## **UNAUDITED TRUSTEE’S ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
**CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1185499**
## **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION**
|**Trustees**|Fiona Corless (Chair)|
|---|---|
||Matthew Longley (Treasurer)|
||Samuel Davis|
||Carolyn Watson|
|**Charity Number**|1185499|
|**Registered office**|10 Clevedale|
||Bristol|
||BS16 2SQ|
|**Independent Examiner**|Sophie Barry FCCA|
||19 Drury Lane|
||Loddon|
||Norfolk|
||NR14 6LB|
|**Bankers**|Lloyds Banking Group Plc|
||25 Gresham Street|
||London|
||EC2V 7HN|
## **CONTENTS**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|Trustees’ Report|1 - 7|
|Independent Examiner’s Report|8|
|Statement of Financial Activities|9|
|Balance Sheet|10|
|Statement of Cash Flows|11|
|Notes to the financial statements|12 - 16|
## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **Introduction**
The Trustees present their report and unaudited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.
The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective January 2019).
The charity is a charitable trust and is constituted and governed by its charitable trust deed dated 2 December 2018. The trust was registered with the Charity Commission, number 1185499, 25 September 2019.
## **Trustees**
Trustees who served during the year were:
- Fiona Corless
- Matthew Longley
- Samuel Davis
- Carolyn Watson
There must be at least three trustees. The Trustees are ultimately responsible for the policies, activities and assets of the charity. They are in regular and frequent contact to review the developments with regard to the charity, its activities and to make important decisions. The Board of Trustees meets formally at least three times a year, with at least one ‘in person’ meeting, to ascertain the level of funds available for distribution. New trustees are appointed with regard to the need for an appropriate mix of skills on the Trustee Board.
## **Objectives and activities**
The object of the charity is for the advancement of health and relieving the needs of children and families affected by childhood cancer, other serious childhood illness or bereavement and to those that individuals that support them in particular but not exclusively by raising awareness of childhood cancer, child bereavement and their related issues, and the provision of resources and grants.
The charity's vision is to ensure that all parents/carers and families that have a child with cancer, a life limiting condition or that has died will receive appropriate social, emotional and mental health support at the time they need it, in a way that is accessible to them.
Page | 1
## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
This is done through the provision of:
- Free bereavement therapy for parents for as long as it is needed
- Self-care boxes for bereaved parents and siblings
- Bereavement Libraries
- Keepsakes and Headstones
- Food Vouchers/meals for bereaved parents and families in hospitals
- Relaxation Flashcards
- Activity Packs for children in hospital for long periods of time or children requiring isolation
- Princess hats for children that have lost their hair through treatment
- Bespoke requests to support families with specific health and/or social care needs.
The Trustees aim to ensure that appropriate levels of cash are available in order to meet the ongoing needs of the charity, particularly that there is sufficient cash to fund any ongoing therapy to bereaved parents for at least the next twelve months.
## **Risk**
The Trustees have considered where there may be risks to which the Charity is exposed and confirm that systems are established to mitigate against them.
## **Public benefit requirement**
The Trustees have given due consideration to Charity Commission published guidance on the operation of public benefit requirement.
## **Achievements, performance and financial review**
The financial activities are summarised on page 9 of the accounts. The charity has generated a deficit for the year ended 31 December 2023 of £5,022 (2022: deficit of £7,992).
During the year the charity has funded the following activities and services:
## Bereavement Therapy
We have provided over 185 (2022: 95) therapy sessions for 12 (2022: 10) bereaved families, which has been a vital component of supporting them with managing their grief.
_“I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the support of your amazing charity. Thank you so much.”_ - Bereaved Parent
_“The parent I referred to you has benefitted enormously from the counselling you secured for her. Thank you.” -_ Family Support Nurse
Page | 2
## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## Self Care Boxes
We have delivered over 110 (2022: 77) Self Care Boxes to bereaved parents. These have usually been requested around significant dates such as birthdays and anniversaries of death and have been hugely appreciated by the parents with all reporting they have found them comforting.
_“I would like to thank you so much for our parcel. It made me smile on the inside for the first time in weeks.” -_ Bereaved Parent
_“I want to thank you for all your amazing kindness support, care and material gifts you’ve sent us since our son died. It really meant a lot and brough me to tears often. Thank you.” -_ Bereaved parent
## Keepsakes and Headstones
We have provided 21 keepsakes (2022: 16) and 30 Headstones (2022: 15) to families, which has helped families to remember their children when they otherwise would not have been able to.
