BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE PERIOD 23 December 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
Registered Charity Number: 1187134
BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
The Board of Trustees (appointed 23 December 2019) Jan Bonar Ruth Cumming Kathryn Stagg Catherine Wakely
Website https://breastfeedingtwinsandtriplets.co.uk/
Registered address
Lodge Farm Mawfa Crescent Sheffield S14 1AS
Working name Breastfeeding Twins & Triplets UK
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
Contents
Reference and Administrative Details………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1 Trustees’ Annual Report…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3 Statement of Financial Activities……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7 Statement of Financial Position………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8 Notes to the Accounts………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 9
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their inaugural report and the financial statements of the charity for the financial period 23 December 2019 – 31 December 2020.
Structure, Governance and Management
Breastfeeding Twins and Triplets UK is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) (Foundation model), whose only voting members are its Trustees. The charity was registered with the Charity Commission on 23 December 2019. Trustees are recruited and trained by the existing trustees and no other person or organisation has the authority to appoint Trustees to the board. Trustees meet at least twice a year to review the financial and operational state of the charity, and to set the strategic direction of the charity.
Objectives and activities
The objects of the charity are:
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for the public benefit, the advancement of health, including in particular (but without limitation) the support of successful breastfeeding amongst parents of twins, triplets and higher order multiples (“parents of multiples”);
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for the public benefit, the advancement of education, including in particular (but without limitation):
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providing parents of multiples and prospective parents of multiples, and their families and wider support networks, with the necessary information and tools to help those parents to establish and continue breastfeeding successfully;
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providing healthcare professionals with education and development opportunities to promote the benefits of breastfeeding and to enable them to understand the particular breastfeeding challenges faced by parents of multiples, and to help them to provide quality support to those parents in successfully establishing and continuing breastfeeding;
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facilitating breastfeeding support training for parents of multiples to be able to support others to fulfil their breastfeeding goals.
Breastfeeding Twins and Triplets UK was set up as a charity in response to the often-poor information and support available to parents of multiples who wish to breastfeed or chestfeed their babies. It sprang from a Facebook group of the same name, which was set-up in 2015 and has become a celebrated community of support for parents of multiples, with 7,800 members to date, run by highly qualified admins who provide excellent, evidence-based advice. It is well-known that rates of breastfeeding amongst parents of multiples are significantly lower than among parents of singletons, and there are often particular additional challenges to be overcome, not just as a result of having more than one baby to feed, but also from increased incidence of premature and early-term birth, higher likelihood that the babies will need additional support in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) immediately after birth, high rates of birth interventions, and health problems in mother and babies, all of which can make establishing breastfeeding with multiple babies particularly difficult. Added to this, there is a wide perception, in the community generally but also among many healthcare professionals, that breastfeeding twins and triplets is ‘just too hard’ or even ‘not possible’, and therefore parents are often not given the encouragement and practical help they need to persevere when faced with these challenges. The members of the Facebook group regularly report that the support and advice they received through this forum was key to their successful breastfeeding journey, often in spite of receiving poor or non-existent support in their communities and a lack of positive encouragement from their wider families.
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
Having seen the broad and positive impact of the Facebook community, the group’s founder, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Kathryn Stagg, was driven to extend the net of this support more widely, both to reach more parents who would benefit from it directly, but also to improve the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals and breastfeeding support volunteers to enable them to assist breastfeeding parents more effectively in the community.
The trustees confirm that they have referred to the Charity Commission’s guidance on Public Benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and objectives and in planning future activities.
Achievements and Performance
These financial statements cover the first year of operation of this new charity from its registration in late December 2019. Having spent the early few weeks of the charity gaining the necessary charity recognition for tax purposes from HMRC and setting up systems for receipt of donations, the first fundraising appeal was launched in mid-February 2020, inviting members of the linked Facebook group who had benefited from the support offered there to ‘pay it forward’ by donating to the new charity either with a small monthly direct debit of around £2 per month, or by making a one-off donation, to support the Trustees plans to extend the charity’s work both within and outside of the existing community. This fundraising appeal received a hugely positive response, with Direct Debit donations alone bringing in £1,500 plus Gift Aid in this first year of operation, plus significant additional one-off gifts. Members of the group were also invited to find other creative ways to provide support to the charity, and this has resulted in members providing cashback via Amazon Smile and Easyfundraising, donating proceeds from the sale of breastfeeding aids such as twin feeding pillows and breast-pumps, and seeking match-funding through their employers and via Give As You Earn schemes.
