behavioural difficulties in the age group 4-11, supplemented with emotional support to parents and/or carers and the provision of training and supervision to school staff. These interventions can take place either at school or in the charity’s “hub”, according to what is best for the child. At present we prioritise children who need therapeutic support urgently and can’t access it elsewhere. However, we also work with children whose mental health needs are less severe, and we are looking to develop our capacity to do more preventive work in the future.

• By assembling and delivering “Treasure Baskets” which contain a range of materials for emotionally vulnerable/deprived young people to be creative, to learn and to play as a means of healing outside the remit of school. The baskets are packed with sensory, play and art materials

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chosen to help children explore what is on their mind therapeutically. The assembly and delivery of the treasure baskets is carried out by our willing volunteers.

When opportunities arise, we will initiate and deliver additional projects and fundraising events that align with our charitable objectives and allow us to grow the charity both financially and in its community presence.

The number of children and professionals that our Play Therapists work with each year is determined by both funding, and by each child’s therapeutic needs.

The pace at which children respond to Play Therapy varies, and our experience is in line with several studies finding that it takes an average of 20 play therapy sessions to resolve the problems of the typical child referred for treatment. Whilst we tend to provide children an initial block of between six and twelve therapy sessions (depending on the severity of the presenting issues), we carry on seeing children until they can be discharged safely - whether funded or not – and this is a key factor in our Reserves strategy.

We target our work in areas with high indices of deprivation and many of the children from these areas have complex needs such as ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), for which therapy requires more sessions and therefore greater funding. In all cases we want the child to improve their emotional wellbeing and be better equipped to cope with family, community and school life.

This commitment to working as open-endedly as possible enhances our effectiveness. We use " Strength and Difficulty Questionnaires " that provide us with a qualitative picture of the children at the beginning and end of each intervention, on a quantifiable scale. We also provide " Closing Reports ” and the documentation enables us to determine how individual children have progressed in their therapeutic journey, and the extent to which this has helped them overcome their presenting issues. We are very pleased to find that the majority of children have responded well to therapy, and indeed benefit from it. The feedback we receive from families and schools is that they become more socially and academically engaged as a result.

Our People

At the time of publication of this report:

• Debi Daisley (Trustee)

• Robert Pope (Trustee)

• Lisa Fillion (Trustee)

• 2 Trustee vacancies

• Felicia Lycett (Professional Play Therapist)

• Simona Florio (Grants Writer)

Robert and Lisa joined the Charity during 2023.

During 2022 and 2023 we have been ably supported by willing trainees, University interns and volunteers and we are very grateful for the ideas and ongoing commitment of these people. We currently have vacancies for two volunteer Trustees.

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Financial Results for 2022 The Treasure Basket Association Charlty No. 1185114 Financial Statement for 2022 Summary 2022 2021 INCOME Oonations & Legacie5 Grants Comtnunity Fundraising 840 2,466 28.358 1.144 31.968 1,998 2,838 TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE Therapist's Professional Fee5 Other Professional Fees Therapeutic Resources Treasure Basket items Other Direct Project Expenses Fundraising costs Website and Social rnedia Training Insuran 6ank Charges Travel & Subsistence Office General Expenses Sundnes 18,070 680 75 6,470 582 2,158 1,327 217 87 125 143 3,469 860 li 87 132 71 116 41 123 28 67 TOTAL EXPENDITURE li SurplU￿{DOflCltI ZO,774 20.701 Movement In lund5 Bank Account at l January Net SurpluslDeficit for the period Bank Account at 31 December 25,185 20,774 4,484 20,701 Rèpréséntèd bv Cash funds Restricted (see reporrl Cash funds un￿strICted funds (charity reserves c/fl 2,305 2,106 4,411 20,679 4,506 25,185

Basis of accounting

The Charity uses the Cash Basis of accounting for transactions. Under this method, transactions are recorded in the charity’s books only when cash or bank funds are received or expended. Thus debtors and creditors are not recognised in the financial statements and the charity’s Balance Sheet is represented by cumulative surplus reserves and bank and cash balances only.

Audit of accounts

In accordance with Charities Commission guidance and the charity’s governing document, the Trustees have elected for the charity’s books for 2022 not to be audited nor independently examined as the gross income for the year is less than £25,000. The Trustees have elected to review this requirement on a yearby-year basis.

Financial summary for 2022

For 2022 the charity recorded a deficit of £20,774, compared to a surplus of £20,701 in the previous year. No grants were received in the year, and the charity concentrated its efforts in completing projects for which Restricted Fund reserves were carried over from 2021. Overheads (which for us are minimal) remained at a similar level to the previous year.

Utilisation of Restricted Funds in 2022

The year 2022 saw the charity deliver to completion many projects for which grants had been received in 2021, but had to be deferred, partly due to the pandemic, and at the end of 2022 there were only two grant-aided projects which were not completed.

