Trustees Annual Report for the
Accounting Period
1[st] November 2023 to
31[st] Oct 2024
Reference and Administration Details
Charity Name: Ellen’s Gift of Hope Registered charity number: 1192108 Charity's principal address: 84 Middleton Street Blyth Northumberland NE24 2LU
Names of the trustees who manage the charity:
Trustee Name: Delyth Raffell
Trustee Name: Graham Raffell
Structure, Governance and Management
Type of Governing Document: Constitution (01/11/2020)
How Ellen’s Gift of Hope is Constituted: CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation)
Trustee selection methods:
Trustees are appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, Ellen’s Gift of Hope trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO. At all times, there should be two Trustees acting on behalf of Ellen’s Gift of Hope governing body.
Objectives and Activities
The objects of Ellen’s Gift of Hope CIO are for the public benefit, by providing small grants which will give practical support to families with children (aged 0-18 years) who have special needs, disabilities and/or life limiting medical conditions and who live in Northumberland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and North Tyneside.
The purpose of the support is to help relieve the suffering and hardship faced by these children and their families and improve the quality of life of the beneficiaries to a more reasonable standard.
These objects shall be achieved, in particular, but not exclusively by:
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a. Financial Aid: The provision of grants of money to help families with immediate need relating to the relief of hardship being experienced by the families
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b. Equipment Grant: The provision of grants to help families meet the cost of equipment for their children not covered by the NHS or local authority to help address medical, mental health or special needs
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c. Therapies and Respite: The provision of grants of money providing contributions towards short breaks, recreational or sporting pursuits or other support, such as (but not limited to) counselling therapies
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d. Community grants made to organisations providing services for vulnerable, sick and disabled children
The charity was set up in memory of Ellen Cara Raffell, who tragically died on October 31[st] 2019, aged just 16 years old. She had a catastrophic allergic reaction (Anaphylaxis) which led to irreversible brain damage. Ellen’s parents, Delyth and Graham Raffell, are the founders and Trustees of her charity, which seeks to raise money from public donations, corporate sponsors, and other charitable organisations.
Ellen was kind, compassionate and giving, always wanting to help others. Ellen’s Gift of Hope is her legacy.
In our 4th year, the charity aimed to raise up to £12,000 from donations and fundraising events. However, the charity is now covering all overheads and event costs, therefore profits will be distributed as grants.
Trustees will apportion small grants monthly, with the level of grant making based on the type of grant sought and the availability of funding. Grants will be awarded based on submission of applications with supporting evidence and at the discretion of the trustees. Where possible the impact of the support will be publicised through case studies and news articles to raise the profile of the issues, as well as to demonstrate the impact of Ellen’s legacy on the local community.
Our vision and aim are that these small grants will provide a meaningful contribution, so that families in need can access additional specialist support, equipment, therapies, respite, and recreational activities, which will help their children and the family to have a better quality of life and improve their emotional and physical health and wellbeing.
When planning our charitable activities for the year 2023/2024 our Trustees ensured that we worked within the charitable purpose under which Ellen’s Gift of Hope operates, defined by the Charities Commission as, 'the relief of those in need, by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage'.
In all charity decision making, and when exercising our powers and duties, we had regard for the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit i.e., that we should operate in accordance with our charitable purposes and be of direct benefit and have a positive impact on the community we are aiming to serve.
We also had regard for the Charity Commission's additional guidance on carrying out charitable activities, which states that such activities should be undertaken without causing detriment or harm to the public or giving rise to more than incidental personal benefit.
In 2024, our focus was to raise the charity’s profile through community events, culminating in our Guinness World Record attempt in September 2024 to celebrate Ellen’s 21[st] Birthday and 5[th] Anniversary.
Our special thanks go to the following supporters for their valued contributions:
| Delyth & Graham Raffell Donations | £1535 |
|---|---|
| Scott Robinson & Rugby Club (Movember) | £252 |
| Colin Wilson – Lifelong Financial Planning Ltd | £750 |
| Eva Raffell – Sale of loom bands | £90 |
| Sandra Raffell (Ellen’s Birthday & Christmas) | £100 |
| Wayne Turnbull | £60 |
Achievements and Performance
In the 4th year of Ellen’s Gift of Hope charity, we focused on fundraising, and now with the pandemic behind us, we are delighted to have raised a total of £11,491 by carrying out fundraising events, through sponsored activities and generous donations from corporate sponsors and individual supporters.
