Trustees’ Annual Report & Statement of Financial Activity
for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025
Trustees
Eleanore Hargreaves Diana Davies Pauline Saxby Hazel McNeill
Completed 10/05/2025
Mindful Surrey Charity No: 1187713
1. Introduction
1.1 Charitable Objects
The object of the CIO for the year ending March 31[st] 2025 was the advancement of education for people of all ages and backgrounds, in Surrey, Sussex and throughout the UK. The aim is to promote, sustain and increase individual and collective knowledge and understanding of mindfulness training, skills and expertise. Through participation in Mindful Surrey’s courses and events, individuals can develop their capabilities, competences, skills and understanding in order to enhance and transform their mental health and wellbeing.
1.2 Financial period
Our financial period lasts 12 months and runs from April 1[st] to March 31[st] .
1.3 Income and spending
Our gross income for the year was £12,812.
Total income including cash funds at the start of the year was £20,627.
This is a gross income decrease from the previous year which was £23,699.
As we had sufficient funds and there was an increase in demand, we have offered more free support to people on low incomes and community groups.
The spending was £12,318.
Our accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis. We started the year on 1.4.24 with cash funds of £7,815. End of year balance, 31.3.25: £8,309.
Full details of receipts and payments can be found in the accounts for the year.
We kept the price for the 8-week MBSR course at £195 for online and £225 for in-person, as the previous year.
The weekly drop-ins cost £60 for two months.
Our charge to schools varied, according to their location and the length of sessions we provided.
1.4 Government contracts
Mindful Surrey did not receive any contracts from central government or a local authority during the financial period of this return.
1.5 Government grants
Mindful Surrey did not receive any grants from central government or a local authority during the financial period of this return.
1.6 Income breakdown
The total value of income received during the financial period of this return was as follows:
a) Donations and legacies £137 b) Charitable activities £12,675 c) Other trading activities Zero d) Investments Zero
1.7 Details of Any Funds Materially in Deficit
The Charity has no funds which are materially in deficit.
1.8 Investments Policy & Objectives
The charity does not make investments.
2. Spend
2.1 Grant making
Grant making is not the main way Mindful Surrey carries out its purposes. The charity does not award any grants or make social or programme-related investments.
2.2 Trustee payments
All Trustees act in a voluntary capacity and receive no remuneration or other material benefits from their services to the charity.
Out-of-pocket expenses necessarily and reasonably incurred by Trustees in promoting the purposes of the charity are reimbursed at cost.
2.3 Statements on liabilities
The trustees declare that:
The charity has given no guarantees where potential liability under the guarantee is outstanding at the date of this statement.
The charity has no debt outstanding at the date of this statement which is owed by the CIO and which is secured by an express charge on any assets of the CIO.
3. Activities outside of the United Kingdom
3.1 Income received from outside the United Kingdom
The charity did not receive income from outside of the United Kingdom in the financial period of this return.
3.2 Delivering charitable activities outside of the United Kingdom
The charity did not deliver charitable activities outside of the United Kingdom in the financial period of this return.
3.3 Spending outside the United Kingdom
The charity did not spend funds outside of the United Kingdom in the financial period of this return.
4. Trading subsidiaries
The charity does not have any trading subsidiaries.
5. Charity addresses and property
The public address details displayed on the Register of Charities are correct.
6. Structure and membership
The charity is not part of a wider group structure with a parent body and subsidiary bodies.
7. Employees and volunteers
7.1 Employees
At the end of the financial period of this return, one self-employed person was working for the charity, Catherine Nasskau; she did not work on behalf of the charity outside the UK. There were no permanent employees or people on fixed-term contracts.
7.2 Volunteers
Excluding trustees, four volunteers carried out charitable activities on behalf of our charity in the United Kingdom during the financial period of this return.
