## **Medway Asthma Self Help Annual Report 2021-2022** Registered Charity Number 1196597 Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1 ## **- Medway Asthma Self Help (MASH)** Established in 1996, MASH aims to support people and families affected by asthma through the provision of support and information relating to the causes of asthma and its effective treatment, and by raising awareness of asthma in the general community of Medway. 2 ## **Contents** |Acknowledgements|Page 1| |---|---| |Chairperson’s Report|Page 2-3| |Treasurer’s Report|Page 4-5| |MASH Appeals|Page 6| |Clinic Report|Page 7| |Clinic Feedback|Page 8| |Coordinator’s Report|Page 9-10| |Centre Details|Back Page| 3 ## **Acknowledgements** MASH is very fortunate to be supported by many people and organisations this year. A number of them are acknowledged below. Cllr Clive Johnson Prof John Dickinson Judith Pender Maggie Cane Dr Peter Burt Wei Wei Julie Millest Bridget Nightingale Diana Smith Carole Coulthard Fiona Pender Michael Turner Julie Critcher Wendy Palmer Sean Hanna Asha Saroy Anir Manivannan Nalini Manivannan Laura Wren Nicki Giorgini Michaela Temperly Chris and Christine Rogers Dorte Gilry Cllr Sijuwade Adeoye Cllr Hazel Brown Cllr Harinder Mahil Cllr Vince Maple Cllr Dan McDonald Cllr Chrissy Stamp Cllr John Williams Cllr Jan Aldous Cllr Elizabeth Turpin Cllr Rupert Turpin Cllr Matt Fearne Cllr Alex Paterson Cllr Chris Buckwell Cllr Barry Kemp Cllr Nusrat Ahmed Cllr Stephen Hubbard Amazon Smile ASDA Chatham Bedfont Scientific Ltd British Lung Foundation Canva Central Theatre, Chatham Cliffe Memorial Hall Charity Coop Local Community Fund Coop Stores throughout Medway and in particular Canterbury Street Gillingham Road Medway City Estate Hempstead East Medway University of the Third Age (U3A) easyfundraising Gillingham Street Angels Healthwatch Medway Historic Dockyard, Chatham Holland and Barrett Gillingham Hempstead Valley Hospital Radio, Medway In Kind Direct It's The Biz, Medway Kent Community Foundation (KCF) KM Charity Team Medway CCG Medway Community Healthcare Medway Corporate Giving Fund Medway Council Medway Foodbank Medway Messenger Medway Park Medway Pride Medway Pride Radio Medway Voluntary Action Mid Kent College Nucleus Arts Radio Sunlight Roko Health Club Sewing Together Spensley's Pharmacy Twydall St Augustines Church Tesco Extra Gillingham The Department for Digital, Cultral, Media and Sports (DCMS) The Colyer Fergusson Trust The Philip and Connie Phillips Foundation The Mason Mile The Net Magazine Universal Stores, Lower Stoke University of Kent University of Kent School of Sport and Exerise Sciences Watling Street Post Office wHoo Cares 1 ## **Chairperson’s Report** Welcome to Medway Asthma Self-Help’s 2022 Annual General Meeting! We have the opportunity, once again, to meet in person at MASH’s base. It is good to be back, though the Covid pandemic is far from over, particularly for those of us who are vulnerable. I hope that you and your family have been safe and well over the past few difficult years. I am pleased to say that MASH has continued its work over the past year and, in fact, we have managed to expand our activities as we return to something like normal. I pay tribute to our new Coordinator, Kirsty Ferguson, who has made an excellent start and has definitely hit the ground running. We have returned to our continuing programme of outreach activities throughout Medway. We also held our first in-person fundraising quiz in August. I pay tribute, too, to our Specialist Asthma Nurse, Julie, who has restarted face-to-face advice sessions at Medway Park, thanks to our partners at the University of Kent. Julie’s support is essential to so many people in Medway. We are restarting advice sessions at MASH’s base, though we hope to develop a programme of sessions around Medway so that we can meet the needs of our communities further afield. We also hope to restart our allergy testing sessions. This year, thanks to our developing links with our partners at Medway Maritime Hospital and at the University of Kent, we had the first of what we hope will become a regular fixture: the Asthma Education Day. The event was held at the Maritime Campus with a range of partners and many