We ran a number of events over the year including our Guinness World Record event, which was in honour of Ellen’s 21[st] Birthday and 5[th] Anniversary. The day was also to promote the charity to a wider audience and included a free family fun day. The event was an Official GWR Attempt for ‘The largest gathering of people dressed as stars’ and we were thrilled to have had almost 500 people turn out! We had live music, a bouncy castle and a children’s zone for families to enjoy as part of the event. During the event we raised £1379 and of course we were awarded with the Guiness World Record which was amazing!
Once again Scott Robinson encouraged his friends to grow a moustache for ‘Movember’ and raised £252.
In Spring 2024 we had our gazebo at Ridley Park’s Easter Day and Blyth’s World War weekend, which saw a combined fundraising of £1,271 and a Family Fun Day at Blyth Rugby Club on August bank holiday weekend raised a further £436. Our Halloween comes at the end of our financial year so not including advance ticket sales we raised a further £1090.
We hosted a 1920’s themed Great Gatsby Casino Night in April 2024 which was great fun, with gaming tables and a wheel of fortune. Our guests had all made such an effort dressing in the Gatsby style which added to the atmosphere on the evening. It was a successful event, raising an amazing total of £2010.
3[rd] Party Donations totalled £270 from EasyFundraising – they donate a % of online sales.
Donations and fundraising Grand Total was £11,490 , which is a decrease on the previous year as we did not do the Great North Run this year and had fewer corporate donations. We ran fewer events as this year we concentrated on promoting our charity throughout a wider audience via the media, i.e. Facebook, Youtube, Radio Newcastle, Koast Radio and the Evening Chronicle. Fundraising was still inline with our general expectation of brining in around £12,000 per year.
Grant-Giving Activities
We gave out 4 Community Grants during this financial year; Dream Holiday’s £2000 which has provided two Blyth families a much needed UK respite holiday break. An award of £960 was awarded to a family who required accommodation whilst their daughter was in Great Ormond Street having an operation. We also provided two families with specialist pushchairs totalling £1905. Looking ahead to 2024/25, our focus remains on the provision of specialist equipment and aid to local disabled children. We continue to promote of our charity within the local community and build networks among local organisations, charities, and businesses within the area to raise awareness and further support our fundraising efforts.
We have an active Facebook page @ellensgiftofhope but sadly, this was taken down by a hacker and we were unable to recover the information. We have started a new Facebook page and hope to grow this over time. Our website www.ellensgiftofhope.org provides the Grant Application Forms available to download and helpful guidance on how to apply for an Individual or Community Grant as well as news and events. We need to start sharing the impact on the local community.
In summary, we are enormously proud of how we have performed as a charity in 2023/24 in what are still challenging economic times. With a healthy bank balance of £49,434 we’re in a strong position to make a positive contribution to the lives of disabled children across Northumberland, Newcastle, and North Tyneside.
We are incredibly grateful to each and every one of our supporters and praise our volunteer fundraisers ‘Ellen’s Angels’ who were recruited at the end of 2023 and who will be vital to the continued success of Ellen’s Gift of Hope. Thanks to Karen Norris, Rosemary Rennie, Wendy McGuigan, Sharon Stafford (both of you!), Pat Armstrong, Deborah Charlton, Dawn Robinson, Alison McGuigan and Ellen’s Aunties Declan Baharini and Cleo Gregory who join Delyth, Graham and Abbey Raffell.
Promotional Activities
We keep our Facebook content interesting and engaging, thereby encouraging new followers. Posts include news related to Ellen’s interests such her love of music and every month a new poem is written by Delyth Raffell and shared on the page.
We are keen to encourage girls into a career in science and on 19th July 2024, the third Ellen Raffell Space Scientist Award was given out on Bede Academy’s Presentation Day to Amy Thompson, who plans a career in space technology. We’re proud to support such inspiring young women in Ellen’s memory and know they will go on to change the world for the better. Well Done!
For the next two years, Delyth will be working on a memoir called ‘She Speaks In Colours’ which is intended to be published in 2027 with all writer’s profits donated to Ellen’s charity. As part of this we will undertake a book tour with readings and signing held in various locations in the region and further afield.
We are therefore scaling back our involvement in fundraising events, however we are encouraging others to fundraise on our behalf. Currently, we only have planned a second Christmas Quiz as this is less timeconsuming than our larger scale events, however still brings in a reasonable amount.
