2023-04-01-accounts

Annual Report 10th Feb 2022 - 31st March 2023

One Impossible Thing is a CIO and our objectives, as set out in our constitution, are:

the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or social and economic circumstances, by the provision of:

• (a)free recycled sports shoes to enable them to participate in sports and activities

• (b)promoting the benefits of recycling and reuse of sports shoes

• (c) raising awareness of the beneficial effect that participation in sports and exercise has on both mental and physical health.

We work with schools, youth groups, activities for those on Free School Meals, refugee groups, homeless charities and other charitable organisations to ensure these shoes are helping out those who need them most.

Summary of our main activities

• Collecting preloved sports shoes in our permanent recycling bins in sports venues in Dacorum, Luton and St. Albans

• Collecting preloved sports shoes through Shoe Drives held by schools and sports clubs

• Promoting recycling and reuse of sports shoes through encouraging clubs and schools to run Shoe Drives and issuing thank you certificates showing the amount of CO2 emissions saved

• Cleaning sports shoes through weekly group cleaning sessions

• • Volunteers cleaning sports shoes in their home

• Sorting the sports shoes in to size and type of shoe

• Distributing the sports shoes to those that need a little extra help through schools, youth groups, activity clubs for those on Free School Meals, refugee groups, homeless charities and other charitable organisations

• Working with schools, community groups and charities to establish the need of their students/service users, in order to support them with donations of sports shoes.

Funding

In order to achieve the above, we have organised our own fundraising events. In March 2022 we held One Impossible Week, which encouraged supporters to run 5kms every day for a week and fundraise by asking friends and family to sponsor them. In February 2023 we held a Gala Dinner and fundraised through ticket sales, a raffle, an auction and games on the night.

We also took part in the Hemel Hempstead Rotary Christmas Santa Sleigh and received a share of the money raised.

We have also been the recipient of supporter led fundraising events: an 80th birthday; a clothes swap party; a monthly pub quiz night; and a raffle at each of Dacorum Running Club’s two gala events.

In terms of community donations, we have received these from Berkhamsted Rotary, Waitrose and the Free Masons.

We raised a total of £9,993.60 and spent £6,244.72.

Volunteers

We are a volunteer led and volunteer powered organisation. We rely on volunteers to collect the shoes, clean the shoes, sort the shoes and distribute the shoes. We also rely on volunteers to organise fundraising events.

Need

By talking with charities, schools and recipients of our sport shoes, we ensure that we understand the need in the community and are offering solutions that are helpful to those in need.

School PE teachers have told us that they have students pretending to forget their football boots for their PE lesson, because their family can’t afford them. The students would rather be handed a detention for ‘forgetting’ their boots than admit that cost is an issue. We have also been told by primary school PE coaches that students are being excluded from PE lessons because they don’t have the appropriate trainers to do sport in.

We have had families contact us as they can’t keep up with their children’s growing feet. Football boots aren’t lasting a season as children’s feet grow to the next size up, school trainers not lasting the school year as children’s feet grow.

We are in touch with refugee groups who have refugee families being resettled and starting school and they don’t have any money to pay for school uniforms and PE kit.

Organisations we have worked with

HACRO (Hertfordshire Association for the Care and Rehabilitation of Offenders) They received a grant form the LTA to run tennis lessons for ex-offenders. We provided tennis shoes for those who were learning at Bovingdon Tennis Club (March 2023)

The Swan Project

They received funding from Herts Sports Partnership to run HAPpy Camps (activity camps for kids on FSM). We provided trainers for those that needed them. (Summer holidays 2022)

Active Luton

They organise Energise Luton Holiday camps to run activity clubs during school holidays for those on FSM. They are funded by the Dept for Education. We provided them with sports shoes for those that don’t have appropriate shoes. (Easter, Summer and Christmas 2022)

Hemel FC

They organise football sessions for girls 5-8 who want to get in to football. The sessions are sponsored by the Weetablx Wild Cats program. We proved football boots for those that needed them (Feb 2023).

Leeanna’s Wish CIC

They run a Saturday session for women 30+ to play football. Its funded by Herts Sports Partnership and the National Lottery Community Fund. We provided football boots for those that needed them (Oct/Nov 2022).

DENS

We provided trainers for their service users who attend their Day Centre (Oct 2022)

Care 4 Calais and Herts Welcomes Refugees

We provided trainers on an ongoing basis in 2022 and 2023 to the refugees they work with.

Schools

We have worked with a number of schools in Dacorum, Luton, Watford and St. Albans to provide free sports shoes for their students throughout 2022 and 2023. These included Chiltern Academy (Luton), Downside Primary School (Luton), Adeyfield Academy (Hemel Hempstead), Hobletts Junior School (Hemel Hempstead), Central Primary School (Watford), Field Junior School (Watford), Lawrence Haines School (Watford) and Marlborough Science Academy (St. Albans).

Data

We distributed 2,030 pairs of preloved spots shoes in our first year, to 31 March 2023. Within three years, by April 2025, we aim to distribute 10,000 pairs.

Summary

We are pleased with our progress in our first year. To move forward and achieve our goal of distributing 10,000 pairs of preloved sports shoes, we need a few things in place. We need a permanent hub where the shoes can be washed, dried and packed up, through an expanded volunteers work force. At the moment we have a free temporary storage place that we may need to vacate with a months notice and we are using one of the Trustees office space to wash and store a smaller number of shoes. Alongside this we also have a number of volunteers who wash shoes in their house each week.

In the next financial year we need to raise funds, either through fundraising, grants and/or donations, so we can rent a permanent community hub to cover all our needs as per above. This would also be a place for the community to come to, so they can try on and take away the sports shoes they and their families need.

Report prepared by Fiona Foulkes Chair of Trustees One Impossible Thing 21st April 2023

Expenditure

	Actual 22/23	Includes
Recycling baskets/bins	£401.21	Baskets, bins and collection bags
Membership fees	£36.00	CAD yearly membership
Cleaning	£75.28	Boot buddies, washing up liquid, washing up bowls
Marketing	£205.20	Banners; labels, stickers and string for shoes
IT	£377.11	Wesbite domain, hosting and email accounts
Stationery	£11.40	Sellotape and stamps
Bank fees	£52.80	Sum Up machine
Fundraising costs - One Impossible Week	£185.56	One Impossible Week socks and GoFundMe fees
Fundraising costs - Gala Dinner	£4,890.56	Food, venue, drinks, magician, decorations, ticket fees (Sum Up and eventbrite)
Insurance	£9.60	Public liability insurance
TOTAL	£6,244.72

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Income

	Actual 22/23
Our events
One Impossible Week	£1,100.00
Gala Dinner	£5,964.60	£1,410.60 direct cash, £2,136 Sum Up, £2,418 Eventbrite
Supporter led events
Sheila 80th	£100.00
Denise clothes swap	£80.00
Dacorum Running Club	£855.00
Rotary Santa Sleigh	£550.00	22/23 was 2 Santa Sleigh’s
The Patch Pub Quiz	£644.00	3 months paid to 31 March
Community Donations
Berko Rotary	£250.00
Waitrose	£250.00
Free Masons	£200.00
TOTAL	£9,993.60

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