However, within a month of launching this initial fundraising appeal, the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK in March 2020, and derailed several of the plans that the Trustees had been forming to have a presence at national and international breastfeeding conferences, and hosting seminars and study days for healthcare professionals and breastfeeding supporters. However, the Trustees promptly explored ways of moving activity into the digital sphere, and ultimately this has proven to be of benefit by vastly extending the reach of the education, training and support that we have been able to provide. By the middle of the year, we had written a 2-hour long webinar entitled ‘Supporting Breastfeeding Multiples’ aimed at healthcare professionals and breastfeeding support volunteers, and by year end had delivered this to six sold-out groups, reaching around 120 people. Towards the end of the year we started to offer free 1-to-1 breastfeeding support via Zoom to parents who were facing particular breastfeeding struggles which needed more direct assistance than could be provided by the Facebook community, and had delivered 5 of these sessions by year end – those who benefit from these sessions are invited to donate what they can afford or what they feel the session was worth after the session, but there is no obligation or expectation that they do so. Both the webinars and the direct support sessions have been extremely well received, with feedback from the webinars including:
“A great overview. Evidence based and clear, comprehensive presentation”
“Learning from experts by experience”
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
“So much practical information”
“I loved that it … covered issues associated with preterm and late preterm births, supplementing, and reducing top-ups more generally, as well as some background info on the “biology” of twins and prevalence of types of twin, and the slightly differing issues concerning each. It was a great all-round holistic, and practical approach.”
We offered funding to parents of multiples to train to become Breastfeeding Peer Supporters, training with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM), inviting expressions of interest from members of the Facebook group and eventually funding 16 individuals to undertake this course, with a focus on granting funding to individuals from a range of diverse backgrounds. We also took the opportunity to develop the brand of new our charity with a new logo, font and colour scheme and to redesign and relaunch breastfeedingtwinsandtriplets.co.uk, working with a professional web design company to improve both the content and design and making the available resources more easily accessible to the user. As part of this process, we created new printable leaflets aimed at healthcare professionals on the subjects of ‘Supporting Breastfeeding Twins’ and ‘Supporting Breastfeeding Triplets’.
Future Plans
In 2021, the charity plans to continue and extend the work it has been doing, continuing to run the webinar series and also beginning to offer these directly to bodies which engage healthcare professionals with three such sessions already in the diary for 2021. We will continue to offer 1-to-1 breastfeeding support to twin and triplet parents in cases of high need. We have negotiated with ARDO, supplier of hospital-grade breast-pumps, to be able to offer a discount code for breast-pump hire to all members of the linked Facebook group – access to a hospital-grade breast-pump is essential in enabling breastfeeding parents to establish their milk supply if their babies are in NICU or are struggling to latch in the early days, which is common in multiple births. We will also begin to offer up to two months of free or subsidised breast-pump hire to low-income families or families of babies in NICU, in collaboration with ARDO.
We will have a presence at conferences and seminars as far as Covid restrictions will allow, with funding already in place to enable us to have a stall at the Lactation Consultants of Great Britain (LCGB) conference in 2021. Attendance at conferences is one of the best ways of reaching healthcare professionals and alerting them to our work and the resources and training we offer, and we are hopeful that face-to-face conferences will recommence shortly to increase such opportunities. We will research other ways of reaching health visitors, midwives, maternity department infant feeding leads and other breastfeeding supporters to disseminate our resources and alert them to the work of the charity. We will begin to develop a new webinar series, this time aimed at expectant parents on ‘Preparing to Breastfeed Multiples’, and we will fund additional training for the administrators of the linked Facebook community to ensure their skills and knowledge continue to be refreshed. We will look into engaging some ad-hoc administrative support to provide some much-needed additional time to help with delivering all of these activities.