Expenditure
In 2023/24 we started to incur some expenses for both fundraising activities and administration. The Trustees continue to make monthly donations to help towards costs. A total of £4,230 was spent on promotional activities and décor for events and £93 on Event Insurance and a Small Lottery Licence.
Financial Review
The charity bank account balance as at 31[st] October 2024 was £49434.43. A float of £50 is kept in a cash box for future events and we also have SumUp machines to take card payments.
| Summary of Income and Expenditure for the Accounting Period 1st November 2023 to 31st October 2024 |
Summary of Income and Expenditure for the Accounting Period 1st November 2023 to 31st October 2024 |
|---|---|
| OpeningBalance as at 1/11/2023 | £47,132.16 |
| Total Income | £11,490.59 |
| Total Gifts Given | £4,865 |
| Expenditure on FundraisingEvents | £4,230.52 |
| Expenditure on Administration | £92.80 |
| ClosingBalance at 31/10/24 | £49434,43 |
| Summary of Income for the Accounting Period 1st November 2023 to 31st October 2024 |
|
| Events & Activities | |
| Halloween(Oct 2023/Banked Nov) | £1090(£1090 Raffle and Tombola) |
| XmasQuiz | £1015(£990 Tickets, £25 Donations) |
| Easter FamilyFun Day | £333(£291 Tombola,£42 Donations) |
| Great GatsbyEvent | £2010(£480 Tickets,£1460 Tombola,£70 Donations) |
| War Weekend | £938(Tombola) |
| RugbyClub FamilyFun Day | £436(Tombola) |
| Great North Run | £1212(Sponsorship) |
| SponsorshipMovember | £252 |
| Guiness World Record | £1379(£579 Tombola,£320 Merch,£480 Donations) |
| Sub-total | £8665 |
| Sales Merchandise | £0 |
| Sub-total | £8665 |
| Donations | |
| Cash Donations | £1805 |
| Easyfundraising | £270 |
| Corporate Donors | |
| LifelongFinancial Planning | £750 |
| Sub-total | £2825 |
| Grand Total | £11,490 |
| Summary of Grants given for the Accounting Period 1st November 2022 to 31st October 2023 |
|
| Grants made to individual children | 2 x Specialist Pushchairs funded directly by Corporate Sponsor £1905 1 x Family accommodation paid for child having an operation in Great Ormond Street £960 2 x Families Cystic Fibrosis respite holidayUK accommodation £2000 |
| Total Grants Given: £4,865 | Grants Cashed £4,865 |
Reserves & Other Expenditure
Although no official reserves policy currently exists, the Trustees of Ellen’s Gift of Hope are always mindful that we have sufficient funds to cover future costs involved in setting up and running events. Currently, the Trustees make personal charitable donations to cover some of the costs of fundraising activities, this year the charity have taken on this responsibility and careful consideration will be given to expenditure.
We will also be careful to ensure that when making grants, our bank balance is able to cover this expenditure, and that whilst we wish to help as many children as possible throughout our financial year, we always leave a reserve of £5,000 in the account as unforeseen costs may arise. Additionally, to prevent our funds becoming overly depleted, the Trustees of Ellen’s Gift of Hope will regularly top up funds by carrying out fundraising events and activities throughout the year.
We have no foreseeable overheads for the coming year in terms of staffing and premises since all of our trustees are unpaid volunteers. The registered address from which we run the charity is the home of our trustees, meaning there are no rental or utility costs involved. We anticipate continuing to operate in this way, meaning there will be minimal running costs once again for the year ahead.
The Trustees of Ellen’s Gift of Hope are optimistic that we will be in a position to fully commit to our charitable aims and objectives for the coming year. We aimed to raise £60,000 for Ellen’s Gift of Hope by the end of 2024 and we actually achieved a cumulative total of £63,515 . Our bank balance currently stands at £49,434. In 2025 we hope to continue out fundraising efforts and as we now have more people to get involved, this should be of great help to the Trustees in aiding to deliver the activities and events.
We opened for Grant Applications on Nov 1st 2022 and have given a few grants to disabled children and community organisations, supporting sick and vulnerable children - a helping hand…..just as Ellen would have wanted. We hope to be the good in a child’s life and continue Ellen’s legacy with pride and honour.
Declaration
The Trustees declare that they have approved the attached Trustees’ Report:
| Signature | On filed copy |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Delyth Samantha Raffell |
| Position within Charity | Trustee |
| Date | 5th August 2025 |
| Signature | On filed copy |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Graham Raffell |
| Position within Charity | Trustee |
| Date | 5th August 2025 |