Trustee's Annual Report 2022/23 ,Wishing rs Reglstered wlth FR FUNE)RAISING REGULATOR
Wishing Others Well (1199874) Annual Trustee Report July 2023
Summary of Purpose
The promotion of the efficiency and effectiveness of charities and the effective use of charitable resources for the benefit of the public in England and Wales by providing consultancy, advice and other services designed to support the administration, infrastructure and operation of charities and voluntary organisations
Charity – A Sector in Crisis
There can be little doubt that both the COVID Pandemic and Cost of Living Crisis, have put increased pressure on the Charity Sector. A combination of an increase in demand for services, a fall in the volume and value of donations and an increase in general operating costs, is close to the perfect storm. A 2022 Charities Aid Foundation Survey of UK Charity Leaders (coupled with results from a YouGov Poll) makes stark reading:
Research by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in early 2023 surveyed 547 UK charity leaders to identify key concerns specifically regarding charities cost of living issues. They also polled members of the public via CAF Bank as well as an online survey by YouGov. What they’ve found about the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on charities makes concerning reading:
Wishing Others Well acts as an additional resource that front-line organisations can call upon to satisfy a particular need or simply for advice. We offer consultancy and other types of support to UK charities and not for profit organisations with a view to offering some relief to their financial or operational pressures, which can at times severely restrict their ability to deliver their Public Benefit efficiently.
Summary of Activities
Our Public Benefit is derived from the support advice and help that we offer to the Trustees, volunteers and staff of the charities which we work with. Supporting them at ground level to be more efficient and effective in their own endeavours.
A selection of the organisations we have worked with this year:
PLANETS Cancer Charity, helps patients with pancreatic, liver, colorectal, gastric, oesophageal and neuroendocrine cancer by funding patient support groups, innovative treatments and research and since 2011 they have raised more than £1,900,000. Some of their key areas or work includes:
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Fundraising £1 million for the introduction of intra operative radiotherapy (IORT) with the UK’s first mobile electron beam radiotherapy machine which is able to deliver radiotherapy to advanced cancers during surgery. This machine has already treated over 200 patients (Dec 2022) and is expected to treat another 2,000 during its lifetime. It has helped deliver ground breaking results – published in leading international medical journals – by drastically reducing recurrence rates for these aggressive cancers.
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Funded a full-time pancreatic and neuroendocrine tumour PhD and MD researcher to work with the clinician scientists in Southampton’s world leading cancer immunology research department.
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Funded a full-time dietitian specialising in rare cancers with serious effects on the digestive system – one of the first in the UK.
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Invested in a range of small projects supporting treatment and care for PLANETS cancer patients from ultrasound machines, 3D anatomical models for outpatients, radioisotope delivery equipment, DAB radios for radiotherapy bunkers, psychotherapy sessions for patients struggling with their cancer diagnosis and targeted fitness support for cancer patients, among many other small but significant and important items to assist cancer patients on their journey.
Their aim is to transform cancer care in the south, through a ‘family’ of patients, supporters and healthcare professionals to deliver world leading innovation, research and support for those affected by cancer within the PLANETS community.
Wishing Others Well has worked closely with PLANETS, offering advice in areas such as HR as they began to
employ their own staff. We also sourced a supply of branded clothing for their volunteer network through a local connection called GazKaz.
Layla Stephens of PLANETS commented: This is a wonderful donation from Wishing Others Well and GazKaz, which really helps us out as a small Charity. We simply can’t wait to get the hoodies out to our volunteers and staff now to ‘show them off’ at the next events we are holding. Our clinical team will also get a few of them to help them feel part of the PLANETS family and most importantly to promote awareness and spread the PLANETS word – Thank you Wishing Others Well!
During the past year, PLANETS has gone through some significant growth and development of their own and as well as moving into new offices, this has seen them employing new full-time staff. Wishing Others Well has been involved in this process offering help and support regarding their HR administration and documentation and have provided access to further HR expertise going forward. This support has enabled the team to scale up their operations quickly and freed up time to concentrate on delivering their core public benefit.