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
Financial Review
The charity had an extremely successful first year of operation, attracting donations and gift aid of £9,136 and generating fees of £1,914 from the first six sessions in its webinar series – webinars are limited to 20 participants per session, and fees to attend are £25 for professionals and £5 for volunteers.
Expenditure has been slower to pick up, not least due to Covid restrictions limiting in-person activity, but also naturally whilst the Trustees plan the initial strategic focus of the charity and begin to develop and disseminate the resources and support we offer. We hope to engage some administrative assistance in the latter part of 2021 to provide us with the time resource we need to extend the reach of our activities, and hope that as Covid restrictions ease there will be more opportunity for face-to-face engagement particularly with the healthcare sector.
At year end, the charity held total funds of £8,296, of which £250 was a restricted fund to enable the charity to have a presence at the LCGB Conference in 2021, and the remainder, £8,046, was liquid unrestricted general reserve funds available for use at the discretion of the trustees to support the full objects of the charity. Whilst we anticipate that donation income will likely not continue at this initial level in subsequent years, and therefore need to plan our activities accordingly for long-term sustainability, this reserve fund is more than sufficient to enable us to develop our activities over the course of the next year.
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the Trustees
Jan Bonar Trustee
Approved by the Trustees on 20 October 2021
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
| Notes INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM: Donations 2 Charitable activities 3 TOTAL EXPENDITURE ON: Raising Funds 4 Charitable activities 5 TOTAL RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS: TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) & NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS |
Unrestricted Funds £ 8,886 1,914 10,800 212 2,542 2,754 8,046 8,046 |
Restricted Total funds Funds 2020 £ £ 250 9,136 - 1,914 250 11,050 - 212 - 2,542 - 2,754 250 8,296 250 8,296 |
|---|---|---|
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the period. All income and expenditure derives from continuing activities. There is no liability for corporation tax due on activities.
The notes on pages 9 to 12 form part of these financial statements
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2020
| Note CURRENT ASSETS Debtors & prepayments 7 Cash at bank and in hand 8 Total current assets LIABILITIES Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 9 NET CURRENT ASSETS TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES TOTAL NET ASSETS THE FUNDS OF THE CHARITY Restricted funds 10 Unrestricted funds General funds 10 Total charity funds |
2020 £ 68 8,688 8,756 460 8,296 8,296 8,296 250 8,046 8,296 |
|---|---|
These financial statements were approved by the trustees and authorised for issue on 20 October 2021, and are signed on their behalf by:
J BONAR Trustee
Charity Registration Number: 1187134
The notes on pages 9 to 12 form part of these financial statements
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES
1.1 Charity information
Breastfeeding Twins and Triplets UK is a charitable incorporated organisation registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales as registered charity number 1187134, since 23 December 2019, and therefore this is its first set of financial statements. The registered address is Lodge Farm, Mawfa Crescent, Sheffield, S14 1AS.
1.2 Accounting convention
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 (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102)).
Breastfeeding Twins and Triplets UK meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).
The financial statements are prepared in sterling which is the financial currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
1.3 Cash flow statement
The Trustees have taken advantage of the exemption in the Charities SORP from including a cash flow statement in the financial statements on the grounds that the organisation is a small charity with a turnover of less than £500,000.
1.4 Income
Voluntary income is received by way of donations and gifts and is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receipt is deemed to be probable.
Income from charitable activities includes income from webinar sales, which are recognised when a legal entitlement exists.
1.5 Expenditure
Resources expended are recognised in the period in which they are incurred. Resources expended include attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.
Expenditure on charitable activities includes direct expenditure incurred in presenting training webinars, providing 1-to-1 breastfeeding support via Zoom to parents of multiples, supporting parents who have breastfed their twins and triplets to train as breastfeeding peer supporters with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM), and developing a website to serve as an educational resource both for parents of multiples who wish to breastfeed or chestfeed their babies and for health professionals who wish to extend their knowledge to support these families better in their breastfeeding journeys.
