Trustee Annual report for Granting Wishes - 1201959
Period April 2024 to end April 2025
Trustees Lesley Hudd (Founder) Tom Mathison
Background
Our charity was set up in April 2023 after many years of wanting to set it up, but due to my career in the past as a teacher, it was not possible at that time. My reasons for setting up the charity being I lost my brother to cancer when he was just 16 and I was only 13. He spent many months in hospital and I will never forget when his beloved football team Sheffield Wednesday visited him in hospital. His wish was granted. Later whilst teaching I had the pleasure to meet Darcie, a sweet, kind beautiful girl. Tragically she passed away at a very young age. She too battled hard, spending long months in hospital. Her wish was granted when Little Mix sang for her. It’s these moments that we strive to create for as many children as possible.
Our Aims
To raise money through our small charity shop and charity events to enable us to grant wishes up to £700 to children with life limiting illnesses/injuries in South Yorkshire.
Our Shop
Our shop is situated on one of the main streets in a small village. We are very popular with locals and indeed most of our customers are regulars. Sadly, we don’t get many new customers due to our small indirect location.
We pride ourselves on ensuring we rotate donated stock as often as possible and to keep our prices reasonable, thus supporting the local community and ensuring we raise enough money for the charity. Our rent is unfortunately higher than average for the area but we are currently tied into a 3 year lease.
The location is predominantly socially deprived and this affects our daily takings. There are 4 charity shops in the same area (one recently opening) which has also impacted negatively on donations/takings.
Advertising
We advertise our charity on social media and through leaflets in shops in our local area, car boot sales and through holding events. Our charity shop is the hub for us. We try to make it as appealing as possible. We have also advertised at Rotherham United football ground and appeared in their program.
Wishes Granted
We have granted several wishes previously, this year we granted one to a young man who wanted a laptop to catch up on his schoolwork. We have suffered this year as a result of the road being closed off and on meaning the bus route was redirected and we lost customers. This affected the amount of wishes we were able to grant.
Other events
We have held fill a bag days where we invite people to fill a huge sack with any clothes and shoes for just £10. These are popular and a good way of rotating stock as well as allowing
the community to grab lots of bargains. We have also held charity nights where we have had a disco, pie and peas and a raffle. These events are great for raising money and awareness of our charity as well as celebrating our success. We have also had a stall at a Christmas market with a tombola and games.
Future plans
We intend to continue to raise awareness of our charity through regular updates on social media/distributing leaflets in our local area. We pride ourselves on being one of the only charities that collect donations to ensure we receive maximum income. We will continue to offer this service. We have an upcoming event with Stars in their eyes to raise money. We will also continue to work on making our shop exciting and appealing with regular changing offers.
ACCOUNTS OVERVIEW FOR GRANTING WISHES 1201959 YEAR END 30TH APRIL 2025
INCOME MAY 767.14 JUNE 947.51 JULY 1255.14 AUG 866.02 SEPT 717.53 OCT. 1219.83 NOV. 1250.99 DEC. 705.15 JAN 712.68 FEB. 680.43 MAR 613.45 APRIL 831.54 TOTAL INCOME £10,567.41
OUTGOINGS RENT/INSURANCE 9412.00 OCTOPUS ENERGY. 678.92 GENERAL CLEANING 222.20 DIESEL. 190.00 WISHES 700 TOTAL OUTGOING £11,203.12