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2022-03-31-accounts

Brighter Together

Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together

Brighter Together

Annual Report and Financial Statements for Year Ending

17 Trowlock Avenue, Teddington, TW11 9QT

Registered Charity 1190557

Brighter Together

Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together

Contents

From the Chair.................................................................................................................................... 3 Charitable Aims and Objectives .......................................................................................................... 4 How we deliver our aims and objectives ............................................................................................. 4 Summary of Activity ........................................................................................................................... 5 Impact ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Fundraising Activity ............................................................................................................................ 7 Financial Review ................................................................................................................................. 8 Structure, Governance and Management .......................................................................................... 10 Future Plans and Aims ...................................................................................................................... 10 Legal and Administrative Details ....................................................................................................... 11 Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Brighter Together ................................................. 13 Statement of financial activities ........................................................................................................ 14 Balance sheet ................................................................................................................................... 15 Notes to the Accounts ...................................................................................................................... 16

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Brighter Together

From the Chair

Welcome to our 2021-22 annual report. This year we've been delighted to return to our weekly inperson sessions, taking the children into the care homes again. The moment the children came bubbling through the doors, there was a feeling of celebration and jubilation; smiles were wide, and the singing was loud. A huge thank you must go to all the staff at the nurseries, care homes and day centres for putting all the necessary elements in place for us to be able to spend time together as safely as possible. And a special thanks to our new team of session facilitators who have joined us this year and ensure that the programme we deliver is enjoyable and impactful in equal measure.

There is also a great sense of satisfaction from reflecting on the year. We have been reminded of the beautiful ‘small’ moments that happen within a session; a quiet conversation between a child and a resident as they paint together; or the infectious laughing during balloon tennis. These ‘small’ moments are the ones that add up to make a big difference. These moments just weren't possible online, so it is wonderful to be back together to maximise together to maximise the full potential of the programme. Falling back to online sessions when we've needed to, has been critical in maintaining those connections made in-person. We've continued to invest in the development of an engaging and interactive online programme, so we can seamlessly transition on weeks where it isn’t safe to be together in-person.

This was the year that we really put our programme to the test. We expanded the number of projects and tested the programme in a day centre setting, and we’ve been thrilled that this has been so successful. We've also expanded our team, demonstrating the scalability of our model. Whilst we recognise the current climate for fundraising may be challenging, we've got an effective programme that is beneficial not just to the children and adults that we work with, but to wider society. Throughout their time working with us, the children's perspectives of older people are positively affected. The children value, respect, and love their older friends and this has enormous benefit for our society. We're now in a great position to be able to offer this programme to more children and older people. We're eager for the next challenge in scaling Brighter Together.

Andy Melia (Chair of Trustees)

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Brighter Together

Charitable Aims and Objectives

Brighter Together connects two vulnerable groups: those in care homes, and pre-school children to participate in shared activities, for mutual benefit to wellbeing and development.

Brighter Together aims to tackle social isolation and improve social and emotional wellbeing through weekly, intergenerational activity sessions. Our aims are to specifically:

Our programme gives care home residents a purpose and responsibility. By bringing a group of young children into their lives on a regular basis to participate in structured nursery activities, residents share in the children’s development and create strong relationships that will have a mutual benefit.

Within the care homes and nursery schools, Brighter Together aims to work with those who will receive the most benefit from the project. The selection criteria are:

Care Home Residents: Nursery School Children:
• The level of social isolation for a resident.
• Ability to engage in the sessions and the
activities to a level that will benefit them,
and the children involved.
• Safeguarding considerations.
• Consent to participate.		 • Level of exposure to those over 65 years
and whether that is on a consistent basis.
• Assessment against the EYFS Goals.
• Consent to participate.

How we deliver our aims and objectives

Our intergenerational programme connects a care home with a local nursery school who are then referred to as our ‘partners’. The aim is to create a consistent partnership that will be maintained for a full academic year at a minimum. Our partners work with us to select the group of care home residents and children who will benefit from being part of the programme, based on the criteria in the table above.