_“My grateful thanks for the much-needed support that you and your colleagues provide for so many families in need.” -_ Bereavement Nurse
_“This is fantastic news and made my day. I can’t thank you guys enough. It really is something I’ll treasure forever having a piece of my girl with me every day. Thanks again and speak soon.” -_ Bereaved Parent
## Food Vouchers/Meals
Over 1,200 meals (2022: 1,130) have been given to bereaved parents and oncology families in hospital. We work closely with Naomi House and Jacks Place Children’s Hospice, Charlton Farm Children’s Hospice, Bristol Children’s Hospital Starlight Ward, Queen Alexandra Hospital Starfish Ward and bereavement midwives.
_“They have made all the difference to families not having to worry about cooking and having some really lovely quality food rather than relying on junk food and snacks. Many of the families have commented on how much they have appreciated the food and how they have also appreciated the kind gesture of this being provided for them by Ripples of Compassion.” -_ Child Bereavement Nurse Specialist
Page | 3
## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED)**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## Activity Packs and Relaxation Flashcards
We have provided 21 activities (2022: 13) for children with cancer/life limiting conditions including 10 special Easter packs thanks to a kind donation from Lindt of chocolate Eggs and Bunnies.
_“This is so unbelievably kind of you; thank you so much. I can’t express how grateful I am to have these resources available to us and the children that will be attending out support groups” -_ Rainbow Trust Worker
We have delivered 37 (2022: 300) relaxation flashcards to hospitals and hospices working with children going through treatment and bereaved siblings, we have also delivered the cards directly to families.
## Bespoke Requests
All our bespoke requests are paid to the companies rather than direct to families to ensure it covers the support being requested. We have helped 6 families (2022: 9) with such requests including:
- 3 blocks of driving lessons for 3 families of children with a life limiting condition to give them access to the wider community and help build their confidence and provide opportunities for the family to enjoy leisure time together and have positive experiences and be able to get to important medical appointments
- A dining table and chairs for a bereaved family that were experiencing financial difficulty to help them have some routine and time together as a family.
- Memorial bench for a family at the child’s school so that she has a lasting memory for her friends and siblings.
- Craft items to help a family with a remembrance celebration they had planned for their daughter.
_“I just want to so thank you SO much for your support – it is helping my nieces’ parents through a hard time right now and they are thankful for the support” -_ Bereaved Relative
## Princess Hats
We have delivered 5 princess hats this year to a hospital ward that wanted to share them with children they had going through treatment.
Page | 4
## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## Bereavement Libraries
We have provided 7 (2022: 8) bereavement libraries this year to hospitals, hospices, school and community bereavement groups.
_“I just wanted to say thank you, I have now received the bereavement library of books. I’m so grateful that I will be able to use the resources to help bereaved families after the death of their child.” -_ Bereavement Nurse
## 5 Year Anniversary
This year also marked 5 years since we started so we have been looking back and celebrating all the amazing work that our volunteers have done supporting our families.
Page | 5
## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **Future plans**
The charity has updated and launched its new strategy for 2023-2026 which outline our priorities over the next 3 years. Our key areas of focus include:
- High Quality, Responsive and Equitable Services to Children and Families
- We believe that our families need more than just support for their physical health and that it is essential to support them with social, emotional and mental health with practical support and services when they need them. We will look to improve the key processes which support us to carry out our work so we can continue to do this.
- We will actively seek and listen to the views of the families we support and continue to invite them to contribute to and co-design the services we offer.
- The nature of the relationships we have with our partner charities, hospices and
- hospitals means that our service isn’t equitable across the UK. It is right that our offer adapts in each local area depending on the needs of the families and other local services that may be available. However, we have pockets of the UK that utilise our support effectively and other areas that have no support from us at all. We will seek to provide equitable services through our priority of collaboration with charities, services and businesses.
- Collaboration with Charities Services and Businesses
- We are seeking new partnerships with organisations we haven’t worked with before, to strengthen our existing partnerships and renew old ones that we haven’t nurtured as we should in recent years.
- We will actively explore opportunities whenever they arise to harness the energy, knowledge and resources of a larger and more diverse group of people to support
- `o` and grow our work.
- Culture of Volunteering
- We want to establish a culture of volunteering by providing a range of volunteer opportunities to meet what individuals are looking for.
- We will increase volunteering opportunities, not only to help us reach and support more families, but also to improve a sense of community and support our priority of financially sustainable growth.
