EAST DURHAM VETERANS TRUST ANNUAL REPORT AND AUDITED ACCOUNTS 1ST FEBRUARY 2023 - 31ST JANUARY 2024
CONTENTS PAGE
PAGE
CONTENT
| 2 | LEGAL INFORMATION |
|---|---|
| 3 | CEO UPDATE |
| 5 | CHANGE OF TRUSTEE |
| 6 | MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT |
| 7 | KEY ACHIEVEMENTS |
| 9 | FUNDING |
| 10 | ANNUAL ACCOUNTS |
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East Durham Veterans Trust Legal and Administrative Information.
____________ CEO Andrew Cammiss Chairman Kevin Shaw Trustees David Mckenna Grahame Morris MP Neil Rooney Helen Jones Charity Number 1190445 Registered office The Leanne Kennedy Centre Queen Alexandra Road Seaham County Durham SR7 7NH
Bankers Natwest Fawcett Street Sunderland Tyne & Wear SR1 1SB
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CEO’s Update
East Durham Veterans Trust has had another amazing year, a year in which we continue to grow and progress as an organisation and support veterans and their families across the North East. Over the past year the standards we have set, the people we have supported and the attitude we have towards supporting veterans and their families East Durham Veterans Trust has become the leading Mental Health Veterans charity across the region.
When first established East Durham Veterans
Trust main goal was to establish a mental health counselling programme for veterans and their families, and that is what we are basing our report around this year. This year has been a year of success in supporting veterans and their families with mental health counselling, support and peer support groups. The counselling programme has excelled over the past twelve months and we have supported 221 veterans and veterans family members during this time. Through using the GAD 7 and the PHQ 9 at the start and end of the counselling sessions we have created a way in which we can see the progress that our service users have made during this time. East Durham Veterans Trust through this method of reporting data has now created a five tier scoring system and we are delighted to report that during this reporting period 81% of our service users showed a significant or moderate improvement in their mental health, this is an outstanding result.
Feedback we have received for our counselling services has been nothing short of excellent, the counselling programme was graded at 4.96 out of 5 by service users. Outside of our service users it is also receiving rave reviews from other organisations including NHS op Courage with one facilitator stating ‘Since East Durham Veterans Trust has been established the veteran landscape in the North East has improved, I would have lost a lot more veterans to suicide if it wasn’t for the services that are supplied there’ When East Durham Veterans Trust was established our goal was to simple, if we can save one life we will have done an amazing job. The fact is now we have supported so many veterans and veterans families and East Durham Veterans Trust has saved lives of veterans and their families.
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This year has also seen us become members of COBSEO, the confederation of armed forces charities. COBSEO carries out an in-depth due diligence process for organisations that are wanting to become members. This in turn shows that the members are providing the best for the armed forces and veteran community. Being a member of this organisation has also opened up funding avenues for us within the veteran community. Additionally to the COBSEO we have also joined the Royal school of Psychiatry and have completed the first phase of our accreditation for the Quality Network Veterans Mental Health Services (QNVMHS). On the programme we are now developmental members with our full accreditation expected later in 2024.
Overall this year has been progressive and educational for East Durham Veterans Trust. In previous years we have laid the solid foundations for East Durham Veterans Trust to build its services and this year we have gone on to build on these foundations for now and for the future of Veteran care in the North East of England.
Andrew Cammiss CEO East Durham Veterans Trust
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Change of Trustee’s
During this year we had the unexpected loss of one of our founding members and trustees Leanne Kennedy. Leanne lost her life at the tender age of 44 after a short battle to cancer. Leanne will always be missed by everyone at East Durham Veterans Trust, a person who was larger than life and has been instrumental in helping us build the foundations for the veteran community in the North East.
Leanne can never be replaced, as a charity we had to add to our trustees for the future stability of the charity. To do this we held conversations with various individuals who we thought would be a good fit for East Durham Veterans Trust. We choose to introduce Neil Rooney and Helen Jones to the board of trustees.
Neil is a veteran after serving in the Royal Artillery. He has been a volunteer with East Durham Veterans Trust since we were formed supporting us with various events we have organised and have been running since we started. Neil is truly invested in East Durham Veterans Trust and what our goals are.
Helen is currently still serving in the British Army as a WO2 in the Adjutant General corps. Helen has volunteered for East Durham Veterans Trust for two years before becoming a trustee and has a firm understanding of our organisation and what we want to achieve.
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Mental Health Support
This year we have seen a huge increase in the demand for our counselling service. The service itself. We have kept the basis of our service that we strove to achieve when first established it. The basis is no waiting lists, ensuring the service users have the correct number of sessions as well as ensuring the service is non judgemental, shows empathy and understanding.
