CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Trustees, Annual Report for the period From 0110112024 Perlod start date To 3111212024 Perlod end date Charlty name: STORRINGTON AREA HELP SCHEME (SAHS) Charity registration number: 1203336 Objectives and Activities Summary of the purp08es of the charity as set out in its goveming document Pwa1.17 The obJ8ds of Storrington Area Help Scheme are to relieve persons resident in Storrington: Sullington. Thakeham. Ashington, Washinglon. West Chiltington and Cootham, and Such ottr places as the charity trustees may from time to time deterrnine {the area of operation) who are in conditions of need. hardshp and distress. Summary of thè maln activities in relation to those purposes for th8 public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or servirns Identif in the aecounla. Thé aim of the scheme is lo assist those re&ding in the area of operatKin who requir• help with transport to heahhcar8 appointments by the prowsion of a voluntary car seThice for the transport of such persons to and from appointrnents primarily within West Sussex. 1.19 Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. Pwa118 Th8 Storrington Area Help Scheme trustee8 have regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit Additional inforniation (optional) You ma choose to includè further stalemonts whero reEewant aboutr. SORP relare Contribution made by volunteers Pwa 1.38 KINGS AWARD FOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE On the 14 Novemb8r 2024 the contribution made by all the volunteers of Storrlnoton Area Holp Scheme was recognised by the granting of the prestrJk)us Kinos Award for Voluntary Service. The M8E for voluntary groups.
It a great honour for all the &4HS volunte8rs to r1ve this award in reccgniti.on of Iheir vrtal Ix)ntri)ution to the social wellbeing of the kxal communty and provision of an invaluable tranSportan seryice enabling res>dents to attend a wide range of heahcar8 appointrnents primarify within West Sussex SAHS is run entirety by volunteers, without whom the scheme woutd not exist. The total number of volunteers at the end of 2024 is 50. Seven of volunleer6 are trustees who are grateful for the valuable contributkjn made by all volunteers. There are no paxl employees. Office Volunto0rn are the telephone link befvn clients requesting transport to healthca appointrnents and an available driver. At the end of 2024 there were 8 regular office volunteers. 1 other off8 volunteer was iecwited and 3 stood down. 1 volunteer driver also undergoing training to work in the office whh is expected to be completed by January 2025. Of note. Pat Metters retired in May after dedicats'ng 15 years of loyal service to the Offi team and servlng as a trust88 be88n 2019 & 2021 The trustees recognised her valuable cOntributn and commitment with farewell afternoon tea. The volunteers Contrtiuted in 8xcess of 510 hours ol their own time and dealt with 1009 requests for assistance. Voluntser Drlvors. using their own vehicles. gave Iheir time to provKle 856 journeys to healthcare appointmenls for our clients. In excess of 13,500 miles were drNen. DrNer8 prrNided covei seven days a week. It was noted by the trustees that there were some occasions where drivers went above and beyond the call of duty to assist clients Yarylh earty moming or late evening runs and warting for dients when appointments went over the norn1 iwo hour wait limit. At the beginning of this year our pool of drivers was down to 32 thus increasing the demand on thosè drivers and adding pressure to the offe team in their efforts to match clients to available drivers.
