## **SUCCESS AFTER STROKE**
(Registered charity no 1211565)
## **TRUSTEE ANNUAL REPORT**
## **for the period 6 January 2025 to 31 December 2025**
This is the first Trustee Annual Report for Success After Stroke which was incorporated as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation on 6 January 2025. The receipts and payments accounts therefore are for the period 6 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.
This charity takes over from the older charity Success After Stroke which is an unincorporated association. In March 2025 the trustees of the older Success After Stroke charity agreed to vest all their assets into this newer charity and this was approved by the members of the older charity. Operationally all the activities of the older charity were transferred to this charity in March/April 2025.
Success After Stroke supports stroke survivors, stroke is the leading cause of adult disability in the UK, and long-term rehabilitation in Suffolk is highly limited. Many survivors receive only short-term NHS input and are left without the ongoing support needed to rebuild mobility, communication, confidence and independence. Our charity fills this gap by offering accessible, long-term therapy, emotional support and peer connection in a welcoming community setting.
The charity is managed by its trustees who meet formally as a group three times a year and more frequently where required. Trustees take an active role in the management of the charity with frequent visits to the Stevenson Centre from which the charity operates. On a day to day basis the charity’s activities are administered and managed by two part time members of staff and a team of volunteers.
## **REVIEW OF THE PERIOD**
The Trustees are very pleased that the transfer of activities from the older charity occurred without too many problems, in fact for the majority of our members the transfer was seamless. Our members are all stroke survivors living relatively close to Sudbury in Suffolk and our aim is for our members and their families to enjoy as fulfilling and successful a life after their stroke as possible. We do this through speech and language therapy sessions, through physiotherapy sessions, through socialisation sessions (also known as coffee mornings, outings and similar) so members can share experiences, through well-being counselling so members and their carers can work through the mental trauma of a stroke, plus singing and art classes. The art classes in particular reveal just how talented our members (and in fact all of us) are, members come to relearn old skills and some come to discover skills they never knew they had.
We have a waiting list of stroke survivors who want and need to join us but we just do not have the physical space at the Stevenson Centre or the therapist and other resources to provide the additional services they so obviously and desperately need.
In 2024 the “old Success After Stroke charity” increased the amount of speech and language sessions and physiotherapy sessions available to our members and we continued this throughout 2025. The challenge in 2025 was to find additional funding for these extra sessions so we can continue to
provide them and the well-being counselling sessions for the foreseeable future. It became clear during 2025 that we needed to budget for additional well-being therapists as our current volunteer well being therapist could not be as available to us as previously.
Members have asked for additional support in areas such as navigating the benefits system, nutrition and exercise. We are pleased that the Citizens Advice Bureau has been able to provide the support
Page 1
in relation to the benefits system and we are actively looking for external speakers in relation to nutrition and exercise advice, the latter is particularly necessary for our members with limited mobility.
## **FINANCIAL COMMENTARY**
The receipts and payments accounts are from the date of incorporation on 6 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. These accounts were reviewed and approved by the Trustees at their meeting on 24 March 2026 and approved by the Independent Examiner, Mr Loudon Greenlees.
A summary of the results for the period 6 January to 31 December 2025. Significant donations this year included £20,000 from the Harebell Centenary Trust (in addition to £10,000 given to the old charity in 2025) and a huge fundraising success from David Dancy of £54,000 from his sponsored 7 day marathon run in Morocco. David is the son of one of our regular volunteers and this was an epic success both in terms of his own physical endurance (sand in your boots and between your toes when you are running is really really painful) and the amount of money he was able to raise. We also received significant donations from the Childwick Trust and other donors for which we are very grateful.
We held a fundraising event in September 2025 celebrating the life of Clara Schumann who in addition to being a very talented musician was herself a stroke survivor. This was a very enjoyable event which raised nearly £5,000. The family of one of our members raised early £3,000 for us in their annual village fair, an event they have organised for us for many years.
As the charity was only incorporated in January 2025 there are no comparative figures to be shown. During the year the old charity transferred £182,754 of its assets to this charity
**Summary of Income & Expenditure Account for 2025**
||**2025**
**£**|
|---|---|
|Receipts, excluding transfers from the old charity|122,812|
|Transfers from the old charity|182,754|
|Total receipts, including transfers from the old charity|305,566|
|Payments
|(93,415)|
|**Surplus/ (Defcit)**|**212,151**|
|||
|**Surplus/ (Defcit) before transfers from the old charity**|**29,397**|
|Cash Balance at year end|212,293|
|Cost of investments transferred from old charity not included above|30,000|
The expenses paid out in the period include £41,869 for therapists, £20,623 for member support and administration staffing costs and £8,990 for the rental of the Stevenson Centre. These and other expense payments were in line with forecast.
The investments transferred from the old charity are units in the CCLA Charities Investment Fund, we are reviewing this investment as performance to date has not been as good as we had hoped. At the end of the period the value of the investments stood at £31,860.