Volunteers are used by Mindful Surrey to help with the website, marketing and Google Ads. We are in the Reach volunteering programme and this is the main way we find volunteers to help with aspects of running the charity that Catherine Nasskau does not have time or expertise to do. We worked with four people last year, digital marketing consultants who helped with the Google Ads and SEO. Our Reach advert for assistance with fund-raising is still open and we hope to find someone with more time to assist in the future.
7.3 Trustee selection methods
There must be at least three charity trustees. The maximum number of trustees is 12. In accordance with the constitution, trustees are appointed or re-appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.
In appointing trustees, due consideration is given to ensuring that the trustees have, between them, the skills and experience necessary to manage the charity effectively and in accordance with charity law.
8. Governance
8.1 Policies and procedures
The charity had the following policies and procedures in place at the end of the financial period of this annual return:
Financial controls policy and procedures Safeguarding policy and procedures Equal Opportunities policy Privacy policy
8.2 Statutory Declaration
The Trustees confirm that they have paid due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit in deciding what activities the charity should undertake.
9. Safeguarding and risk
9.1 Safeguarding
The charity provided services to children and adults at risk in the financial period of the return. The charity obtained the required level of DBS Checks for all roles which were eligible for them in the financial period of this return.
All required Standard and Enhanced DBS checks were obtained.
9.2 Serious Incidents
The charity is not aware of any serious incidents or near-misses during the financial period of this return.
10. Activities & achievements
10.1 Overview
Over the year Mindful Surrey has continued to offer mindfulness training to help people with their mental and physical health and wellbeing. Our sessions have been in the form of 8-week courses, drop-in sessions, one-to-one coaching, sessions with community groups and charitable organisations, and sessions in schools. Our sessions have been run online and in-person in Dorking, Surrey. Using Zoom has meant that local people who cannot travel can be offered support.
10.2 Outputs and outcomes
MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) courses:
We ran 8-week courses throughout the year. Two of these were run online and one in-person in Dorking, Surrey. MBSR course is the standard mindfulness course taught all over the world which helps people with a wide range of experiences and challenges.
Mindful Eating courses:
We ran one 8-week course, online. Participants have found the course to be extremely helpful in dealing with all aspects of emotional eating, and it has led to specific changes in their eating habits and overall physical and mental health.
Drop-in sessions:
We continued with the popular weekly, live online classes throughout the year. We ran week Tuesday morning sessions for everyone and monthly Thursday evenings for people who had taken the MBSR course, with us or elsewhere, or who had a similar level of meditation experience.
One-to-one sessions:
Demand for these continued to grow throughout the year, and we worked with 8 individuals. Some people prefer these to being in a group, or sometimes want to have a few sessions on their own before joining a group.
Schools and colleges:
We ran two sessions with East Surrey College to help staff and students with stress and improving their sleep.
Community groups and charitable organisations:
We were pleased to work with Action on Disability and ran a session for carers and people with disabilities.
Testimonials and feedback:
We request feedback following every course or class, which is shared with trustees. We also publish testimonials on the website. Mindful Surrey UK is registered with Coursecheck, an organisation that publish online, unedited feedback and reviews of courses. There is a link to Coursecheck on the website so the public can discover what participants have gained from our MBSR course and other sessions.
Conclusion:
Mindful Surrey UK is fairly unique as an organisation offering mindfulness training to individuals, schools and organisations who cannot afford to pay for it – not many mindfulness classes are delivered by charities and offered for free. It is worth spending time fund-raising in order to fulfil our mission of making our classes accessible to all.
There continues to be a great need to support people of all ages with their mental health, particularly younger people and children. The NHS waiting lists are long and many people are unable to pay for professional support.
Mindfulness training is very effective at helping people deal with stress, anxiety, depression, bereavement, sleep problems, as well as difficulties with relationships, and physical pain or illness. It is useful that it works so well delivered via live, online sessions.
