OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2023-03-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period end date From 1st August 2022 To 31st March 2023

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name Teesdale Day Clubs

Other names charity is known by Association of Teesdale Day Clubs to 31 July 2022

Registered charity number (if any) 1198857

Woodleigh Flatts Road Barnard Castle DL12 8AA

Charity's principal address

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1
2
3
4
5
6
7		 Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for
whole year		 Name of person
(or body) entitled
to appoint trustee
(ifany)
Gordon Thomson Chair
Peter McGuinness Vice Chair
Ann Dolphin OBE Treasurer
David Bailey
Susan Bainbridge
Marion Hutchinson MBE
Hazel Rayner

Name of Strategic Manager

Andrea Hobbs

1

Section B Structure, governance and management

Type of governing document Constitution
How the charityis constituted Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Trustee selection method Appointment by Board

We achieved registration as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 6[th] May 2022, but have a long-established history as a charitable association since 1994. By 2024 we will have been providing a service in our community for 30 years.

This Annual Report covers our first short 8-month financial period as a CIO following the closure of our previous unincorporated charity, the Association of Teesdale Day Clubs (registration no 1079248) and the full and complete transfer of assets, on 31 July 2022. The CIO’s first date of operation was therefore the 1[st] August 2022. We have included a description of some activity in 2022 prior to the start of the CIO activity on 1st August 2022, to provide some continuity and context, and to highlight our longevity and established service delivery over many years. All financial information pertains to the year 1[st] August 2022 to 31st March 2023.

During the period of this report, we had 13 part-time staff ranging from 0 hours to 20 hours per week. Most staff were TUPE’d over from the original association, with 2 people employed after CIO registration. The 2 members of the team on 0 hours contracts chose this as their preferred option and only work for us to help cover holiday and sick leave as required. We also have 3 people who work with us on a sessional freelance basis to further help us to cover gaps in service created by holiday/sick leave.

Our 9 Chefs and Club Leaders run 9 weekly lunch clubs. We have between 1 and 3 clubs running each day of the week in different villages or communities. The Club and Community Services Manager (CCSM) is responsible for the line management of the club team, overseeing volunteer support, and delivery of our one-to-one community support service that is a free provision to anyone who attends a lunch club.

The CCSM works closely with our Operations Coordinator and Administrator (OCA) to ensure that the day-to-day running of the clubs is smooth, safe, and adequately supported by staff and volunteers.

We have a Finance Administrator who contributes time as a volunteer as well as being paid for 4 hours each week.

The Strategic Manager (SM) line manages the CCSM and the 2 administrator posts. The SM is managed by our Chair, supported by both the Treasurer and Vice-Chair. Our SM has overall operational responsibility for the efficient and effective running of our services and carrying out Trustee led strategic and operational plans. The SM is also responsible for securing all funding required and assists the Treasurer to ensure that our finances are well managed.

Our Strategic Plan (2022-2025) outlines our aims for both maintaining and developing our services over the next 2 years. An Operational Plan details risks, priorities and actions and is updated and presented at both Finance and Risk committee and Board meetings. The Finance and Risk Committee meets at least 6 times each year and the Board meets every quarter end, with additional away day and specific task group meetings as required. The Finance and Risk committee comprises the Chair, Vice-chair and Treasurer, with the SM in attendance. It oversees all financial management: cash flow, management account outturn at least every quarter end, and has responsibility for overseeing the Risk Register which is reviewed every 6 months and presented to the Board annually. Our Policy and HR committee comprises the Chair and one other trustee, with the SM in attendance. It meets as and when required to review policies before presentation to the Board and to consider any HR issues.

Board meetings are usually attended by the SM and other staff members as appropriate.

2

Section C

Objectives and activities

Vision

To enhance quality of life by offering supportive social opportunities to people who are socially excluded, or at risk of being socially excluded, including people facing social isolation, in Teesdale.

Mission

To provide social networks in Teesdale that offer friendship and hospitality as well as help and support with day-to-day challenges.

Objectives and activity

We provide:

Our clubs are welcoming, warm, and supportive places, for both members and volunteers, to make friends, and to catch up with old ones. We seek to make a difference to people’s lives by helping people to feel:

We aim for everyone to experience an enhanced quality of life, improved health and wellbeing, and to be enabled and supported to live independently where appropriate.

We seek to increase our network to provide added value for our members, and increase local benefit through supply chains, working in partnership, and providing more joined up activity. To do this we work closely with all local statutory and voluntary agencies; we always buy local food and supplies where we can; and we liaise and collaborate as closely as possible with key partners to deliver services that meet the needs of individuals.

Our core lunch club service operates in 9 local venues: the market town of Barnard Castle and 8 surrounding villages. Clubs also raise their own small funds through raffles and ‘50p clubs’ that finance occasional trips out to different places for lunch.