Page 2
## **RESERVES POLICY**
The reserves policy of the trustees of Success After Stroke as at the date of this document is for the charity to hold a minimum of reserves equivalent to at least 12 months recurring operating expenses. Reserves are currently higher than this due to exceptional one off donations received and successful fundraising by the predecessor charity and subsequently transferred to this charity. Without these our reserves would stand at just over 120% of annual recurring expenditures.
The reserves policy has been adopted because the majority of SAS operating expenses are fixed and donation income varies widely from year to year. Many of our members depend on our weekly sessions and therefore the trustees have opted for a policy that ensures, to the extent possible, continuity of the charity’s services over at least a three year time horizon.
In general the Trustees look to have £25,000 to £30,000 in bank current account (currently with Lloyds) and place excess amounts in the CCLA charity deposit account. The Trustees are looking at placing more monies into longer term investment accounts. If reserves rise significantly the Trustees will consider appointing a professional advisor to assist in managing these monies.
## **TRUSTEES AND OTHER INFORMATION**
All the trustees were appointed on incorporation and there have been no changes since then. Hilary Spivey was appointed interim chairman on incorporation and we are very pleased that Edward Mason has agreed to take on this role as of December 2025. Trustees are recruited from existing volunteers within the charity or from the trustee’s extensive network of social contacts.
As at the date of this report the trustees were:
|Edward Mason(chair)|GeofreyBourne|
|---|---|
|Elizabeth Alston|Vivien Bourne|
|Richard Furlonger|HilarySpivey
|
|Susie Fenwicke-Clennell|Henrieta Drake|
The charity operates from The Stevenson Centre, Stevenson Approach, Great Cornard, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 0WD
Approved by the Trustees on 21 July 2026
Hilary Spivey - Treasurer
Page 3
Success
Afterstroke
Recelpts and Payments Account for Ihe Period 6 January to 31 December 2025
General
Funds
Llz Greene
Fund
Restrlcted
Funds
2025
Total
Receipts
Translerfrom old SAS
Donations
GiftAid Recovered
Fundraising
bscription5
Interest Income
Membersevents
Grants
Total recelpts
166,515
94,823
8,674
7,818
5,345
4,202
807
5,951
10288
182,754
94,823
8,674
8,618
5.345
4.345
807
800
143
200
11.288
200
305,566
288,184
6.094
Payments
Therapisi Costs
Members Support Costs
Fundraising Costs
Rent
Insuiance and Administration
Admlnistration Salarles
Members events
SLSPPOrt
Total paymenls
30,581
15,363
12,915
8,990
5,249
5,260
2,192
1.117
81.667
11,288
41.869
15.363
12,915
8,990
5,249
5,260
2,652
1,117
93,415
460
460
11,288
Suplus I (Deficlt) of Recelpts ¢)ver Paymgnts
206.517
5,634
212.151
Movement of Funds (Cash)
&Jrplus I (Deficit) lorthe period
Balance at 31 December
206.517
206,517
5,634
5,634
212,151
212.151
Representod by
Cash at Bank
Deposit CCLA
48.558
163.593
212,151
In addilion to the above bank accounts Ihe charity holds investments in the CCL4 Charities Investment Fund.
These investments are General Fund assets and were transferred from the old Success After Stroke charity.
2025
Mktvalue
Accumulation Units in CCLA Charitie5 Investment Fun(J
Cosl
£30,000
£31.860
Value
Slgn
on behalf of theTfUStg9$ on 24 March 2026:
Edward Maso
Chalrman)
Hllary Splvey
easurerl
Pagelof2
Success
Afterstroke
A*o*t*i•d¢Mrtty P4x121186B
Re¢elpts and Payments Account for the Perlod 6 January to 31 December 2025
Notes to the Accounts
The chaifty was registered on 6 January as a charftable Incorporated OTEanisation and 15 the successor body
to Success After Stroke, registered charlty no. 1115016, an unincorporated association. On 7 March 2025
the Irustees of the old Success After Stroke agreed to vest allthe a55ets of that charlty In this one. Thls
decision was raiifled bythe members ol the old charity on 25 March 2025.
The cash transfers from the old charlty to ihis charity are represented in the Transfe¥s from old SAS line
above. In addition tothe cash transfe¥s investments held by the old charity in the CCL4Charities Investment
Fund were transferred 10 this charity-
Restricted funds represent amounts receNed for specific puiposes
Page2of2
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examinerfs
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examinerfs Report
Report to the trusteesl
members of
Success After Stroke
On accounts for the
period ended
31 December 2025
Charity no
(if any)
1211565
Set out on pages
IrÈrDemb8r to Includé thE fjaqe niumbers of addiiianal $h4815,'
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounls of the above
charity {"the Trust") for the period ended 31 December 2025.
Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation
basls of report of the accounls in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act
2011 1.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(5J{b) of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confim that no material matters have
come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me
Gause to believe thal 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
Independent
examiner's statement
I have no ¢oncerns and have come across no other matters in connection
with the examination lo which attention should be drawn in order to enable a
proper
nderstanding of
ccounts to be reached.
pi
sed
te the
e brackets if they do not apply.
in
Slgned:
Date:
&ék. L¥.
Name:
Relevant professional
qualification(sl or body
(if any):
Address:
IER
October 2018