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2023-03-31-accounts

Annual Trustees Report

2021-23

For the period from the 8th of November 2021 to the 31st of March 2023.

Charity name: Oxfordshire Discovery College

Charity registration number: 1196460

Principal address:

1 Bell Close Grove Wantage Oxfordshire OX12 7NH

Oxfordshire Discovery College is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. The governing document is the Constitution of the charity adopted at its registration on 8[th] November 2021.

Appointment of charity trustees

  1. Apart from the founding charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.

  2. In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.

Number of charity trustees

  1. There must be at least three charity trustees. If the number falls below this minimum, the remaining trustee or trustees may act only to call a meeting of the charity trustees, or to appoint a new charity trustee.

  2. The maximum number of charity trustees is twelve. The charity trustees may not appoint any charity trustee if as a result the number of charity trustees would exceed the maximum.

  3. All Trustees give their time voluntarily and do not receive personal benefit from the charity.

Governance, Structure and Management

Governance is set out in the charity constitution, adopted on the 3rd of November, 2021.

The charity is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).

Name of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee Name Office (if any)
Liam Joseph Corbally (appointed 2021) Interim Chair 2021-22
Matthew Alan Slade (appointed 2021)
Pauline Boerma-Collier (appointed 2021)
Aarti Chapman (appointed 2022) Chair 2022-present
Ian Tingley (appointed 2022) Treasurer 2022-present
David Huxford (appointed 2022)
Maria Bourbon (appointed 2022)
Ella Buckingham (appointed 2023)
Philip Purnell (appointed 2023)

Corporate trustees - names of the directors at the date the report was approved
Trustee Name Office (if any)
Laura Harte Founder

Objects and activities

The objects of the Charity are set out in its Constitution as being:

For the purpose of this clause, ‘co-production’ means the design, development, delivery and evaluation of services by the stakeholders who might ultimately use and benefit from them.

Its vision and mission is:

We’d love to see a world where children and young people have the skills, support and control to create their own mental wellness, and to navigate times of mental ill health. This drives us to make sure that every child has what they need to transform their mental health.

The Charity identified its strategic priorities for 2021-22 as:

For these reasons the trustees consider that the Charity meets the public benefit requirement.

In setting the Charity’s goals and in planning its activities the trustees have given due consideration to the published Charity Commission guidance on the operation of the public benefit requirement of the Charities Act 2011.

Progress and Plans

Activities and achievements

1st April 2021 - 31st March 2022 marked our first year as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission. Prior to our registration in November 2021, we were operating as a constituted community group under the support of an incubator partner, Elmore Community Services.

As a newly-formed charity, we were unable to submit a separate set of accounts for the 2021-22 financial year and are therefore submitting this report covering the extended period of 2021-23.

1st April 2022 - 31st March 2023 saw us begin to build solid foundations in terms of staff, resources, space and reputation, delivering more programmes and working with more young people. The last two years, therefore, have been a real milestone period in our journey as an organisation, and we’re incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made.

Activities

2021-22

We dedicated much of this year to testing our approach through a series of pilot programmes. We completed the delivery of our primary age wellbeing programme (‘Discovery Club’) to a group of pupils at Tower Hill Primary School in Witney, having begun our work with them shortly before the first Lockdown in 2020.

We secured funds from Oxfordshire County Council (administered by Oxfordshire Community Foundation) to design and deliver a suite of self-harm focused programmes across the county. We created four new programmes, all under the banner of Self Harm > Self Care, for primary, secondary, young adult, and parent/carer/professional audiences. These programmes are evidencebased, draw on professional and lived expertise, and create interactive and exploratory spaces to delve into such a sensitive topic. They were well received, and early data and feedback were both positive.

We hosted four Micro-Internships from The University of Oxford, totalling 8 interns across the year. Three of these internships focused on researching and generating new worksheets and resources that are free to download from our website. These are popular, and have been made by young adults (under 25), some of whom have their own lived experience, for children, young people, and families to access. The fourth internship supported our fundraising efforts by researching and prioritising a range of funding channels. These internships add crucial additional capacity, bring fresh ideas, and also provide us with an opportunity to gain youth insights into our work. In addition, we’re committed to providing learning and development opportunities.

