## **girls ALIVE Trustees’ report for the year ended 31 March 2023** ## **Contents** - Page 2 ● Charity and Trustee details - Structure, governance and management - ● Objectives and activities - Page 3 - Financial review of reserves - Public benefit statement Page 4 - Achievements and performance Page 5-16 - The girls ALIVE year – some highlights ## **Charity and Trustee details** Charity name - girls ALIVE Charity registration number - 1189672 Principal office address – c/o a4c Unit 18 & 19 Dean House Farm, Church Lane, Newdigate, Surrey, RH5 5DL Charity Trustees Gill Venables - Chair of Trustees, Road Cycling liaison Esther Guy - Treasurer, Swimming liaison Philippa Curphey - Trustee, Marketing, Running liaison Agata Zborowska - Trustee, Organisational processes, MTB liaison Alexa Dizon - Trustee, Events co-ordination Kate Daniel - Trustee, Communications, Hike liaison. ## **Structure, governance and management** Governing document - girls ALIVE Constitution ## **Objectives and activities** Charity purpose - For the public benefit, to advance the health of women in England in particular, but not exclusively, by providing them with opportunities to be physically active. Charity’s main activities- girls ALIVE gives women the opportunity to become active by providing volunteer-led activity groups which are all-female, non-competitive and affordable. girls ALIVE is non-discipline specific and currently has running, road cycling, mountain biking, pool swimming, open water swimming and hiking groups. We offer regular activities and one-off events. Some participants decide they want to expand their involvement and give something back by becoming volunteers. They are provided with support, guidance and training (as appropriate) to help them grow into their role. 2 ## **Financial review of reserves** As a young charity having faced a challenging and uncertain start, we have not yet been in a position to build reserves. ## **Public benefit statement** The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s objectives and activities, and in planning its future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the objectives and activities that have been set. In so doing, the trustees have complied with the duty in section 4 of the 2006 Act to have due regard to guidance on public benefit, published by the commission. girls ALIVE’s aim is, for the public benefit, to advance the health of women in England in particular, but not exclusively, by providing them with opportunities to be physically active. Our public benefit is apparent in the improved health, mental health and wellbeing of the women who are directly involved in our activities and also as a ripple effect, benefitting children, families, friends and whole communities. 3 ## **Achievements and performance** ## **A challenging year** The focus for girls ALIVE during this period has been on streamlining processes for administrative efficiency; expanding the paid and voluntary team and on innovating to remain viable during the cost of living crisis. As everyone tightens their belts and carefully considers all expenditure due to rising costs, some naturally decided to stop or pause their girls ALIVE membership, so there has been a dip to reflect this. This, combined with social shifts and changing habits and attitudes following the pandemic, has been a significant challenge. Additionally, funding streams that were previously targeted at equality and womens’ sport have been steered towards health and deprivation. Despite these challenges, girls ALIVE has retained a core active membership and continued regular activities during 2022-2023, with even more planned for 2023-2024 and beyond, including #reachyourpeak challenges, swimventures and more. During 2022-2023, we have had substantial changes in personnel. Eleanor Lestrange, one of our founders, who was also CEO of girls ALIVE had been the driving force behind our day to day operations as well as the instigator of our longer term plans, supported and guided by the trustees. It was time for Eleanor to move on to embark on a new career, which forced the organisation to reflect and evolve. We advertised both within and beyond the girls ALIVE community, and secured three new trustees, who were inducted during this year. The trustees are now six strong and each have very clear roles. A few months later, Clare Dibble, our administrator also left to take on a new employment opportunity, leading to a recruitment process to replace her. Clare’s contribution and dedication to girls ALIVE was significant. We thank her for all her hard work and enthusiasm and wish her well. After receiving numerous applications, girls ALIVE recruited two fabulous new members of the team, Suzie Pearson and Zoe Woodman, to job share the Charity Co-ordinator role. 4 ## **The girls ALIVE year – some highlights** Girls ALIVE continued to offer regular activities in the disciplines of hiking, mountain biking, road cycling, swimming, open-water swimming, as well as a regular programme of coached swim sessions and enhanced-privacy swim sessions. In the summer months, girls ALIVE members enjoyed the better weather and undertook longer hikes in the evenings and weekends. Regular Wednesday evening hike club went ‘on tour’ to sample some different routes in the lighter evenings. ## **Girls ALIVE was proud to enter a team of runners, each raising funds for the girls ALIVE ‘reach OUT’ campaign.