The charity is looking to complete in 2023 the two projects carried forward.

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We are extremely grateful to all those who provided grants and donattions, which enabled us to fulfil our aims.

Reserves policy

We regularly and stringently monitor and account for Restricted and General (unrestricted) funds in our financial and reporting processes. The two types of fund can be defined as follows:

Restricted Funds - are where all the funds raised for a particular cause must be used in accordance with the requests of the funder. Examples include grants or donations given for specific projects. The Treasure Basket allocates expenditure on these “projects” in a way that provides transparency to the grantor or donor, who at any time has an opportunity to examine the transactions. Where Restricted Funds are unspent at a reporting date we identify and highlight the unspent portion for future action. An analysis of Restricted Funds in 2022 is shown above.

General Funds - are those that a charity has received which are not held for any specific purpose. They can be spent as deemed fit in accordance with the charity’s terms of reference, and can include where a charity has received funds through general donations, or fundraising. General funds are used to cover overheads and to support growth, and in exceptional situations can be used to support extended support in Restricted Funds projects.

Our policy for reserves is that the general fund should be sufficient to allow us to work with the children we support until they can be safely discharged – whilst retaining adequate resources to maintain and grow the charity. The balance of these two aims is a continual challenge, which include sometimes taking calculated risks of using our reserves to meet the needs until the grants materialise, always knowing that our community fundraising events and donations will replenish funds in due course.

Movements in reserves during 2022, with comparatives, are as follows:

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Although general funds were depleted during 2022 we have made a very good start to 2023 and at the half-year point general funds in reserves are back to around £5,000.

2022 Highlights

2022 was considered by the Trustees to be a period of consolidation following the two previous years which had both been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Activities during the year 2022 were mostly concentrated on fulfilling projects for which funding was received in the previous year. There is no doubt that the general post-pandemic shift has had an impact on both the availability of funding and the timing of our interventions. In addition there were a number of personnel changes during 2022, in both Trustees and volunteers. Consequently it is not until 2023 that we were able to put our minds towards a nonreactive strategy development.

• In June 2022 we held our first car boot sale at Adur Recreation Ground. This was a great success and is planned to be a regular annual event.

• Felicia was very busy during 2022 fulfilling grant-funded projects, providing therapy, training and supervision at various schools in Littlehampton, Worthing and Bognor.

• At the beginning of 2022 we aimed to deliver 30 Treasure Baskets to emotionally vulnerable children to help bridge the gap between school and home. With public support and community spirit we managed to raise enough material for 12 therapeutic baskets to children were able to go home with a smile on their faces, feeling loved and a bit more optimistic.

• During the summer of 2022 we were able to deliver an innovative project at a primary school in West Sussex that has a high proportion of pupils with SEND and other ACEs. This project – which was funded by Artswork via Arun Inspires – took the form of a series of 10 art-based workshops for two groups of children identified by the school’s SENCo. The sessions were delivered by Felicia and Simona and encouraged team collaboration and the children made creations involving collages, clay, flower-making, food and sensory items such as palydough, fidget toys and bubble wrap.

• We also hosted our second event in Angmering with combined arts charity Joy of Sound, which this time was for two days, supported by a grant from West Sussex County Council in 2021. Joy of Sound promote social inclusion through music and creative arts. The coordinators are trained in working with children, young people and vulnerable adults through music.

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The purpose of this music workshop was to use music and the creative arts as a form of selfexpression. All of the activities were planned so that children with SEND could attend and enjoy themselves with their families, using instruments in group interplay or to relax with the play material available to them. 15 families attended, including 61 children.

“It was great to see the activities planned for the day. My daughter loved the painting and the play time area. Food was amazing too especially being a vegetarian I was surprised to see the veg options in food. The music group ‘Joy of sound’ were great as well.”

Going forward

“Children and young people’s mental health has been neglected for years and in the meantime, we know that the need is increasing. We were already struggling to meet demand before the pandemic, but the pandemic has absolutely resulted in increase in mental health disorders in children and young people.” (The Guardian, July 2021)

We continue to work as a small charity with limited resources, and the need to balance the need for children’s long-term support with those who need emotional intervention urgently has not reduced. We want and need to continue to respond to crises promptly and effectively, and we have maintained our efforts to apply for grants to fund this work. Grants as a method of raising funds is unpredictable (particularly evident through the pandemic years) and we have focused also on hosting community fundraising events, individual and corporate giving and increasing the charity’s profile through these events, social media and other publicity.

In 2023 we have also concentrated some effort in personnel resources. We have introduced two new trainees, a fully-funded internship for admin work, and a social media volunteer. We plan to increase and plan to recruit more, and will include this in a new strategy document currently being worked on.

The Trustee base changed in 2023 and a new team – whilst short of numbers at present – is bringing in new skills, enthusiasm and focus.

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