At year end. following a successful recruiting campaign (see be*)w) the total rose to 42 volunteer drivers. Duitng 2024 3 drivers stood down This year. 2024, is our first full year as a Foundation CharitabFe Incorporated Organisation (CIO). n s Award for Volunta Service KAVS The trust were delighted to be nominated by three of our wonderful dients for the K4VS in 2023. In January 2024 Deputy Lteutenants Julia Aisbitt and Mike Mansergh visited the Trinity Centre to assess the scheme. This was a 'due diligence. assessment of SAHS, its proGedures and policies. It included Dversation5 Wtth the 3 client nominees, 2 drFvers. 2 offiGe staff and the 7 trustees We then waited with bated breath tjntil November when the formal announcem8nt was made armj we received the fantastic news Ihat we had been granted this presth3iOUS award. Pr$ releases followed plus an interview of our Chair Tony Dell on BBC Radlo Sussex. The formal presentstion of the award will lake place in the spring of 2025 for which arrangements afe currentty in hand. Specsal recognition has to go to our adfflinistrator Alan Craig who. alongslde 811 his other adminislratNe dutTres, took on the additK)nal workload of the award process. This comprised of an aslonvshing 317 omails to date (incoming and outgoing) as follows: In 2023 55 gmails- the submission of the nomination In Juty arranging the due diligence assessments in December In 2024 242 emails Relating to the assessment. Agreeing the citstion Answering a range of follow up questions Irom the two deputy lieutenant assessors and the National KAVS team
An invrtation to afternn tea with Lady Emma Bamard along wth all the nominated West Sussex organisations. The wordin9 of press releases, communicat)n$ wrth the Ioc81 media. The ann(ncernent to all otsr volunteers and their respons8S. The worf( o)ntinues into the new year of 2025 with arTarrfJements for the forthcoming award ceremony in the spriTha generating 17 emai18 so far (at the time of writi'ng). This IMII be followed by organising for SAHS representatives to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace. Chan e of Treasurer At a trustees meeting on 25th April Peter Comben our Honourable Treasurer deuded to step down from the treasurers. ro18 after contributing 11yrs of valuable sefvice. Peter conts'nues to serve as a trustee. It was approved for Geoff & Paulette Roper to toke OV8r as the new treasurers followiThJ an OV8rlap per of working aloThJside Peter to 'learn the ropes,. Geoff & Paulette were fully engaged as treasurers by the 25th June 2024. Saf uardi In Augusl the twstees introduc8d a new Safeguarding Policy with the assistance and advice of the Safeguarding team at Horsham Distnct Council. This policy was circulated to 811 of the SAHS volunteers and is Issued lo all new volunteers p?ining the scheme. Trustees Sue and Nick Reeves kindty volunteered to becom8 Safeguarding Officers being the first point of contact should any incKaents come to light. In October twstees Tony Dell and Geoff Roper attended a Safeguarding training session provKled by Horsham District Council. This session reaffinned that the rvaht safeguarding systems were in place to proted both our clienis and voltsnteers. Drr¥er Recru Cam li was noted by the trustees that our pool of drivers was slowly dimintshing. Apart from the Storrington on Show event in September, which stimulated much interest in SAHS. there was very liitle uptake by volunteer driver5 from other sources of publictty.
The decisK)n was taken to drop a leaflet into every resKen wtthin our area of operation using the Royal Mail Drop a Leaflet Service. Tim Bigger of Abstraci Solutions was employed to design and organise the printing of the leaflets. In August the first of three batches of Seaftets was delivered to the resKJents of StorriThJton & Sullington. This first ' part of the proied was funded from SAHS own ' reserves. To cover all the costs of delivery of the further two batches of leafiets, to the outlying villages of our area, the treasurers were able to secure £873.86 funding via Horsham District Council from the newty released Volunteer Support Fund which is funded by the UK Government. This grant a150 covered the costs of any new drivers. DBS checks resulting from the project. During the period of this Campaign 13 new applicatsons were recerved of these 12 have been recruited and 1 applicant is awaiting the result of a DBS check her duiie In addrtion to this bNr)fk the trustees continued to monitor the day to day running of the scheme with regular biThmonthly meetings. Achlevements and Perforniance