As part of our on-going regular consultation with PLANETS, we have been working closely with them in regards to their internal Bid Application processes in order to establish how we can reduce the cost and time pressure in this aspect of their operation.
Swings & Smiles is a Thatcham-based charity which offers support for disabled children and their families in a unique and accessible environment. Services include respite, family play sessions, youth clubs, sibling support and outreach and they provide activities for children and young people aged 0-18 years old with a wide range of disabilities and special needs.
They provide opportunities to enjoy playing together without the sort of pressures that can often be experienced in a wider community setting. Swings & Smiles supports the whole family; parents, carers, the disabled child, brothers, sisters and grandparents and their support is hugely varied depending on the specific needs of each family. They also welcome visits to their centre from other schools, groups and individuals who may benefit from the facilities on offer. Mostly, they hope to be a friend to their families and offer somewhere for disabled children, their siblings and parents to find the support they need to thrive.
Hannah Waugh of Swings & Smiles said “We are a charity based in Thatcham that provides essential support to disabled children and their families. As part of the service, we provide respite where children are able to spend time at the centre away from their parents. This service is crucial to many families with over 70 children registered to access respite. In order to manage the increased number of children with a varying range of complex needs we needed a clearer system to communicate with parents which was when we looked to start using the FAMLY app. The FAMLY app allows us to improve how we store information and track information such as when a child has eaten at the centre or been given medication which families can then access.
Wishing Others Well provided a fantastic service by
finding us a local company which was able to provide us with the funding to start using FAMLY at our respite sessions. Wishing Others Well saved our team valuable time in making this connection and were quick in organizing the process. We are incredibly grateful for their support.”
Active and In Touch has a local army of dedicated volunteers that visit, help and befriend people who have become isolated or out of touch with the community around them. They offer ongoing befriending support to anyone
who feels isolated or lonely in Frome and villages as well as working with volunteer drivers which help individuals make essential journeys.
The people that Active and In Touch support may have become isolated and lonely through the unique circumstances which life has thrown at them such as caring for a partner, moving to a new area or just not feeling confident to try new things alone. Their volunteer befrienders make a real every day difference as they meet people and spend time with them, discovering their needs and interests and helping them to find their own place in the community.
The Volunteer Community Drivers Team support people who need transport to essential activities such as; hospital visits, delivery of prescriptions & shopping.
After our initial meeting with Lisa Cooke (Director of Service), it was established that there was an immediate need for two new advertising ‘A Boards’ which would be of huge benefit to promote and encourage passers-by to come to the office and the brand-new community café
which was being launched at the Frome Medical Centre. A review of our expanding Network of connections soon bore fruit and we were able to deliver them within a few weeks.
Our Business and Private Donor Network
Some Donors prefer anonymity when it comes to their charitable activities for various reasons, however we are pleased when we are able to provide details on some of the companies that we’ve been involved with.
FAMLY
Kim Ingeman Head of UK Sales for FAMLY: “We were delighted when Wishing Others Well contacted us and told us about their work, as it coincided with us exploring ways to develop a system which would deliver our platform at reduced cost for non-profits. They also helped us with our feasibility research. And of course, we were more than happy to help with the particular charity that they introduced us to.”
Gazkaz
One of the first businesses to join our Network and we spoke to them initially about the amazing work that PLANETS were doing and the benefit that having a new set of branded hoodies for their Volunteers would bring. The team at GazKaz were delighted to be involved in delivering these to the charity and have expressed an interest in being part of future similar initiatives.
Touch Blue Telecom
As well as our work with Touch Blue on the Swings and Smiles project, we have also been able to advise them on the benefits of a wider CSR program and the positive effects that this can have on the organisation.
Jacob McCrindle, Operations Manager at Touch Blue Telecom: “Touch Blue has always been proactive in helping local good causes including sports clubs and charities. When Wishing Others Well approached us and explained the situation with Swings and Smiles, we were more than happy to help and we’re looking forward to working with them more in the future to ensure any charitable activity, delivers maximum impact.”