We aim to maximise the benefit from the time that the children and care home residents spend together. To do that, we are rigorous about our programme planning which is built around the following four aspects:

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Brighter Together

Designed by experts – our sessions are created with input from experts in the fields of Occupational Therapy, dementia care, Physiotherapy and Early Years education.

Structure – each session is based on the approach of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy which has well documented success in improving and maintaining cognitive functioning for older adults.

Bespoke training – Brighter Together Session Facilitators and Pre-school practitioners leading or supporting the sessions are provided with professional training on how to best engage with older people, working in the care home environment and accredited dementia training.

Involving the community – the activities build up to a celebratory end of term event to showcase the work of the group to friends, family, and staff. This is an essential part of including the community, bringing a much wider range of people into the care home.

Summary of Activity

Brighter Together has delivered 3 academic terms of weekly intergenerational projects during the period April 2021 – 31[st] March 2022.

We’ve maintained projects between 3 care homes and 3 local nurseries. We’ve also developed two new projects that started in January 2022 and included trialling our programme in a day centre setting. We worked with a total of 10 partners this year.

This year we also moved to a model of programme delivery through a team of contracted Session Facilitators, trained in intergenerational practice, which has ensured consistently high-quality sessions.

Throughout the year, we have continued to operate and deliver support to our beneficiaries, despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Trustees have continuously reviewed our operations to ensure that we meet the needs of our partners and support can be effectively delivered safely in line with our charitable objectives.

Outputs:

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Brighter Together

Impact

During the Autumn term of this year, we were able to return to delivering some of our sessions in the care home. However, there were significant periods where we had to return to online delivery, such as during the Omicron outbreaks (Dec-March) which shut the doors of care homes and day centres to visitors. Fortunately, due to our investment last year in developing an engaging and creative online curriculum that supports our themes, we were able to seamlessly transition without disruption to the programme.

The mixed (in-person and online) delivery did disrupt our preferred method of measuring impact through Leuven scale observations. However, our trustees and Advisory Board felt the method and observation tools used during 2020-21 were equally as illuminating and enhanced our impact analysis, so we used these again this year and will continue to use these during 2022-23 as additional methods to evaluate our programme.

This year we have worked with nursery/schoolteachers and care home/day centre staff to complete assessments and observations on the children and residents respectively. In addition, we sought case studies and testimonials from participants and family members to support our understanding of the impact that this programme was having.

Care Home Residents

All of care homes said that the sessions made a significant contribution to 100% of residents on the programme across all 3 areas assessed: social wellbeing; emotional wellbeing; and physical health.

“This gives the residents the motivation to get out of their chair and to sing and dance. Their mood is greatly improved - the residents are calmer and much happier. The smile and twinkle in their eye when they are around the children is wonderful.

I don't have enough words to say what a significant difference you make in the lives of the residents. Everything you do is stimulating and creative.”

Antonela Mihai, Activity Coordinator, Nightingale House.

"Brighter Together provides an activity and opportunity for social interaction that otherwise couldn't be provided. Residents are able to interact with the children and play simple games that don't rely on memory or physical ability, giving them a sense of competency and self-confidence."

Molly Austen, Occupational Therapist

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Brighter Together

Children

All of our nursery schools said that the sessions made a significant contribution to the children across the 3 areas of social and emotional wellbeing, and development.

"The children have grown in confidence since beginning these sessions. Children's language development have been enhanced and their concentration and listening skills are very good during the sessions."

Leila, Head of Twickenham Day Nursery Pre-School.

"This is wonderful work that every child and every older adult should be able to experience."

Claudia Neves, Headteacher.

Fundraising Activity

The total income for the year was £35,905.11.

A small amount of funding has come from fundraising via the local Get Lucky Local lottery.

