YOUR NFP NAME BLINK MENTAL HEALTH Trustees’ annual report ## Contents 01 02 Welcome Why we exist 03 04 2024 to 2025 goals Achieving our goals 05 06 Our impact: Our impact: in numbers in words 07 07 08 Our volunteers Accounting information ## Welcome to our third annual report ## **Why blink was born** ## **Our journey so far** Our story is deeply personal, but sadly far from unique. blink was founded by Mike and Nicole, two people who desperately needed mental health support. Two people, who like thousands of others, found the courage to reach out and ask for help. Two people, who like thousands of others, would be told they’re not _unwell enough_ , or _too unwell,_ to get support. Two people, who like thousands of others, faced unnecessary barriers, assessments, uncertainty, and waiting times - to then be considered ‘the lucky ones’ for being offered help at all. This isn’t good enough. And this is why blink is so desperately needed. Blink - The Mental Health Campaign (also known as “blink”) was registered as a charity in October 2021. This third annual report covers the 2024 to 2025 financial year, from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. In 2020, as the global pandemic began to unfold, we saw the devastating impact that COVID-19 was having on people’s mental health. We knew then that our services and ethos were needed more than ever before. We’re determined to build on the momentum and success of the work we’re doing - reaching more people and changing more lives for the better. ## **Meet our trustees** ## **A few words from Mike McAdam** Co-founder and trustee 25 October 2021 Michael McAdam to present 25 October 2021 Tamsin Watson to present 14 April 2024 to Maria Dimouli present Each year I’m reminded just how special the blink community is. The skill, empathy, and determination shown by our team of volunteers sits at the heart of everything we do, and their work to challenge stigma and make mental health support accessible continues to have a powerful impact. Despite limited income, we've grown our reach and impact - supporting more people in more spaces than ever before, welcoming new volunteers, and investing in the systems and structures that will carry us forward. I’m hugely grateful to everyone who gives their time, energy and belief to blink, and I’m optimistic about what lies ahead. ## Why we exist ## **Our mission** ## **Our purpose** We provide safe and open spaces for people to receive professional mental health support - where they can be heard, connect with others, and reconnect with themselves. We’re passionate about improving the mental health and wellbeing of individuals in need of support, by providing professional treatment and peer-to-peer support. In designing these spaces, our trustees have taken due care to refer to guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. We also offer practical tools and knowledge sharing at public and private events to help people maintain positive mental health. ## 2024 to 2025 goals As a young charity, we’re committed to building upon our success since 2021, when we first registered. Our core goals remained consistent during the 2024 to 2025 period, with a deliberate focus on strengthening delivery and expanding our reach by attending more festivals and supporting more people. 1 **Make 1-2-1 therapy more accessible** 2 **Promote the work we do and reach more people** There are many potential barriers which prevent individuals from accessing the support that they need for their mental health. Our festival wellbeing programmes help us to support hundreds of people with their mental health, recruit more volunteers, and build relationships with new donors. Our single-session therapy is designed to provide quick access to professional care, and to remove or minimise financial barriers, social stigma and waiting times. Feedback from festival-goers shows us that our services definitively change, and improve, people’s lives. We want more people to benefit from what blink offers. 3 4 **Provide safe spaces for individuals and groups to talk about mental health** Alongside therapy sessions, we create a calm and inclusive space where people can relax, do mindful activities, or get further support for their mental health. Our services are designed using traumainformed principles, making sure that everyone accessing blink’s offering feels safe, validated, and able to be themselves. **Improve our processes and training to help blink scale safely, efficiently and effectively** Rather than expanding into new areas, we focused on improving what we already do well - reaching more people through additional festivals while maintaining the quality and safety of our support. This approach allowed us to grow responsibly without overstretching our volunteers or resources. ## How we strengthened delivery and expanded our reach As a result of increased awareness of blink and sustained demand for our services, we recruited the largest number of volunteers to date during this period. This growth helped us to attend more festivals safely and consistently, while maintaining the quality of support provided to festival-goers. ## **Recruiting and retaining our largest volunteer cohort** With strengthened recruitment processes and training, blink recruited its largest volunteer cohort to date during this reporting period. Alongside this, a high percentage of existing volunteers indicated their intention to return for future seasons, supporting continuity and sustainability. ## **Delivering support at more festivals** With an established and experienced volunteer base, we attended more festivals than in previous years. This helped us reach a greater number of people, deliver more one-to-one therapy sessions, and