## Annual Report 2023 HELP US TO HELP OTHERS www.qmcg.org.uk Charity Registration No. 211764 1 _Photo Credit: Alex Lloyd Photography_ HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon. Lady Ogilvy, Patron 2 3 **Trustees’ Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023** Teresa Myers - Chairman of Trustees until 20[th] October 2023 Mary Guppy - Chairman of Trustees from 20[th] October 2023 Sharon Stewart - Hon. Treasurer Ruth Briant - Executive Chair Diana Dix - from 4[th] December 2023 Sallie Hawkins - from 4[th] December 2023 Julia Knight Roisin Tierney - until 8[th] September 2023 Helen Whitbread Matilda Woodford Trustees: Secretary to the Trustees: Executive Committee: Susan Wallace Ruth Briant - Executive Chair Victoria Spendlove - Vice Executive Chair Sharon Stewart - Hon. Treasurer Julia Buckmaster Susan Hammond Donna Hart - from 14[th] March 2023 Vicki Meakin Natalie Meehan Abigail Sarfaty Sherry Watson - until 14[th] March 2023 The Trustees present their accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2023. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the statement and notes to the accounts. ## **Purpose of the Queen Mother’s Clothing Guild (QMCG)** The aim of the Queen Mother’s Clothing Guild is to make, buy and source new clothing, sleeping bags and linen and to distribute these items once a year to British charities, operating only in the United Kingdom, to help the vulnerable, the homeless and those in need. ## **Why our work is important** QMCG is one of the oldest charities in the United Kingdom and, from its inception in 1882, its purpose has been to support those in need. QMCG responds to requests from charities across the UK for new items they have difficulty in sourcing or funding themselves. QMCG knows that the gift of brand-new clothing and linen provides not only warmth and comfort but, importantly, also helps to restore dignity and self-respect. ## **How we work** Our list of 57 supported UK charities includes refuges for women and children escaping violence, homeless shelters and outreach units, neonatal units and hospices providing respite and end of life care for children and adults - and many others. Each year we ask the charities that we support to complete a list of items they most need, and that will make a difference. For over 140 years QMCG supporters all over the country have been knitting and stitching and still continue to make beautiful handmade items for QMCG to donate to charities. The timing of our annual distributions works particularly well for charities helping the homeless as their need is greatest during winter months. ## **Where we work** QMCG works with charities across the UK, but its main activities are in England and Scotland. Secretary: Charity Number: Registered Address: Heather Mears 211764 Registered Address: 22 Stamford Brook Road London W6 0XH Independent Examiner: Heyburn Bennett Ltd 9 Bridge Street, Walton on Thames Surrey KT12 1AE Rathbones: Incorporating Investec Wealth and Investment (UK) 30 Gresham Street London EC2V 7QN Investment Advisors: ## **Public Benefit** In setting the objectives and activities of the charity, the Trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidelines concerning public benefit. QMCG continues to place great emphasis on its commitment to support other charities in their work, providing brand new clothing and linen to help where the charities have difficulty in sourcing these items themselves. The public benefits of QMCG’s work are wide reaching through the varied charities it supports and can be seen as both direct and indirect in their nature. Direct, through the practical help that is given to the charities QMCG supports in response to their actual needs. Indirect, through the positive effect of these donations of new clothing and linen on those who receive them, helping to restore their sense of self-worth and dignity - both essential to those facing hardship. Direct also through the friendship, purpose and sense of belonging that knitting and stitching gives to the many supporters all over the country. ## **Fundraising** Under the Charities Act 2016, all charities in England and Wales that spend more than £100,000 a year on fundraising are expected to make a voluntary contribution to the regulator’s running costs. As QMCG spends considerably less than £100,000 a year on fundraising it is, therefore, not eligible to pay the voluntary contribution to the regulator’s running costs that would be required under the Charities Act 2016. ## **Risk Assessment** Again this year, in making decisions, the Trustees have had due regard to the Charity Commission Guidance on public benefit, in compliance with section 4 of the Charities Act 2006, and have given due consideration as to how the activities of QMCG contribute to its charitable status. 