We always leave the door open for veterans or family members who go through our service but may need to return at a later date. We always ensure the veterans or the family member who needs to access our services goes back to the same counsellor that they had previously, by doing this we are ensuring that the story is not being told over and over again and the relationship that has been built up between counsellor and client can be continued.
This year we have firmly established our peer support group. This group is a great way for the service users to come together and share experiences around their mental health such as coping mechanisms. Another great benefit of this group is that
service users can come together and get things off their chests and take guidance from other members of the group and what they have done when they have been in a similar position. The group has built up trust and understanding, when a new member comes along to join the group they are made welcome and their views are listened to.
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Key Achievements
This is an outstanding achievement, to reach so many veterans and veterans family members that need the support. We are working hard at removing the stigma around veterans mental health. We want to encourage veterans and their families to come forward and get the help and support that they may need. 221 veterans is 25% more than what we supported in the previous reporting period. From the 221 service users 20.8% were female which is
the hardest group to target so we are delighted to see this result also.
During this reporting period we used the GAD 7 and PHQ 9 at the start and at the end of the therapy to record our results. The score from the start is compared to the score at the end and we can see the difference that is being made. The scores are based on a five tier system with the top two levels being a significant improvement and a moderate improvement. We are pleased to report that during this reporting period 81% have been in the top two levels, an outstanding result.
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When a service user comes to the end of the counselling phase in their recovery we ask them to fill in a short questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed so that we can see how they found the service and if there is anything they would improve. It also asks for scores out of 5 with regards to the service they have received. During the last reporting period this was at 4.96 out of 5 from the feedback we had received from our service users.
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Funding
This year we have been awarded funding from a number of organisations, the funding has covered projects as well as the core costs of the charity. Below is a list of funders who have supported the work we do and the support we give to the veteran community.
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East Durham Veterans Trust Statement of Financial Activities
| ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31/01/2024 | 31/01/2024 | 31/01/2024 | |
| Restricted | Unrestricted | Total | |
| _________ | |||
| Charitable Income | |||
| Previous Balance | £ 5773.82 | £6240.85 | £12014.67 |
| Grants | £134862 | £10000 | £144862 |
| Fundraising | £0 | £60861.59 | £60861.59 |
| _________ | |||
| Total | £140635.82 | £77102.44 | £217738.26 |
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Charitable Expenses
| Fundraising Expenses | £12714.59 |
|---|---|
| _________ | |
| Total | £12714.59 |
| Administration Expenses | |
| Digital Services | £ 7055.75 |
| Clinical Supervision | £ 6130 |
| Office Supplies | £ 3446.38 |
| Pension Payments | £ 8267.46 |
| Bank Charges | £ 568 |
| Staff Wages | £ 110076.81 |
| Rent | £ 3600 |
| Membership Fees | £ 2405 |
| Training | £ 1316.23 |
| Addictional Charitable services | £ 6794.06 |
| Social Inclusion | £ 9289.06 |
| Insurance | £ 1504.56 |
| Vehicle Purchase | £ 32100 |
| Fuel & Vehicle Maintenance | £ 3810.5 |
| Vehicle Tax | £ 648.82 |
| Sensory Garden Project | £1652.87 |
| ________ |
|---|
| TOTAL £211380.09 |
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East Durham Veterans Trust Breakdown of Income
Grants
| Third Party | Amount |
|---|---|
| (£) | |
| ________ | |
| Armed Forces Covenant Force for Change | 6320 |
| Ballinger Trust | 10000 |
| Blue Light Foundation | 9360 |
| CDCF - Community Grant | 5500 |
| CDCF - Warm Hub | 1000 |
| Coalfields regeneration | 5000 |
| Durham County Council (Neighbourhood Budget) | 6000 |
| East Durham Trust (Community Resilience) | 8250 |
| James Knott Trust | 3770 |
| Asda Community Foundation | 2000 |
| Local giving | 500 |
| National Garden Scheme (NGS) | 2800 |
| National Lottery Community Fund | 52595 |
| North East Ladies | 1000 |
| Rothley Trust | 900 |
| Sir Tom Cowie Fund | 1000 |
| Tesco | 500 |
| Veterans Foundation | 29750 |
| Armed Forces Covenant VPPP | 4937 |
__________ Total Grant Income £ 144862
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| ________ | ________ |
|---|---|
| Date | Third Party Amount |
| (£) | |
| ________ | |
| Fundraising & Donations £60861.59 |
|
| __________ | |
| Total Grant Income £144862 |
|
| __________ | |
| Total Income £ 217738.26 |
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East Durham Veterans Trust Balance Sheet
____________ Balance Brought Forward Business Current A/C £5773.82 Business Reserve A/C £6240.85 Total £12014.67 Assets Business Current A/C £137.32 Business Reserve A/C £6240.85 Total Assets £6378.17 Liabilities Total Liabilities £0 Net Assets £6378.17 Funds Total Funds £6378.17
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