Funders

Brighter Together is extremely grateful to the following funders for the generous support they gave in 2021-22:

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Brighter Together

Pro-bono Support

During this year we have been incredibly fortunate to have benefitted from the very kind support of some forward thinking organisations and their dedicated and talented staff. These include:

Volunteer Support

Our work is dependent upon volunteer support and during this year all our operational requirements (such as accounting, marketing, and human resources) have been carried out by our Founder on a voluntary basis. For this reporting period, this voluntary activity equates to 56 days.

Financial Review

Our total income for the year was £35,905. This was our first operating year, covering nine months. Expenditure totalled £23,226. Our net surplus was £23,678. The surplus mainly equates to receiving restricted grant funding received during the 2021-22 financial year to support 4 project partnerships in the Summer Term 2022 (i.e., during the next financial year), the main activities for which will run from April 2022 – September 2022.

Income consisted of a mix of grants and donations from multiple sources and provided sufficient resources to enable Brighter Together to deliver activities in line with our charitable aims and objectives. Trustees continually review our funding and income plans to secure further financial resources necessary to deliver our programme.

Expenditure

We have allocated the costs of delivering our sessions to ‘direct costs’. These account for 98% of our expenditure.

‘Core costs’ account for 2% of our expenditure and include:

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Brighter Together

Risk Assessment

Trustees have identified financial sustainability as the biggest risk to Brighter Together, which underpins many other identified risks. Ensuring long-term funding will enable the charity to effectively embed the progress we have made so far, and trustees and our founder continue to explore funding partnerships and grants to secure this. Alongside this, trustees have developed mitigation plans, including alternative funding sources and the use of volunteers, to ensure continuity of service provision in the event funding bids are not successful in the short-term.

Reserves Policy

The trustees of Brighter Together aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted charitable expenditure. The trustees consider that this level will provide sufficient funds to be able to invest in the development of either our services or the reach of our programme if there is an opportunity to do so, as well as ensure that support and governance costs are covered.

The level of financial reserves will be reviewed when any major changes occur, for instance where Terms and Conditions from funders are updated or if we employ a member of staff on salary.

Going Concern

Brighter Together has levels of reserves that are in accordance with our reserves policy, of maintaining free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted charitable expenditure.

In addition, there is enough restricted funding for the continuation of our charitable activities for at least the next 6 months, and enough unrestricted funding to support any other charitable requirements that are not directly related to the services we provide.

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Brighter Together

Structure, Governance and Management

Status and Governing Document

Brighter Together is a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation), registered charity number 1190557. Its governing document is a Constitution dated and Registered Charitable status was granted on 24[th] July 2020.

Charity

The Trustees have adopted the provisions of the Charities SORP (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and accounts. The accounts comply with the Charities Act 2011.

Governance and Internal Control

The day-to-day activities of the Charity are monitored by the Trustees. Board meetings are held on a quarterly basis at a minimum.

Future Plans and Aims

2021-22 was a very important year for Brighter Together. We were delighted to be back to delivering sessions in-person which demonstrated the need and value in bringing groups together physically. It also gave us the opportunity to refine and consolidate our approach whilst testing the programme in new settings.

During this year, we have:

  1. Moved to a Session Facilitator model. We have contracted two Session Facilitators so that Brighter Together can guarantee quality across all of our projects.

  2. Tested our programme and model in alternative settings. We have successfully delivered in a day centre setting.

  3. Expanded our reach across two London Boroughs.

  4. Been supported by over 70% of our project partners through financial contributions to the cost of the programme. This has confirmed the importance and value that our programme provides to the clients of our partners.

This has now given us a very solid foundation from which to grow our reach. Our focus for 2022-23 and beyond will be to take this proven programme and scale-up so that we can make even more headway to tackling social isolation and improving children’s life chances.

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Brighter Together

Legal and Administrative Details

Registered name and address

Brighter Together, 17 Trowlock Avenue, Teddington, TW11 9QT.