“I really enjoy these trips out – I feel like a youngster again.”

Our one-to-one community support service means that we are more than just a lunch club service. It provides a bespoke support to anyone who needs assistance with anything that

3

impacts on their emotional, social or general wellbeing. Interventions can be a home visit for a reassuring or encouraging chat; help to fill in a form; accompanying to health appointments; liaising with family to arrange at-home care; help with accessing specialist equipment; or referrals on to other support agencies, including GPs. As a key preventative service in our area for older and the frailest people in our community we are regularly a first point of contact when someone just doesn’t know where else to go for help; doesn’t have anyone else to turn to; or are too anxious to reach out.

“Thank you for your help we were really desperate.”

We evaluate our services regularly through surveys, collecting quotes, anecdotes, and testimonials, and by involving lunch club members and volunteers in feedback events. People consistently tell us that because of the support they receive, they feel less lonely, feel that it improves their wellbeing (they feel happier), and the support often helps them to cope better with living alone.

“Coming to lunch club keeps me going – sometimes it’s such an effort but it’s always worth it.”

“It’s done me the power of good being able to sit here and reminisce with you.”

Statutory Public Benefit Declaration:

Trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the commission's public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant. Our duties as a charity are met through the delivery of our aims and objectives and are evidenced by the activities and outcomes outlined above and detailed below. Our membership is open to any adult living within our area of benefit and our joining and referral pathways are easy to access. Most club members join us through word of mouth; self-referral; signposting by friends; family members; Health and Social Care; charitable; and similar organisations.

Section D

Achievements and performance

We have supported 242 people and benefitted from a strong volunteer team of 99 people. Around 9 people double-up as both a member and volunteer, and 4 trustees are also volunteers. Over the previous 12-month period of recovery from the pandemic, we supported 254 people (2021 = 221 people), which included 33 new lunch club users at a newly opened club in March 2022.

The average age of lunch club users is around 82 years, and most volunteers are over the age of 65. A recent survey in 2022 showed that of the 154 user respondents, 99 people lived alone. Based on our general profile, 65% of people attending our clubs live alone and a significant number have no or few family members living close by, so rely on friends or neighbours for support.

Around 25% of users each year will have a mobility or access issue and use our subsidised transport provision (at March 2023, 28 people were using transport we provide).

Around 6760 freshly made meals have been served at our lunch club up to 31st March 2023 and we only had to cancel 10 lunch club sessions due to weather conditions; plumbing or electrical issues at venues; staff shortages; or illness.

An average of 70 people each month were contacted on a one-to-one basis by our CCSM and 26 people received in-depth support through an in-person intervention, with 5 being visited or spoken to on multiple occasions (more than twice). Using our in-house

4

assessment, we recorded that on more than 500 occasions, people were supported to feel less lonely. 10 people were contacted on Christmas Day as it was known that they would be on their own. 33 interventions were made that specifically supported someone’s mental/emotional health, 5 people were supported in a way that improved their physical health and 2 people were helped to improve their financial situation.

Feedback from our lunch club user survey 2022.

Comments made by people in the survey about what they liked best:

“In the period of attendance, I have met more residents of Startforth than in the whole of the 40 previous years. I have been here since 1979.”

“Meeting others and having a chat with an actual person!”

“The friendship, chat and help when needed. The meal is always very well cooked and pleasantly served.”

“I like the friendship it provides.”

“Important part of keeping in contact with other people in the community.” “The company, the food, the staff and the venue – outstanding.”

Examples of interventions from the CCSM report that showcases the kind of support we offer, and the difference made to people’s lives:

5

Organisational development and operations – successes and challenges

The achievement of our CIO status in May 2022 accounted for a significant amount of activity for key Trustees and the Strategic Manager. It has been an important milestone for the charity in terms of our future sustainability, being fit for purpose in the future, and being able to attract trustees with the skills that we need to take our planning forward.

We were supported by Durham Community Action for charity registration, but our SM managed the TUPE, HMRC and pension changes, as well as bank account changes and all the associated administration.

To support our SM, we approached The Cranfield Trust, and the SM received mentoring support over a period of 6 months in 2022-2023. We then went on to receive some business planning support from another Cranfield consultant on a pro bono basis which has come to fulfilment in 2023.

We achieved the Durham County Volunteering Kitemark in December 2022. This is the first quality award achieved by the charity and is a significant marker in our progress.

The office was able to re-open, following pandemic restrictions in 2022 and is now staffed 3 mornings each week with office staff also working from home. We have been supported by the Town Council, with free rent for a set period to help with our recovery to normal service post-pandemic.

