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2022-12-31-accounts

Registered Charity Number 1198404

Nottinghamshire Down’s Syndrome Support Group - Trustees Annual Report 9 months Ending 31[st] December 2022 Since inception of charity on 28[th] March 2022

Charity Number: 1198404 Other names the Charity is known by: NDSSG Charity’s registered address: 32 Woolmer Road, Meadows, Nottingham NG2 2FB

Trustees during period 28/3/22 – 31/12/22


Name
Office held (if applicable)
Victoria Tyreman Secretary
Andy Coppins Treasurer
Diane Pastore
Claire Draper
Richard Danks Chair
Aimee Prior
Daryll Byrne
Rachel Howard
Kerri Boaden
Liz Marder

Aims and Objectives

As stated in our constitution, our objects are:

The relief of the needs of people with Down’s Syndrome, their families and carers, for the public benefit, in particular, but not exclusively, by providing such people with information, advice, support, and educational, vocational, social, cultural and sporting opportunities and by raising awareness of Down’s Syndrome within the local community, in order to maximise the opportunities for, and participation and inclusion of, such people into society within Nottinghamshire.

We currently offer support and activities to about 200 families who live in and around the Nottinghamshire area. The type of support we offer includes:

How our activities deliver public benefit

With the Charity Commission’s guidance on ‘public benefit’ in mind, and with all the Trustees being aware of this, all of our charitable activities focus on enabling children and adults with Down’s Syndrome to live full and rewarding lives within their communities. We also want their families and the people surrounding and supporting them to be given good support themselves. We also aim to raise awareness about Down’s Syndrome in the wider community to add to the benefits that our beneficiaries bring to our communities. This is all done to bring public benefit.

Risk Management

The main risks identified are the financial sustainability of the charity, but this is mitigated by financial planning, making sure that some activity is self funding and looking at ways of drawing in funding and fundraising. All activities delivered by NDSSG are risk assessed.

Volunteers

We would like to thank all of the volunteers involved in NDSSG, who are too numerous to name, but all those that support the football and dance sessions, the parents that run the Baby & Toddler group, the parents that support all of the events and the 16+ group, and everyone that takes part in the videos and does any fundraising for NDSSG.

Summary of the main activities

NDSSG became a charity on 28[th] March 2022, but had already existed as an unincorporated association since 2006 and so a lot of the families were already involved, and events and activities had been happening for many years. However during the covid lockdown the NDSSG family had really come together (mainly through doing signing videos) and wanted to do more together, and so the amount of activity increased after covid, and hence the need to develop into a charity.

NDSSG has therefore been incredibly busy over the 9 months, which will be covered in more detail. But as a brief summary

Events and Videos

Our first event as an official charity was an Easter Special at Highfields Park in April. Around 100 people took part in a family treasure trail around the lake, had a picnic together and then had an Easter Egg Hunt. Every child, and every person with DS, who attended also got to take home their own big Easter Egg, which meant a LOT of happy faces.

In May 2022, one of our local football teams, Nottingham Forest, had reached the playoff final and were going to be going to Wembley. Lots of our football-mad members, along with players from Burton Joyce DSActive team and Education FC, took part in the video, signing, dancing and generally having fun. The video was shown on BBC news and was even shown in the boardroom at Nottingham Forest too.

May also saw a week of activities take place during the half-term holiday. Funded by the Sport England Jubilee Fund, we brought in coaches and ran sessions for people to have a taster in lots of different sports. Each day, there were at least two different sports on offer, and 120 different people took part, ranging from 2 to 30 years old. All the activities were free to participants, and included, dance, football, cricket, hockey, boxing, wrestling, tobogganing, snow tubing, tennis, cycling, canoeing, rock climbing, zip lining, running and kayaking. What an opportunity!

We did a survey of members about NDSSG services in April and something that really stood out was that our families wanted more activities aimed just at adults and older teenagers. Thus our 16+ Group was formed. So in July, we had our first ever event just for our older members. Thanks to Nottingham Narrowboat Trust, we hired their narrowboats, plus 2 volunteer staff members on each, for a day on the river for 14 members and 10 parents. All the members had a chance to steer, and go through different locks, which they were shown how to open and close, we had a barbecue lunch, played games and went on the park,before all getting an ice cream, before chugging back to our starting point. It was a great day out which everyone enjoyed.

In July, we had our Summer Fun Day at Southglade Children’s Centre. This event was for all ages. The highlights were the beautiful weather, all the families who came along, a huge tombola and raffle, dancing from EveryoneDance, children’s games and the ice cream van giving everyone an ice cream. The afternoon finished with a very loud and exciting wrestling show from House of Pain Wrestling.