- Financially Sustainable Growth
- Our Review of Services and Support 2018-2022 highlights the amazing difference we make to families we support, but we do not do enough to share this with those that make it possible. We aim to regularly share the impact of the work that we do on our social media.
- We will continue to review our services to ensure that we invest in the support that make the biggest difference to the families we work with.
- The majority of our income is from one off grants or donations. We will look for opportunities to build sustainable income and regular giving.
Page | 6
## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
- We will look to develop a consistent approach to our grant applications to maximise the income we receive through this route.
- We will review each of our services to consider plans for sustainable growth and how to include families in this work.
- We will monitor the income and expenditure of each service and ensure they are flexible to be scaled up and down as needed to meet the need of families and the financial circumstances of RoC.
- We will create a fundraising budget and ensure that what we spend creates more income for RoC.
## **Reserves policy**
The Trustees have reviewed the reserves of the Trust and consider this level of free reserves to be appropriate to enable the Trust to continue its activities. As at 31 December 2023 total reserves amounted to £18,249 (2022: £23,271) including restricted funds of £5,665 (2022: £Nil).
On behalf of the Board of Trustees
## **Fiona Corless**
Chair of Trustees
Date: 20 October 2024
Page | 7
## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF RIPPLES OF COMPASSION**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of Ripples of Compassion (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2023.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the 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 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do 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.
Sophie Barry, FCCA 19 Drury Lane Loddon Norfolk NR14 6LB
Date: 20 October 2024
Page | 8
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|
**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**funds**|**funds**|**2023**|**2022**|
|**Note**||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Income:**||||||
|Donations||11,486|5,439|16,925|21,607|
|Grants||3,428|14,484|17,912|11,090|
|Investment income||37|-|37|-|
|**Total income**||**14,951**|**19,923**|**34,874**|**32,697**|
|||||||
|**Expenditure:**||||||
|Charitable expenditure||21,594|14,258|35,852|38,187|
|Support costs|4|4,044|-|4,044|2,502|
|**Total expenditure**||**25,638**|**14,258**|**39,896**|**40,689**|
|||||||
|**(Deficit)/surplus for theyear**||**(10,687)**|**5,665**|**(5,022)**|**(7,992)**|
|||||||
|**Funds reconciliation:**||||||
|Funds brought forward|8|23,271|-|23,271|31,263|
|(Deficit)/surplus for theyear|8|(10,687)|5,665|(5,022)|(7,992)|
|**Funds carried forward**|**8**|**12,584**|**5,665**|**18,249**|**23,271**|
The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derives from continuing activities.
The notes on pages 12 to 16 form part of these financial statements.
Page | 9
## **BALANCE SHEET**
## **AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023**
||**Notes**|**2023**
**£**|**2023**
**£**|**2022**
**£**|**2022**
**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||
|**Current assets**||||||
|Debtors|**2**|2,810||5,581||
|Cash at bank||15,909||18,825||
||||**18,719**||**24,406**|
|**Current liabilities**||||||
|Creditors: amounts falling due
within oneyear|**3**|(470)||(1,135)||
|||||||
|**Net current assets**|||**18,249**||**23,271**|
|||||||
|**Net assets**|||**18,249**||**23,271**|
|||||||
|**The funds of the charity**||||||
|Unrestricted funds|**8**||12,584||23,271|
|Restricted funds|**8**||5,665||-|
|**Total funds**|**8**||**18,249**||**23,271**|
The accounts were approved by the board and authorised for issue and signed on their behalf by:
**Fiona Corless** Chair of Trustees
**Matthew Longley** Treasurer
Date: 20 October 2024
The notes on pages 12 to 16 form part of these financial statements.
Page | 10
## **STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
||**2023**
**£**|**2022**
**£**|
|---|---|---|
|**Cash used in operating activities:**|||
|(Deficit)for theyear|(5,022)|(7,992)|
|Decrease/(Increase)in debtors|2,771|(5,099)|
|(Decrease)/Increase in creditors|(665)|1,135|
|**Net cash used in operating activities**|**(2,916)**|**(11,956)**|
||||
|**Net decrease in cash in theyear**|**(2,916)**|**(11,956)**|
||||
|**Cash at the beginning of theyear**|**18,825**|**30,781**|
||||
|**Cash at the end of the year**|**15,909**|**18,825**|
## **Analysis of changes in net funds:**
||**At 1 January**
**2023**
**£**|**Cash flows**
**£**|**Other non-**
**cash changes**|**At 31**
**December**
**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Cash|18,825|(2,916)|-|15,909|
|**Total**|**18,825**|**(2,916)**|**-**|**15,909**|
The notes on pages 12 to 16 form part of these financial statements.