SORP Summary of the main achievements of the charity, id8ntifying the drffefence the charity's worf( has mad8 to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider I benefits lo swety as a | whole. A• w•ll as th• King8 Award for Voluntary Sèrvico the maln achlevemenl of SAHS has been its continued contribution to the sooal wellbeing of the IcKal cornmunty by providing an invaluable transportation service for local residents who have no access to transport of their own. are mostly elderty and live in a rural are8 With very limrted public transport options. Our operab'on has enabled them to atter wide range of healthcare appointments priffianty within W8St Sus88X. P8r• 120 The iourneys undertaken by our volunteer drivers also provide a valuable opportunty for those living on their own to experience social engagement and benefit trom the stimulation this can give. Porforrnanc• At the end of 2024 there were 2B6 nefiCIar registered with SAHS (an increase of 6 from 2023). A number of these beTreficiaries had rnultiple needs requiring transportatr'on to various healthcare facilities around West Sussex. Others havin on oin
treatment, required repeat journeys to the same heallhcare facilities and there were many requests for single appointments. In totsl the office volunteeTS handled 1009 booking requests. 44 of these requests were canCeld as a result of the clients, appointment being cancelled by the healthcare organisation. 91 were cancelled by the clFent due to being unwell. admitted to hospital or ncelled at the last minute as they had ft)und a a famiby member or trnd to take them. 18 requests where office volunteers were unable to find drivers. It was noted that this mainly occurred during summer holiday times. Some we du8 to last minute requests. As a result a total of 856 journeys were successfully completed during the period of this report. Clrents frequently verfoally express to office volunteers and drivers their appreciation and gratttude for the seNice SAHS provides. Financlal Revlew Revlew of the charlty's financial position at the end of the period Pw•121 SAHS has an annual Incomo undor £25,000 arKI is therefore below th• threshold that r¢qulre8 indèpondont axamlnatlon of Its accounts. (Chanties Acl 2011 as annded refers) A 88p8rale Annual ACcnI sh88t is attached to this report. The summary is a$ follcwts.. Incomo Thts penod (151 Jan to 31¥t Dec) 2024 total funds recelved were £13645.33 The main source of income came from donations made by beneficiaries in respact of journeys undertaken on their behalf. plus a 000 donation from a trust and a small amount of interest from the savings account. A grant of £5QO Yras secL2red from West Sussex CC Accessible Transport fund to be used for everyday runnirg costs A grant of £873.86 was secured via Horsham District Counul from the UK Government Volunleef Support fund f the driver recruiting campaign.
Expendltu Total expenses amounted to £13275.26 These comprtsed mainly of mileage eypenses, paMI to drivers at the government prescribed rate, officA rent. telephone bill, insurance premiums, DBS checks and other sundries. The balance of income over expenditure at year 8nd came to a small profft of £370.07. Statam8nt explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held Pa 1.22 I SAHS operates accounts with Barclays Bank: 1. An everyday business account usod for the deposit of donatFons and payment of expenses. offrE rent, bills, etc. In September Barclays introduced monthly charges on this account plu5 charges for depositing cash or cheques. 2. A savings account to which ex¢8ss funds from the business account are transferred and kèpt in reserrfe for jditn81 and unexpected expenses e.g. consultancy fees, legal advic8, ruiting campaigns etc. Total reserves hekl P•A 122 £13.324.82 as at 31 Docombor 2024. Explanation of any uncertainties about tho charily continuing as a going concern Par• 123 Currently there are no financial uncertalnties. SAHS mainlains a heatthy balance in ils bank accounts and is in a sound financial position. . Addltlonal Inforniallon loptlonal> You may choose to indude further statements vthere relevant al)out.' A description of the principal risks facing the charity Pw4 1.46 The charty is ab18 to meel the current dernand from beneficiaries. A reducb'on in the number of volunteers (office staff andlor drNers) would affect the charrlies efficiency and is a concem to the trustees. Following the Successful recruiting campaKJfT this is currently no k)nger an issue. The tntstees are VlIant in mI110rIng the rise and fall in volunteer numbers.
