## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period**
**From:** 01 December 2020 **Period start date To:** 31 November 2021 **Period end date**
**Charity name:** Bristol Autism Support
## **Charity registration number:** 1186287
## **Objectives and Activities**
## **1. Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document**
The object of the CIO is:
The preservation and protection of good health for the public benefit among children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, their families and carers in Bristol and the surrounding areas, in particular but not exclusively by:
(a) providing specialist, in-person, online, email and telephone support, advice, guidance and informal counselling, information and support to the parents and carers of autistic children;
(b) advancing education of Autistic Spectrum Disorders and the care of autistic children by providing training and specialist information for parents and carers of autistic children, organising conferences, meetings, workshops and events and providing webbased resources.
(c) promoting volunteering opportunities within the charity to persons with Autistic Spectrum Disorders with the aim of building their individual capabilities, competencies and skills.
Nothing in this constitution shall authorise an application of the property of the CIO for the purposes which are not charitable in accordance with [section 7 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005] and [section 2 of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.
## **2. Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.**
Bristol Autism Support (BAS) provides support and information to parents and carers of autistic children who live in Bristol and the surrounding area. We primarily support parents and carers prior to their child’s autism assessment and for some time after they have achieved a diagnosis for their child. We provide peer to peer support with our support team all being parent / carers of autistic children.
## **3. Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit**
The Trustees believe that Bristol Autism Support has undertaken the delivery of services in line with its objectives and that those objectives are aligned to the public benefit.
|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:|
|---|---|---|
||SORP
reference||
|Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|**N/A**|
|Policy on social
investment including
program related
investment|Para 1.38|**N/A**|
|Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|BAS relies heavily on its volunteers. The organisation
has around 25 volunteers, including trustees, who
undertake befriending of other parents and support
group facilitation among other tasks. BAS encourages
parents who have used its services to become
volunteers, and from there, some volunteers have
also secured paid work with the charity. In this way,
BAS can be truly informed by its service users.|
|Other||**N/A**|
## **Achievements and Performance**
**Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.**
## **2020/21 Bristol Autism Support: Between December 2020 & November 2021 Support Groups**
Due to Covid 19 restrictions much of our activity remained online using zoom. BAS held 51 online drop-in support groups with 209 attendees. From July – November 2021 we began to hold in person support groups but at a reduced capacity to allow for social distancing. BAS held 14 in person support groups with 84 attendees.
## **Courses**
All our courses run for 6 weeks and are designed to support parents with information whilst connecting them with each other. In 2020/21 all our courses were held online using zoom due to restrictions relating to the pandemic.
BAS ran three What Do I Do Now courses which are 6 weeks long with a total of 64 attendees. This course is designed to support parents new to a diagnosis.
We also ran two More Than Words courses designed for parents and carers of non-speaking children to assist with communication supports at home. These groups had 42 attendees.
BAS held 3 nurture groups which also ran for 6 weeks with a total of 20 attendees. These were small groups being supported by counsellors over several weeks.
## **Information Seminars**
Bristol Autism Supports provides high quality support. Our information sessions can provide the latest correct, useful, and crucial information, at the right time, to parents and carers of autistic children in Bristol.
In 2020/21 BAS held 7 information seminars with 222 attendees, all were online using zoom except for the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) session which was in person:
- The Picture Exchange Communication System – communication for non-speaking children – 34 attendees
- EFT to help reduce stress and improve mental wellbeing – 15 attendees, this was an inperson session.
- Autism and Food, how to support children with food challenges – 23 attendees
- What is Pathological Demand Avoidance and how to support PDA children – 41 attendees
- Alex Manners talk – Alex talked about his experience as an autistic young man – 39 attendees
- Autism and anxiety – 45 attendees
- Wills and trusts, financial options for your children’s future -25
## **One to One Support**
In 2021 BAS had 22 buddy & mentoring pairs running – providing peer to peer support to new members. BAS also provided peer to peer phone support to 123 people and a further 90 people were supported through our enquiries service. In addition, 44 people were provided 1-1 support via our Facebook messenger.
## **Online Support**
At the heart of Bristol Autism Support is our community which is well connected through our Facebook group. We provide a safe haven and a community for Bristol’s autism families in order to reduce isolation and improve mental and physical wellbeing.
Our numbers for 20-21:
- In total we had 920 attendees / contacts with people through our services.
- Bristol Autism Support Members 611. BAS members get advance notice of all our sessions and events. In February 2020 we became a membership organisation, and some of our support options (BAS Buddy scheme, bookable phone and in-person appointments, members-only Facebook group, members-only events) are available only to members. This creates a micro-community of members who will get to know each other over time.
- Members in our main Facebook group increased over the year by 30% to 2,521 – The private group is for all Bristol Parent / carers of autistic children.
