Year 3 Annual Report and Accounts 1st February 2022 to 31st January 2023
Table of Contents
Page 3 East Durham Veterans trust Legal and Administrative Information
Page 4 - 5 CEO’s Introduction
Page 6 - 12 Overview of Services Provided
Page 13 - 17 Financial Information
Page 18 CEO, Chairman and trustee signatures
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East Durham Veterans Trust
Legal and Administrative Information.
____________ CEO Andrew Cammiss Chairman Kevin Shaw Trustees David mckenna Grahame Morris MP Leanne Kennedy Charity Number 1190445 Registered office Dawdon youth and Community Centre Queen Alexandra Road Seaham County Durham SR7 7NH Bankers Natwest Fawcett Street Sunderland Tyne & Wear SR1 1SB
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CEO’s Introduction
Year 3 for East Durham Veterans Trust has been a year of development and improving the services that we provide to the veterans and their families. However within this reporting period we had been successful in becoming an award winning charity after we won the community group award at the BBC Radio Newcastle awards. In previous years are achievements including the establishment of our mental health support and social inclusion services as well as the high level of case
management that we were offering. In this year we have also added an addiction service as well as complimentary therapies such as reiki and acupuncture.
The complementary therapies have not just been focused around the addiction side of what we are offering but also we have used these alongside the mental health and counselling support that we are offering. Reiki especially, within the USA Reiki has had several case studies focused on its benefit for the veteran community and now has proven results in reducing PTSD symptoms as well as supporting sleep deprivation. We have done research with regards to this within the veteran community in the UK and we firmly believe we are the first veteran charity based in the North East that is offering this service totally free of charge.
Our numbers and demand for our services have also increased over the past year with over 200 new referrals coming into our organisation as well as the expansion of our counselling department. At the end of this reporting period we are employing four qualified counsellors as well as volunteer counsellors that are also supporting. Our results are first class and we are the only veterans mental health charity based in the North East that is supporting veterans in the way that we are supporting veterans.
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Over the past year we have kept our principles the same and continued to support the veterans and their families, ensuring there is a place for everyone and that no one is ever discharged from our service. This is a key component from what we do as we are always leaving the door open for people that may need our help and support.
Overall the past year has been another successful year for East Durham Veterans Trust as we continue to support the veterans and their families of the North East as well as being able lead the way for veterans mental health in the North East.
Andrew Cammiss
CEO
East Durham Veterans Trust
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Mental Health and Counselling Service
In 2020 East Durham Veterans Trust highlighted a huge gap in the provision of services within the veteran community. Living in an area that has the highest suicide rate, as well as the highest resettlement area of Veterans in ENgland and Wales County Durham as a whole had no provision for veterans mental health within the third sector.
Since we introduced our counselling programme in May 2021 we have supported 221 veterans through this programme and the feedback from this has been very
impressive. With 100% saying they would recommend the services that East Durham Veterans Trust is offering.
We currently host 4 qualified counsellors within the veterans Trust, each of which has a link with the armed forces community. We are pleased to be able
to offer this service especially with regards to our waiting list which still remains at zero. As from the results it is evident to see that this is not from the amount of people who are accessing the services but the ethos of East Durham Veterans Trust staff and the processes that we have in place to ensure that no veteran or family member is waiting for mental health support.
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East Durham Veterans Trust Counsellors
Counselling feedback
“I could not have asked for anymore EDV have been my lifeline”
“I know I can come back and East Durham Veterans is here for me”
“This organisation should be there and never taken away for all veterans, this organisation is outstanding”
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Addiction Support & Complementary Therapies
In this year of reporting we have added to the services that we are offering to include the addiction programme. We introduced a substance misuse practitioner, this was to provide one to one sessions with the veterans and their families.
We also introduced complementary therapies alongside the one to one sessions. The complementary therapies that we introduced included acupuncture and reiki. Both of these therapies have a proven history for people who are suffering with addiction but also can support the veterans and family members that are struggling with their mental health.
We have seen the benefit first hand of the additional therapies that we are offering through the addiction and complementary therapies programme.
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Veterans Champions - Case Management
Our veterans champions are often described as case workers and offer an essential service to the veterans and their families who access our services. Within this reporting period we have seen a change in the personnel that work within the veterans champions role. Our two main veterans champions have completed their counselling course and have moved into a counselling position within the veterans trust allowing the positions to open up for new caseworkers to come into the charity.
The services that the veterans champion have been providing has been essential to mental well being. We often say that we are looking for quick hits to be able to help people, however it is a more context approach. It is early intervention that we are providing that ultimately saves lives.
The veterans champions are offering support in areas such as housing, benefits including pip and council tax, food and fuel poverty, personal grants etc. This is a process that we have been offering to the veteran community to ensure that when they get to the
counselling phase they are going to be getting the most from the counselling sessions.
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Social Inclusion Programme
Mates and Bates
Mates and Bates is a programme that we work alongside Dawdon youth and community centre on. Every Friday we offer a free meal to the community. Often the community for this project attends our earlier groups including craft model making and wood work, they then stick around for the free meal that is being provided. The community also visits the centre for the take away meals that are available and enjoy engaging with other members of the community. During the reporting period we provided 963 meals.
Wood Carving
Wood carving is a project that was introduced to use through east Durham Area action partnership and was funded via Durham County Council. The aim of the project was to engage more men in social inclusion activities however the group is also open to women and children who may want to attend the group. The group has been extremely
successful and the group have produced work for the sensory garden that will be in production later in 2023 as well as smaller items that they can take away with them.
