/0 making cards - brightening lives - raising f unds ANNUAL REPORT 2023 Charity numbor: 1203710 ## **TABLE OF CONTENTS** 01 ## **Important Information** 02 03 04 **A Message from our Trustees** **About Us** **Year In Numbers** 05 06 07 08 **Achievements and Performance Financial Summary Financial Activities Statement** **Financial Review** 1 07438 786951 contact@cardsforbravery.com 74 Heath Row, Bishops Stortford, CM23 5DF ## IMPORTANT INFORMATION The charity is registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. The charities governing document is a foundation model constitution. The charity registration number is 1203710. The organisation was founded on May 6th 2015 and gained charitable registration on the 23rd June 2023. The objective of the charity is to ‘relieve the needs of people and their families, primarily in the UK but also in other countries, suffering from mental or physical illness or injury of any description (or in need of emotional support as a result of such illness or hospitalisation) in particular but not exclusively through the provision and delivery of small gifts, messages, greetings cards, activity packs, and other similar items and activities as the trustees may see fit.’ ## **Method of appointment/election of trustees** The charity trustees shall manage the affairs of the CIO and may for that purpose exercise all the powers of the CIO. Other than the first appointed trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. ## **Organisation structure and decision making** The trustees meet once every two months, and at additional times where necessary, to direct the activities of the charity. The charity trustees shall manage the affairs of the CIO and may for that purpose exercise all the powers of the CIO. ## **Risk management** The trustees have assessed and annually review the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems and procedures are in place to mitigate the charity's exposure to those risks. ## **Other** This annual account and reports were created with guidance issued by the Charity Commission and SORP. ~~2~~ ## MESSAGE FROM OUR TRUSTEES As we reflect on 2023, we are filled with a deep sense of pride and gratitude for all that we’ve accomplished as a charity. This has been a year of tremendous growth, both in the scale of our impact and the recognition of our work, and it’s only fitting that we take a moment to celebrate these achievements together. ~~One of the most significant milestones this year was our registration~~ with the Charity Commission in June. This official recognition marks a ~~major step forward for us. It also sets the stage for future growth,~~ enabling us to reach even more people with our mission. In 2023, we also celebrated a record-breaking year for the number of cards distributed—more than ever before. Each card represents a personal connection and a message of hope, and this milestone is a powerful reminder of the positive change we can create when we ~~come together with a shared purpose.~~ ~~These achievements would not have been possible without the~~ unwavering support of our community—our volunteers, donors, partners, and everyone who believes in what we do. As we look ahead, we are more committed than ever to building on this momentum and continuing to make a meaningful difference to hospitalised and ~~seriously ill children and their families~~ ~~Thank you for being part of this journey with us. Together, we’ve made~~ 2023 a truly remarkable year, and we are excited for all that lies ahead. Katie Callaghan Chelsea Wong Molly Clark Leah Attwood Annabelle Rafferty Chair Treasurer 3 ## **About us** Cards for Bravery is a charity dedicated to **brightening the days** of **hospitalised and seriously ill children** and their **families** . These children and young people tend to be admitted to hospitals, hospices, CAMHS units or being cared for at home. We provide a range of services such as the distribution of **positive handmade cards** , **bravery packages** and **activity packs** . Katie Callaghan founded Cards for Bravery at 13 years old in 2015 during a 4 month long hospital admission after her best friend gave her a card that brightened her day. This **sparked** the idea to **create handmade cards** for the other patients in her ward. Beginning with distribution in one hospital, Cards for Bravery has since **grown** to working with over **35** hospitals, CAMHS Units and hospices to deliver a range of services to children across the UK. The charity has **expanded** over the years and is **maintained** by a group of **dedicated volunteers** , many who are chronically ill themselves—relating to the charity's aims and ethos. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Katie, our founder, at 13