- Members in the BAS village Facebook group 235 – designed to support members attending in person events.
- Facebook page followers increased over the year by 29% to 2,502.
- Twitter followers increased by 13% over the year to 1,848.
## **Our Impact**
BAS ran an impact survey between August and December 2021 receiving 179 responses.
The top answers for how ‘..the BAS community has helped you’ were:
1. ‘feeling like you are not alone’ (83%);
2. ‘Information about autism, in general’ (74%)
3. ‘helped to feel less isolated’ (61%) and
4. ‘understanding your autistic child’ (59%).
When asked how respondents feel about BAS the overwhelming majority felt positively with the following responses:
1. Informative (85%)
2. Helpful (82%)
3. Friendly (79%)
4. Welcoming (77%)
5. Supportive (64%)
6. Caring (64%)
Quotes from our impact survey:
_“As a parent new to all things ASD it is confusing and intimidating. BAS is a beacon of friendliness and warmth in all of it.”_
_“I have found great support from Bristol autism support when I have otherwise felt so alone in this rollercoaster of emotions of a journey”_
_“Helped us feel less alone at a time when no other support available”_
## **Looking ahead**
In 2022, BAS will extend its courses offered both online and in-person because both work well for different people. Our drop-in support groups will reduce as we increase our offer of more social activities such as coffee mornings and family events. BAS would also like to build on the success of our one-off information sessions which are popular. Following the pandemic, we want to offer more in-person opportunities for our community to connect with and learn from each other.
## **Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41|N/A|
|---|---|---|
|Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41|N/A|
|Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|N/A|
|Other||N/A|
## **Financial Review**
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|BAS continued to have a strong financial year in
20-21, reflecting its resilience during the
pandemic. The charity spent more than it earnt
due to the expenditure of some grants which had
been secured just before the year start. At the|
|---|---|---|
|||end of 20-21, BAS had nearly £9,000 in the bank,
of which roughly 50% was restricted and 50%
was unrestricted.|
|---|---|---|
|Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|The Reserves Policy states that no reserves are
held but that a contingency fund of £3,000 is
retained.|
|Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|Zero.|
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|The contingency fund is assessed to suffice.
However, this policy is reviewed annually so may
change in 21-22.|
|Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|None.|
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|None.|
**Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|The charity’s principal
sources of funds
(including any fundraising)|Para 1.47||**60%- Grants**
•
Quartet Covid Recovery Grant
•
John James Foundation
•
Bristol City Council
•
Boshier Hinton Fund
•
Albert Hunt Fund
**27%- donations**
**13%- sales**
•
Training courses for parents of autistic
children|
|---|---|---|---|
|Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46||**N/A**|
|A description of the
principal risks facing the
charity|Para 1.46||**1.**Much of BAS’s funding is fixed term
presenting a challenge to plan longer-term
for the charity’s work. The Board is working
on fund-raising strategy and building
relationships to secure longer-term funding.
**2.**BAS’s support base is growing, and BAS
needs to develop to meet this need.
Therefore, the Board is currently working on
a strong plan for future development.|
|Other|||N/A|
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
|Description of charity’s
trusts:|||
|---|---|---|
|Type of governing
document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|Constitution.|
|How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|CIO|
|Trustee selection
methods including details
of any constitutional
provisions e.g. election
to post or name of any
person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|BAS mainly recruits its trustees from its service
users. Trustee vacancies are advertised, applicants
are asked to complete an application form and
interviewed by a senior member of staff and serving
Trustee. Successful candidates are invited to a
Trustees meeting after which the trustees will
collectively agree to the induction of a new trustee.|
## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
|Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees|Para 1.51|N/A|
|---|---|---|
|The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51|N/A|
|Relationship with any
related parties|Para 1.51|N/A|
|Other||N/A|
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charity name|Bristol Autism Support|
|---|---|
|Other name the charity uses|N/A|
|Registered charity number|1186287|
|Charity’s principal address|Knowle West Media Centre
Leinster Avenue
Bristol
BS4 1NL|
**Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole year**|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Jason Thorne|Chair|||
||Jane Walton|Secretary|||
||Steve Clift|Treasurer|||
||Laura Collins||||
||Caroline Clark||Started Feb 21.||
||Jo Stokes||Started Feb 21.||
||Tammi Clark||Started March 21.||
||Anna Hall||Started March 21.||
||Jaime Breitnauer||Feb 2021 - November 2021.||
||Jade Page||Until March 21.||
||Ingrid Vlam||Until June 21.||
– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved
**Director name N/A**
Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity
|**Trustee name**|**Dates acted if not for whole year **||
|---|---|---|
|**N/A**|||
||||
||||
||||
||||
||||
## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others**
|Description of the assets
held in this capacity|N/A|
|---|---|
