## **ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
**ALFIESWISH.ORG.UK**
## **CONTENTS**
**2 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDERS**
_As we look back over the past year, we are incredibly proud of the strides Alfie’s Wish has made and how much our charity continues to grow. Our mission has always been to support families facing the unimaginable challenge of a child’s cancer diagnosis, and we know how overwhelming this can be—especially during a cost-of-living crisis._
_For families grappling with hospital visits, treatments, and the daily emotional toll of caring for a sick child, the opportunity to create cherished memories can often fall to the bottom of the priority list. The stress of juggling hospital life with everyday responsibilities, all while worrying about finances, can leave families physically, mentally, and emotionally drained._
_This is where Alfie’s Wish steps in. We are dedicated to tipping the balance, helping families not only survive these difficult times but also find moments of joy, connection, and memorymaking along the way. We’ve seen firsthand the profound impact these experiences have on children and their loved ones, and it’s why we do what we do. In the face of uncertainty, making memories becomes even more precious—because when your child has cancer, every day is important._
_Thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters, we’ve been able to continue this vital work. Whether through donations, fundraising, or simply spreading awareness, your help is invaluable. Together, we are making a real difference for families who need it most, and for that, we are deeply grateful._
_The Founders of Alfie’s Wish_
## _**James & Charlotte Butler (Alfie’s Parents)**_
## **3 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **VISION AND MISSION**
**4 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **HIGHLIGHTS AND SUCCESSES**
This report covers the period April 2023 to March 2024. During the year we received 159 referrals (up from 129 referrals 2022-23). We arranged 141 special experiences for families living with cancer (up from 131 2022-23). The top memory-making locations continue to be theatre shows, zoo visits and major theme parks and attractions.
**5 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **PRIORITIES**
Alfie’s Wish was formed with the simple goal of making memories. Helping families through their darkest hours by enabling them to create moments of happiness.
- _“Don’t count the days, make the days count”._
**6 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **PRIORITY 1 MAKING MEMORIES**
## **It’s why we’re here**
**Helping families living with cancer create magical memories through experiences at a range of attractions and events.**
Alfie’s Wish exists to support as many families as possible.
So far, we’ve been able to fund and support the ever-growing number of referrals received.
Since our beginnings in 2020, we have received over 300 referrals and provided support to over 275 families from across the country. Whilst most referrals originate from London and the Southeast, Alfie’s Wish has a national footprint which takes in referrals from Plymouth to Liverpool, Manchester to Newcastle.
Our families have visited top attractions such as Legoland, Warner Brothers Studio, various London theatres, Alton Towers, zoos and safari parks across the country – to name just a few.
## **What it means to our families…**
## **7 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **PRIORITY 2 PROFILE RAISING**
## **A strong profile is essential for our continuing success**
**Raising our profile is important because it helps raise awareness of childhood cancer and the work we do to help families living with it. A strong profile helps to:**
**Funders -** grow relationships with existing funders and to develop new ones.
**General public -** raise the awareness of childhood cancer and the work we are doing to help.
**Beneficiaries -** helps spread the positive messages received from families we’ve supported and connect us with future beneficiaries.
**Supporters -** inspire current supporters and attract new ones.
## **Profile raising actions**
**Relationship building –** it has been a busy year in terms of developing new relationships. Cultivating new charity partners, and ever-growing army of fundraising volunteers, new business networks and collaborative events with other cancer charities.
Corporate partnerships present a new and developing area to explore in future. We were extremely proud to work with our first partner this year. Their efforts throughout the year and the Spinnaker Tower abseil event really showcased the power of corporate collaboration.
Our website and social media channels continue to develop and are seen as integral elements of our approach to grow our presence and raise awareness.
**Visual identity** – we managed to forge a partnership with new merchandise partners – The So Studio - during the year. It was also a watershed moment when our new mascot was unveiled in March 2024. Wishy (pictured on page 5) was an instant hit and does an effective job of putting smiles on faces and raising the charity’s profile.
## **8 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **PRIORITY 3 A SECURE FUTURE**
## **Creating a sustainable outlook**
**Cancer isn’t going away anytime soon. We want to put Alfie’s Wish on a sound footing so we can create memories and help families today, tomorrow, and well into the future.**
## **People**
Our volunteers and helpers are at the heart of everything we do. We understand that to grow and develop, we need to cultivate a growing network of volunteers and supporters to help us achieve our aims. This was a priority last year and it remains so now.