A Foundation Year for Wishing Others Well
Our own activities were not immune to the difficulties faced by many others in the sector. This slowed our own development for 2022/23 but gave us plenty of opportunity to ensure that we had developed and tested Policies and Procedures which were robust and fit for purpose.
We employed the services of solicitor Mathew Boyer who specialises in charity law and governance, to advise on terms and conditions and we also invested in comprehensive Trustee Indemnity Insurance to make joining our Board of Trustees a more appealing prospect.
We completed our applications for various affiliations and have been recognised by the Fundraising Regulator and we began the process of applying for Gift Aid. We have also been accepted by Google as a Recognised Non-Profit which gives us access to some amazing benefits from their affiliate program, including $10,000 of Google AdWords every month to promote our services.
The Year in Numbers
Given the limited resources at our disposal during our foundation year, we set ourselves modest targets with regards to the number of consultations we could handle in a meaningful way; focussing on making a genuinely positive impact on behalf of those we are trying to help.
Accounting
The Accounts for this year were filed as Receipts and Payments and show that we received £5,000 in donations from personal Donors to support our work and this was used for General Running Costs. The bulk of our outgoings was used on Legal Fees and Insurances with the balance going towards subscriptions and promotional activity.
Future Plans
We have developed a Strategy Plan for the next 3-year period which will be available via our website and this gives more detail of our future plans, but in summary:
We have received pledges of funding which has been earmarked towards employing two members of staff; a fulltime General Manager and a full-time Bid Writer. One of the major concerns which was mentioned during many of our conversations with charities was the difficulty in applying for Funding and Grants. This is mainly due to a lack of available resource and expertise within their own organisations and therefore offering a free, Bid-writing service, could see us making a positive difference to a greater number of organisations in the shortest space of time. The recruitment process is likely to take a few months but we are confident of having the right person in post by the end of 2023.
Our ‘on the ground’ activity is going through a process of testing and it is hoped that this will lead to the development a Network of Volunteer Consultants across the country. We are planning for the recruitment of four ‘Volunteer Relationship Managers’ in 2023/24 followed by a further four in 2024/25.
A new Charity Hub
The Landlord of our offices in Newbury has generously donated office space on our floor to be made available for other charities and volunteer organisations, which may need a new home or access to office facilities. This gives us a unique opportunity to develop a Charity Hub where like-minded people and organisations can base themselves, full or part-time and share ideas, contacts and best-practice.
Board of Trustees
We are delighted that we will soon be expanding the knowledge-base and expertise around the Board table with the recruitment of two new Trustees. Following an extensive search and interview process, we identified our ideal candidates and their appointment as new Trustees will be ratified by the Board at the earliest opportunity.
Trustee Statement
The Trustees confirm that we have full regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission with regards to Public Benefit.
Wishing Others Well 1199874 Receipts and payments accounts For the period 29th July 2022 31st July 2023 To from
CC16a
| Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
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| Donations | 5,000 | - | - | 5,000 | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
5,000 | - | - | 5,000 | - | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | - | ||||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| Legal andprofessional fees | 1,680 | - | - | 1,680 | - | ||||
| Postage | 8 | - | - | 8 | - | ||||
| Software | 240 | - | - | 240 | - | ||||
| Entertainment | 112 | - | - | 112 | - | ||||
| Travel | 72 | - | - | 72 | - | ||||
| Trustee indemnityinsurance | 2,464 | - | - | 2,464 | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | 4,576 | - | - | 4,576 | - | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | |||||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
|||||||||
| - | |||||||||
| 424 | 424 | - | |||||||
| - | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | - | |||||||
| 424 | 424 | - |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
17/08/2023
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
Signature Details Details HSBC Details Details Total cash funds Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 424 - - - - - 424 - Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval |
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CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
17/08/2023
2