It is rewarding to read people’s testimonials following our courses and to hear how beneficial people found them over the last year. Many people reported that coming to the sessions really helped them with the consequences of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
10.3 How the public have benefitted
We offered support to people on low incomes throughout the year, in addition to supporting people who were able to pay for sessions. We ran a free introduction event again as part of the Dorking Mindfest Fair, which served to inform local people about the different organisations and support that was available to help with mental health. We have supported people with a very wide range of needs, and it is pleasing to be able to support so many people, both online and through in-person sessions.
10.4 Performance
We had sufficient income to run effective courses and events for adults, We plan to raise more funds through grants for the year ahead.
.
10.5 Looking ahead
It was gratifying to be able to help Surrey residents on low incomes who were in desperate need of help and who could not access any other professional support. We look forward to continuing with this in the future.
10.6 Principal risks facing the charity
The principal risk facing the charity would be if we were no longer able to participate in the Google Ads Non-profit programme, which gives us $10,000 worth of Ads a month. This allows us to promote our work online at no cost and results in around 50 website visits a day. There are certain things we need to do on a regular basis for Google to allow us to stay in the programme. Catherine Nasskau spends time working with the digital volunteer managing the ads. This is the most significant factor in maintaining and developing our online presence.
As our classes are delivered online as well as in-person, and what we offer can be adapted according to our income, the charity does not face any other major risks. Awareness of mindfulness as an effective intervention and tool to support good mental health and wellbeing continues to grow, as does our public profile, and we are steadily getting an increasing number of referrals, both from professional health practitioners as well as word of mouth. Therefore we have no concerns about Mindful Surrey as a going concern.
11. Reference and administration details
11.1 Charity name & registration
Name of the Charity: Mindful Surrey UK Charity No: 1187713
Mindful Surrey is not registered with HM Revenue & Customs
11.2 Charity’s principal address
13 Warrenne Rd, Brockham, Surrey RH3 7JY
e-mail: info@mindfulsurrey.co.uk website: www.mindfulsurrey.co.uk
11.3 Names of the trustees who manage the charity
Diana Davies, Eleanore Hargreaves, Pauline Saxby, Hazel McNeill. The role of Chair is rotated between the trustees.
11.4 Names of advisors & senior members of staff
Catherine Nasskau, Director of Mindful Surrey UK, Mindfulness teacher
11.5 Bank
NatWest Bank
12 Station Road East, Oxted, Surrey RH8 0PR Depot code 063
12. Structure, governance & management
12.1 Type of governing document
Constitution
.
12.2 Policy on reserves
£500 is to be kept as minimum reserves. Although our income forecast is uncertain, we are able to adapt our expenditure according to our income, and we rarely incur unexpected expenses. We have an arrangement with our usual venue in Dorking that if we are unable to run a course, we do not need to pay any charges as long as we give one month’s notice; the venue management are willing to make this a shorter period in exceptional situations.
In an emergency we can reduce all costs apart from annual expenses such as website, email, Zoom, insurance and perhaps venue hire. Our reserves would cover those costs for six months. We can always reduce service delivery on a temporary basis in an emergency too. There would be no costs incurred if we had to close down, such as redundancy and we have no outstanding debtors.
Catherine Nasskau is employed on a freelance basis and the agreement is that she would not be remunerated if there are insufficient funds to pay her quarterly salary. Most participants pay for sessions in advance, with people on low incomes sometimes paying in instalments; all final payments are made by the last session of a course. Therefore it is straightforward to budget and plan for emergencies.
The reserves policy has been approved by the trustees and is as follows:
1. Purpose of the Reserves Policy
The purpose of this reserves policy is to ensure that Mindful Surrey UK manages its funds responsibly, meets its ongoing commitments, and remains financially stable in the event of unforeseen circumstances or temporary funding shortfalls.
2. Definition of Reserves
For the purposes of this policy, reserves are defined as those funds that are freely available to spend on any of the charity’s purposes. This excludes restricted income funds, endowments, and any funds that have been designated for a specific future use.