## **Leadership**
The board of trustees meet quarterly along with the Operational Manager to ensure that charity activity is progressing as planned, that new challenges are addressed and opportunities identified and that all regulatory obligations are met.
During the year, the Operational Manager post became full time having previously been part time. This was in response to growth in all aspects of operations – referrals, funded activities and fundraising events.
This year there has been much work in policy development and refining operational procedures. This work puts the charity on a sound footing both now and into the future.
## **Finances**
The leadership team regularly review the financial position to ensure our pipeline of referral and funded activity are in alignment with our fundraising activities and reserves.
We can moderate our activities such that this balance is soundly maintained.
A robust reserves policy means we always have enough to cover the most challenging of circumstances. The maintenance of these reserves in the face of fluctuating financial winds also reflects good financial management.
## **9 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **FUTURE PLANS**
## **Opportunities**
- Reserves – surplus reserves ensure we are heading into the next financial year in a strong position.
- Bigger and Better – income exceeds expenditure. This means we can afford to make our memories even more memorable.
- Corporate Partnerships – developing relationships with new and existing Corporate partners to create longterm support.
- Grants – an area of untapped potential that could diversify our income streams.
- Events – the opportunity to create events in our own name.
## **Challenges**
- Volunteers – as the charity grows so does our need to attract more volunteers.
- Trustees – growing our board of Trustees and recruiting those with the correct skillset to dovetail with our existing members.
- Role development – developing the role of the Operational Manager to focus more on value adding activities and less on day-to-day operations.
- Funding paths – new funding paths such as grants, and corporate partnerships offer potential but also come with challenges.
- Value for money – ensuring any increased investment in the memory making experience, continues to deliver value.
- Growth – managing this sustainably and at a rate that can be accommodated by the charity.
- Fundraising – reducing reliance on a core of personal fundraisers and expanding our new supporter numbers.
## **10 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **OUR TRUSTEES AND KEY**
## **PERSONNEL**
Our key personnel comprise Trustees, management, and our crucial army of volunteers.
## **TRUSTEES AND OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT**
During the year the following Trustees continued to serve on the Board and there were no Trustee changes. In January 2024, the operational manager post changed from part-time to full-time. All Trustees and charity management have due regard for the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance.
## **11 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **FUNDRAISING HIGHLIGHTS**
## **Events**
**A multitude of events and contributions defined a vibrant fundraising year. Some highlights are presented below. We take this opportunity to thank all our fundraisers – we could not make memories without you.**
April 2023: The ABP Southampton marathon, the Paris marathon and the London marathon helped raise over £10,000.
June 2023: Our first ‘adrenaline’ event saw brave fundraisers abseil down the Spinnaker tower in Portsmouth. Our charity partner helped raise £13,000.
July 2023: We hosted our 2[nd] Golf Day at the Ampfield golf club. A staggering £20,000 was raised.
August 2023: Hedge End Rangers under 9’s chose Alfie’s Wish as kit sponsors.
September 2023: Childhood cancer awareness month. We joined eight other local children’s cancer charities and held our first ‘Charities Unite’ event. Romsey Chamber of Commerce chose us as their nominated charity.
January 2024: We appointed a full time Operational Manager.
March 2024: We did a Parkrun takeover at Romsey Ganger Farm. This month also saw the arrival of ‘Wishy’ our hotly anticipated mascot.
## **Partnership building**
**Our three priorities of making memories, raising our profile and operating sustainably are best done working in partnership with others who share our goals and values.**
During the year, partnerships were cultivated and relationships formed. Alfie’s Wish is proud to acknowledge the help and support received from corporate and other sponsors.
Southampton Archery club and Cim Software helped raise another £10,000.
Stroud School and Romsey Chamber of Commerce also helped raise significant funds.
Dragon Boat racing helped generate enormous fun and £3,000 in funds.
December 2023: The Tudor Rose pub in Romsey hosted a Christmas grotto and raised over £1,000.