Registered charity number

Trustees Board

Since Brighter Together was formally constituted on 24[th] July 2020, all the following Trustees have remained on the Board:

Andrew Melia (Chair)

Dr Susan Allingham

Parita Doshi

Bankers

Reliance Bank Limited, Faith House, 23-24 Lovat Lane, London EC3R 8EB.

Statement of Trustees Responsibilities

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards. The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give and true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the Charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

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Connecting the old and young to shine brighter together

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with charity law. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence to take reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Charity and financial information included in the Charity’s website.

This report was approved by the Trustees, and signed on their behalf by:

…………………………..

Andrew Melia

Chair of Trustees

Date: 25[th] November 2022

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Brighter Together

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Brighter

Together

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Brighter Together for the year ended 31 March 2022.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of Brighter Together you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of Brighter Together’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of Brighter Together as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:

Muntazir Hadadi FCA

5 Cumberland Close, St Margarets, Twickenham, TW1 1RS

Date: 30 November 2022

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Statement of financial activities

BRIGHTER TOGETHER

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR YEAR ENDED 31[ST] MARCH 2022

Notes
Income and endowments from:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Other trading activities
Total Income
3
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
Charitable activities
Total Expenditure
4
Net income/(expenditure)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income
funds
Total funds
Prior year
funds
£
£
£
£
6,511 -
6,511
1,000
3,900
25,461
29,361
19,908
34-
34-
10,444
25,461
35,905
20,921
209 -
209
89
3,118
19,899
23,018
9,833
3,327
19,899
23,226
9,922
7,117
5,562
12,679
10,999
726
10,273
10,999
-
7,843
15,835
23,678
-

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Balance sheet

Notes
Fixed Assets
Tangible Assets
Computer Equipment
Current Assets
Cash in Bank
5
Debtors
TOTAL Assets
Creditors
Current Liabilities
6
TOTAL
Net Current Assets
Total Assets Less Current Liabilities
Net Assets
Funds of the Charity
7
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
TOTAL FUNDS		 As at 31st March 2022
As at 31st March
2021
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£27,348.62
£13,083.97
£0.00
£0.00
£27,348.62
£13,083.97
£3,670.58
£2,085.00
£23,678.04
£10,998.97
£23,678.04
£10,998.97
£23,678.04
£10,998.97
£7,843.01
£600.66
£15,835.04
£10,398.31
£23,678.04
£10,998.97

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Brighter Together

Notes to the Accounts

Note 1 – Basis of preparation

1.1 Basis of accounting

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014 and with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and with the Charities Act 2011.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

1.2 Going concern

Brighter Together has levels of reserves that are in accordance with our reserves policy, of maintaining free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted charitable expenditure. Our free reserves currently stand at £5,900.

In addition, there is enough restricted funding for the continuation of our charitable activities for at least the next 6 months, and enough unrestricted funding to support any other charitable requirements that are not directly related to the services we provide.

1.3 Change of accounting policy

The accounts present a true and fair view.

1.4 Changes to accounting estimates

No changes to accounting estimates have occurred in the reporting period.

1.5 Material prior year errors

No material prior year errors have been identified in the reporting period.

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Note 2 – Accounting policies

2.1 Reconciliation with previously generally accepted accounting practice

This is the second reporting period since incorporating in July 2020, as such, there is no funds brought forward against prior years funds.

2.2 Income

All income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity becomes entitled to the resources; it is more likely than not that the trustees will receive the resources; and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.

Grants and donations are only included in the SoFA when the general income recognition criteria are met (5.10 to 5.12 FRS102 SORP). In the case of performance related grants, income must only be recognised to the extent that the charity has provided the specified goods or services as entitlement to the grant only occurs when the performance related conditions are met (5.16 FRS 102 SORP).

Brighter Together has received government grants in the reporting period.

