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2025-08-31-accounts

Bournemouth Spear Trust

Annual Report and Financial Statements Financial Year 5 – 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025

Contents Page number
Annual report 2 to 8
Independent Examiner’s report 10
Statement of Financial Accounts 11

Bournemouth Spear Trust

Annual Report and Financial Statements

Financial Year 1[st] September 2024 to 31[st] August 2025

Bournemouth Spear Trust is a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (number 1191197).

Principal and registered office: St Swithun’s Church, Gervis Road, Bournemouth, BH1 3ED

Telephone: 01202 241077

Email: hello@spearbournemouth.org

During the year, the following served as trustees of the charity:

Bankers: CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ

Independent Examiner: Sue Wintle, 27 Bascott Road, Wallisdown, Bournemouth, Dorset BH11 8RJ

Introduction

Bournemouth Spear Trust is a charity that was set up by members of the congregation of Lovechurch in September 2020.

The Spear Programme is based at St. Swithun's Church, located in one of the top 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK. Most Spear participants come from the five most deprived neighbourhoods in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) - West Howe, Townsend and Strouden, Boscombe, Somerford, and Rossmore. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), over half of BCP households experience deprivation in at least one key area—whether it's employment, education, health, or overcrowded housing. One of the most heartbreaking effects of this deprivation is child poverty. In 2022, research from End Child Poverty revealed that nearly 19,000 children in the BCP area were living in poverty—almost a quarter of all children. These children start life at a disadvantage, and too often, they stay there.

Although the Spear programme is non-proselytising, BST trustees are motivated by the desire to turn faith into practical action by living out God’s love for people who are in need and marginalised. BST serves individuals and works with organisations of any beliefs to bring about transformation in the community, believing that everyone has the right to dignity in society, development of their skills, a chance to work, and hope for the future.

The object of the charity, as set out in its Governing Document, is:

…for the benefit of the public and within a Christian ethos, to act as a resource for young people between the ages of 16 to 24 living in Bournemouth Christchurch Poole by providing advice, assistance and support and organising educational programmes and other activities as a means of:

Structure, Governance and Management

Bournemouth Spear Trust (BST) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and is governed by a Board of Trustees who hold regular meetings. The Board is made up of people living or working locally to Bournemouth. During this financial period, the trustees, chaired by Mr Jonathan Pascall, met on 7 occasions. Topics discussed and addressed by the trustees, included finances, fundraising, staffing, strategic planning and partnership arrangements with Resurgo and Lovechurch.

Any person who is willing to act as a trustee and who would not be disqualified from acting, may be appointed to be a trustee by a decision of the trustees. Although there are no specific BST policies or procedures relating to the recruitment, induction and training of trustees, in practice, trustees with relevant knowledge, skills or experience are appointed, for the effective administration of the charity, and trustees are encouraged to access online training and workshops provided by Resurgo and the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

Any decision of the trustees must be either by decision of a majority of the trustees present and voting at a quorate trustees’ meeting, or when the majority of trustees have indicated to all the trustees by any means (including email) that they share a common view on a matter.

Day-to-day decision-making relating to BST’s specific charitable activities is delegated to Trustees with relevant knowledge, skills and experience working in collaboration with BST staff appointed to oversee these activities.

The trustees have reviewed the major risks to which the charity is exposed and systems or procedures have been established to manage those risks. In particular, the charity has documented procedures and policies with regards to finance, safeguarding, health and safety and other matters.

BST looks to learn from and work in partnership with other organisations with experience relevant to its charitable activities. In particular, since its formation in September 2020, it has worked closely with Resurgo Trust. Resurgo Trust is a charity founded through St Paul’s Church in Hammersmith in

  1. Resurgo aims to stimulate significant social transformation in local communities by helping people facing serious social disadvantage to transform their situation. In particular, among its activities, it has developed the Spear programme for young people. Resurgo continues to provide BST staff with extensive training, ongoing support and course materials to enable them to conduct the Spear programme.

Key Relationships

BST believes that relationships are critical to its continuing success. BST’s staff provide continuing skill and dedication in developing fruitful relationships in the community to support the work of Spear. Lovechurch provides invaluable support via the expertise and time of its staff and members, as well as donated office space. Lovechurch has provided donated training space since Spear moved from initially being presented online during the Covid-19 pandemic to being presented in person with effect from September 2021. The generosity of BST’s corporate and local authority partners, volunteers and individual donors is hugely appreciated, as well as their connections into job opportunities for the young people on the Spear programme.

Public Benefit

The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit. The trustees regard BST’s activities as manifestly for the public benefit in that there is an identifiable benefit to local young people, as described in this report.

Objectives and Activities

Spear Bournemouth supports young people facing the most challenging barriers to work, including educational failure, a criminal record and poor mental health. Spear is a 12-month programme of support, beginning with a foundation phase of intensive coaching run by friendly and experienced coaches, during which the trainees are led through a series of work-readiness topics, with a strong emphasis on attitudinal and soft skills coaching, alongside practical training such as writing a good CV and mock interview practice. These foundation weeks are followed by twelve months of support for each candidate to help them find a job and succeed in work.