visitors who were professionals or people with asthma. The event was a great success and we hope it will become an annual event. We have funding for a part-time locum specialist nurse but, so far, have not been able to recruit one. If you know a nurse who may be able to help with cover for Julie and additional clinics around Medway, please put them in touch. MASH will pay for the appropriate specialist training. MASH would not function without our volunteers, who support our outreach and advice sessions and our fundraising. I warmly thank them for all their hard work and their commitment to people with asthma. Our volunteers are at the heart of our work. If you would like to be a volunteer for MASH, and can spare a few hours occasionally, please be assured that we need you! Just let us know. My thanks also to our trustees. We have been meeting fortnightly for some time now. Sadly, we are saying goodbye as a trustee to our Vice-Chair, Prof. John Dickinson, who is stepping down at the AGM, though John assures us that he will still be able to support us. Thank you, John, for all your hard work over the past years. I am also sad to announce that Judith Pender, a Founding Trustee of MASH, with twenty-six years of service to our charity, and our current Treasurer, is also standing down as a trustee. Judith has been at the heart of MASH for so long and her commitment to the charity is so strong that it will be difficult to 2 imagine our trustee meetings without her. Having said that, like John, Judith has said that she still intends to support MASH after she steps down. I’m sure all of us in the MASH family would like to say a big thank you to Judith for all her work over the years. I thank all our trustees: Maggie Cane, Dr Peter Burt and Wei Wei. We would always like to be joined by new trustees, so please contact us if you can help. If you would like an informal chat to find out about the role, we will be happy to arrange that. This is a difficult time for charities, especially small charities. Future funding is uncertain and costs are rising. MASH is a strong community with a proud history that provides essential support for the people of Medway and we continue to face the future with confidence. ## **Clive Johnson Chair of Trustees** ## **___________________________________________________________________** ## **Could you be a MASH trustee?** We are seeking to expand and strengthen our trustee board to help us to continue to support people and families affected by asthma in Medway. We are looking to expand the board with a range of skills and experience, including (but not limited to): - People with asthma - People who care for or work with people with asthma - People with Human Resources experience - People with Accountancy experience - People with Media experience If you could give a few hours each month to support your local asthma charity, please get in touch to discuss: medwayasthmaselfhelp@btconnect.com or call 01634 855844 ## **___________________________________________________________________** 3 ## **’ - Treasurer s Report 2021 2022** At the end of September 2022, MASH had £52700 in available funds, a slight surplus on last year. Of the funds available £7042 is held in reserve and £12000 is in funds to restricted funds to complete specific projects as agreed with funders. The total income for 2021-2022 was just over £30000. The sources of income are shown in the figures below. MASH is grateful for continuing support from CCG who contributed the largest proportion of income this year. Medway Councillors have been generous in remembering us in their Ward Fund allocations and grants were achieved by means of competitive bidding to funders. Fundraising has continued supplemented by personal donations from our supporters either by a small monthly standing order or as a one-off sum. Including in the fundraising is also money raised by supporters remembering us when they shop online, at Co-op stores and by supporting the Medway Lottery. Interest on the savings accounts was negligible this year. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Income
£14,000.00
£12,000.00
£10,000.00
£8,000.00
£6,000.00
£4,000.00
£2,000.00
£-
