## **Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement From 5th April 2023 to 4th April 2024** ## **Charity name: Inspire Bucks Charity Registration number:** 1195365 **Charity address:** 7 Oak Tree Cottages, Main Street, Grendon Underwood, HP18 0SH The trustees are pleased to present their report for Inspire Bucks for the financial period 05.04.2023 to 04.04.2024. The Financial Statement has been written to comply with the charity’s constitution, the Charities Act and in line with the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice. ## **Introduction to Inspire Bucks** Inspire Bucks is a registered CIO charity that was established on August 2, 2021. Its primary mission is to assist vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people, and their families in Buckinghamshire. The founding trustees created the charity to offer families facing financial difficulties, as well as those who are otherwise at risk or disadvantaged, a memorable experience by providing gifts and support during Christmas and throughout the year. Our goal is for every child and young person in Buckinghamshire to feel valued, happy, safe, and healthy, while acquiring the skills, knowledge, and attributes needed to be confident and independent as they transition into adulthood. Inspire Bucks was formed after several years of successfully running a county-wide Christmas gift initiative for underprivileged children through the previous County Council. In 2020, it became clear that there was a need to extend support for vulnerable children and families beyond the Christmas campaign, leading to the creation of Inspire Bucks. In 2021, the charity concentrated on supporting families within Buckinghamshire, and we continue to be a dedicated Buckinghamshire charity, committed to helping local families. Inspire Bucks has fostered strong relationships with local agencies, social workers, and early help teams, which enhance our efforts to support the community. ## **Deprivation and Child Poverty in Buckinghamshire** While Buckinghamshire generally experiences lower levels of deprivation compared to the national average (as indicated by the English Indices of Deprivation), notable inequalities exist within the county. Pockets of deprivation can be found throughout Buckinghamshire. The areas with higher concentrations of deprivation include Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Burnham, Chesham, and Denham. Additionally, some rural regions also exhibit relatively high levels of deprivation, likely due to challenges related to housing affordability and geographic barriers that hinder access to essential services such as GPs, supermarkets, and schools. According to government statistics, 9.9% of children aged 0-19 years (approximately 14,000) in Buckinghamshire live in low-income families, compared to 11.2% in the South East and 15.9% across England (Source: Department of Work and Pensions 2019/2020 data). ## **Key objectives and activities** The objectives of Inspire Bucks, as defined in our Constitution, are for the public benefit and are to be carried out in such parts of the United Kingdom as the Trustees shall determine. The key objectives are: To advance in life and relieve the needs of children and young people up to the age of 24 who are socially or economically disadvantaged or vulnerable, looked after children, care leavers, young people who have experienced poverty, learning difficulties or mental health through: - providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities, and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals; - providing essential resources, advice and signposting to those young people who are leaving the care system; - working with other organisations and partners to enhance provision for children and young people; - providing practical support including gifts and items to such children and young people who would not normally receive them. ## **Implementation of Inspire Bucks key objectives in 2023** Inspire Bucks focused its activities in 2023 on supporting our core charity purpose of providing practical support and gifts to children who would not normally receive them. We would like to sincerely thank our small group of volunteers, who are invaluable in helping us to deliver our work. ## **Christmas children’s gift appeal** Inspire Bucks provided 4000 individual children living in Buckinghamshire with Christmas gifts as part of the Christmas 2023 gift appeal. This is an increase of 2000 on the number of individual children supported at Christmas 2022. During our latest campaign during Christmas 2023 Inspire Bucks charity supported over 3,150 vulnerable children. We received several hundred donations of gifts from the public, who provided us with wonderful support. We also received several very kind donations of gifts: - Stoke Park hotel and their sister company Hamleys donated games and toys. - Marlow Masons donated several hundred gifts and toys. - We have received kind donations from Salvation army and Avondale Care Home totalling £1000 In addition, we operated a charity fundraising webpage and we used those donations to purchase additional specialist gifts such as sensory toys for children with special educational needs and disabilities. A selection of items for each child or young person was made up and the gifts were distributed via Buckinghamshire Council social workers and family support workers directly to vulnerable and disadvantaged families or those hit by financial hardship in time for Christmas Day. ## **Other Projects** - Throughout the year, we provided birthday and various gifts along with support to around 300 vulnerable children and families. - We also sponsored a party for foster carers and a celebration event for kids in care, contributing £3,500 in support. ## **Objectives for 2024** Evaluate service delivery during 2023. - Identify future needs in Buckinghamshire. - Establish additional sustainable donation sources to boost funding for the charity. Launch Inspire for Life to assist care leavers in overcoming the 'care cliff.' ## **Direction for 2025** - Implement projects as identified and approved by the trustees, complete with quantitative and qualitative data to demonstrate project success. - Plan for the long-term sustainability of the charity. - Enhance feedback mechanisms to better understand the impact of our work. ## Inspire Bucks ## Profit and Loss Basis: Cash From 05 Apr 2023 To 04 Apr 2024 |Account||Total| |---|---|---| |**Operating Income**||| |Donations||34,394.61| |**Total for Operating Income**||**34,394.61**| |**Cost of Goods Sold**||| |**Total for Cost of Goods Sold**||**0.00**| ||**Gross Profit**|**34,394.61**| |**Operating Expense**||| |Advertising And Marketing||250.00| |Bank Fees and Charges||11.71| |Charity Events||2,754.90| |Consultant Expense||495.00| |Insurance||196.00| |IT and Internet Expenses||257.64| |Other Expenses||865.00| |Printing and Stationery||129.49| |Rent Expense||1,552.39| |Toy Purchases||15,836.55| |Trustee Expenses||51.15| |**Total for Operating Expense**||**22,399.83**| ||**Operating Profit**|**11,994.78**| |**Non Operating Income**||| |**Total for Non Operating Income**||**0.00**| |**Non Operating Expense**||| |**Total for Non Operating Expense**||**0.00**| ||**Net Profit/Loss**|**11,994.78**| **Amount is displayed in yOLJr base CLJrrency GBP