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2022-03-31-accounts

Charity number: 1193445

THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND UNAUDITED ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31 MARCH 2022

THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
Reference and administrative information 1
Trustees’ report 2 – 7
Report of the independent examiner 8
Statement of financial activities 9
Balance sheet 10
Notes to the accounts 11 - 15

THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Trustees Eleanor Campbell - Chair (appointed 12 January 2022) Caroline Bolton (appointed 8 February 2021) Sharon Breward Louise Brown (appointed 15 February 2022) Ann Bruce (appointed 8 February 2021) Samantha Kennedy Christian (appointed 12 January 2022) Claire Flood (appointed 8 February 2021) Sandra Wintour-Graham Caroline Harrower (appointed 8 February 2021) Sarah March (resigned 18 March 2021) Lyndsey McConnell (resigned 3 March 2021) Emma Pickett (resigned 8 February 2022) Anneka Ruff (appointed 12 January 2022) Kathryn Stagg (appointed 8 February 2021)

Charity number 1193445 (England and Wales) Registered office PO Box 1629 Bedford MK42 5EF Independent examiner Samantha Wells FCA Lindeyer Francis Ferguson Limited Chartered Accountants North House 198 High Street Tonbridge Kent TN9 1BE

Page 1

THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

The trustees present their annual report, together with the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022. The trustees confirm that the Annual report and financial statements of the charity comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the governing document and the provisions of "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)).

The reference and administrative information on the previous page forms part of this report.

Structure, Governance and Management

The ABM is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, governed by a written constitution and managed by a Board of Trustees.

The ABM has a written safeguarding statement to help breastfeeding supporters who are concerned about the welfare of a child or of a vulnerable adult.

We also have a social media policy in response to the increased use of online contacts.

The ABM collaborates with The Breastfeeding Network (BfN) to provide volunteers for the National Breastfeeding Helpline (NBH).

All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits for their work as trustees.

The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (“CIO”) incorporated on 1 August 2021 (registered charity number 1193445). It was formed to convert an unincorporated charity of the same name (registered charity number 280537) to CIO status. The CIO is governed by its Constitution registered on 1 August 2021.

Vision, Mission and Strategy

The ABM is established to:

  1. Promote the physical and psychological health of mothers and children through education in the techniques of breastfeeding.

  2. Advance the education of the public and especially those persons concerned with the care of children on the health benefits, both immediate and long-term, of breastfeeding.

In planning our activities for the year, the trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

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THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

The ABM’s main focus is supporting families via calls on the National Breastfeeding Helpline, in partnership with The Breastfeeding Network as well as via Webchat, Social Media messages and emails. These options benefit families by providing accessible breastfeeding support, including evenings and weekends, 365 days of the year. Our support can be accessed by anyone of any background.

We have our own training courses, which aim to train breastfeeding supporters, whether Peer Supporters (formerly known as Mother Supporters), Breastfeeding Counsellors or family/partners wishing to support their loved ones, to the highest standard in order to offer up-to-date, evidencebased breastfeeding information. We offer Supporting the Breastfeeding Mother and Baby training at Foundation and Advanced levels. This is suitable for health professionals and those in a paid breastfeeding-related role. It encourages a broad scope of study and research that gives a deeper understanding of how breastfeeding works and a good foundation to further breastfeeding education.

The ABM values its volunteer breastfeeding supporters highly. We have two levels of training for volunteer breastfeeding supporters:

We are enormously grateful to all our volunteers. The difference that a trained volunteer can make to someone’s breastfeeding experience is huge, and without our volunteers the ABM would not be able to support families in the way that we do.

Some Breastfeeding Counsellors also run groups and classes. Much support continued to be online this year, due to Covid-19 restrictions. As these restrictions gradually relaxed at the start of 2021, in increasing number of face-to-face groups began to reopen. Support from ABM Counsellors is always free to mothers, breastfeeding parents and families.

In addition to our training courses, the ABM hosts high quality regional and national study sessions for members, trainees and graduates from all courses. These have all been online this year.

We run an annual conference which is open to the public, including parents, breastfeeding supporters and health professionals.

The Pamela Lacey Award (formerly known as Pam’s Prize) is an award given each year to a voluntary breastfeeding counsellor from any of the UK’s breastfeeding organisations. It is in recognition of the great contribution made by volunteers and is awarded at the ABM conference each year.

We produce information leaflets on many aspects of breastfeeding. The full leaflets can be purchased from the ABM, and text only versions can be downloaded from our website free of charge.