3. Reserves Target
The charity aims to hold unrestricted reserves equivalent to 3 to 6 months of core operational expenditure. Based on our current budgeted, core operational expenditure the target range for reserves is:
Minimum reserves level: £500 Preferred reserves level: £1,000 Maximum reserves level: £2,000
This level has been set to cover essential costs such as insurance, venue hire, Zoom/Wix subscriptions, and basic project delivery in the event of income shortfall or delay.
4. Monitoring and Review
The reserves level is reviewed by the trustees at least annually, during the budgeting process, and whenever there is a significant change in income, risk, or expenditure. If reserves fall below the minimum level, the trustees will develop a plan to rebuild them, but they will not be individually
responsible for raising money or liable for personal contributions to the charity. If reserves rise above the maximum target, the surplus will be allocated to support the charity’s objectives.
5. Transparency
The reserves policy is reviewed annually and included in the charity’s Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts in accordance with Charity Commission guidance.
Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf.
15 May, 2025
Catherine Nasskau
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Mln¢ifvi UK 11Bm) Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Forlhp pèriod Irom To 01.04.24 JI 3.25 Section A Receipts and payments Unre8trf¢ted fund$ Endowmnt lunds iothpfftr3f•StE Re8tri¢ted lund¥ Y+)tsl funds Lasty•ar ontt A1 Recelpts MBSR ME Sprtw, Summi25 MBSR 1.984 533 533 .245 1.75D 3.g65 1.070 1.750 1.730 750 870 198 JwCIL. Re5tLSS Cow, oLlI (Bothn Sc. Gtants. donakns IMolpVdlW LattÉryl Sub totsl(Gffj5S irtcome forAR) Inves1nntsa1eS. Isee tab1. .AO Di%atsl 1WO 137 12,812 11812 11M33 A2Awtan Sub totsl 1ZM12 12,812 11.833 .A3 Payments JkMatch24. Nry 24.¢N sakry Jty.5FPt24, CN 6y 024. CNsdWy 408D 2.72D 2.D 3.000 47 575 2.72 2,960 3J20 47 6T5 433 13 8fy 318 315 47 422 CPO (Sharph. 10PCI xEbte 130 Zoom124 6 251 Venues ?16 315 130 ID6urar tyets, pusiers EqknwmBnt. hdts0ts 89 100 217 100 16 Sub totsl 11318 11318 15,88d A4Ats6èt and purGha8041880 lablel Sub total rotalpayments 12,31 11318 15 Nel of rec81plpaNMeftts) IA6 Tronsfern fvnds 'A6 Cash funtts East yEarend Ch funds thIsywwKI 4051 7.815 .309 7015 4309 116 7.816 Se¢tion B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period lund¥ fund8 to n•4roBtE ttyrwJmtE B1 Gash I IBAnk*xyJuDt Mindful Surrey UK 251C612025
PrfTht Nam Dthofappr¢)VAI sVjrd by 0 tsust88s on b8haWof 811 th8 ttustees Pauline Saxby ea0 Haryttrav8s Independ8ntexamlner's rert ,As the (*atitytru5teÈs. you re5PDn5iblB forthe Pparation otthe gccwnts th Wxoro8n th Ihe req4mPt5 of the ChafibesAct 2011 ItheA). jl h8ve G(ryWed my independent ex3nHnabon I confinn Ihal rrf) malerol matters118ve come to my gttenbon in the examination which ,gives rne cause to bdleve that in, any material resFeCt that ar)>)unting recordswere not kept in cOrd8n¢e wrfh 130 ottheAct orthat the 'acwunls do not accoryj with the accounlkng r8ts)rd& I ha¥e no o)n¢ems and ha¥8 come acros8 no othw matters In conwtb)n with theexaminatK)n to which attention shoukJ b8 dwn In orrterloenablè a proper undpt51anding of thtr accounts kn be feached. Signatt5 Qu81ffl(alc Dale 'Cathetine Matth ChartedUntant 26 Jun& 2025 Mindful Surrey UK 251Cf)12025