Following last year’s success of the Rhys Lewis (Patron) Record Club, we again teamed up this year for a new campaign – It’s Ok To Be Blue. This garnered positive social media attention, and led to some local and national publicity.

We produced our first Christmas Card, featuring a young artist’s work, and divided the proceeds between us and the young artist, marking a key principle of fairly remunerating young people for their skills and talents.

In preparation for our separating from under our incubator partner, we developed our suite of policies, and were fortunate to receive consultant input into our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy. We wrote our first Vision, Mission and Values statement, of which we’re very proud. Our Founder and CEO received mentoring from the Charity Mentors scheme. We recruited our first Board of Trustees, appointing 8 diverse and skilled individuals by the end of this year. They range

from clinicians, to experienced board representatives, and also represent people with lived experience. One of our board members participated in the Oxford Hub Trustees Scheme to ensure our understanding of the role of the board, and our way of operating, are up-to-date and in line with best practice. All of this work culminated in our registration with the Charity Commission as a separate legal entity, with a strong foundation and carefully considered governance.

We bolstered our fundraising approach by working with a consultant to advise on our strategy, reviewed and finalised our choice of wellbeing metrics to best measure and gauge our impact on participants, and for the second time featured as a stall holder at the Youth In Mind conference.

2022-23

2022-23 saw us continue to deliver our pilot phase, with us appointing four new Facilitators (two Experts-by-Experience and two Experts-by-Training) for six month contracts, with funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. They designed several new programmes, including our Change Champions programme for 10-12 year olds, and an Identity and Resilience programme for university age young adults.

We hosted a number of further micro-internships, with projects ranging from citing the evidence base in our programme session plans, resource creation, and designing our registration process for new participants.

We were delighted to be invited to present at Oxford’s Marmalade Conference (part of an international festival) on the topic of co-production.

We invested time in bolstering our policies and infrastructure, including developing our Community Code (Code of Conduct) and adopting the NJC payscales. We were also in a position, for the first time, to offer some employee benefits including early initiating pension contributions.

We recruited a new Chair of Trustees who has led the Board successfully since she was appointed, investing time in developing the board’s individual skill-sets and team working processes, and has brought structure and clarity to our board meetings and collective efforts. We also held our first Strategy Away-Day in January 2023, which brought together both Trustees and Staff to set Strategic Priorities for the coming year and review our progress to date. Since then we’ve developed our board further, appointing two Co-Vice-Chairs from within the board, and a new Trustee with a specialism in communications.

In April 2022 we took on our first office space as part of the Makespace meanwhile let initiative. Makespace had been offered a space in Didcot and were able to therefore offer us funding to provide us with a reduced rent package, enabling us to trial the value of an office after a period of fully remote working. Feedback from staff and volunteers has shown the addition of our small office to have been invaluable, and something we’re committed to maintaining.

We undertook a small scale independent evaluation with the Oxford Academic Health Science Network (AHSN), who interviewed our Facilitators to help us to better understand our developing model - which elements were secure and valued, and which needed further development. It was reassuring to us that many of the developments we had planned for the coming months were highlighted in the AHSN’s findings, and that some unanticipated benefits of working at Discovery College were also identified. The Oxford AHSN said: “ The Oxford AHSN was engaged by the Oxfordshire Discovery College to conduct a series of objective interviews to review and provide feedback on the organisations’ approach to supporting young people. Interviews were conducted with staff who facilitated several of the organisation’s programmes for young people. The interviews highlighted the value of authentic lived experience of mental health difficulties and how staff were supported to use their experience to engage children, young people and families to open conversation about mental health and wellbeing. Areas for improvement were also highlighted, particularly around process and delivery. Findings from the interviews have been shared with the Oxfordshire Discovery College Founder & CEO to support next steps for the organisation in improving infrastructure”. We look forward to continuing our relationship with them in 2023-24 and beyond.