provide calm, inclusive chill-out spaces for festival-goers. Attending additional festivals also helped extend awareness of blink’s services and reach new audiences. ## **Learning and improving through delivery** Delivering our services at increased scale provided valuable opportunities for learning and reflection. Feedback from volunteers, therapists and festival-goers helped us understand what works well in different festival environments and where we need to adjust. This learning continues to inform how we plan delivery, support volunteers, and maintain quality, safety and accessibility as blink grows. ## Our impact: in numbers We’ve increased our impact across all of our goals this year, attending 25% more festivals, delivering 30% more therapy sessions and supporting 29% more people in our chill-out spaces, compared to the data in our first annual report. We’ve also seen continued organic growth and an increase in engagement across our website, social channels, and mailing list sign-ups. ## **From April 2024 to March 2025 we:** attended **8** **----- Start of picture text -----**
festivals
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25% increase from period Oct ‘23 to March ’24 delivered **312** 1-2-1 therapy sessions 30% increase from period Oct ‘23 to March ’24 supported **900** people in our chill-out space 29% increase from period Oct ‘23 to March ’24 ## Our impact: in words Festival goers use our space to explore the benefits of therapy, connect and talk about their experiences, or simply chill out in a non-judgmental and mindful environment. We’re lucky enough to receive feedback and messages which show the lasting impact of our services on people’s wellbeing and mental health, which motivates us to keep growing and improving our offering. **----- Start of picture text -----**
What festivals-goers say about blink
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_**What an utterly fabulous service. Being able to verbally unpack everything that has built up, and to be truly listened to, has allowed me acceptance of what is and tools to manage where I am now. Who knew so much could be achieved in one single session. I am incredibly grateful to Mike and his team for creating something so open, welcoming, inclusive and valuable.**_ _**It helped me articulate what I was feeling and experiencing and helped me find a way forward. The therapist asked brilliant questions that helped me unpack the situation and see it in a new way. I now have useful strategies and feel much calmer when I think about it - thank you so much**_ _**The therapist was excellent, and the instant relief I felt after the session gave me the boost and tools I needed moving forward.**_ ## Our volunteers This year, our focus has been on strengthening how we support and work with volunteers, rather than expanding our programme. While our work continues to be volunteer led, we have improved coordination, support and systems to enhance the quality and consistency of our services within existing resources. ## **Our volunteer roles include:** **Fully-qualified and experienced therapists** , who deliver therapy sessions at festivals, offer debriefing to other volunteers, and provide clinical input into our policies and procedures. **Wellbeing support volunteers** , many with lived experience of mental health challenges or sector experience (like social workers, doctors, nurses, substance misuse workers and so on). They’re involved in everything from putting up our tents, welcoming visitors to our space, and providing an inclusive environment. Whatever their background, they help us make sure blink’s festival offering is a success, and we appreciate every single one of them. - **Year-round volunteers** , who support blink with essential project management, admin, fundraising, social media management, content creation and website maintenance. ## **We’re proud of our volunteer experience and continuously improve using feedback** Many of our volunteers attend multiple festivals in a season, and return to volunteer yearon-year. We onboard people who are passionate about our mission, and in turn, provide a rewarding experience for them. We make sure that every volunteer is carefully vetted, trained and supported to meet the expectations of their volunteer role. ## **Accounting information for period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025** These accounts have been prepared by the Trustees in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 and 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 2015). ## **Statement on Reserves** Amount held in reserves: £0 We operate as a small charity with a strong commitment to our mission. Due to very low operating costs and low income, our financial resources are primarily directed toward sustaining our ongoing programs and initiatives. As a result, we may not maintain substantial reserves, and any available funds are typically allocated to immediate programmatic needs. However, we our aim is to increase our reserves over the next couple of years. ## **Details of fund materially in deficit** The slight discrepancy relates to volunteer deposits which passed through the bank account during the year. These were excluded from income and expenditure as they do not represent charity income or charitable spending. ## **Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern** N/A ## **Statement of Financial Activities for period 1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025** Receipts and payments Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period **blink the mental health campaign** c/o Berkeley Homes Project Office Beresford Street SE18 6BG www.blinkmentalhealth.org.uk hello@blinkmentalhealth.org.uk