## Trustees’ Annual Report for the Period
**From:** 1 April 2024 **To:** 31 March 2025
## Charity Information
**Charity Name:** Wigan Parent Carer Forum **Charity Registration Number:** 1203737
## **Charity’s Principal Address:**
Wigan Parent Carer Forum Ashland House Dobson Park Way Ince Wigan WN2 2DX
## Objectives and Activities
## Summary of the Charity’s Purpose
Wigan Parent Carer Forum exists to empower parent carers of children and young people aged 0–25 with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in Wigan Borough. The charity aims to promote social inclusion, provide peer support, and influence the development of local services so that they reflect the needs and experiences of SEND families.
Key Activities and Public Benefit
During the reporting period, the charity undertook a range of activities to further its objectives and deliver public benefit. These included: - Hosting parent carer forums, engagement sessions, and events to ensure parent voices were heard and represented. - Delivering peer support opportunities to reduce isolation and strengthen networks among parent carers. - Working in partnership with education, health, and social care services to support co-production and improve SEND provision locally. - Delivering targeted projects, including the Autism in Schools project and Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) provision. - Providing direct support to families through information sharing, signposting, and empowerment-focused activity.
These activities supported parent carers to feel informed, connected, and empowered, while also contributing to improved understanding of SEND needs across local services.
## Trustees’ Statement on Public Benefit
The trustees confirm that they have had due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity’s aims and activities and in planning future work.
## Achievements and Performance
Between April 2024 and March 2025, Wigan Parent Carer Forum delivered a broad programme of engagement, support, and co-production activity for parent carers across the borough.
During the year, the charity delivered **49 parent carer sessions** , resulting in **570 instances of parent engagement** . These sessions included peer support activities, information events, family-focused sessions, and opportunities for parents to engage with and influence local SEND services.
Key achievements during the year included: - Continued delivery of regular parent carer engagement sessions across the borough. - Successful family events designed to reduce isolation and strengthen peer-to-peer support. - Delivery of parental engagement activity linked to the **Autism in Schools project** , including events with strong attendance from parents. - Ongoing partnership and co-production work with education, health, and social care colleagues.
At the end of the reporting period, the forum had a membership of **1,570 parent carers** , demonstrating sustained engagement and continued demand for the charity’s services and representation.
## Financial Review
During the period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, Wigan Parent Carer Forum recorded total income of £67,329. This represented an increase compared to the previous year and reflected a combination of grant funding, donations, fundraising income, and bank interest.
The charity received £65695 in grant funding, including: - The standard Parent Carer Forum grant from the Department for Education, administered via Contact. - Tripartite funding from the local authority, health, and social care partners. - Funding to deliver the Autism in Schools project. - Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) funding from the local authority.
In addition, the charity received £1,600 from fundraising activities, and £34 in bank interest.
Total expenditure for the year amounted to £65,607. The majority of this expenditure (£59,514) was incurred directly on charitable activities, ensuring that funds were used to deliver services and support for parent carers and families of children and young people with SEND. Additional costs included trustee expenses of £1,143 and overheads of £4,950, supporting the effective operation of the charity.
At the end of the reporting period, the charity recorded a net surplus of £1,722, resulting in total cash funds of £8,040, comprising £6,318 in unrestricted funds and £1,722 in restricted funds. The trustees consider the charity to be in a stable financial position at the year end.
## Reserves Policy
The charity’s reserves policy is to maintain unrestricted reserves sufficient to cover approximately three to six months of core operating costs, in order to provide financial resilience and continuity of services. At the end of the reporting period, unrestricted reserves stood at £6,318, which the trustees consider to be within a prudent and appropriate range given the charity’s size, commitments, and funding profile.
## Risk Management
The trustees regularly review the risks facing the charity and take steps to mitigate these where possible. Key risks identified during the reporting period included: - Funding uncertainty, managed through diversifying income streams and maintaining strong relationships with funders. - Capacity and sustainability, addressed through careful planning, prioritisation of activities, and effective use of volunteers. - Governance and compliance, mitigated through ongoing review of policies, financial controls, and trustee oversight.
