## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** **From: Period start date: 01.01.2025 To: Period end date: 31.12.2025** ## **Charity name: Bridge Counselling** ## **Charity registration number: 1191105** ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP
reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|To promote the mental health of people residing in
Bromham and the Bedford area through provision
of a counselling service in accordance with the
values of the Christian faith| |Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or services
identified in the accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|•
Receiving requests for counselling,
•
Providing an initial interview and then
introduction to a counsellor who is
appropriately trained and supervised
•
Counselling sessions provided as agreed
between client and counsellor
•
Regular supervision sessions for each
counsellor and financial contributions for each
counsellor towards training and ongoing
development.
•
Counsellor meetings every other month
•
Trustees meetings every other month| |Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|Para 1.18|Bridge Counselling is open to all enquiries from
people with varying issues who wish to discuss
them with a trained counsellor.
Our counsellors are all Christians but are open to
counselling people with any faith or no faith.
Most clients approach the service via telephone,
email or communication direct from our web site.
During this year and since the pandemic,
counselling has continued to be offered face to
face or via technology such as Zoom. Our
counsellors have been as flexible as they can be to
continue offering services.
The Trustees have read the Charity Commission
guidance on public benefit and are satisfied that
the activities outlined above clearly demonstrate
that the charity is meeting its Purpose and is
providing a benefit to the public.| 1 | P a g e ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Policy on grant
making|Para 1.38|N/A at this time| |Policy on social
investment including
program related
investment|Para 1.38|N/A at this time| |Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|Our counsellors offer their services free of charge to
Bridge Counselling and the service could not run
without their support.
All counsellors are members of the Association of
Christians in Counselling and Linked Professionals
We have six Trustees who all volunteer their time
for Bridge Counselling| |Other||We have a self-employed co-ordinator in post and
they to manage the day-to-day administration of the
service. This includes receiving referrals, managing
the waiting list and carrying out initial interviews by
phone or face to face to those who enquire about
counselling. They also support the counsellors and
arrange bi-monthly team meetings with them. The
Co-ordinator also reports to the Trustees at their
meetings.
Trustees have taken on roles to assist with the
running of this service – Finance, Data Protection,
Safeguarding, record keeping, web site
management, fund raising etc.
Their time is given free of charge| ## **Achievements and Performance** |Summary of the main
achievements of the
charity, identifying the
difference the charity’s
work has made to the
circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society|SORP
reference|Bridge Counselling has received 60 enquiries
during the period January 1st2025 and December
31st, 2025
30 people are receiving or have received
counselling for the following issues:
Anxiety and depression (9), low self worth (2), life
changes (1), trauma (4), relationships (6),
bereavement and loss (2), Marriage (5), domestic
abuse (1).
.
390 hours of counselling were given by 9
counsellors and 3 student counsellors on
placement with Bridge.| |---|---|---| 2 | P a g e ## **Financial Review** |**Financial Review**||| |---|---|---| |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the
end of the period|Para 1.21|A total of £15,667 was received during the year. This
included £8,525 from counselling income and £6,499
from other donations, £475 from supervision, £121
from Gift Aid and £47 interest
Bridge Counselling continues to receive services in
kind from Bromham Baptist Church covering
accommodation facilities and utilities.
The main items of expenditure are: Counselling
supervision which was £1,767 and administrative
costs which include the following:-
ICO – £47,
Bank charges - £60,
Insurance - £135
Professional registration £753
Training £703.
Safeguarding - £226
Web site/ Domain - £805
Expenses - £2091
Zoom - £96
Administrator salary costs - £5,843
Our counsellors and students provide their services
free of charge but we are now providing some travel
costs in addition to supervision and training support.
Recruitment of administration services late in 2023
has helped co-ordinate the service and reduce the
need for voluntary requirements from the counsellors
to administer the enquiries and waiting list.
The Co-ordinator resigned in September 2025 so we
recruited a new provider who commenced the role in
November 2025.
Due to a generous gift from another local counselling
service which was closing down the income this year
was higher than expenditure by £3,141| |Statement explaining
the policy for holding
reserves stating why
they are held|Para 1.22|Bridge Counselling maintains a reserve fund to allow
the organisation to adapt to any changes in our
income or expenditure. The reserve is the equivalent
to one month of day to day running costs plus an
additional sum for one off professional indemnity
insurance costs if the organisation must close down| |Amount of reserves
held|Para 1.22|The Trustees agreed that this amount should be
£1000.| 3 | P a g e ## **Additional information (optional)** ## You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |||| |---|---|---| |The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47|Counselling fees
Donations
One off gifts| |Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|N/A at this time| |A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|Counsellors resigning their service and not
being able to replace their given time for
providing counselling.