September saw a trip for all our Under 5s and their families to White Post Farm in Farnsfield. The families go and see the animals, enjoy time and food together, play on the park and indoor play areas and ‘drive‘ the farm vehicles. On top of that, they also all get a ride around the farm in a trailer towed by a tractor, and a half hour interactive session where they get to hold lots of different animals! A great day out, and the weather stayed lovely all day.

October saw NDSSG coming together for a Fancy Dress disco, to conclude Down’s syndrome awareness month. This took place at Forest Town Arena, hosted by the wonderful Gareth from Gazza’s Discos. What a wonderful event, with so many fantastic costumes. Plus lots of competitions, prizes and party bags. And, along with lots of lots of dancing, everyone had a great time.

December brought our final big event of the year. With almost 300 people attending, and 170 presents for Santa to give out, it was busy! Santa was very busy handing out presents to everyone in his two grottos - how he managed to be in two different rooms at once, I have no idea. But then,

Santa is magic so I guess he can do anything! With a bouncy castle and slide, disco dome, lots of food, craft activities, soft play, cricket coaching, photo studio and a disco to keep the families entertained, it was 3 hours of fun! And we finished with a raffle and performances from our new dance group, Dance Warriors.

December also meant the creation of another video, with over 100 different people with DS taking part. Including so many different people was no mean feat, but we pulled it off. The video was a huge success, being shared all over the world, and by all the main UK and international DS organisations. As a result it accumulated almost 50000 likes and views.

Warriors United

The football club, which started in May 2021, has gone from strength to strength. Meeting every week during the term time, it attracts players of all ages, abilities and disabilities (we accept players with other learning disabilities as well as people with DS, as it supports their belonging in wider communities). Players range from 5 years old, up to in their forties, and play in two different age group sessions on a Thursday evening. There, they learn basic skills, practice drills, play matches and shoot penalties, supported by a team of volunteer helpers.

In June 2022, the players were invited to take part in the Footprints Cup at Ilkeston Town F.C. taking part in the pre-match warm up, before the ex pros and celebrities came on the pitch. The players loved being cheered on by the crowd and it was a great opportunity for them.

In July, they had their team presentation night, complete with food, at Three Ponds pub. All players received a certificate, photo, trophy and chocolate treat. They were all so proud that their efforts and achievements were being recognised and celebrated in this way. They finished the season with an Inflatable night down at the training ground, which was a huge hit with them all.

In September, with the start of a new season, we changed the name from Education FC to Warriors Utd (as we weren’t working as closely with that partner), the colour of the kit and the club logo, and acquired new sponsors - Fairhome Property Group, TechSmart Services Ltd, Three Ponds Pub, Lubrizol, Hopkins Solicitors and Frontline Recruitment. This year, all players received a personalised shirt, jumper, trackies, socks and shorts, so they were fully kitted up for all the seasons.

In October, the club were filmed by the BBC during one of their training sessions at Monty Hind Youth Centre. The players were incredibly proud and happy to be on TV and told us they were famous!

In November, along with Burton Joyce DSActive team the older team contested the ‘Alice Wilson Memorial Cup’ which was a great occasion. And in December they all celebrated with a visit and present from Santa and a bounce with their friends at Red Kangaroo trampoline park.

The coaches and volunteers do a great job and the players consider Warriors United one of the highlights of their week.

Baby & Toddler Group

This group has been a constant since 2021. It’s a place where young families can just meet together, chat and make friends. Numbers of people attending fluctuate week on week, due to many reasons. Often, our little ones have appointments, or life just means it’s impossible to get there, but for those who can make it, it’s a great place to be. For some reason, we have a loads of boys, and just a couple of girls - but who’s counting!

Based at Southglade Children’s Centre, there’s always something fun to do, including art and craft activities, sensory fun, outdoor play, dressing up and so much more. This is often the first place for new parents to come and meet other little ones with DS and their parents, so is an invaluable resource for those who attend.

NDSSG 16+

After the Narrowboat trip in July 2022, we realised that our older members really wanted to mix socially, on a regular basis.

In November the group was officially launched, with an evening of bowling and karaoke. It was a total riot of fun, food, very loud ‘singing’, some great - and some not so great - bowling, beer and cocktails (for some of the adults in the group) and friendships.

In December, 25 members went to watch Dick Whittington at the Playhouse, which was excellent!

This has been a great start to the 16+ group and plans for the New Year include a pub meal, a night at the wrestling and a weekend at Butlins. In just the first few events, we have had 35 different adults, from 16-43 years attend. It’s so good to see the friendships grow and how much the older members are enjoying just getting to know each other better and having fun together.