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4 ## **2023 YEAR IN NUMBERS** **NEW PARTNERSHIPS WITH HOSPITALS, HOSPICES, AND CAMHS UNITS** 11 **BRAVERY PACKAGES** 4 **DISTRIBUTED** 100 **CHRISTMAS EVENTS PACKAGES HOSTED** 6 **DELIVERED** 5,125 ## **CARDS DISTRIBUTED** 70 500 **NEW CARD ACTIVITY PACKS MAKING VOLUNTEERS DISTRIBUTED** 5 ## ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE ## **Activity Packs** Our activity packs are a way for hospitalised children to have a form of entertainment while they are enduring hospital stays. This year, we distributed **500** activity packs to various hospitals. ## **Bravery Packages** Our team put together tailored bravery packages to be distributed to hospitalised young people and/or living with chronic conditions. Our team distributed a total of **four** bravery packages this year, where each package was personalised depending on the candidate and their interests. ## **Card Distribution** Our main activity is distributing cards to our 30+ partnerships made with hospitals and units around the UK. This year, we made **11** more partnerships and distributed roughly **5,125** cards to hospitalised children to brighten their days during a difficult time. ## **Events** As a new charity, we concentrated hard on finding fundraising opportunities within our usual activities. We hosted **six** events this year including **four** fundraising events and **two** card making event, raising a total of £2113 . from the beginning of the year (1/01/23) ## **Volunteers** We rely heavily on our volunteers to help us run the charity and also with making cards. Our main team had a total of 10 volunteers with roles ranging from admin, social media to card distribution. We also set a record of card-making volunteers this year, reaching a total of **70 card making volunteers** making cards for us. ## **Other Projects** We had various other projects this year including Easter and Christmas related. For Easter, we distributed a total of **20** gift bags to children spending the holiday in hospital. We also did our annual distribution of Christmas packages, and Christmas cards. We were able to distribute **1,030** Christmas cards and **100 Christmas packages** to over 13 hospitals across the UK. 6 ## FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES STATEMENT ## **to the nearest £** Financial Period: 23rd June 2023 - 31st December 2023 |**Income from**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted Funds**|**Total Funds**| |---|---|---|---| ||**Funds 2023**|**2023**|**2023**| |Donations|£436|-|£436| |Fundraising|£954|-|£954| |Grants|-|£500|£500| |**Total Income**|£1390|£500|£1890| |**Expenditure on**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted Funds**|**Total Funds**| ||**Funds 2023**|**2023**|**2023**| |Projects|£1141|£500|£1641| |Maintenance|£2189|-|£2189| |Events|£103|-|£103| |**Total Expenditure**|£3433|£500|£3933| 7 ## FINANCIAL SUMMARY ## **Income** 2023 Year 23/06/23 - 31/12/23 **----- Start of picture text -----**
Donations
Grants 23.1%
26.5%
Fundraising
50.5%
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In the financial period of 2023 from the beginning of charitable registration we had a total income of **£1890.** This income came from donations, fundraising events and grants. Donations include personal donations made through bank transfers, Paypal Giving Fund, and more. Fundraising Events include income from any fundraising activities we held within the year. Grants include any income we were granted from organisations. In the financial year of 2023 from the beginning of charitable registration we had a total expenditure of **£3933.** **Expenditure** 2023 Year 23/06/2023 - 31/12/2023 This expenditure was spent on maintenance, projects, and events. Projects include expenditure spent on our charitable activities such as card distribution, bravery packages, our Christmas packages and more. Maintenance includes any expenditure spent on the daily running costs of the charity such as volunteer expenses, admin costs, charitable materials and more. Events include any expenditure spent on running either fundraising or cardmaking events, include hall hire. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Events
2.6%
Projects
41.7%
Maintenance
55.7%
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8 ## FINANCIAL REVIEW ## **Review of charities financial position year ending 2023** 2023 marked a significant milestone for Cards for Bravery as it was our first year with charitable registration. This new status brought about increased maintenance costs, primarily to support the administrative processes and compliance associated with registration. Despite these additional expenses, our financial position at the end of the year remains secure. As we look ahead, our focus will be on increasing our income and building our reserves to ensure long-term sustainability and continued growth of our charitable mission. ## **Reserves policy statement** The trustees aim for the charity to hold free reserves equivalent to twelve months’ operational costs. In a situation where there is a deficit, the trustees will ensure that fundraising activities are prioritised and, if appropriate, the charity’s activities will be scaled back. Due to being a newly registered charity, at present our reserves meet the required threshold however our unrestricted funds are low. Plans to increase unrestricted funds in the coming year and two years will address this. In the meantime, trustees regard this as a low risk to the charity. ## **Trustee Declaration:** The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees report above. **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** **Signature(s)** > **Full Name(s)** Katie Callaghan Chelsea Wong > **Position** Chair Treasurer > **Date Signed** 21/10/2024 21/10/2024 **Date Signed** 21/10/2024 ||**Charity Name**