In January 2023 we appointed two new Facilitators (one an Expert-by-Experience, one an Expert-by-Training) on a minimum 12 month contract. This is a significant step forward, enabling us to begin to grow our organisational knowledge and invest in longer-term relationships. In March 2023, we have also begun the process of recruiting for a new role of Community Engagement Coordinator to oversee the day-to-day operations, to line manage these Facilitators and to develop partnerships across the county.

Achievements

2021-22

This was a year of milestones, but there are some key achievements we’re incredibly proud of.

We employed our first employees – two staff who are ‘Experts-by-Experience’ and ‘Experts-byTraining’. This indicates a real shift towards us being a stable and robust organisation and employer, and we worked hard to ensure that we could provide a supportive workplace that recognises staff’s skills and experience.

We were awarded the Gold Standard Internship Host award by The University of Oxford, in recognition of the high quality placements we provide to their students, and our ongoing commitment to supporting the scheme.

We were fortunate to again be supported this year by enthusiastic and dedicated community fundraisers, who hosted events to raise funds for the Discovery College.

We were awarded second prize in the multi-disciplinary category at the Royal College of Psychiatrist’s Easter Division Autumn Conference for our poster entitled Improving Mental Health Outcomes for Children & Young People – A Pilot.

We were invited to speak on a panel for a webinar hosted by Oxfordshire Community Foundation titled Advocating for Young Adults after the Pandemic, due to our innovative approach and early success.

Lastly, during the Winter of 2021 and into the Spring of 2022, one of our board members became unwell. They needed to spend some time on a ward receiving support for their mental health, and briefly took a period of sick leave from the board. However, through discussion with their clinicians it was ultimately felt that their work supporting the Discovery College provided a positive and constructive focus for them and they were able to take up their role again during their period of recovery. They joined several of our board meetings from the hospital ward and contributed significantly to our work at that time. For us, this felt the embodiment of our values, ethos and approach – recognising the value of someone’s lived experience and their broader skills and contributions, and removing barriers to enable them to participate fully.

2022-23

This year heralded the end of our initial pilot phase, seeing us transition towards offering a more consistent and reliable service offer, and consolidating our learning about our approach to date.

We began to receive invitations to participate in events and opportunities, such as an event hosted by the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire and the Marmalade Conference, rather than us pursuing such opportunities. This indicated to us that our reputation in the county is developing and that there is interest in what we’re creating.

We again had a small group of passionate and creative community fundraisers who helped to develop our profile in local spaces, and to generate vital income for us.

We were delighted to be able to appoint our new team of staff for a longer-term period, and this was only made possible by the generous support of some key funders who felt confident enough in our work to date to provide us with core funding. This has given us the flexibility to apply our resources to best cement our growth and provide us with a strong foundation for the future. In particular, we were awarded funds from the Shackleton Foundation on our second application, something that is very unusual, and we were also recommended to the School for Social Entrepreneurs for further support by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, on the strength of our performance under their own funding period.

We’ve also had some powerful moments of progress and change in some of our groups - from parents who are getting some time and support for themselves for the first time, to teenagers who have been grappling with their diagnosis under clinical services for years and find in our groups, for the first time, a space to explore their mental illness to understand it more fully. We’re seeing

increases in overall wellbeing metrics across all of our groups, which lends credibility to our approach.

Summary

We’re delighted with the progress we’ve made during this period and the learning we’ve gathered from our direct delivery. We’d like to extend our gratitude to Elmore Community Services for supporting our early development, and to our dedicated Working Group, a team of volunteers who propelled us forward in all work and decision-making until we reached the point of registering with the Charity Commission, wherein they handed over the reins to our fantastic Board of Trustees. Our existence today is credit to that team of people: Rosie Hall, Louis Headley, Pauline Boerma-Collier, Matt Slade and Liam Corbally. We’d also like to show our appreciation to the participants of all of these early programmes, who have not only been inspiring to work with, but who have helped to shape our work and our organisation at this early stage. Their fingerprints are all over the movement we’re creating.