Dance Warriors

In October 2022, NDSSG set up their own dance group. In the same way that we don’t limit our football group to just those with DS, we made this group available to people with a whole range of learning disabilities. We started relatively small, with a local dance instructor, but the group proved to be incredibly popular. Within a couple of months, we had outgrown the room where we rehearsed! The dancers meet every week in two different ages sessions - one for 5-12 year olds, and the other for those 13+ years.

The dancers have been amazing, and really committed too. They are sponsored, in kind, by Big Yellow Self Storage, whose logo they wear on their shoulder. They performed at the Christmas party in 2022, and continued to perform for their parents throughout the year. They also had a wonderful Christmas party just for them, with food, dancing, disco and karaoke.

The dance group is a wonderful addition to our weekly activities, with around 50 attending each week, along with a team of wonderful volunteers.

Financial Summary

As described above, as NDSSG was an unincorporated association previously, it had built up a small pot of money which was transferred over on the day the new Charity was established, and so this is referenced in the accounts separately from the rest of receipts received during the period.

The total receipts during the period was £23,013 which was made up of £16,343 of unrestricted funds and £6670 of restricted funds.

Sponsorship and grants

We would like to thank Sport England for their Sport England Jubilee Fund grant which enabled us to hold the Sports week in half term.

We would like to thank the following companies for their sponsorship of the football team across both seasons which this financial period straddles, which pays for the wonderful kits the members wear which gives them so much pride!

Season 21/22: The White Lion Pub, New Vision Windows, Dudley’s Hair and Beauty, Frontline Recruitment and M F Kemp Electrical Co.

Season 22/23: Fairhome Property Group, TechSmart Services Ltd, Three Ponds Pub, Lubrizol, Hopkins Solicitors and Frontline Recruitment

We would also like to thank the Co-op for being able to be one of their Community Causes, through which we raised £2955, to the children at Bosworth School for their kind donation and the

many other people who have donated money personally or raised money through Give as You Live, our fundraising platform during this period.

Restricted Funds

The restricted funds included:

‘Sponsorship of Football Kit and Presentation night’ – £4670 - This was to pay for kit and was provided by the above sponsors for Season 22/23 and was all spent during the period on football kit and the presentation night

‘Sport England Jubilee Grant’ – £2000 - Half term sports activity week. This was a short term fund and was not all spent, but Sport England agreed that the rest of the grant (£262) could be transferred into our unrestricted funds and spent on other sports activity in the following financial period.

Other income

Members pay a nominal sum to take part in the events, football and dance sessions and trips which helps to cover some of the associated costs but the charity subsidises a lot of these costs, especially for the trips and events.

Cash at bank

The cash held at the bank at the year end was £9,976.

Reserves

We don’t have any allocated reserves, but are aiming to build enough in our cash reserves to ensure that our activities can continue if we are unable to find funders or sponsors, for example, to still buy football kit and equipment or the t-shirts for the dance group which makes such a difference to our members sense of belonging.

NottirtrJhamNrn tknvn's Syndrom SupportGwo 1198404 CHARITY COMMISSIO FOR ENfjIAND AND WALES Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For Ihe period from To 31172Q022 Section A Receipts and payments Unrntrict￿ funds Restricted Endowmant funds L••tyoar to th• nMr••t E to th• ror•8t £ ioth• n••r•ot£ toth• n••r••tt tr*th• nMr••t£ Tolal funds A1 Recolpts Balan￿ al bank bm Urweslncted Donaiiw Resldded Donalior Fees from rnemtsers Grants pro￿0¢8 from evon 7301 4670 7117 7117 1926 Sub total(Gross income for AR) 23013 A2 Assgt and Invo•tsn•nt MIM. 18ee tablo1. Sub totsl Totsl rnc0￿ts 6870 2J013 A3P Rooffl HSre Equpment Trfp$ Summer Fun D•y Chrislmas Pyrty Regul8r meellrys Admin Baby 88g Eyrw8 Football Coaches Bab Grou D8nC8 Grou rnonl- Football Football Kits rts Week 2118 2118 256 2098 842 306 144 642 306 144 1471 1179 309 2199 1738 Sub total 1741 A4 Assot and Investment purch•88s. {5oe table Sub total Net of rec•ipts/(paynMnts) AS Transfers between funds Trat)sfÈrfrom NDSSG Comffly org n A6 Cash fvnds last ygar end Cash funds thls year end 262 3.5 262 4,382 211 CCXX R1 accounts ISSI

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