**----- End of picture text -----**
This year MASH had a total expenditure of £25952. The way in which the money was spent is detailed in the figure below and in the accounts. The main expenses are salaries and items related to the MASH premises, and reflect maintaining and preparing the premises to be fully open. 4 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Expenditure 2021-2022
£16,000.00
£14,000.00
£12,000.00
£10,000.00
£8,000.00
£6,000.00
£4,000.00
£2,000.00
£-
Salaries Rent Office and insurance Utilities Publicity and
clinic and licences fundraising
**----- End of picture text -----**
I would like to thank all the individuals who have continued to support MASH and especially to the independent examiner Mr C Harvey for all the help he has given towards the preparation of the accounts and the advice he has given. ## **Judith Pender Treasurer** ## **We are grateful to the following organisations who have supported our work with grants.** 5 MASH volunteers are an essential part of our charity. They help support our clinics, outreach, fundraising events and also help in the office. If you could spare MASH a few hours every now and then or even on a frequent basis, then please get in touch. If you have an outreach or fundraising idea then we would love to hear from you. We are pleased to be part of the Medway Time Credits scheme, which allows volunteers to earn Time Credits for their time contributed to MASH. These can then be spent on accessing activities across a nationwide network, as well as within Medway. You can email us on medwayasthmaselfhelp@btconnect.com or call us on 01634 855844 to find out more. Could you make a small monthly donation? If you feel you are able to help, no matter how modestly, please let us know. You can email us on medwayasthmaselfhelp@btconnect.com, call us on 01634 855844, pick up a form from reception at the Medway Asthma Centre at 131 Watling Street or visit our website for more information www.medwayasthmaselfhelp.co.uk Thank you! You can help Medway Asthma Self Help raise free funds when you shop online via the easyfundraising website / app or when using amazon smile at smile.amazon.co.uk Please support us at no cost to you and get a donation form thousands of retailers directly to us by registering your support at www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/medwayasthma/ www.smile.amazon.co.uk We would love to hear from anyone who might be interested in taking part in some challenge / sponsored events including walks, runs, swims, cycling, abseils, team-based assault courses or dragon boat racing. Please contact us for more details. Thank you 6 ## **Clinic Report** Since my last clinic report we have resumed face-face asthma clinics. These commenced late last year and apart from a few weeks where we had to go back to telephone consultations due to the rise in COVID19 rates in December 2021 / January 2022, we have been able to continue weekly clinics. Due to practical problems with the MASH building we were unable to use it for clinics until a few weeks ago. We were, however, given the use of a room at Medway Park Sports Centre for our weekly clinics. We thank John Dickinson and the School of Sport and Exercise Science for the use of the room at Medway Park and I would also like thank the staff at the Sports Centre, who were always helpful, and our volunteers who helped during the period. It is now good to be back ‘home’ at MASH for clinics. The reception space and clinic area make it more conducive for clients, volunteers and myself. Following the pandemic, where much routine diagnostic testing was stopped, it has been useful to be able recommence testing, such as spirometry and FeNO testing, and plans are in place to start our Allergy Skin Prick Testing Clinic in December. We have a considerable waiting list for allergy testing so it may take a while to get through them all. Hopefully, the coming year will see our asthma clinics getting back to normal and we can continue in our aim of helping, giving information and support to those with asthma throughout Medway. ## **Julie Millest MASH Asthma Nurse** 7 ## **Clinic Feedback** **----- Start of picture text -----**
We asked our patients what we did well at our advice
sessions, this is what they said . . . . . .
