Little Acorns Baby Charity (registration no. 1194199)
Trustees’ Report
7[th] December 2020 to 5[th] April 2022
Structure, Governance and Management
Little Acorns Baby Bank was set up on 7[th] December 2020 and was registered with The Charities Commission for England and Wales as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 22[nd] April 2021 and became Little Acorns Baby Charity (registration no. 1194199).
Trustees:
Rebecca Anderson
Neil Garlick
Sally Garlick
Iain Anderson (acted for 1 year until 7[th] December 2021)
The charity is managed and run by the trustees.
As detailed in the charity’s constitution there must be at least three trustees, new trustees will be appointed by a meeting of the existing trustees, and appointed for a minimum term of 2 years.
Principal Address: Oak House, Satley, County Durham, DL13 4HT
Objectives and Activities
The purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document:
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The prevention and relief of poverty among socially and/or economically disadvantaged individuals and families in Durham/Chester le Street and the surrounding areas who are pregnant or have children aged, in particular but not exclusively under 2 years and are unable to provide basic equipment, consumables, food clothing and toys for babies and children by supplying them with new and recycled items free of charge.
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To preserve and protect good health of babies and children under 2 years in Durham/Chester le Street and the surrounding area by facilitating projects relating to parenting and the health and wellbeing of babies and children.
The original aim was to set up a baby bank service to help those struggling during the pandemic by collecting good quality used and new baby items from the public and re-distributing them to families in need free of charge. We explored projects and partnership working early on in order to reach more people quickly. Believe Housing provided a grant of £500 to help in their communities supplying baby items, this provided a source of income to start helping the community quickly, as we were a new start up and needed to build up donations from the public. The Believe Project ran from January 2021 until July 2021. Alongside the Believe community project, we set up the service as follows:
Where we are based/area covered
We focused initially on the areas around where the Trustees lived in County Durham. We obtained a grant of £400 from Mid Durham AAP to hire Satley Parish Hall for three months (March – June 2021) and purchase shelving for storage. This allowed us to more effectively sort and organise donations coming in. Satley Hall was a temporary solution to storage as the Hall would be needed once Covid19 restrictions were lifted. In June 2021 we found and started renting the upper hall at Bethel United Reform Church in Chester le Street for £25 a month, which increased to £35 a month in January 2022. We restricted our delivery of items to postcodes DH1,2,3 and 4 but accepted referrals from across County Durham as long as collection could be made and there wasn’t a closer baby bank service to the family.
What we collect and supply
We accept items such as baby clothing, toiletries, nappies, sterilisers and maternity items. Two donation points were established one at Chester le Street Methodist Church and the other at Clart About Sensory Café in Consett. We also set up a wishlist of items to match high need and low stock. This was advertised on our Facebook page and donations could be dropped off or purchased through our Amazon wishlist.
We established a relationship with the Community Champion at Morrisons Chester-le Street in November 2021 and they support us through their ‘Pick Up Packs’ scheme.
Health Visitors often enquired about safety gates so we expanded our offering to include these. We found a wholesaler that sold to charities and were able to buy in new safety gates at a cheaper cost.
Referral process
We created a Google form to enable professionals to refer individuals for support. Hampers are then packed and are then either collected by the professional who made the referral or are delivered directly to the family by a member of the Little Acorns team.
Donations/Fundraising
We set up a Just Giving page for donations from the public. We also were contacted by LullaBaby Durham who fundraised at a couple of their events for us. We also undertook fundraising ourselves at a LullaBaby Durham event by holding a tombola in December 2021.
Public benefit statement
The Trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit as published by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. In setting our objectives and planning activities our Trustees have given consideration to the public benefit and in particular to the prevention or relief of poverty.
Achievements and Performance
Little Acorns Baby Charity received and fulfilled 52 referrals from start up in December 2020 up until 5[th] April 2022
Through the Believe Housing Project we supplied an additional 25 hampers of baby items with the £500 community grant between January and July 2021.
A £1,500 grant from the Barbour Foundation supported our funds for buying in items such as safety gates enabling us to fulfil all requests. The grant also covered our rent for the 2022 calendar year. This enabled us to have a secure financial position going forward as the costs of the Charity are covered by the grant for 2022 except for insurance.
We raised £105 at a tombola, having been given the table free of charge at a LullaBaby Durham Christmas Fair event with all items in the tombola being kindly donated by the other stallholders or LullaBaby Durham.
Financial Review
Little Acorns Baby Charity accounts for the period 22[nd] April 2021 to 5[th] April 2022 shows cash at bank of £2,132. Of this, £684 was from Little Acorns Baby Bank transferred to Little Acorns Baby Charity on registration as a CIO on 22[nd] April 2021. The surplus for the accounts period 22[nd] April 2021 to 5[th] April 2022 was therefore £1,448.
It is worth noting that the Barbour Foundation Grant of £1,500 received in November 2021 is unrestricted funds but was allocated out across four areas: rent for 2022, buying in for referrals, storage boxes and car parking expenses at our store at Bethel URC. At year end, £456 of the grant monies was spent against these four areas. Therefore of the surplus, £1,044 has been put aside to cover specific costs in the next financial year.
The £1,246 of donations shown in the accounts is made up of £600 from LullaBaby Durham and £646 from the public. We are grateful for the support of both.
We have no reserves policy set. Our current costs are £35 a month rent and annual insurance cost £99. We undertake a monthly bank reconciliation and spending is very much dependent on income. We have established a good level of public donations and community support through Morrisons Chester le Street and find we need to buy in very little to fulfil our referral requests, except for safety gates and formula. The Barbour Foundation Grant provides us with monies for buying in these items and in the calendar year 2022 covers rental costs.
With the grant monies covering known costs for the next financial year, apart from insurance, we are in a good position moving forward and there are no uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern.
Declaration
The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustee’s report above.
Signed on behalf of the Charity’s trustees
Sally Garlick (Chair) Date: 28.01.23
| Charity Name Little Acorns Baby Charity |
Charity Name Little Acorns Baby Charity |
Charity Name Little Acorns Baby Charity |
No (if any) 1194199 |
No (if any) 1194199 |
No (if any) 1194199 |
CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
Period start date 22nd April 2021 |
To | Period end date 5th April 2022 |
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| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 1,500 1,246 105 - - - - - 2,851 - - - 2,851 315 99 34 934 21 - - - - 1,403 - - - 1,403 1,448 - 684 2,132 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 1,500 1,246 105 - - - - - 2,851 - - - 2,851 315 99 34 934 21 - - - - 1,403 - - - 1,403 1,448 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
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| Grants | 1,500 | - | |||||
| Donations | 1,246 | - | |||||
| Fundraising | 105 | - | |||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
2,851 | - | |||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||
| - | |||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
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| - | |||||||
| Rent | 315 | - | |||||
| Insurance | 99 | - | |||||
| Expenses | 34 | - | |||||
| Baby/Maternityitems for referrals | 934 | ||||||
| Other costs | 21 | - | |||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | 1,403 | - | |||||
| 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 |
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| - | |||||||
| 1,448 | - | - | 1,448 |
- | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||
| 684 | - | - | 684 | - | |||
| 2,132 | - | - | 2,132 | - |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
29/01/2023
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 CCXX R2 accounts (SS) |
Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Cash at bank Details Details Shelving/storage Details Signature 2 |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 2,132 - - - - - 2,132 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) unrestricted 110 - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Sally Garlick |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
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| - | |||
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
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| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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| 28.01.23 | |||
| 29/01/2023 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)