## Structure, Governance, and Management
Wigan Parent Carer Forum operates as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and is governed by a constitution.
Trustees are appointed based on their alignment with the charity’s aims and values and their ability to contribute skills and experience to support effective governance. The trustees are responsible for setting strategy, overseeing finances, and ensuring the charity complies with its legal and regulatory obligations.
The charity operates robust financial controls, including the use of online banking with appropriate authorisation arrangements, clear expense reimbursement processes, and regular financial monitoring.
## Volunteers and Community Impact
The charity continues to be supported by a small but dedicated volunteer team. During the reporting period, four core volunteers contributed their time and expertise to support engagement activity, events, administration, and representation work. Their contribution was vital to the delivery of the charity’s activities and its ability to support and represent parent carers across Wigan Borough.
## Future Plans
In the coming year, the trustees intend to: - Continue delivering high-quality engagement and peer support opportunities for parent carers. - Strengthen co-production and partnership working with education, health, and social care services. - Build on existing projects, including work in schools and targeted family support. - Explore additional funding opportunities to support long-term sustainability. - Continue strengthening governance, policies, and systems in line with best practice.
## Declarations
The trustees declare that they have approved this Trustees’ Annual Report.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
**Signature:** __________________________ **Full Name:** Lisa Aldred **Position:** Chair of Trustees **Date:** 30 January 2026
#VALUE!
**Charity Name No (if any) Wigan Parent Carer Forum 1203737 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period** Period start date Period end date **To from** 01/04/2024 31/03/2025
|**Section A Receipts and payments**|**Section A Receipts and payments**|**Section A Receipts and payments**||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**1,600**
**34**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**1,634**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**1,634**||**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**65,695**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**65,695**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**65,695**||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**65,695**
**-**
**1,600**
**34**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**67,329**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**67,329**||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|Grants|**-**||||||||**24,060**|
|Donations|**-**||||||||**32,359**|
|Fundraising|**1,600**||||||||**-**|
|Bank Interest|**34**||||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||||**-**|
||**-**||||||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|**1,634**||||||||**56,419**|
|||||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**||||||||||
||**-**|||||||||
||**-**||||||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**||||||||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**||||||||||
||||||||||**56,419**|
|||||||||||
|Charitable Activities|**-**||**59,514**||**-**||**59,514**||**50,101**|
|Trustee Expenses|**-**||**1,143**||**-**||**1,143**||**-**|
|Overheads|**-**||**4,950**||**-**||**4,950**||**-**|
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**-**||**65,607**||**-**||**65,607**||**50,101**|
|||||||||||
|**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_**||||||||||
||||||||||**50,101**|
|||||||||||
||**1,634**||||||**1,722**||**6,318**|
||**- 1,634**||||||**-**||**-**|
||**6,318**||||||**6,318**||**-**|
||**6,318**||||||**8,040**||**6,318**|
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
30/01/2026
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
Unpaid Wages
**Details**
**Details**
Natwest 49138596
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**6,318**
**1,722**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**6,318**
**1,722**
OK
OK
**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)**
**1,955**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
||||**31/04/2025**|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
||||Date of
approval|
|||||
|||||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
30/01/2026
2
**Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
## _Section A Independent Examiner’s Report_
|**Report to the trustees/**
**members of**
**On accounts for the year**
**ended**
**Set out on pages**|Charity Name
Wigan Parent Carer Forum|Charity Name
Wigan Parent Carer Forum|Charity Name
Wigan Parent Carer Forum|
|---|---|---|---|
|||||
||31 March 2025|**Charity no**
**(if any)**|1203737|
|||||
||1-2
(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)|||
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30 March 2025.
**Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** 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 **Independent** come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with **examiner's statement** the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
* _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._
**Date:** 30/1/2026 **Signed: Name:** Kay Wightman **Relevant professional** FFA FTA **qualification(s) or body (if any): Address:** Accounting for Good CIC 2 Geordie Ridley Place, Upper Precinct, Blaydon on Tyne Tyne and Wear NE21 5BT