specialist bereavement support for Richmond borough Annual Report 2023
Charity registered in England and Wales No: 1195114
Registered Address: space2grieve, ETNA Community Centre, 13 Rosslyn Road, East Twickenham TW1 2AR
## report of trustees
The Trustees are pleased to present their report, together with the financial statement of the charity for the year ended 30 June 2023.
The Trustees have taken note of the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.
## objectives and activities
The charity’s objective is ‘to relieve the distress and suffering caused by bereavement/grief for the residents of Richmond upon Thames through the provision of one-to-one and group bereavement sessions by expert highly trained specialists in bereavement support’.
Activities that took place in the last year in support of our objectives
- We have grown and developed our team of highly trained Specialist Bereavement Supporters (SBSs) offering free, expert bereavement support for adults, children and young people in Richmond borough.
- Our team of volunteers continues to provide space for clients to talk in a series of one-to-one sessions in person or remotely by phone or zoom. Each session will last up to an hour.
- We have 31 client-facing volunteers including 6 supervisors who, on average, have had over 7 years experience of working in bereavement. All have completed space2grieve’s requirements for safeguarding, Enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring) Certification and training, and on average volunteer for 3 to 6 hours per week.
- Regular continued professional development is provided so volunteers are up to date with developments in grief theory and practice.
- Two of our volunteers wrote and produced our own bereavement training programme ’Pathway to Developing Bereavement Support’ which will be run annually to ensure we always have enough volunteers to meet our agreed waiting time. 4 new Adult SBSs were recruited and started training this year, ready to see clients in September 2023. Additionally, 5 CYP (Children and Young Person) SBSs were trained.
- As part of our ongoing CYP service, we have developed an entirely unique approach to supporting parents, called Parenting through Grief. These sessions are an opportunity to guide the parent of a bereaved child through providing appropriate resources and information.
- Compassionate Cuppa is now a regular monthly event for all bereaved residents of the borough, whether or not they have attended sessions with our specialist supporters. This gives an opportunity for bereaved people to share their feelings with others in the same position.
## structure, governance and management
The charity was formed on 9 July 2021 as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and has been supporting clients since August that year. The charity has 4 Trustees and 3 part-time paid employees.
> Trustees :
Barbara Davies (9 July 2021 - present) Chair
Jenny Harris (9 July 2021 - present) Operations/HR
Amanda Lockyer (9 July 2021 - 28 June 2023) Treasurer
Mary Parry (9 July 2021 - present) Safeguarding
Dr. Robert Owen (19 December 2022 - present) Clinical Debbie Ramsay (10 May 2022- 28 June 2023) General and Marketing Ruth Close (27 January 2023 - 28 June 2023) Finance Trustee
> Service Management & Marketing Staff :
Louise Flory - Service Manager
Hattie Deards - Clinical Services Co-ordinator
Katherine Mathers - Fundraising & Communications Manager
The Trustees hold quarterly meetings.
New Trustees are recruited as and when necessary. Prospective Trustees are asked to provide a range of information by completing a Trustee application form. They are also required to provide a reference. They will be met by all Trustees prior to a decision - taken on both sides - to begin an evaluation process.
During this evaluation period, they are invited to observe proceedings at a Trustee meeting and spend time with the Service Management and the Fundraising & Communication Manager as appropriate.
After this period, and if the prospective Trustee is still interested in joining the Board, a vote is taken by the Trustees to confirm their acceptance. Induction and support of a new Trustee is undertaken by the other Trustees and the Service Management team.
Trustees delegate the day-to-day management of the service to the Service Management team and the Communications and Fundraising Manager, who are expected to adhere to the aims and objectives and policies of the charity.
The Service Manager reports to the Trustees at their quarterly meetings.
## income 2022-23
**----- Start of picture text -----**
£3,914 £1,650
Grants - restricted
Grants - unrestricted
£22,082
£52,000
Donations
£32,000
Gift Aid
Contribution to training
**----- End of picture text -----**
space2grieve benefitted from continuing grant support from Hampton Fund (£20,000) and Richmond Parish Lands (£12,000). This together with a generous grant from the Ian Steers Trust (£20,000) to fund the first year of a Communications and Fundraising Manager made up the restricted grant total. Unrestricted grants were received from the Bob Willis Talent Fund (£30,000) and the Barnes Fund (£2,000). We received donations from the South West Crematorium Metals Fund (£12,000) and the CH Dixon Charitable Trust (£4,500). There were three large donations from individuals (£3,500). Client donations have also been very much valued (£2,000) and are growing year on year. 2023-2024 is already seeing an expansion of funding sources to include community fund raising through sponsored events.