** Road cyclists took part in various sportives, supporting each other in training and in preparations for the events. Some members planned their own longer adventure rides, taking in the countryside beyond the Surrey Hills. Friday ride club continues to be a staple of the girls ALIVE weekly schedule, with a variety of rides each week, led by our road cycling volunteers. The girls ALIVE ‘colour chart’ has proven to be an invaluable tool for communicating the likely pace, distance and elevation of the rides, so members can choose what suits them best. In autumn 2022, girls ALIVE hosted an extremely successful ‘Teas on the Green’ fundraiser. The support of our volunteers and members was incredible and the event helped to spread the word about girls ALIVE as well as raising much needed funds. **From time to time, girls ALIVE members come together from various activities and disciplines to explore something new, or share a love for a different active pursuit. Fun and non-competitive support is always at the heart of everything we do.** 5 **Open-water swimmers keeping up the girls ALIVE tradition of fun, festive activities!** ## **Head torches and heady heights - evening hiking in Spring 2023** ## **… and muddy mountain biking!** ## **Sunny cycles and happy hikes!** ## **Volunteers** girls ALIVE is extremely proud of our network of volunteers, numbering around 40! They are the life-blood of the charity, running activities, welcoming new members and coming up with new challenges and ideas. Volunteers are offered first aid training as well as discipline-specific training and are supported by our team of trustees and by the girls ALIVE Charity Co-ordinator. In addition to our robust and regularly reviewed Equal Opportunities and Safeguarding Vulnerable Children and Adults Policies, we have a detailed Volunteering Policy to help ensure that our volunteers are safe, happy and supported. Our volunteer trustees embrace working hard to juggle every element of running a vibrant charity. We are proud to have expanded our trustee team this year. ## **In summary** Throughout an exceptionally challenging third full year as a charity, girls ALIVE has evolved and adapted to successfully deliver its charitable aims. We have reigned in plans in response to changing criteria for funding in sport, whilst bolstering our commitment to actively diversify. We will continue to focus on supporting and inspiring our existing membership base, whilst actively seeking to reach women for whom barriers make it harder to engage in active, sociable and emotionally fulfilling communities. The support, the passion, the inspiration and the benefits are in an ever-increasing loop, where each member gains more that they put in and our community is much more than the sum of its parts. The Trustees are excited about the future of girls ALIVE with a determination to bring the life-changing benefits of exercising together in a women-led, supportive community to women in greater numbers and with increasing diversity across Mole Valley and beyond! We would like to thank every girls 6 ALIVE member, volunteer, sponsor and supporter who contribute to our ambitious, caring community. You are AWESOME! 7 ## **Charity Accounts** girls ALIVE For the year ended 31 March 2023 Prepared by A4C ## **Contents** - **3** Profit and Loss - **4** Balance Sheet girls ALIVE Page 2 of 4 Charity Accounts ## **Profit and Loss** ## **girls ALIVE** ## **For the year ended 31 March 2023** |**Profit and Loss**
**girls ALIVE**
**For the year ended 31 March 2023**||| |---|---|---| ||**2023**|**MAR 2022-FEB**
**2023**| |**Trading Income**||| |Activity sales|18,698|18,399| |Interest Income|11|9| |Merchandise sales|289|281| |Other Revenue|36|936| |Sales|11,760|13,415| |**Total Trading Income**|**30,793**|**33,039**| |**Cost of Sales**||| |Direct Expenses|17,332|17,274| |Direct Wages|740|640| |Merchandise|162|912| |**Total Cost of Sales**|**18,234**|**18,826**| |**Gross Profit**|**12,559**|**14,213**| |**Other Income**||| |Donation|3,453|4,322| |**Total Other Income**|**3,453**|**4,322**| |**Operating Expenses**||| |Advertising & Marketing|790|801| |Bank Fees|220|220| |Charitable and Political Donations|275|275| |Consulting|14,487|14,079| |Entertainment-100% business|69|69| |General Expenses|585|562| |Insurance|112|112| |IT Software and Consumables|1,486|1,419| |Postage, Freight & Courier|3|16| |Spond fees|253|255| |Staff Training|29|29| |Stripe fees|565|584| |Sumup processing fees|2|2| |Travel - National|8|8| |**Total Operating Expenses**|**18,884**|**18,431**| |**Net Profit**|**(2,871)**|**105**| girls ALIVE Page 3 of 4 Charity Accounts ## **Balance Sheet** ## **girls ALIVE As at 31 March 2023** **31 MAR 2023** |**Assets**|**Assets**| |---|---| ||**Bank**| ||girls ALIVE Current Acc
11,317| ||girls ALIVE Reserve Acc
2,361| ||**Total Bank**
**13,678**
**Current Assets**| ||Accounts Receivable
768| ||**Total Current Assets**
**768**| |**Total Assets**
**14,446**
**Liabilities**|| ||**Current Liabilities**| ||Accounts Payable
10,158| ||Loan Account - Eleanor
20| ||Loan Account - Esther
1,210| ||**Total Current Liabilities**
**11,387**| ||**Total Liabilities**
**11,387**| |**Net Assets**
**3,059**
**Equity**|| |Current Year Earnings
(2,871)|| |Retained Earnings
5,930|| |**Total Equity**
**3,059**|| girls ALIVE Page 4 of 4 Charity Accounts The accounts were prepared on behalf of the Trustees of Girls Alive Charity. The members acknowledge that a formal audit is not required, but that the accounts have been prepared to ensure that a true and fair view of the charity’s operating activities is disclosed. Esther Guy Treasurer & Trustee _Esther Guy is licensed and regulated by the AAT under licence number FMAAT – 10375743_