ANNUAL REPORT FOR BEAM 30/09/2021
BEAM’s charitable purpose is to relieve the need of birth mothers whose children do not live permanently in their care through the provision of confidential support group meetings, one to one meetings, telephone and online support and raising awareness of the problems facing birth mothers.
Our Vision is to provide a safe, confidential place for BEAM birth mothers to be valued, supported and to fulfil their potential.
Our Mission is to build a network of women, groups and organisations raising awareness and support for birth mothers apart from their children.
Our Values include a determination not to judge any birth mother who comes to BEAM; the commitment to really listen to each mother and to value their ‘voice’, particularly as these are women who are often not heard; We seek to shine a light on each mother’s resilience and resourcefulness, recognising they have overcome overwhelming obstacles and trauma.
What BEAM achieved Feb 2020 – December 2020:
This was a really challenging period for BEAM. It had started off well with Cherie being invited to speak about BEAM to over 500 women at The Orchard conference in Birmingham in March. Our aim was to raise greater awareness and build stronger networks with other charities and organisations supporting vulnerable women. The conference was a great opportunity and good connections were made.
Our plans for 2020 were for greater expansion. We had been liaising with others in the UK interested in setting up a peer to peer support group for birth mothers. We were also continuing to hold weekly face to face meetings, however, the pandemic hit. This halted both meetings and progression of expansion.
During the restrictions of lockdown we telephoned the mothers individually but this was not particularly satisfactory. We also tried to arrange some virtual meetings but there were significant technical issues as none of the mothers had ever used Zoom. Some also had limited data allowance meaning they could not stay in the meeting until the end. We tried to keep this going but it was not easy. The lifting of lockdown measures meant we could begin to meet with up to 10 people as we were providing a support service. We met up in the town or the park as The Quakers Meeting House had continued to remain closed.
Heather, Shuna and Cherie arranged a meeting to plan a way forward as the autumn was drawing near and we could see a further lockdown might be imminent. Heather and Shuna had been running the Kintsugi Hope wellbeing programme at Burlington Baptist Church. They suggested we run the course for the BEAM mothers online. Heather agreed to go through the material and see what would be of use and how it could be adapted to suit these mothers in particular.
After further discussion, Cherie agreed it was important to contact Kintsugi Hope (KH). This conversation resulted in KH allowing us to use their material but enquired whether we would like to become partners with them. This meant we would train under their guidance and receive other materials and support. We could donate whatever we could afford as opposed to paying a fee. The trustees agreed and on that basis we then piloted the adapted course with the women in Ipswich.
We invited 2 women working with vulnerable women to join the course as participants. They were both involved in supporting birth mothers in Bolton and Liverpool respectively. They were interested in whether the course might be something that could benefit their mothers.
The wellbeing course was a great success. It was at this juncture that we realised there was real scope to run the course online for mothers in different parts of the country. Paula, from Haven, having participated with the pilot, asked if we would run it for some of the mums in Liverpool. This was done and was immensely successful. The course was then run for a group of women in Grimsby through a national charity, Safe Families. We also ran the course for a number of women referred to us by Norfolk Social Services. We had a number of new volunteers come on board to learn how to run the course in future.
Prior to the second lockdown we did have some ‘socially distanced’ meetings held at Burlington Baptist Church as the Quakers remained closed. We had an aromatherapy session there with one of our volunteers leading this. We also did some kickboxing and self defence sessions at a local gym where one of our mums was training. The mothers really enjoyed this. Cake and Revolution gave us some gift bags with lovely hand cream and little gifts with handwritten cards for each mother. The mothers were really touched by these gift bags.
In October, Rachel, a mum from the Ipswich group approached Cherie to ask if she and Donna (another mum) could do an online Coffee BEAM morning every week. This would provide an informal chat for mothers to grow in friendship and support. Rachel and Donna agreed they would decide the topic each week and run the group. Cherie, or another volunteer from BEAM, would simply attend and provide support and encouragement if needed.
The Coffee BEAM mornings have provided birth mothers a place to just chat about themselves and topics they are interested in. It has also meant that once mothers have finished the 12 week well-being course we have a place to signpost them with other women who have finished the course.
At Christmas we prepared a parcel for each of the mothers in Suffolk and delivered it to them. We were given a donation from Cake and Revolution to provide some lovely treats for the women.
It has been an extraordinary year in so many ways, but through it all we have continued to be inspired by the mothers we are here to serve. We continue to thank God for the many people who have supported us plus other generous donors. Without their kindness and financial support BEAM would have struggled to continue. We owe a great debt to Kintsugi Hope for the grace to allow us to use some of their material and develop a wellbeing course along the lines of their own. They could have easily refused our request but their generosity has been truly amazing and evidences the genuineness of their mission. Finally, we are especially
grateful to our volunteers and trustees helping to lead and serve in the most difficult of times but showing unfailing steadfastness to provide support and love to the birth mothers at BEAM.
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGIANO ANO WALES 1187918 Recei tsand ments accounts CC16a For the peifiod from To 120220 31.1220 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestrkted funds Restri¢led funds lh• nMrwt£ Endowrnent funds Total funds Last year IDth• n••r••t£ b) th• n•arMtt trth• r•Mr•AI£ 4.3n. ro86 Income AR) 4.J73 an nv•• Tot•1 r•e•lpls A3Pa ment• Trv•l •xp•n¥•• Rts)m Hii• DomDin 37• 187 37• 107 loo 129 Th•rpy ICT ¢•r Sub total 2,J9J A4 As$ot and Inv•stm•nt Sub to¢ 2,393 2,¥93 Net of r•¢t1p(paM•ntsJ AS Transfers betsv•en fund$ A8 C•6h fundo 14ot y•or •nd C•¥h f4md$ thls y••r •nd 1,980 CCXX Rfj accounts ISSI 1011¢)1211
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted Restricted funds funds to r••Ar•At£ to n•&rtE Endowment funds f¥ n•r••t£ Categories 81 Cash lunds Total cash funds Unf•Strlet•d funds b)n•¥•¢e R••trl¢t•d fund• Endowm•nt funds Oetails VJ nrI¥l to n•ar••l É Fmd i•thkh Ibo rr•rthtvlu• Details tovthkh Curr•nt v•lu• pnal Details B4 Ass•ts r•tsin•d lor th• charity'$ ¢>wn u Arnwntdue Details B6 LiAbiliti Signed by m•cr tm) InJ*è8b behaffel all Ih8trwleoB Print Nam• Date of SvJnature Farrrw 30.9.21 CCXX R2 rnnt• ISSI 10MOm21