The Spear work readiness indicators are:

To achieve its objective, BST has maintained a strong relationship with its partner Resurgo to raise adequate funding, to recruit and retain suitably qualified and trained staff, and to publicise the work of BST and the Spear programme.

BST has used existing relationships in and around Lovechurch, and instigated new relationships with local authority agencies and businesses in Bournemouth Christchurch Poole, to grow a strong volunteer base and continuing financial support.

During the current financial year, BST employed three staff until April, and currently employs two

full-time staff at its Spear Centre, each with a background in youth work, training and education for young people. They receive regular training from Resurgo. The relationship with Resurgo is further strengthened through regular formal and informal meetings between individual BST trustees and Resurgo staff.

In order to identify young people most in need of the Spear Programme, Bournemouth Spear works in partnership with local referrers. This includes publicising the courses directly at local Job Centres and also to local service professionals such as targeted youth support teams, youth justice and social services, charities, hostels, apprenticeship providers, education providers and organisations who can make referrals. Local business, civic and charitable figures are invited to the Spear Celebration events held at the end of each programme, many of whom attend and subsequently have championed Spear, referred young people to the programme, volunteered on the programme or provided financial support.

BST looks to make as extensive use of volunteers as possible in its activities, as we believe that there are rich opportunities for mutual benefit. Volunteers are particularly valued as mock interviewers of course participants, guests at the external career panel, and hosts for company visits or work experience placements.

Opportunities such as these, facilitating networking between business professionals and trainees, are vitally important, as these two recently published reports show.

"The State of Global Teenage Career Preparation", a report published in May 2025 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), shows that across OECD countries, students are now expressing very high levels of career uncertainty, confusion and considerable anxiety about their career preparation. The education plans of students are more strongly shaped by social background than by academic performance. Wider longitudinal research shows that participation in career development activities is positively associated with better employment outcomes. However, the report shows that too few students in most countries are engaging in activities which are most strongly related with better transitions. In particular, young people are not getting enough guidance in crucial fields which connect them with employers and people in work. You can read the full report here

The State of Global Teenage Career Preparation | OECD

The latest “Youth Jobs Gap” report published by Impetus in May 2025, drills down into the groups in our communities who are most at risk of neither earning nor learning. Young people from a poorer background who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who also have fewer than five GCSEs are three times more likely than average to be out of work or education.

But none of this is inevitable, as the report goes on to say. With the right support, all groups of young people can thrive and succeed – and the Spear Programme is highlighted as an intervention that really works to change the story for young people in these groups. Young people who take part in the Spear Programme move into employment at twice the national rate, showing that Spear gets more young people into work and gets them there quicker. You can read the full report here

- Impetus Youth Jobs Gap Exploring compound disadvantage

In light of this kind of context, along with the achievements and performance recorded in the next section, Trustees feel confident of the importance and value of continuing to support young people through Spear into year 6, even though it is increasingly difficult to secure funding through grants or other avenues.

Achievements and Performance

Bournemouth Spear Trust prides itself on providing transformative training for the young people on our programmes, and delivering impressive results. In April 2025, the 25[th] Bournemouth Spear celebration took place, and over 320 young people have now participated in Spear Foundation courses delivered by BST since April 2021.

BST ran six Spear programmes during this financial period (1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025). The total number of participants on these courses was 83, of whom 69 (83%) successfully completed the programme. The 14 trainees who did not complete the programme either dropped out, or the coaches assessed they were not sufficiently work ready to move into their year of support, and they were invited to join a future programme. Spear Bournemouth continues to maintain a rate of over 75% of young people who undertake the course still being in work or education a year later.

Impact studies carried out by the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Employment Data Lab using key identifying information, alongside data from the DWP, the Department for Education and HMRC, demonstrate that there is a significant difference in the long-term prospects of someone who does Spear compared to someone who doesn’t. Across Spear centres nationally, of a random sample of 954 trainees who took part in the Spear Programme alongside a comparison group made up of real-life individuals on the DWP database, the study revealed taking part in the Spear Programme reduces the likelihood of being NEET by 20% after a year. The results concluded if all NEET young people received support as effective as Spear, their number could be reduced by 130,000 which could fill more than 10% of the vacancies in the economy. This verification of Spear’s effectiveness gives BST even more confidence moving into Spear Bournemouth’s sixth year. You can read the full impact report here 2023-Impact-Report.pdf (resurgo.org.uk)

Some perspectives on Bournemouth Spear from those who have participated in, interacted with and supported the programme during the year:

A Job Centre work coach referrer expressed, “ My colleagues and I are ever grateful to be able to refer young people on to Spear. We have found it increasingly difficult over the last few years to find projects for young people in BCP that are easily accessible, do not require a cost commitment or do not have complicated eligibility criteria. Since Spear Bournemouth launched, I have seen many young people go through the programme and develop essential employability skills, but most importantly, confidence and a belief in their abilities. The celebration event is always an inspiring event to attend, seeing how much they have grown over the 6 weeks and how much more hopeful for their future they are”.

