**THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF SAY IT WITH A SMILE July 1st 2023 - June 30th 2024** ## **Corporate Structure** Say It With a Smile (hereafter referred to as Smile) was first registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation on June 27th 2023 and commenced operating on August 1st 2023. Our first financial year ran from July1st 2023 to June 30th 2024. The Constitution, which follows the standard Charity Commission guidelines, has been submitted to the Commission. The Charity is run by a Board of Trustees (the Board). The current Board consists of: Simon Fowle, Acting Chair Sheree Willis Gemma Shaw Anja Kueppers-McKinnon. Our Founder and previous Chair, until stepping down from the role and from Trusteeship on 31st May 2024, is Hannah Say. Hannah was appointed CEO by the Board, also on 31st May 2024. The Trustees have agreed to remunerate Ms Say for her role as CEO and will seek funding to make this a permanent arrangement. The Board plans to appoint further Trustees when candidates with the necessary skill sets become available During the period under review the Board met six times. ## **Contact and Further Information** The appointed contact for correspondence with the Charity Commission is: - Simon Fowle, Say It with a Smile, Lord-Lieutenant’s Charity Hub, Warner Bros Studios, Building 6, Hercules Way, Leavesden Park WD25 7GS - Email: info@sayitwithasmile.org.uk The website address is www.sayitwithasmile.org.uk ## **Mission Statement - Vision** Our vision is to support people diagnosed with dementia, along with their carers, so they can continue to live their lives as independently and confidently as possible. We ## **Annual Report 2023-2024** **Page 2** achieve this by inviting them to attend our Smile events and social activities, fostering a sense of community and belonging. We aim to make training easily accessible for those with an early dementia diagnosis and all carers, providing them with a comprehensive understanding of the condition. By collaborating with medical professionals, social care providers and dementia-focused charities, we ensure that those diagnosed and their carers are well-prepared and equipped with the necessary knowledge to manage the condition and its progression over time. ## **Accessibility** Smile is open to any member of the public without discrimination in accordance with an Equality and Diversity Policy adopted by the Board. ## **Accounts** The management accounts have been prepared in-house. They are subject to review (which has been completed at the time of writing this report) by a firm of accountants who are acting as our advisors on a pro bono basis and they will submit the accounts to the Charity Commission in the approved format. The accounts, which are prepared on a cashbook basis, show a total credit turnover of £15,555.75, comprising principally of grants and donations. After Cost of Goods Sold (£892.30) and Administration costs (£9,650.58) the year ended with an operating profit of £5,012.82 as reflected in our bank balances as at 30th June 2024. Smile is a non-profit organisation with all income used within the charity to further our aims and objectives. Smile has no outstanding liabilities apart from monthly rent in respect of our business premises. Smile benefitted from a grant of £3,500 from Watford and Three Rivers Trust to finance a series of Memory Steps Courses on the basis that any credit balance outstanding at the end September 2024 would be returned to W3RT. In the view of the Trustees the grant is likely to be fully used. Further sources of grant funding are being explored to enable us to continue our work for the community. We are grateful to Music for All, Yorkshire Building Society and Hertfordshire Community Foundation and other anonymous donors for their support. The Trustees have set aside a reserve of £500 to enable activities to continue in the event of an emergency. ## **Annual Report 2023-2024** **Page 3** The Trustees are pleased with the financial progress the charity has made in its first year of operation and consider that we are on a firm financial base. ## **Risk Management** This is discussed regularly at Board meetings. A risk assessment is carried out for all events and outings and the Trustees pursue a highly risk averse policy. The Trustees are aware of the increase in room hire rates and have drawn up contingency plans should our existing locations become unaffordable. ## **Safeguarding** The Trustees require all volunteers and employees to be trained in Safeguarding basics and to have clear DBS certificates. Our Safeguarding Officer is required to report to the Board at each meeting. ## **A summary of key events in 2023-2024** The infrastructure for a phased development of Smile’s activities has been put in place from a standing start when charitable status was obtained on June 27th 2023. The following events have been held on a regular basis: - Music Club - Arts and Crafts on a Farm Retreat - Lunch at a local carvery - The development of an allotment - Country walks and talks - Meetings for carers to provide relaxation and social networking In addition, we host occasional events, such as - A canal trip - A concert given by St Albans Rock Choir in support of Smile - A party to celebrate our anniversary as a charity, attended by over 100 guests. These activities are open to all members of the “Smile Family” without discrimination. The Memory Steps Courses - two-hour sessions on a weekly basis for four consecutive weeks - were launched in March 2024, with the second Course in June. These courses, which are open to carers and to those diagnosed with dementia with a degree of cognitive ability, were fully subscribed in both months. Our CEO has been instrumental in putting together the programme and assembling a network of speakers from all aspects of dementia care and support. We receive referrals to these courses from ## **Annual Report 2023-2024** ## **Page 4** many different sources, including the NHS, GP surgeries, the Memory Centre, care homes and the Alzheimer’s Society. Further courses are planned for September and November and into 2025. Our CEO is regularly asked to give presentations on the impact of dementia and the ways in which those diagnosed and their carers can be helped. She has, for example, addressed an audience of NHS consultants, has, on the recommendation of senior management at Rennie Grove Peace Hospice, led a webinar for BBC staff worldwide and, after the year-end, run a dementia awareness training course for producers of the BBC’s “Scam Interceptors” programme The successful development of Smile was recognised in a “Highly Commended” award in the Lord Lieutenant’s Entrepreneurs’ Challenge presented at the Herts County Show in May. ## **With thanks** The Trustees are deeply grateful to all the companies, charities and individuals who have supported Smile in our first year of operation. Without this support, we would not have been able to provide the wide-ranging programme of events that we have, nor would we be able to contemplate an expansion in the coming year into other parts of Hertfordshire. The Trustees declare that they have approved this report. Signed on behalf of the Trustees: 20th December 2024 Trustee S A R Fowle Name: S A R Fowle Trustee Mrs Sheree Willis Name: S Willis