Contractual income and performance related grants are only included in the SoFA once the charity has provided the related goods or services or met the performance related conditions.

Brighter Together has incurred expenditure on support costs.

The value of any voluntary help received is not included in the accounts but is described in the trustees’ annual report.

2.3 Expenditure and liabilities

Liabilities are recognised where it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty.

Support costs have been allocated between governance costs and other support. Governance costs comprise all costs involving public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice.

Support costs include central functions and have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources, e.g., allocating property costs by floor areas, or per capita, staff costs by the time spent and other costs by their usage.

The charity accounts for basic financial instruments on initial recognition as per paragraph 11.7 FRS102 SORP. Subsequent measurement is as per paragraphs 11.17 to 11.19, FRS102 SORP.

2.4 Assets

Brighter Together has no assets.

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Note 3 – Analysis of Income

Donations
and
legacies:
Charitable
activities:
Other
trading
activities:		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income
funds
Total
funds
Prior year
£
£
Donations and gifts
11 -
11
1,013
Gift Aid
- - - -
Legacies
- - - -
General grants provided by
government/other charities
6,500 -
6,500
19,908
Membership subscriptions and
sponsorships which are in substance
donations
- - -
Donated goods, facilities and services
- - - -
Other
- - -
Total
6,511
-
6,511
20,921
3,900
25,461
29,361
-
Total
3,900
25,461
29,361
-
34-
34
-
Total
34
-
34
-
TOTAL INCOME
10,444
25,461
35,906
20,921

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Note 4 – Analysis of expenditure

Expenditure on raising funds: Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income funds
Total funds
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
income
funds
Total funds
£
£
93 - 93 - - -
- - - - - -
This year
Last year
93 -93 - - -
- 8,593 8,593 - 9,510 9,510
2,268 3,076 5,345 - - -
700 8,230 8,930 - - -
- - - - - -
2,968 19,899 22,868 -9,5109,510
118 - 118 - 181 181
115 - 115 - - -
32 -32 - 1818
265 - 265 - 198 198
- - - - 214 214
- - - - 214 214
3,327
19,899
23,226
-
9,922
9,922

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Note 5 – Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand
Other
Cash at bank and on hand
Total
Short term cash investments (less than 3 months maturity date)
Short term deposits		 This year
£
-		 Last year
£
-
- -
27,348 13,084
- -
27,348 13,084

Note 6 – Creditors and accruals

Accruals and deferred
income
Other creditors
Total		 Amounts falling due
within one year		 Amounts falling due
within one year		 Amounts falling due
after more than one year		 Amounts falling due
after more than one year
This year
£		 Last year
£		 This year
£		 Last year
£
3,671 2,085 - -
- - - -
3,671 2,085 - -

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Note 7 – Funds of the charity

Movement in Funds

Unrestricted funds
General fund
Restricted funds
Restricted fund
TOTAL FUNDS		 At 01.04.2021
£
Net movement
in funds
£
At 31.03.2022
£
725.66
7,117.35
7,843.01
10,273.31
5,561.73
15,835.04
10,998.97
12,679.08
23,678.05

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Unrestricted funds
General fund
Restricted funds
Restricted fund
TOTAL FUNDS		 Incoming
resources
£
Resources
expended
£
Movement in
funds
£
10,444.11
3,326.76
7,117.35
25,461
19,899.27
5,561.73
35,905.11
23,226.03
12,679.08

Note 8 – Events after the end of the reporting period

Since the end of the financial year, Brighter Together has continued to review our approach to delivery in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our summer term programme went back to in-person sessions delivered at either the day centre or care home. We continue to review the risks regularly and have a robust process in place to mitigate against these, working closely with Government guidelines and discussion with our partners for autumn onwards. We will continue to review risks associated with this, and adjust delivery as needed in response to evolving circumstances.

Note 9 – Transaction with trustees and related parties

None of the trustees have been paid any renumeration or received any other benefits from an employment with their charity or related entity.

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