Structure, Governance and Management Constitution adopted 31 May 2023 Type of governing document How is the charity constituted? l%¥a 1.25 Foundati()n Charitable [rorpOrated Organisation Trustee selectK)n methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election lo p)st or name of any person or txjdy entstled to appoint one OT mor8 Irusteas Para 125 Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a teffn of three years by a resoluts'on passed at a proper convened meeiing of the charity trustees. In selecling indNiduals for appointment as chanty trustees. the charty tnjstees must hava regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administrats'on of the cio Additional Inforn)ation (optlonal) You m8 choose to includ8 further statements where relewant about., Policies and procedures Pwa 1.51 New twslees are directed to adopted for the induction The Charity Commissions Public and training of trustees Bénefit Documènts on th8 Cc's website. The Essential Trustee, what you need to know, what you need to do. ICC3) found on the Cc's website. The Storrington Area Help Scheme Ct>nstilut)n. A copy of the latest accounts. All current SAHS Polic and Prowlures Storrington Area Help Scheme is a member of the ChanGtonbury Cwimunity Transport Forum. This is a group of like-minded organisations set up through the Primary Care Network of four local GP Surgeries at Bimingshurst, StoNirvJton. H8nfield and Steyning. The forum meets once a quartei to share best ¢tice and information. Relationship wilh any related parties Pwa 1.51 Reference and Admlnistratlve details Chaii name Other name the ch8Ti uses istered char numtsf Charity's principal address STORRINGTON AREA HELP SCHEME SAHS 1203336 CIO TRINITY CENTRE, THAKEHAM ROAD, STORRINGTON RH20 3NG
Trustve n•me Offie• Ilf any) Dates acled rf not for whol• ar Anthony Willk9m DELL CHAIR From 31" May 2023 Alan William CRAIG ADMINISTRATOR From 31° May 2023 Susan Ann REEVES OFFICE COORDINATOR From 31¥t May 2023 Nicholas REEVES OFFICE COORDINATOR From 31s1 May 2023 Geoffrey William ROPER TREASURER From 31° May 2023 Paulette Mary ROPER TREASURER From 26th Sept, 2023 Peter John COMBEN TRUSTEE Frorn 311t May 2023 Exemptlons from dlsclosure Rea8on for non-disdosure of ke NIA vsonnel d8taibs Other optional Information Th18 Annual Report and Accounts", This annual report and accounts are ¢ompi18d in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and are retained for at least six years from the end of th8 financial year to V*hich it applie8. Annual Return; As a small charty (income below £25,000) SAHS is not requir8d to submii this annual report and copy of accounts to the Charity Commission with the annual return. SAHS 1$ only obliged to send a copy of the rep0rVa¢onts to the Charity Commission rf they ask for it. (Se8 GOV. UK Guidance, Prepare a Twstees, Annual RepotepOrtS for small non- com 8n CharitS. Declarations The tru8to08 dKlar• that they havo approved the trust80•' rnport above. Slgned on behalf of the charity's trustoes Slgnature(s) Full namel$) Posltion (eg Secretary. Chair. etc) Date
STORRINGTON AREA HELP SCHEME - CHARITY NO.: 120336 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2024 PERIOD: FROM 1ST JANUARY TO 315T DECEMBER 2014 EP4 IlJ•ntoJl D•LI Pl M•y iY310•¢ 1} al•nt 1>onl0 17JO £JJ50 5JO Brnmh•mTnMt £JalAI West CC Att•i•lbl¢ Trlrdpwt Ilorsh•m Olrtrlrt Councll Grnnt. or volunteerrtrrnitlnq ¢pmpulpnl Imk lrt•MIt £500&) fg eo £1>5A7 ÉioJJ• 1 thvp 910.14 £oA I1Nroded 16th 20241 TOTAL £II.04S 17J2&5• TOTAL ÉUJY 9.591.17 £3M •l•n¢¢ In CurrtrtAcwJnt UJl7. B•l•rKe In A(<ourrt ¢IOJ17.a4 rrtal Cash Fyr £IJJ24A2