We achieved a small amount of inter-generational work over the summer and winter of 2022 in line with the aims of The National Lottery Community Fund project. A small group of young people attended a club in the summer holidays to play games and chat to the older people, and children from local schools went along to sing carols and entertain at clubs before Christmas. Also, a small group of young people in Cotherstone took part in the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations by coming along to the lunch club and talking to older people about their memories of the last Jubilee and the Queen’s Coronation.

We have successfully progressed discussions with UTASS, a partner charity in Teesdale, and other partners, to secure the funding to deliver a new befriending service that targets people who are unable to access services and are very isolated. Based on our shared experience during lockdowns, and recognition that some people have not returned to social activities, we wanted to find a solution to further reducing the isolation that some residents still experience. Working together, a new project is due to be launched in September 2023. This achieves one of our strategic aims to be working more closely in partnership, with one of our key rural partners. The SM is the Chair of the project Steering Group and has been instrumental in getting this project developed and ready to launch.

Our biggest challenge in 2022 was shortage of staff. We encountered significant recruitment issues trying to fill a Club Leader post with 2 failed recruitment attempts and 2 appointees withdrawing for various reasons after a few weeks. In addition, the team were affected by illness; delayed elective operations; and a backlog of annual leave caused by the team getting the lunch clubs back to normal in the early part of the year.

In April 2022 we took the difficult decision to increase the club user charge (member contributions) for the service from £5 to £6 per person per session. We consulted in the run up to this decision to ensure that everyone understood why this was necessary. We also introduced differential charging to allow for a free or discounted charge for anyone who was unable to attend due to financial costs. Differential charging has been used by 5 people to date.

6

The increase to member contributions was in line with our Funding Strategy that sets targets against categories of income we want to raise during each financial year. The aim is to develop a more diverse income portfolio and to keep grant income between 50-65% of total income where possible.

We achieved our target for grants in this short first financial year of just over £76,000 (12-month target = £100,000).

We were aided in our target to increase income raised from our community through a generous and anonymous local donor who offered us £5,000 donation if we could match this £1 for £1. This was achieved by April 2023, with a total of £10,000 being added to our unrestricted income at the start of the new financial year.

We maintained the loyalty and support of a few regular monthly donors who we wish to thank for their constancy of support. This kind of donating is something that we wish to increase.

We were also supported by Kyle Travel, a local travel agency, who raised funds on our behalf donating £439. We continue to attract regular generous donations from trusts and community groups that support what we do.

We achieved setting up a JustGiving donation button on our website to attract more public giving, although this requires more awareness raising to drive traffic to our website in order that online donations make an impact on our income.

Section E

Financial review

Reserves are that part of our unrestricted funds that are freely available to spend on any of the charity’s purposes. Our policy is to maintain free unrestricted reserves to provide: ➢ a level of working capital that protects the continuity of our work

Trustees consider the level of reserves that is prudent when agreeing the annual budget. Consideration is given to future strategy, potential redundancy liabilities, and any other significant factors that should be considered if the CIO were to close or move to new premises. Our restricted reserves, to cover redundancy and other closure costs, are held in a separate deposit account (£22,555 on 31 March 2023).

Our cash balance at 31 March 2023 was £180,206 net of redundancy and closure costs. £34820 was restricted funding relevant to specific 2023/24 expenditure and unrestricted funding carried forward to April 2023 was £145386.

Looking ahead

Expected 2023-24 running costs looking ahead to April 2023-March 2024 based on the previous year were £154,267.

This was an increase in forecast costs largely due to necessary salary increases to keep pace with the cost of living, re-balance historical issues with salary structures, and meet rising costs for core costs such as venue rents, and transport. Our club staff salaries required significant % increases over 2 consecutive financial years to keep an appropriate differential to the National Living Wage and help us to retain loyal and experienced staff. This resulted in starting the new financial year with a deficit of £60,000. By the end of quarter 2 September 2023/24 our position had improved to an expective 16K deficit at 31 March 2024. Our aim remains to break even by 31 March 2024.

7

Trustees are prepared to use reserves prudently and would consider a reduction in services (such as running clubs less often, or at fewer venues) if necessary, in future years. The Finance and Risk Committee undertakes a close analysis of Cash Flow forecasts that enables trustees to predict when a critical decision point is reached.

At the same time, we are forging ahead with plans to take advantage of available funds to make continuous organisational improvements that will contribute to our sustainable future. These include working to secure funds for a volunteer and communications post which will increase our social media visibility; attract a more diverse group of volunteers; trial new activities that people have told us they would like; and work in close partnership to launch a new service (see above befriending service). These projects will support our core costs as well as extending our reach to a wider cohort of people at risk of being, or who are, socially excluded in our community.