|Name and objects of the
charity on whose behalf the
assets are held and how this
falls within the custodian
charity’s objects|N/A|
|Details of arrangements for
safe custody and
segregation of such assets
from the charity’s own
assets|N/A|
**Additional information (optional)**
## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**|
|---|---|---|
|**Type of**
**adviser**
**Name**
**Address**|||
|**N/A**|||
||||
||||
||||
|**Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)**|||
|Kate Laine-Toner|||
Kate Laine-Toner
## **Exemptions from disclosure**
Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details
**N/A**
## **Other optional information**
## **Declarations**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s)** Joanne Georgina Allen Stokes **Full name(s)** Jason Paul Thorne **Position (eg Secretary,** Chair Treasurer **Chair, etc) Date** 28/06/22
||**Bristol Autism Support**|**Bristol Autism Support**|**Bristol Autism Support**|**1186287**|**1186287**|**CC16a**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**For the period**
**from**|01.12.2020|**To**|30.11.2021|||
||||||||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||||
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**5,189**
**-**
**1,256**
**696**
**2,186**
**1,436**
**2,457**
**-**
**13,220**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**13,220**
**456**
**-**
**2,186 # **
**2,225**
**16,476**
**-**
**731**
**-**
**2,326**
**24,401**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**24,401**
**- 11,180**
**-**
**17,398**
**6,217**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**13,626**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**13,626**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**13,626**
**-**
**4,686**
**124**
**-**
**2,226**
**3,855**
**-**
**205**
**-**
**11,096**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**11,096**
**2,530**
**-**
**-**
**2,530**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**5,189**
**-**
**1,256**
**696**
**15,812**
**1,436**
**2,457**
**-**
**26,846**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**26,846**
**456**
**4,686**
**2,310**
**2,225**
**18,702**
**3,855**
**731**
**205**
**2,326**
**35,497**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**35,497**
**- 8,650**||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|Donations via electronicpymts|**5,189**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**5,189**||**2,904**|
|Event Tickets|**-**|||**-**||**1,566**|
|Cash Donations|**1,256**|||**1,256**||**4,833**|
|Sale of Merchandise|**696**|||**696**||**259**|
|Grants|**2,186**|||**15,812**||**19,806**|
|Other|**1,436**|||**1,436**||**868**|
|Course subscriptions|**2,457**|||**2,457**||**-**|
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|
**13,220**|||**26,846**||**30,236**|
||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||||||
||**-**||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|||
||**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**|||||||
||||**-**|**26,846**||**30,236**|
||||||||
|
Venue Hire|**456**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**456**||**1,996**|
|Office & Storage Unit Rent|**-**|||**4,686**||**1,305**|
|Office Expenses|**2,186**|||**2,310**||**2,706**|
|Volunteer Expenses & Training|**2,225**|||**2,225**||**1,586**|
|Freelance Staff|**16,476**|||**18,702**||**2,122**|
|Printing& website costs|**-**|||**3,855**||**1,940**|
|General Expenses|**731**|||**731**||**1,033**|
|Insurance|**-**|||**205**||**201**|
|Course Costs|**2,326**|||**2,326**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**24,401**|||**35,497**||**12,889**|
||||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases (see table)**|||||||
|**,**|**-**||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|||
||**-**|||**-**|||
|**_Sub total_ **|**-**|||**-**||**-**|
|**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||
||||**-**|**35,497**||**12,889**|
||||||||
||**- 11,180**|**2,530**|**-**|
**- 8,650**||**17,347**|
||**-**|**-**|**-**
**-**|**-**||**-**|
||**17,398**|**-**||**17,398**||**49**|
||**6,217**|**2,530**|**-**|**8,747**||**17,397**|
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
30/08/2022
1
|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**||
|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**|Signature
**Details**
**Details**
Cash at bank
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**8,911**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**8,911**
**-**
Agreement Error
Agreement Error
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
|||||
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
||||Date of
approval|
|||||
|||||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
30/08/2022
2
**Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
**Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**
**Report to the trustees/** Charity Name **members of** Bristol Autism Support
|**On accounts for the year**
**ended**
**Set out on pages**|31 November 2021|**Charity no**
**(if any)**|1186287|
|---|---|---|---|
|||||
||1 & 2|||
- I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/11/2021.
- **Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** 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 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the 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 (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn 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:** K Kerley
**Date:** 7[th] August 2022
**Name:** Katy Kerley
**Relevant professional** AAT **qualification(s) or body (if any):**
**Address:** 45 Pathfield
Torrington
Devon, EX38 7BX
## **Section B Disclosure**
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
1
**IER**
**Give here brief details of** There are no areas of concern to report **any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** .
2
**IER**