Friendly,
Seen quickly and
provided
tested quickly
information a Nd
Informative,
got the ball
welcoming,
friendly
Good Advice
Everything
very
thorough
Really
informative,
friendly
i
Explained
Information was
everything and
helpful, arranged
ran checks
action plan
Explaining to a
level we
understand
Listen, explain,
support and sign
Excellent info,
post
warm welcome
and friendly
Very clear
advice
8
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Coordinator’s Report** What a year 2022 has been! Many changes have happened within MASH this year including a new coordinator, new trustees and the reopening of all the fun activities we are used to participating in. MASH has once again continued to support its community throughout the difficult and changing times that we currently have, signposting information to those who need it regarding their concerns for asthma or Covid and more. We have been able to reopen our face to face clinics with our asthma nurse Julie and offer telephone appointments for those who are unable to make our clinic in person. Precisely what MASH was made to do! We have continued to offer virtual support online, including an Asthma Advent Calendar and newsletters. In more recent times we have appreciated the many events that have taken place locally that we have been able to participate in, including Safety in Action Day, School Jubilee Fayres, Coffee Mornings and Fresher’s Week. Deano, our mascot, has also been back in action at the Medway Mile whilst also celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! Deano and his friend Olly the Owl at this years Medway Mile Deputy Chair of Trustees Professor John Maggie, MASH Trustee at Dickinson and Trustee Peter Burt with Safety in Action Day attendees at our Asthma Educational Event This year has also seen our very first Asthma Educational Event. This was a great success with patients, carers and healthcare professionals all able to come together collectively and speak with our experts from Medway Hospital, University of Kent, University of Greenwich at Medway, Medway Community Healthcare and Medway Council and learn about everything Asthma! 9 With the country’s lockdown finishing and the reopening of all sectors, our famous Quiz Nights restarted with a bang in July. Working in partnership with Roko Health Club we intend to bring this back on a regular basis, raising ever important funds for MASH and gaining some extra knowledge in the process. With the slow opening of the community this year, MASH has been trying to reach out to those harder to reach demographic areas that need our support. We have attended outreach events in Cliffe and are working with wHoo Cares, based on the Hoo Peninsula to impact the harder to reach areas. I am excited to say that we have 3 dates already booked in with them and the various activities they do and are very much looking forward to meeting everyone. Within the next few weeks we will also be reopening our Allergy Clinic sessions. Over the Covid lockdowns we have been unable to run these sessions and have therefore accrued a rather long waiting list. Now that we have had our refurbishments completed, we are able to reopen these sessions. Our first, being held in December is already full! We are also really grateful to Medway councillors who have supported our work with donations from their Ward Funds this year. We have used this to purchase a new printer for our office that will enable us to be more efficient with the way we print and scan. Lastly, I’m pleased to let you know that we have been chosen by our local Co-op shops to be part of the Co-op Local Community Fund, helping to further our outreach to the ME1 area! This means that with every £1 that is spent by a Co-op member, we will receive 1p! If you are a Co-op member all you need to is select us as your chosen charity, or follow the link below to find us. It is never too late to sign up to become a Co-op member and help us raise those most important funds! https://membership.coop.co.uk/causes/74790 ## **Kirsty Ferguson Coordinator** ## **Notes** 10 ## **Medway Asthma Centre** ## **Medway Asthma Self Help** Registered Charity Number 1196597 131 Watling Street, Gillingham, Kent ME7 2YY 01634 855844 medwayasthmaselfhelp@btconnect.com Facebook: @Medway.selfhelp Twitter: @MedwayAsthma Instagram: @medwayasthma ## **Office Opening Times** Monday 9.00am – 12noon Thursday 5.00pm – 8.00pm (telephone only) Friday 2.00pm – 5.00pm ## **Clinic Details** A 30-minute consultation with a specialist asthma nurse on Fridays, by appointment only. 11 Recel and payments account8 To CC161 0111LWT Sortion A Receipts and payni¢nts A1 6.1• Ll APJ 7J• 2JM Section B Siatsment ol assets and liabilitie5 at the eiid of the perrod 717 I￿V ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the** Charity Name **trustees/ members** Medway Asthma Self Help **of** 30 September 2022 **Charity** 1058749 **On accounts for the no (if year ended any) Set out on pages** 1 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30 / 09 / 2021. **Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the **basis of report** 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 the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. **Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material **examiner's** matters have come to my attention in connection with the **statement** examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:  accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust 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 order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. **Date:** November **Signed:** 2022 **Name:** Christopher Harvey 1 **IER** **October 2018** **Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):** **Address:** 56 Herbert Road Gillingham Kent ME8 9DA ## **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). 2 **IER** **October 2018** ## **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . 3 **IER** **October 2018**