## **12 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **FINANCIAL SUMMARY: INCOME**
**2023-24 £112,815**
**13 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **FINANCIAL SUMMARY: EXPENDITURE**
**2023-24 £97,272**
**14 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES: REFERRALS**
- GOSH - Great Ormond Street Hospital
## **15 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## **CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES: FUNDED**
**16 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
## ALFIESWISH.ORG.UK
Charity registration number: 1191020 Alfie’s Wish is a charitable incorporated organisation Principle address: 6 Minchin Road, Romsey, Hampshire SO51 0BL
**17 ALFIE’S WISH ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24**
||**Alfies Wish**|||||**CC16a**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||
||**For the period**
**from**|01/04/2023|**To**||||
||||||||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||||
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**33,595**
**79,172**
**-**
**48**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**112,815**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**112,815**
**42,520**
**19,782**
**283**
**3,047**
**1,430**
**1,342**
**936**
**608**
**80**
**54**
**339**
**26,851**
**97,272**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**97,272**
**15,542**
**-**
**98,700**
**114,243**|**Restricted funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**33,595**
**79,172**
**-**
**48**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**112,815**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**112,815**
**42,520**
**19,782**
**283**
**3,047**
**1,430**
**1,342**
**936**
**608**
**80**
**54**
**339**
**26,851**
**97,272**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**97,272**
**15,542**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|Donations|**33,595**|||||**27,133**|
|Fundraisingevents|**79,172**|||||**59,100**|
|Commission on sales|**-**|||||**-**|
|Interest on deposit accounts|**48**|||||**8**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|
**112,815**|||||**86,241**|
||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||||||
||**-**||||||
||**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_ **
**A3 Payments**|||||||
|||||||**86,241**|
||||||||
|
Charitable activities|**42,520**|||||**56,254**|
|Cost of fundraisingevents|**19,782**|||||**15,460**|
|Insurance|**283**|||||**257**|
|Advertising,Marketign and Networking|**3,047**|||||**247**|
|Pension contributions|**1,430**|||||**328**|
|Printing. postage, stationery and computer
supplies|
**1,342**|||||**2,002**|
|Professional fees and Subscriptions|**936**|||||**341**|
|Telephone,internet|**608**|||||**231**|
|Business Entertaining|**80**|||||**-**|
|General Expenses|**54**|||||**-**|
|Travel and Subsistence|**339**||||||
|Wages,salaries and national insurance|**26,851**|||||**7,542**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**97,272**|||||**82,662**|
||||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases (see table)**|||||||
|**,**|**-**||||||
||**-**||||||
|**_Sub total_ **|**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||
|||||||**82,662**|
||||||||
||**15,542**||
**-**|||**3,579**|
||**-**||**-**||**-**
**98,700**|**-**|
||**98,700**||**-**|||**95,121**|
||**114,243**||
**-**||**114,243**|**98,700**|
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
28/12/2024
1
|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**|**Details**
Current accounts
Personal accounts surplus balances
Personal accounts deficit balances
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**114,243**
**-**
**-**
**114,243**
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**|**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
OK
**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Amount due (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||OK|
|||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**-**|
|||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||**Signed on behalf of the charity's trustees**
**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)**
**Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc**
**Date**||James Sturgess
Treasurer||
||||||
|||James Butler|James Sturgess||
|||Chair|Treasurer||
||||||
|||28/09/2024|||
||||||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
28/12/2024
2
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examinerfs
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trusteesl
members of
ALFIES WSH
On accounts for the year
ended
311312024
Charity no
(if any
1191020
Set out on pages
ID incluae Ihe page nurnbers of addilional sheei¢
I report to the trustees on my examination of Ihe accounts of the aly)ve
charity {'the Trust°} for the year ended 3110312024.
Responslbllltles and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation
basls of report of the account5 in accordance wrth the requirements of the Charities Act
2011 {'the Acf).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried OLrt
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying OLrt my examination,
have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5}{b) of the Ad.
I have completed my examination. I confinn that no material matters have
come to my attention (
") in connection wtth
the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect..
accounting records were not kept in accordan with section 130 of
the Ad or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
Independent
examinevs ststement
I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection
wrth the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a
proper understanding of the accounls to be reached
. Please delete the worfs in the brackets rfthey do not apply.
Slgned:
Date:
17112r2024
Name:
LEY COUSENS
Relevant professional
qualification{s) or body
lif any):
FCCA Dip PFS
Address:
2a Poles Copse, Poles Lane, Otiert)oume, S0212DZ
IER
October 2018
Section B
Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs lo highlight matters of concern (see CC32,
Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidan for
examiners).
Glve here brief details of
any Items that the
examiner wishes to
dTsclose.
IER
October 2018