Our Team Baby course is available for free for expectant parents and their families and supporters.

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THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

The ABM attends meetings of the UK breastfeeding alliance which has now received external funding to begin the process of becoming more formally organised. We contribute to joint statements and communicate with UNICEF and health organisations. We attend the APPG on infant feeding and inequalities. The ABM is also a member of the Baby Feeding Law Group and the First 1001 Days movement.

We publish an ABM magazine three times per year. This is sent to all our members. The magazine features articles on a wide variety of breastfeeding-related topics, written by and for our members.

Review of 2021-2022

The ABM has continued to grow, and we now have around 1900 members.

Helpline, email and webchat support

Qualified ABM Breastfeeding Counsellors take calls on the National Breastfeeding Helpline, using a Virtual Call Centre system (VCC). We receive calls from parents, families and professionals covering a range of ages from new-born upwards and a diverse range of issues.

During the last 12 months families have still been feeling the effects of Covid 19. The NBH, run in conjunction with the BfN, has provided a valuable resource for these families with a total of 9,149 calls answered. The total answered by ABM volunteers was 4,325. The Voicemail service is still running successfully which ensures all those who don't speak to a volunteer but leave a message are responded to. This accounted for a further 981 calls. The NBH social media volunteers increased to 5,704 messages responded to compared with 2,271 the previous year. The webchat NBH volunteers answered 645 webchats.

Mothers and parents (and their support networks) who contact the NBH continue to be grateful of what we offer. Here are some excerpts from evaluation received.

Training

At the end of the financial year, the ABM had 113 active Breastfeeding Counsellors with a further 118 in training.

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THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Trainees continue to receive even more supervision, and our Breastfeeding Counsellors are part of a team which is responsive, reflective and has ongoing supervision and training.

We currently have over 500 qualified Mother Supporters, with more than 300 currently in training. 14 people were training on our Advanced course and 49 training on the Foundation course.

The BFC and Advanced training courses have been improved and updated and the new modules are due to be released in May 2022. Topics that were previous absent from the course have now been added e.g., relactation, combination feeding, pregnant and tandem feeding. Counselling scenarios throughout the course are now more diverse with examples of parents who are chestfeeding, samesex couples, and male callers. Two practical assessments have been added to the course covering positioning and attachment, hand expressions and breast compressions. Finally, the module documents themselves have been reformatted to ensure that they are accessible and in line with ABM branding.

Our Mother Supporter role / course has changed its name this year to Peer Supporter. The name Peer Supporter is a more widely used and recognised title, which families and other organisations will more easily understand. The new name also better reflects the range of people whom we support.

Conference

The ABM annual conference was held as a virtual event on 25[th] September 2021. We had a brilliant number of attendees this year at just over 500 delegates. This number was down from the previous year but as tickets were given away for free that year we weren’t expecting to hit similar numbers, and this is the highest number of paid tickets that we have ever had for our conference. To accompany the conference we again chose to run the Facebook group, and again saw excellent participation across all threads. This is definitely something that we will likely continue for future events. The general ‘Oxytocin’ thread captured many lovely photos of delegates and throughout the day, even showing some of the tiny babies that ‘attended’ alongside their parents too.

Topics of presentations included Breastfeeding Through Fertility Treatment, Breastfeeding Early Term Babies, Breastfeeding and Islam, Breastfeeding and Diabetes and finally Addressing the Chasm of Image Diversity in Lactation.

We had some amazing feedback from the post conference survey regarding our speakers such as “Kathryn Stagg is just amazing. Her knowledge and delivery is so inspiring. Ali was a very emotional watch but so informative” and “It was all excellent! In particular I found presentations on breastfeeding and Islam, image diversity and diabetes the most interesting as they were areas I know little about before.”

We also had some great feedback on the conference in general. “The care that was put in to make it a professional, informative and engaging conference. Every speaker was excellent and I am inspired and re-energised.” and “All of the topics this year were relevant and on point. Some very important and under addressed issues were discussed.”

Page 5

THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

As always each year we take the time to honour all of the ABM team and especially those who have supported the NBH throughout the past year and all of their amazing achievements.

The 2022 conference will again be held virtually on September 17th.

Inclusivity Training

In our ongoing work to make the ABM a fully inclusive organisation, trustees and other postholders attended training with The Queer Birth Club. Some of our awards from the Training and Development Fund this year were for volunteers to undertake this training too.