Section F Our supporters

We are grateful to all our supporters; our wonderful volunteers who give their time to help at lunch clubs and in other ways; and our funders who help us to continue providing our services for the benefit of the communities that we support. The funding used in the 8 months to 31 March 23 was as follows:

Donations – total £10570

We received £896 donations from local supporters and members. In addition, a anonymous donor provided £5000 funding that was almost matched by our local supporters and members (£4674) by the end of March 2023.

This funding helped us to reduce our shortfall in core costs.

Grant Funding used in year – total £71559.

The National Lottery Community Fund, RC North East and Cumbria Region - £13460 (salaries, service evaluation and project activity)

Durham County Council Teesdale Action Partnership - £11734 (service recovery core costs)

Tyne & Wear and Northumberland Community Foundation - £10348 (Strategic Manager salary and change governance)

County Durham Community Foundation - £16157 (Health Improvement Fund core costs, Mental Health Connector Fund core and project costs, Volunteering Fund improvement to volunteering/Co. Durham Volunteering Kitemark award) Garfield Weston Foundation - £10732 (salary for one-to-one community support service)

Pioneering Care Partnership Happiness Hub Fund - £6394 (launch of new club – pandemic recovery)

Sir James Knott Trust - £2083 (core salaries for clubs) Hadrian Trust - £651 (community support service travel expenses)

8

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees of
On accounts for the year
ended
Set out on pages
Responsibilities and
basis of report
Independent
examiner's statement		 Teesdale Day Club Teesdale Day Club Teesdale Day Club
1stAugust 2022 to 31stMarch 2023 Charity no
(if any)		 1188857
10 and 11
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/03/2023.
As the charity trustees of the Trust, 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 the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under
section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have
come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with
the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect:
Signed:
Name:
Relevant professional
qualification(s) or body:
Address:
 9-10-23
Colin Proudfoot
Fellow of the Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
Deneside, Front St, Winston
Co.Durham, DL2 3RJ

There were no Independent Examiner concerns

9

Teesdale Day Clubs

Final Receipts & Payments Account

1 August 2022 to 31 March 2023

Receipts Total Restricted Unrestricted
National Lottery Community Fund
Durham County Council
Happiness Hub
Donations
Club member contributions
Members food contribution paid to
chefs
Member transport contributions
Befriending Partnership Project
Shawbrook Interest		 24105.00 24105.00
12500.00 12500.00
7400.00 7400.00
10570.74 10570.74
19349.03 19349.03
14648.48 14648.48
3704.20 3704.20
1000.00 1000.00
96.90 96.90
Total receipts 93374.35 45101.90 48272.45
Payments Total Restricted Unrestricted
Salaries including all costs
Additional time payments
Staff Expenses
Voluntary expenses
Office administration
Office equipment
Office rent & rates
BT & Sage
Training/recruitment
Newsletter costs
Club miscellaneous/equipment
Member transport
Overall food costs
Club venue rents
Governance - CIO		 65284.77 49931.77 15353.00
6745.98 2193.98 4552.00
1548.75 1309.75 239.00
126.00 0.00 126.00
1229.82 1092.37 137.45
267.90 0.00 267.90
200.36 200.36 0.00
776.44 0.00 776.44
312 162.00 150.00
296.00 296.00 0.00
589.63 232.63 357.00
7199.00 6619.60 579.40
14648.48 0.00 14648.48
10400 9392.00 1008.00
129 129.00 0.00
Totalpayments 109754.13 71559.46 38194.67
-16379.78
Excesspayments over receipts -16379.78

10

Teesdale Day Clubs Teesdale Day Clubs Teesdale Day Clubs
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
8 months to 31 March 2023 account
31/03/2023 31/07/2022
Total restricted unrestricted Total [restricted]
Current assets
Virgin current account 100206.40 34820.00 65386.40 196683.08 [60768.5]
Redwood bank savings account 80000.00 0.00 80000.00 0.00 0.00
Shawbrook closure fund 22555.02 22555.02 0.00 22458.12 [22458.12]
Total current assets 202761.42 57375.02 145386.40 219141.20 [83226.62]
Financed by accumulated fund
Balance b/f 219141.20 218623.11
Deficit -16379.78 518.09
Balance c/f 202761.42 57375.02 145386.40 219141.20
The 9 clubs each hold individual bank accounts for member and volunteer donations towards club trips etc.
These are checked bythe treasurer and financial administrator each year and have not been examined by
our independent examiner. Funds held in these accounts at 31 March 2023 were £11328
Signed bythe Chair on behalf of the trustees:
Signature Print Name
Gordon Thomson

The 9 clubs each hold individual bank accounts for member and volunteer donations towards club trips etc. These are checked by the treasurer and financial administrator each year and have not been examined by our independent examiner. Funds held in these accounts at 31 March 2023 were £11328

11

Section G Declaration

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

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Full name Gordon Thomson Position Chair Date 3 November 2023

12