During each course, trainees are given the opportunity to practice being interviewed for a role they are interested in applying for by volunteer mock interviewers. These sessions are not only highly valued by trainees, but discussions amongst the volunteer mock interviewers, their observations and suggestions, contribute to recognising opportunities to develop the interviewers’ personal skills and introduce improvements to interview afternoon arrangements and the experience for trainees

A volunteer mock interviewer observed, “ Although each interview afternoon follows the format of briefing, interviews, feedback and debrief, I am struck by how you as coaches, adapt to each group of trainees. I have interviewed a number of times and, just as each group has a very unique feel, so too does your approach to them ”

At the conclusion of each Foundation course, an event takes place to celebrate the trainees completing the initial phase of their year of support.

A trainee sharing their story at a celebration said, “ I've always found it very hard to ask for help in my life. But I'm happy to report tonight, that that's just the first thing in a very long list of changes that Spear has supported me to make in my life...”

They are now in a role supporting other young people to get into work.

A referrer who attended a taster session alongside a young person with particularly high needs, told the Spear coaches, “ I am learning so much from the way you’re interacting with [trainee]. It’s amazing the benefit from experiencing Spear in action even just in one session”

In February 2025, an event for local employers titled The Gen Z Factor - Reinventing Work Together was co-hosted by Spear and Pollen Careers at Patch Coworking Space in Bournemouth. This networking event brought together Spear trainees past and present with local businesses. Feedback from employers who attended the event included “ Excellent workshop Teams Spear and Pollen; thank you for some great insights into Gen Z and the future of the workplace ”

Pollen Careers is an equal opportunities careers community started in 2023 to break down the barriers people face when looking for an entry-level job. You can read more about Pollen here

About Us | Pollen Careers

An insight into where Bournemouth Spear Trainees are now:

Apprenticeships Skills and Learning Bournemouth and Poole College University Health and Care roles Wessex Water Work coach with Department of Work and Pensions The BIC Bournemouth Administration roles in local companies Manufacturing roles in local businesses Roles in the hospitality industry including Nando’s, local hotels, Starbucks, various local restaurants and bars

Financial review

Funding from grants amounted to £64,706 for the financial year. Individual donations and other income for the financial year totalled £24,258. All funds received were unrestricted.

Expenditure in the financial year, all incurred in support of the charitable objectives, was £94,008, principally for staff salaries. Including £9,365 brought forward from the previous year, total funds carried forward amounted to £4,321.

Recognising the need to balance income and expenditure going forward, and aiming to keep 3 months' running costs as reserves, the trustees are aware that more funds need to be raised to enable this. The situation is monitored on a regular basis and fundraising to meet ongoing expenditure and maintain financial reserves is ongoing.

In September 2024, a contingency loan of £17,500 was received from Resurgo to underpin running costs in the short term if required. One instalment of £1,458 was repaid in February 2025. The balance of this interest free loan continues to be held in a savings account with CAF Bank.

The Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements

Charity law requires the Board of Trustees to prepare financial statements for each accounting year, which give a true and fair view of the state of the charity and of its income and expenditure for the year. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:

The Board of Trustees is responsible for keeping adequate accounting records which disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the charity and enable it to ensure that the financial statements comply with applicable accounting statements and statements of recommended practice and the regulations made under the Charities Act 2011. The Board is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and for taking reasonable steps to prevent fraud or any other irregularities.

The Board of Trustees has examined the charity’s requirements for reserves in the light of the main risks to the organisation. Through ongoing fundraising, BST aims to have funds that, together with future regular contributions and other committed sums, would be sufficient to cover at least the next three months of its activities. This is to mitigate against the risk of a cashflow deficit should insufficient funds be raised to meet the ongoing cost of operations. BST makes use of St Swithun’s Church premises. It therefore has limited exposure to the costs of repair and upkeep of its facilities. The trustees continue to review and assess the key risks facing the charity and ensure appropriate actions are taken.

Future plans

Given the recognised need locally, when finances permit, BST plans to return to running the Spear Centre with three staff members to afford greater numbers of young people the opportunity to access Spear. BST plans to continue the activities outlined above in the forthcoming years,

continuing to deliver exceptional training and impressive results, and working to deepen relationships with other organisations in the local community to increase referrals and open new opportunities for the young people we have the privilege of working with.

Approved by the Board of Trustees on 05/11/2025 and signed on its behalf by:

Full name: Jonathan Pascall Position: Chair of Trustees Date: 05/11/2025

Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of Bournemouth Spear Trust

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