1.6 Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources receivable or generated for the objects of the charity without further specified purpose and are available as general funds.
Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor.
1.7 Financial instruments
As per the definition of FRS 102, the charity makes use of only basic financial instruments which are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at settlement value. Financial instruments held by the entity comprise debtors, creditors and cash.
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (cont’d)
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
1.8 Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and include cash-in-hand and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
1.9 Taxation
No provision has been made for taxation as the entity is a public benefit entity which is exempt from UK direct taxation on its charitable activities.
1.10 Going concern
These financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis. In making this assessment, the charity’s Trustees have considered all available information about the future for at least, but not limited to, 12 months from the date the financial statements are approved. There are no material uncertainties regarding the charity’s ability to continue.
1.11 Significant judgements and estimations
The Trustees have given consideration to the significant judgements and estimates made in compiling the financial statements. The Trustees do not consider estimates or judgements made to be material to the financial statements. Accruals are made when activity has occurred for which a cash outflow is expected, but for which no invoice has been received. Estimates are based on prior experience and knowledge.
| 2 DONATIONS Unrestricted funds £ Individual donations 7,272 Corporate donations 1,614 8,886 3 INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES Webinar sales 4 COSTS OF RAISING FUNDS Direct costs - donation processing fees |
Restricted funds £ - 250 250 Unrestricted Funds £ 1,914 1,914 Unrestricted Funds £ 212 212 |
Total 2020 £ 7,272 1,864 9,136 Total 2020 £ 1,914 1,914 Total 2020 £ 212 212 |
|---|---|---|
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (cont’d)
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
5 COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
| Direct costs: Creating and delivering webinar series Providing 1-to-1 breastfeeding support via Zoom Training breastfeeding peer supporters Creation of new website to serve as educational resource |
Unrestricted Total Funds 2020 £ £ 821 821 200 200 720 720 801 801 2,542 2,542 |
|---|---|
6 STAFFING, TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES
No staff were employed during the current financial period.
While acting in the capacity of a Trustee, no person received remuneration or reimbursement of expenses in the current financial period.
One Trustee received payments of £600 for writing and delivering a series of webinars on 'Supporting Breastfeeding Multiples' to health care professionals and breastfeeding supporters, and £200 for delivering 1-to-1 breastfeeding support to parents of multiples via Zoom.
| 7 DEBTORS 'CAF Donate' donation debtor 8 CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS Cash at bank and in hand Total cash and cash equivalents 9 CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year Trade creditors Deferred income Accruals |
2020 £ 68 68 2020 £ 8,688 8,688 2020 £ 64 175 221 460 |
|---|---|
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BREASTFEEDING TWINS AND TRIPLETS UK
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (cont’d)
FOR THE PERIOD 23 DECEMBER 2019 – 31 DECEMBER 2020
10 FUNDS
| 10 FUNDS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted general funds Restricted funds - LCGB Conference fee |
Income £ 10,800 250 11,050 |
Expenditure £ (2,754) - (2,754) |
Closing Balance 31 Dec 2020 £ 8,046 250 |
| 8,296 | |||
Unrestricted general funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees to support the full objects of the charity.
A restricted donation was received to enable the charity to have a presence at the 2021 LCGB Conference. It is anticipated that this fund will be spent in full in 2021.
11 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
| Unrestricted Funds 2020 £ Debtors and prepayments 68 Cash at bank and in hand 8,438 |
Unrestricted Funds 2020 £ Debtors and prepayments 68 Cash at bank and in hand 8,438 |
Restricted Funds Total 2020 2020 £ £ - 68 250 8,688 |
|---|---|---|
| Creditors: due within one year | (460) | - (460) |
| 8,046 | 250 8,296 |
12 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Trustee Kathryn Stagg received payments as detailed in note 6 above. These payments were approved by the other three Trustees in Kathryn’s absence, as per the charity’s constitution. Kathryn, an IBCLC, is one of the UK’s foremost experts in breastfeeding multiples and as such the remaining Trustees felt that there was no better person to deliver these aspects of the charity’s work, and therefore approved the payments to Kathryn as being in the best interests of the charity.
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