Page | 11
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **1. Accounting policies**
## **1.1 Basis of preparation**
Ripples of Compassion is a charitable trust constituted by way of a charitable trust deed. It is registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales and its registered number is 1185499. The registered office is 10 Clevedale, Bristol, BS162SQ.
The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable accounting standards.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102).
The Trust is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The Trustees are confident that the charity will be able to meet its financial obligations as they fall due for the foreseeable future, being at least 12 months from the date of signing of these financial statements, and therefore consider it appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.
## **1.2**
## **Financial instruments**
The Trust only has financial assets and financial liabilities which are of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently at their settlement value.
## **1.3**
## **Income recognition**
Income relates to donations which have been received by the charity and activities for
raising funds relate to fundraising activities which have taken place through the year and are recognised when the charity has entitlement to the income.
Page | 12
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022**
## **1.4 Expenditure**
All expenditure is included in the Statement of Financial Activities Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to the expenditure. All expenditure is accounted for on an accrual basis.
Support costs are those costs which are not directly attributable to the direct charitable
expenditure, but which are in respect of the general administration of the charity and overall management of the funds.
## **1.5 Fund accounting**
General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for any other purpose. The charity also has restricted funds which represents funds donated for specific purposes.
## **2. Debtors**
||**2023**
**£**
**2022**
**£**|
|---|---|
|Other debtors
Prepayments|**2,557**
**5,238**
**253**
**343**|
||**2,810**
**5,581**|
## **3. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
||**2023**
**£**
**2022**
**£**|
|---|---|
|Accruals|**470**
**1,135**|
||**470**
**1,135**|
Page | 13
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **4. Support costs**
||**2023**
**£**
**2022**
**£**|
|---|---|
|Independent examiner’s fees
Other|**-**
**630**
**4,044**
**1,872**|
||**4,044**
**2,502**|
## **5. Trustees**
None of the trustees received any remuneration during the year (2022: none) however one of the trustees was reimbursed expenses totalling £3,216 (2022: £5,957) in relation to costs incurred in providing charity activities which were not able to be directly funded from the charity’s bank account.
## **6. Employees**
There were no employees during the year (2022: none).
## **7. Related parties**
During the year, one of the trustees was reimbursed expenses totalling £3,216 (2022: £5,957) in relation to costs incurred in providing charity activities which were not able to be directly funded from the charity’s bank account.
Page | 14
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **8. Statement of funds**
||**At 1 January**
**2023**
**£**|**Income**
**£**|**Expenditure**
**£**|**At 31**
**December**
**2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Restricted funds**|||||
|Quartet Community|-|3,984|(3,984)|-|
|Tyler’s Friends|-|4,460|(4,460)|-|
|Albert Hunt|-|2,000|(2,000)|-|
|Rank Foundation|-|700|(700)|-|
|Foyle Foundation|-|7,800|(2,135)|5,665|
|Other donation|-|979|(979)|-|
|**Total restricted funds**|**-**|**19,923**|**(14,258)**|**5,665**|
||||||
|**Unrestricted funds**|**23,271**|**14,951**|**(25,638)**|**12,584**|
||||||
|**Total funds**|**23,271**|**34,874**|**(39,896)**|**18,249**|
Page | 15
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **9. Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2022**
|||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|
**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**funds**|**funds**|**2022**|**2021**|
||**Note**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Income:**||||||
|Donations||15,307|6,300|21,607|14,845|
|Grants||2,000|9,090|11,090|588|
|**Total income**||**17,307**|**15,390**|**32,697**|**15,433**|
|||||||
|**Expenditure:**||||||
|Charitable expenditure||22,417|15,770|38,187|12,887|
|Support costs|4|2,502|-|2,502|2,821|
|**Total expenditure**||**24,919**|**15,770**|**40,689**|**15,708**|
|||||||
|**Deficit for theyear**||**(7,612)**|**(380)**|**(7,992)**|**(275)**|
|||||||
|**Funds reconciliation:**||||||
|Funds brought forward|8|30,883|380|31,263|31,538|
|Deficit for theyear|8|(7,612)|(380)|(7,992)|(275)|
|**Funds carried forward**|**8**|**23,271**|**-**|**23,271**|**31,263**|
Page | 16