The Trustees have agreed for several clients
to pay less for their counselling due to their
financial circumstances. We want to ensure
people who need counselling assistance are
able to receive it. At present we have the
reserves to accommodate these requests
but the Trustees are aware that this
assistance needs to be monitored and more
fund raising may need to be carried out in
future.| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s
trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|Constitution| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|Charitable Incorporated Organisation
(CIO)| |Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|Invitation to serve as Trustee followed by
information sharing, interview, references and
decision by the Trustees and the invited person
to commit to the role| **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction and
training of trustees|Para 1.51|Continuing as a work in progress| |---|---|---| |||| 4 | P a g e |Relationship with any related
parties|Para 1.51|Bromham Baptist Church supports Bridge
Counselling CIO with the use of premises and
facilities within the church building.
This arrangement is confirmed with a
Memorandum of Understanding which is
reviewed every other year.| |---|---|---| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charity name|Bridge Counselling Bromham| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|Bridge Counselling| |Registered charity number|1191105| |Charity’s principal address|Bridge Counselling, Bromham Baptist Church, Village Road,
Bromham, Bedford. MK43 8LJ| ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year **|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**| |---|---|---|---| |Mrs Barbara
Bannard-Smith|Chair of Trustees||| |Mrs Lesley
Dean|Trustee||| |Mrs Felicity
Leinster|Finance Trustee||| |Mrs Jenny
Hadley|Safeguarding and
Data Protection
Trustee||| |Dr Timothy Pedley|Minute Taker
Trustee||| |Mr Brian Bennet|Web Site Trustee||| ## **Declarations** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** |**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)**
**Position (eg Secretary,**
**Chair, etc)**
**Date**|_BL Bannard-Smith_

Barbara Lesley Bannard-Smith|_LR Dean_| |---|---|---| |||Lesley Rita Dean| ||
Chair of Trustees|Trustee| ||8thJuly 2026|| ||8thJuly 2026|| 5 | P a g e |**Charity Name**||**No (if any)**||| |---|---|---|---|---| |**Receipts andpayments accounts**||||**CC16a**| |**For the period**
**from**|Jan-25
Jan-25|Dec-25
Dec-25
**To**||| |**Section A Receipts and payments**|**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**8,525**
**475**
**6,499**
**47**
**121**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**15,667**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**15,667**
**60**
**1,767**
**135**
**753**
**47**
**805**
**703**
**226**
**2,091**
**5,843**
**96**
**12,526**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**12,526**
**3,141**
**-**
**-**
**3,141**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**8,525**
**475**
**6,499**
**47**
**121**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**15,667**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**15,667**
**60**
**1,767**
**135**
**753**
**47**
**805**
**703**
**226**
**2,091**
**5,843**
**96**
**12,526**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**12,526**

**3,141**||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**| |CounsellingIncome|**8,525**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**8,525**||**7,515**| |CounsellingSupervision|**475**|||**475**||**413**| |Donations|**6,499**|||**6,499**||**1,260**| |Interest|**47**|||**47**||**42**| |Gift Aid|**121**|||**121**||**-**| ||**-**|||**-**||**-**| ||**-**|||**-**||**-**| ||**-**|||**-**||**-**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|**15,667**|||**15,667**||**9,230**| |||||||| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**||||||| ||**-**||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**||| ||**-**|||**-**||**-**| |**_Sub total_**|**-**|||**-**||**-**| |**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**||||||| ||||**-**|**15,667**||**9,230**| |||||||| |Bank Charges|**60**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**60**||**60**| |Supervision|**1,767**|||**1,767**||**1,626**| |Insurance|**135**|||**135**||**135**| |Registration / Accreditation|**753**|||**753**||**917**| |ICO|**47**|||**47**||**35**| |Website / Domain|**805**|||**805**||**196**| |Training/ Conference|**703**|||**703**||**300**| |Safeguarding|**226**|||**226**||**164**| |Expenses|**2,091**|||**2,091**||**1,862**| |Administration|**5,843**|||**5,843**||**5,385**| |Zoom|**96**|||**96**||**156**| |**_Sub total_ **|**12,526**|||**12,526**||**10,836**| |||||||| |**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_**||||||| ||||**-**|**12,526**||**10,836**| |||||||| ||**3,141**|**-**|**-**|
**3,141**||**- 1,606**| ||**-**|**-**|**-**
**-**|**-**||**-**| ||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**3,141**|**-**|**-**|**3,141**||**- 1,606**| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) 7/19/2026 1 ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** |**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B1 Cash funds**|**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**
2,025
2,024
2,023
**Details**
Signature|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**3,141**
**-**
**- 1,606**
**-**
**21,492**
**-**
**23,027**
**-**
Agreement Error
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
FELICITY LEINSTER
BARBARA BANNARD-SMITH|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**| |---|---|---|---| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||OK| ||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**-**| ||||**When due**
**(optional)**| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||| ||||Date of
approval| |||FELICITY LEINSTER|12-Jan-26| |||BARBARA BANNARD-SMITH|12-Jan-26| CCXX R2 accounts (SS) 7/19/2026 2