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Model Making
Model Making is a group that we have been running for the last couple of years, it is a group for all levels of model making. All of the plastic models are made available through models for heroes and we appreciate their support in running these groups.
Craft
Craft is a new group that we have been running at the veterans hub on a Friday. Initially starting off making cards through the year the group have introduced new and wonderful pieces of craft work and in the next year as the group continues to grow we will continue to introduce new items as we progress. The funding for this group has been made through
donation to East Durham Veterans trust.
Breakfast Club
We run a veterans breakfast club every month again alongside Dawdon youth and Community Centre. This is a popular event and the only event where we ask for the veterans and their families to pay for the service. We charge £4.50 for a full English breakfast with all of the profits
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going towards the veterans Christmas dinner at the end of the year.
Family Trips
Throughout the year we offer family trips to the veterans and their families who attend the veterans hub. During this reporting period this was funded through our social inclusion budget. We have visited a number of different
places and attractions including ice skating, zoo’s, Blackpool illuminations and York Christmas market to name a few. We have seen this as an essential part of what we are doing to provide social inclusion within the veteran’s community.
Social inclusion is an essential part of what we offer at East Durham Veterans Trust. Many veterans struggle with the transition of military life to civilian life and we see this is just one step in supporting veterans and their families to meet new people and make new friendships. In turn we firmly believe this can be just one step in supporting our veterans and their families in civilian life.
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East Durham Veterans Trust Statement of Financial Activities
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31/01/2023 | 31/01/2023 | 31/01/2023 | |
| Restricted | Unrestricted | Total | |
| _________ | |||
| Charitable Income | |||
| Previous Balance | £13855.72 | £27074.95 | £40930.67 |
| Grants | £ 80164.37 | £0 | £ 80164.37 |
| Fundraising | £0 | £51620 | £51620 |
| _________ | |||
| Total | £ 94020.09 | £78694.95 | £172715.04 |
| Charitable Expenses | |||
| Fundraising Expenses | £0 | £10879.7 | £10879.7 |
| _________ | |||
| Total | £0 | £10879.7 | £10879.7 |
| Administration Expenses | |||
| Staff Wages | 72315.31 | £17000 | 89315.31 |
| Private Pensions | 6155.58 | 0 | 6155.58 |
| Social Inclusion | 0 | 17969.86 | 17969.86 |
| Personal Grants | 1699.73 | 0 | 1699.73 |
| Storage costs | 0 | 1838.85 | 1838.85 |
| Staff mobile Costs | 0 | 420 | 420 |
| Hub Running Costs | 0 | 18742.94 | 18742.94 |
| Professional membership, | |||
| DBS & Insurance | 0 | 870.9 | 870.9 |
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| Staff Training | 0 | 1448.88 | 1448.88 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensory Garden project | 1200 | 0 | 1200 |
| Vehicle Purchase | 0 | 3750 | 3750 |
| Other Charitable Expenses 6408.62 | 0 | 6408.62 | |
| ________ | |||
| TOTAL | £897779.24 | £82921.13 | 160700.37 |
| _________ | |||
| Surplus of Funds | £6240.85 | £5773.82 | £12014.67 |
| _________ |
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East Durham Veterans Trust Breakdown of Income
Grants
| ________ | ________ | ________ |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Third Party | Amount |
| (£) | ||
| ________ | ||
| 11th April 2022 | Veterans Foundation | 9750 |
| 11th April 2022 | Durham Community Foundation | 537.46 |
| 11th April 2022 | Durham Community Foundation | 1000 |
| 11th April 2022 | Durham Community Foundation | 3432.54 |
| 19th April 2022 | Lottery Jubilee Foundation | 8900 |
| 29th April 2022 | Arnold Clark Foundation | 1000 |
| 6th June 2022 | B & Q | 4015 |
| 20th June 2022 | Durham Community Foundation | 1500 |
| 5th September 2022 | Charities Trust | 1000 |
| 29th September 2022 | Community Resilience Project | 2000 |
| 30th September 2022 | Primary Care | 4420 |
| 4th October 2022 | Armed Forces Covenant | 9256.8 |
| 2nd November 2022 | Veterans Foundation | 20358 |
| 22nd November 2022 | LGA Foundation | 1820 |
| 14th December 2022 | Great Annual Savings | 3500 |
| 14th December 2022 | Royal London | 654.57 |
| 23rd December 2022 | Morrisons Foundation | 4420 |
| 27th January 2023 | Karagon Homes | 2000 |
| 27th January 2023 | Neighbourhood Fund | 600 |
| __________ |
|---|
| Total Grant Income £ 80164.37 |
| __________ |
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| ________ | ________ |
|---|---|
| Date | Third Party Amount |
| (£) | |
| ________ | |
| Fundraising & Donations 51620 |
|
| __________ | |
| Total Grant Income £80164.37 |
|
| __________ | |
| Total Income £ 131,783.37 |
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East Durham Veterans Trust Balance Sheet
____________ Balance Brought Forward Business Current A/C £27074.95 Business Reserve A/C £13855.72 Total £40930.67 Assets Business Current A/C £5773.82 Business Reserve A/C £6240.85 Total Assets £12014.67 Liabilities Total Liabilities £0 Net Assets £12014.67 Funds Surplus Funds £5773.82 Total Funds £12014.67
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