**CARDS FOR BRAVERY**|**Charity Name**
**CARDS FOR BRAVERY**|**Charity Name**
**CARDS FOR BRAVERY**|**Charity Name**
**CARDS FOR BRAVERY**|**Charity Name**
**CARDS FOR BRAVERY**|**No (if any)**
**1203710**|**No (if any)**
**1203710**|**No (if any)**
**1203710**|**CC16a**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**For the period**
**from**||Period start date
23/06/2023||**To**||Period end date
31/12/2023||| ||||||||||| |**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||||||| |**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**A1 Receipts**|||**Restricted funds**
**to the nearest £**||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**||**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**| |Donations|**-**
**436-**||||**-**
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**436-**||**-**
**--**| |Fundraising|**-**
**954-**||**-**
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**954-**||**-**
**--**| |Grants|||**-**
**500-**||**-**
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**500-**||**-**
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**--**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_**-**
**1,390-**
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|**-**
**1,390-**||**-**
**500-**||**-**
**--**||**-**
**1,890-**||**-**
**--**| ||||||||||| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||||||||| ||**-**
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**--**| |**_Sub total_-**
**--**
**_Total receipts_ -**
**1,390-**
**A3 Payments**|**-**
**--**||**-**
**--**||**-**
**--**||**-**
**--**||**-**
**--**| ||||||||||| ||**-**
**1,390-**||**-**
**500-**||**-**
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**1,890-**||**-**
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**--**||**-**
**--**||**-**
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**--**| |Projects|**-**
**1,141-**||**-**
**500-**||**-**
**--**||**-**
**1,641-**||**-**
**--**| |Maintenance|**-**
**2,189-**||**-**
**--**||**-**
**--**||**-**
**2,189-**||**-**
**--**| |Fundraising Events|**-**
**103-**||**-**
**--**||**-**
**--**||**-**
**103-**||**-**
**--**| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) 22/10/2024 1 |||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| |||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| |||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| |||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| |**_Sub total_ **||**-**|**3,433-**|||**-**|**500-**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**3,933-**|||**-**|**--**|| |||||||||||||||||||||| |**_Sub total_ **||**-**|**3,433-**|||**-**|**500-**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**3,933-**|||**-**|**--**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||||||||||||||||| |**A4 Asset and investment**||||||||||||||||||||| |**purchases, (see table)**||||||||||||||||||||| |||||||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||||| |||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||||| |**_Sub total_ **||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||||| |||||||||||||||||||||| |**_Total payments_ **||**-**|**3,433-**|||**-**|**500-**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**3,933-**|||**-**|**--**|| |||||||||||||||||||||| |**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ **||**-**|**2,043-**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||||||**-**|**--**|| |**A5 Transfers between funds**||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| |**A6 Cash funds last year end**||**-**|**4,752-**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**4,752-**|||**-**|**--**|| |**_Cash funds this year end_ **||**-**|**2,709-**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||||||**-**|**--**|| |||||||||||||||||||||| ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** |||||||**Unrestricted**|||**Restricted funds**|**Restricted funds**||||**Endowment**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**Categories**|**Details**||||**funds**||||||||**funds**|| |||||||**to nearest £**||||**to nearest £**||||**to nearest £**|| |**B1**|**Cash funds**||||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| ||||||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| ||||||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| |||**_Total cash funds_**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|||**-**|**--**|| |||(agree balances with receipts and payments account
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**to nearest £**|**Unrestricted**
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**--**| CCXX R3 accounts (SS) 22/10/2024 3 |**B5 Liabilities**
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of
all the trustees||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||| ||**Details**|||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ||||CHELSEA WONG|| |||||KATIE CALLAGHAN| CCXX R4 accounts (SS) 22/10/2024 4