Pamela Lacey Award

This year, the ABM’s trustees decided to reflect the unusual and challenging nature of recent months by changing who could be nominated for the Pamela Lacey Award. In 2021, instead of the Award being made to an individual, families were invited to nominate a local breastfeeding group that had adapted their support to meet the new, challenging context of the pandemic, and the restrictions that came with it. The 2021 Pamela Lacey Award was given to Breastfeeding Circle and the group’s Breastfeeding Counsellors Paula Hinson and Georgina Haines. Nominations for Breastfeeding Circle included the following:

‘This not-for-profit charity helped me to continue breastfeeding when no-one else did.’ ‘They have saved our breastfeeding journey’

‘They have adapted their service to keep bringing breastfeeding mothers together, despite Covid.’ ‘They are amazing, supportive, kind and knowledgeable. They’ve been great every step of the way with links, Zoom meetings, and a very active WhatsApp group.’

More than Milk animation

Following the success of our last animation ( How Lactation Works ) we were delighted to work with Jojo Ford again to create another animation. More Than Milk explores the importance of responsive feeding and keeping your baby close, and explains feeding cues.

Financial Review

The Statement of Financial Activities shows a net increase in resources for the year amounting to £33,166 (2021: £35,338). Our reserves stand at £151,619 (2020: £118,453) at the year end.

Around a third of the ABM’s income comes from membership subscriptions. We also receive income from contracts to deliver training, and conference fees. We receive some funding from the Breastfeeding Network towards our role in the National Breastfeeding Helpline.

Reserves

The trustees of the ABM consider that reserves would be needed in the event of:

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THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

b) unforeseen day-to-day operational costs, e.g. employing temporary staff to cover a long-term sick absence;

c) A source of income, such as a grant, not being renewed. Funds might be needed to give the trustees time to take action if income falls below expectations;

d) Planned commitments, or designations, that cannot be met by future income alone; and

e) The need to fund short-term deficits in a cash budget.

The ABM aims to hold reserves amounting to approximately six months’ average expenditure. This is approximately £30,000.

The ABM currently holds more reserves than this, free reserves (unrestricted funds less fixed assets) stand at £150,980 (2021: £116,994). The Trustees and Central Committee are bringing down the reserves by investing funds in time-limited projects of strategic importance, such as developing the online training courses.

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 (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the 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:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, regulations made thereunder, and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Signed on behalf of the trustees on ……………………….

…………………………………… Eleanor Campbell Chair of Trustees

Page 7

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Responsibilities and basis of report Independent examiner’s statement

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (the Charity) for the year ended 31 March 2022, which are set out on pages 10 to 15.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the Charity's trustees 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 the Charity’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 the Charity 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.

………………………………………………. Samantha Wells FCA Lindeyer Francis Ferguson Limited North House 198 High Street Tonbridge Kent TN9 1BE

Date: ……………………………………..

Page 8

ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Note
Income from:
Donations
Membership fees
Charitable activities
2
Investments - bank interest
Other income
Total income
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
3
Total expenditure
Net income and net movement in funds for the year
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 2022
£
1,379
37,394
56,752
7
98
95,630
62,464
62,464
33,166
118,453
151,619		 2021
£
565
33,466
56,919
-
1,409
92,359
57,021
57,021
35,338
83,115
118,453

There were no restricted funds held during the year or the previous year

Page 9

ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS BALANCE SHEET

AT 31 MARCH 2022

Note
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets
7
Current assets
Debtors
8
Cash at bank and in hand
Total current assets
Creditors:amounts falling due within one year
9
Net current assets
Net assets
Charity funds
Unrestricted funds
Total funds		 2022
2022
£
£
639
16,340
137,677
154,017
( 3,037)
150,980
151,619
151,619
151,619		 2021
2021
£
£
1,459
7,624
115,079
122,703
( 5,709)
116,994
118,453
118,453
118,453		 2021
2021
£
£
1,459
7,624
115,079
122,703
( 5,709)
116,994
118,453
118,453
118,453
118,453
118,453
118,453

The financial statements were approved by the Management Committee on …............................... and signed on their behalf by:

…................... Ann Bruce Trustee

…................... Eleanor Campbell Trustee

Page 10

ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

1 Accounting policies

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows.

1.1 Status

The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales. Its principal address is ABM, PO Box 207, Bridgwater, TA6 7YT.