Reserves policy

The trustees aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately one month of unrestricted charitable expenditure. The trustees consider that this level will provide sufficient funds to enable us to increase fundraising or to wind up the charity, as the circumstances demand. However, the trustees are committed to building the level of reserves held to a total of three months expenditure over the coming years. The balance held as free reserves at 31st March 2023 was £5,333, against a budgeted 2023/24 monthly spend of £4,624.

Plans

2023-24 looks exciting for Oxfordshire Discovery College – we’ve built a stable basis from which to grow and consolidate our work in the coming year. Fundraising performance in the last quarter of 2022-23 has been positive and we continue to nurture relationships with funders. We intend to roll out our existing suite of programmes, increasing our reach and engagement across the county, and to develop new programmes in response to evolving need, using our newly appointed small-butmighty team of core staff.

Our Strategic Priorities for 2023 support these activities:

  1. Maintain and nurture our warm culture and high quality as we grow

  2. Increase participant engagement through both programme participation and enrolment

  3. Continue to build our evidence base, demonstrating efficacy and return on investment, and articulate it clearly

  4. Develop our public image, increasing our visibility and reputation locally, and with a clear USP

  5. Secure our core staff capacity, building a robust and skilled team of staff and volunteers supported by diverse income generation

Increasing our staff capacity will enable us to, put simply, do more, and continuing to develop our evidence base is crucial in evidencing that the Discovery College model really does have the potential to benefit children and young people across the country. We therefore need to articulate exactly what it is that makes the Discovery College model so powerful, helping other localities to replicate it where there is appetite to.

The way to doing this is by working with more children, young people, and adult supporters - engaging them in transformative and exciting programmes and improving their overall wellbeing. The route to our organisational growth is by improving the lives of children and young people with mental health problems, and we have every reason - from our mission in Oxfordshire to our commitment to the Discovery College model - to achieve this.

Financial Review

As at the 31st of March 2023, the cash held by the charity totalled £42,900, of which £21,411 represented unrestricted funds. The trustees consider the cash held to be sufficient to cover operating costs for the year ahead.

No restricted funds of the charity are materially in deficit.

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signature(s) Full name(s) Aarti Chapman Position (eg Secretary, Chair Chair, etc) Date 12th September, 2023

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ Oxfordshire Discovery College members of

On accounts for the year The 31st of March, 2023 ended

Set out on pages 11 and 12

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Charity”) for the period ended 31 / 03 / 2023. This is the first reporting period, covering the 17 months from November 2021.

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 Trust’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 which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

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.

Date: 04/09/2023 Signed: Name: Michael Russell Relevant professional Chartered Institute of Management Accountants qualification(s) or body (if any):

Address: 40 Levery Close Abingdon, OX14 3XX

Income and Expenditure

Balance Brought Forward
Income
Grants
Other Income
Transfers
Total Income
Expenditure
Salaries
Training
Overheads
Materials
Expenses
Marketing
Recruitment
Equipment
Total Expenditure
Surplus/Deficit
Balance Carried Forward		 Total
55,023.00
21,733.79
0.00
76,756.79
24,880.71
800.81
3,113.37
1,940.65
1,671.98
239.58
206.22
1,003.13
33,856.45
42,900.34
42,900.34		 Unrestricted
Funds
21,710.30
2,229.73
23,940.03
160.80
2,106.20
92.44
28.16
141.59
2,529.19
21,410.84
21,410.84		 Restricted
Funds
55,023.00
23.49
-2,229.73
52,816.76
24,880.71
640.01
1,007.17
1,848.21
1,643.82
97.99
206.22
1,003.13
31,327.26
21,489.50
21,489.50

Balance Sheet

Current Assets

Cash and Bank

----- Start of picture text -----
Bank Account 42,899.34
Petty Cash 1.00
Total Current Assets 42,900.34
Net Assets 42,900.34
Funds Position
Restricted 21,489.50
Unrestricted 21,410.84
Of which, funds held in reserve 5,333.00
Total Funds 42,900.34
----- End of picture text -----

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

----- Start of picture text -----
Signature(s)
Full name(s) Aarti Chapman
Position (eg Secretary, Chair
Chair, etc)
Date 26th September 2023
----- End of picture text -----