## expenditure 2022-2023
**----- Start of picture text -----**
£2,881 £1,217
£4,644
£5,594
Staff
Operation
Marketing
£37,934 Training
£19,345
Office
Equipment
**----- End of picture text -----**
Staff costs represent over 50% of the expenditure. As our services grow so do room hire costs which accounted for £18,248 of our operational costs in the chart above. These are likely to increase in 2023-24 in support of client meetings and Compassionate Cuppa. Getting the word out about our services remains a priority, as does training volunteers and staff, both on joining and thereafter. Just 6% went on Office and Administration. 2023-24 will see an expansion of Children’s and Young Persons Services with the associated marketing and room hire costs and will be a focus for fundraising.
## reserves policy
The reserves policy is reviewed annually by Trustees and is currently set at 4 to 6 months of operational expenditure in unrestricted funds at the end of each financial year. This level is required to accommodate any period where one funding stream has been exhausted and another is committed but not yet been received. It allows us to meet our commitment to staff and creditors through this period. Budgeted expenditure for the coming year is £91,171 which gives a range of £30,390 to £45,585 and unrestricted reserves at year end of £41,614 were lying within this range.
## approval
The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustee’s report above. Signed on behalf of the Charity’s Trustees by:
Barbara Davies Chair
Date Approved: 31[st] January 2024
## independent examiner’s report
independent examiner's report to the Trustees of space2grieve
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of space2grieve (the Charity) for the year ended 30 June 2023.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the Charity Trustees of the charity 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 account 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 with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
- Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
- The accounts do not accord with those records.
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.
## Signed:
David Matthews
Chartered Accountant
Date: 31[st] January 2024
1 Blenheim Place Teddington TW11 8NZ
## the figures
space2grieve receipts & payments account year ended 30 June 2023
|Receipts
Grants
Donations
Gift Aid
Contribution to training
Bank interest received
Total receipts
Payments
Staff
Bereavement support
Children & young persons
Marketing
Training
Office & admin
Equipment
Total payments
Net receipts for year
Cash funds at start of year
Cash funds at end of year|2022/23
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
£
£
£
32,000
52,000
84,000
22,082
-
22,082
3,914
-
3,914
-
1,650
1,650
49
-
49
58,045
53,650
111,695
11,498
26,436
37,934
12,792
6,553
19,345
336
-
336
4,514
1,080
5,594
3,087
1,557
4,644
2,845
35
2,881
250
967
1,217
35,322
36,629
71,951
22,723
17,021
39,744
18,891
8,804
27,695
41,614
25,825
67,439|2021/22
Total
funds
£
60,940
18,835
138
1,800
-|
|---|---|---|
|||81,713|
|||26,198
14,733
-
3,398
3,128
3,394
3,167|
|||54,018|
|||27,695
-|
|||27,695|
statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
|Analysis of cash funds:
Current account
Deposit account|At 30thJune 2023
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
£
£
£
27,390
-
27,390
14,224
25,825
40,049
41,614
25,825
67,439|At 30th
June
2022
Total
funds
£
27,695
-
27,695|
|---|---|---|
statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period (continued)
|(continued)|||
|---|---|---|
|Other monetary assets:
Gift Aid due
Interest & other income due|At 30thJune 2023
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Total
funds
£
£
£
1,214
-
1,214
47
-
47
1,261
-
1,261|At 30th
June
2022|
|||Total
funds
£
3,914|
|||3,914|
Receipt of these monies will be included in the 2023/24 Receipts & Payments account.
|Original cost of assets retained for the
charity’s own use:
Office equipment
-
2,996
2,996
Office furniture
250
1,139
1,388
250
4,135
4,384
Liabilities:
Trade creditors
2,188
468
2,656
Pension contributions due
31
84
115
2,218
552
2,770|2,029
1,139|
|---|---|
||3,167|
||1,480
76|
||1,556|
Settlement of these liabilities will be included in the 2023/24 Receipts & Payments account.
The Trustees declare that they have approved the receipts and payments account and statement of assets and liabilities above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees by:
Trustee
Chair
Date Approved: 31[st] January 2024