1.2 Basis of preparation of financial statements

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Merger accounting has been applied in the presentation of these financial statements which combine the results of the former unincorporated charity, registered number 280537, also called Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, and the new Charitable Incorporated Organisation, registered number 1193445. The former charity transferred its net assets under a Trust Deed dated 31 July 2021.

The Association of Breastfeeding Mothers meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).

There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue, and so the going concern basis of accounting has been adopted.

The financial statements are presented in pounds sterling and rounded to the nearest pound.

1.3 Income

Income is recognised when the charity is entitled to it, it is probable that it will be received and it can be measured reliably. For donations and membership fees this is usually on receipt. Training and conference income is recognised in the period to which it relates.

1.4 Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised when a present legal or constructive obligation exists at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation, and the amount can be measured or estimated reliably Costs of charitable activities are those costs, including support costs, relating to the provision of advice, training and advocacy services.

Governance costs are support costs incurred in connection with the administration of the charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

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ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

1.5 Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

All expenditure exceeding £250 on fixed assets is capitalised at cost.

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on the following bases:

Fixtures, fittings & equipment - 10% to 33% straight line

1.6 Financial instruments

The charity has financial instruments of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. The charity's short term debtors and creditors are measured at their settlement value.

1.7 Fund accounting

The general fund is an unrestricted fund which is available for use at the discretion of the Management Committee in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds can only be used for the particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular purposes. The charity does not currently have any restricted funds.

2 Income from charitable activities

Income from charitable activities
Training
Conference fees
National Breastfeeding Helpline
Leaflets and educational items		 2022
£
42,949
9,018
4,700
85
56,752		 2021
£
51,440
690
4,700
89
56,919

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ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

3
Direct costs:
Training and development grants
ABM conference
Training
Publication printing and stationery
External representation and conferences
Leaflets and educational items
Public awareness
Support costs (note 4)
Training and development grants relate to small bursaries given to individuals.
4
Support costs
Administration services
Administration salaries (note 5)
Insurance
Venue hire
Office costs
Postage
Sundry expenses
Subscriptions
Travel and subsistence
Computer and website costs
Bank charges
Depreciation
Professional fees
Governance costs:
Independent examination
CIO conversion costs
Expenditure on charitable activities		 2022
£
4,309
11,165
9,374
7,794
-
220
1,807
27,795
62,464
2022
£
-
13,106
648
-
121
479
277
803
-
5,397
1,973
820
2,150
1,872
149
27,795		 2021
£
-
7,818
7,079
6,779
1,163
-
2,105
32,077
57,021
2021
£
1,663
10,445
555
192
275
937
1,610
-
161
5,018
1,932
898
1,373
570
6,448
32,077

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ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

5 Staff costs 2022 2021
£ £
Gross salaries 12,965 10,445
Pension costs 141 -

The average number of employees during the year was 1 (2021:1). No employee received employment benefits over £60,000 (2021: £nil).

Key management personnel are considered to be the members of the Management Committee. During the year no remuneration was received by key management personnel (2021: £nil).

Any expenses reimbursed to members of the Management Committee were in their capacity as agents of the charity and not in their capacity as trustees (2021: £nil).

6 Conversion to Charitable Incorporated Organisation

On 31 July 2021 the net assets of the former charity, registered number 280537, were transferred to the new Charitable Incorporated Organisation ('CIO'), registered number 1193445. The components of the Statement of Financial Activities split between each charity is shown below, along with the value of net assets at the transfer date.

£
Total income
27,040
Total expenditure
(21,638)
Net income and net movement in funds
5,402
Net assets represented by unrestricted funds at transfer date
123,854
Unincorporated
charity to 31 July		 CIO
£
68,590
(40,826)
27,764		 Combined
total
£
95,630
(62,464)
33,166

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ASSOCIATION OF BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

7 Tangible fixed assets

g
Cost
At 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022
Depreciation
At 1 April 2021
Charge for the year
At 31 March 2022
Net book value
At 31 March 2022
At 31 March 2021
Debtors: amounts falling due within one year
Trade debtors
Prepayments and accrued income
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Accruals and deferred income
Other creditors		 2022
£
9,540
6,800
16,340
2022
£
2,990
47
3,037		 Fixtures,
fittings &
equipment
£
3,188
1,729
820
2,549
639
1,459
2021
£
-
7,624
7,624
2021
£
4,030
1,679
5,709

8 Debtors: amounts falling due within one year

9 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Deferred income relates to training income received in advance of the course starting and amounted to £1,190 (2021: £1,679).

10 Related parties

There have been no related party transactions in the year (2021: £nil).

Page 15