4 5 The Compliance Committee meets regularly to ensure that the Governance document is kept updated and is used as a guidance framework for both the Executive Committee (EC) and Trustees. Both the Trustees and the EC received Compliance training during 2023. All supported charities, existing and proposed, are regularly visited by members of the Executive Committee, and a record kept of the meeting. Guild Friends and Trustees are encouraged to join these interesting visits. Through these visits, either by Zoom or In Person, QMCG can gather information about the charities, their current needs, and how best the Guild can assist them. Importantly, visits help to guard against inappropriate use of QMCG donations and help us monitor whether our donations are relevant and reaching those we aim to help. We would also like to say a very big thank you to all Friends of the Guild. At the time of writing we had 130. This next year we hope to be even more successful in helping those in need. I am sure that with the dedication and hard work of each and every one of us we will continue to find ways of raising even more money year by year. Thank you to you all. ## **Mary Guppy, Chairman of the Board of Trustees (from October 2023)** The other main areas of risk are QMCG’s two annual events: Packing Week and the AGM. Public Liability insurance continues in place. ## **The Guild in Scotland Report** The links that Guild Ambassadors Clare Russell, CVO and Shona Docherty have built up with the Scottish charities over many years are invaluable in informing the Executive Committee's decisions about the annual allocation of different types of new clothing, knitting and bedlinen to a range of charities based in Scotland. This year, the Executive Chair enjoyed visiting 5 charities in the Glasgow area in April 2023. Later in the year, 2495 items of handmade and bought items were distributed to 18 charities across Scotland in time for the cold winter weather. ## **Chairman of the Trustees’ Report** We held our AGM at The Lansdowne Club on May 17[th] . The meeting was well attended, and it was lovely to meet some of the new QMCG friends who came along for the first time. Sherry Watson retired from the Executive Committee and we thank her for all her hard work during the past three years. Donna Hart has joined the Executive Committee in her place. In August Roisin Tierney retired both as a Trustee and as Chairman of the Compliance Committee due to ill health. We wish her well and thank her for the wonderful service she has given to QMCG since she joined us in February 2020. Roisin has known of QMCG for many, many years as she worked as a nursing sister at St James’s Palace and has had to look after several of us suffering minor injuries during our many packing days at the Palace. We will miss her, both as a Trustee and as a valued member of the QMCG team. Roisin remains a Friend so we will continue to see her at future QMCG events. **Accounts For year ending 31[st] December 2023** **Summary of income and expenditure account for the financial year ended 31[st] December 2023. Please refer to the separate signed Accounts 2023 document for more details.** In the current year, total income surpassed expenditure by £3,597. Our total income was £87,528 (2022 - £148,285) and our total expenditure was £83,931 (2022 - £108,991). Donations and our Friends’ subscriptions accounted for £50,329 of our annual income. Following the remarkable success of our fundraising events during our 140[th] anniversary in 2022, we depended on individual efforts by our Friends in 2023, raising £4,033. The sale of merchandise and knitted novelties generated £6,929. We were delighted to be able to allocate £61,092 to purchase clothing and linen to benefit the charities we supported in 2023. Our operational expenses amounted to £22,420. Our thanks go to all those individuals, organisations and grant-giving trusts for their ongoing support and contributions to our mission. ## **Sharon Stewart, Hon. Treasurer** In September Sherry Watson agreed to become Chairman of our Compliance Committee and we thank her for taking on this role which has become essential to all modern charities. We held our two days’ packing at St James’s Palace in October. Our wonderful team managed a new form of unpacking and repacking all the 37,599 items for the 39 Charities in England we supported this year and in Scotland we supported 18. This new approach was commended by all and proved really efficient. Our guests appreciated the slimmed down version and enjoyed visiting the new look displays. Sadly, HRH Princess Alexandra was unable to join us this year, but her Private Secretary & Comptroller Mrs Diane Duke attended in her place and read out a short speech on behalf of Her Royal Highness. Including the Scottish distribution to charities 40,153 items were distributed to 57 charities in the whole of the UK. ## **Teresa Myers, Chairman of the Board of Trustees (until October 2023)** The above was written by Teresa Myers, our outgoing Chairman of Trustees who, sadly, due to personal reasons had to step down on October 20th. I would like to thank Teresa for all her hard work and dedication to the Guild. I was elected by the remaining Trustees to take over as Chairman from that date. In November we were delighted to welcome Diana Dix and Sallie Hawkins to The Board of Trustees and they attended their first Board meeting in December. They will both be very welcome members of the Board and I am sure will serve with extreme competence and enthusiasm! As always, we continue to be extremely grateful for the continuing support of HRH Princess Alexandra. She has been and continues to be a wonderful Patron. Sadly, ill health has curtailed her visits to Packing Week recently. A huge thank you also to the accountants Heyburn Bennett Ltd and Investec. 6 7 R•w•cdv• r•wMSbll￿IeS of vuste*sand •17n￿￿r WEEN I1¢)ThE￿ CLOTTr11￿ GLILD The ch•rltVs twstees are rEsPo￿bIe forthe FYep3rntion of the accwnt& The charlVs trustees con¥der ihai afi •udit is not required for thls par uThlersecrk>n 144of the Chorltlt5Att 20111thÈ CharIt*s*￿> and that•n ind¢pendent examir0M)n tsneeded. It i% my r•sponsibiUty to.. E>*min• the Iccounts wder5e£tron 145 ofthe Charil*S A¢t Tof01￿ the pro¢￿u[e$ ljkl down Inthe8eneral Dfjredon5fvon ￿the Charfry COMM￿st0￿ ￿der sèction 145 ISI b ofthe Charft*sAct. •nd to st•t•￿•th•1 partlculor ffl•tters have ceme to myartention. B*sL% of Ind•p•nd•nt•xarnln•rf5 Statement My examlna¢ionw45 carrt•d eut In accordance wlththe general Direct+ons ilveft bythe Char Cornmlsslon. An ¢xamlnatlon Includes a revlew of the accountln8 records kept by the charltyand comparfson of the accounis presented wlth those records. Italso includescon5ider4tion of Jny unusual Itemsor dlstlosure$ In the arrounts and5eeknn8 explan8tions from the trustee5 conc•rnln8 anysuch mitters. The procedufes undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be requlred In an iudlt, •nd consequently no opinion isgDfen as to whetherthp 8tcounts pr¢s¢nt 'tvue f•lrf v*w ind th• report Is Ilmited tothose mattersset ￿ In the statement below. IrdèpendehteMmln•rfs Inconnecti￿ myexamln•Vofi. mo rnatrerh8sco￿ to myattentiiyi L Wh￿￿&￿e$ me the rnisonoble taus¢to ￿er￿that1￿. arrymaterial respe¢ the requirtmtnty. tokeepaccountir¢ retords In sectknn olthe ChaTlllÈs A¢L tDwepare accounts whlch •¢¢ordMbith the I￿>￿￿tir¥ record5 3nd camply￿ thÈ tcountirl re9ulr•rn•ntsof the thartileskt ha¥* not trxen me OR 2. to Wh￿h, in ffly opinbn, attentlon should be drawn In orderto enable a proper undeT5tsnding of the account5to be reathed. Mèrkjohn Heybum bum 8enn•tt Ltd Chartered Certified Accountants and Re815tertd Audliors 9 8rid8e ST￿t,wa￿0O on Thame5. SurTey Kn2 IAE ¥w Sknoltrllltd•lilC4r swe1•16b**S S￿l01(￿nI fwd 14 101.121 4•h• &ni 1.711 MMPl￿5F￿ MrtW'SFwd ?.1 h1r191￿ Fund 14 ? ￿n￿F4•fU0ltrth7I¥nd￿Tr Mikn Fwr kIrnPl￿sFth1d .147 thAlEoICbth￿¥r1u £U7561￿.É￿l•l **BENEFICIARIES 2023 (** *Newly supported in 2023) |**BENEFICIARIES 2023 (***Ne|wly supported in 2023)| |---|---| |**Charities in England**|**Neo Natal Units Supported**| |Age UK Wiltshire, Salisbury|Evelina, St Thomas's Hospital, London| |Barons Court Project, West London|Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow| |Berkshire Women's Aid|| |The Carers Centre, Tower Hamlets*|| |Changing Pathways, Essex|**Charities in Scotland**| |CHESS Homeless, Chelmsford|AberNecessities, Aberdeen| |Companions of the Order of Malta, Central London|Bethesda Hospice, Stornoway| |Crawley Open House, West Sussex|Cameron House, Inverness| |Croydon Refugee Day Centre, Croydon|Cardinal Winning Pro Life Initiative, Glasgow| |Emmaus Brighton, East Sussex|CHAS Rachel House, Kinross| |Emmaus Greenwich, London|CHAS Robin House, Balloch| |Emmaus Hastings, East Sussex|Cyrenians, Aberdeen| |GSTT Charity Samaritan Fund, London|Erskine Home, Renfrewshire| |Home of Comfort, Southsea|Highland Hospice, Inverness| |Kairos, South East London|Hungry Horse, Inverness| |Leonard Cheshire St Cecilia’s, Bromley|Kat's Second Edition (Supporting West End Community
Centre) Ross-shire| |Little Sisters of the Poor, St Peters, Lambeth|Kindness Street Team, Glasgow| |Little Village, London|Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow| |London City Mission, Central London|Simon Community, Glasgow| |Manna Society, London|St Vincent's Hospice, Johnstone| |Nelson Trust South West, Bristol*|Women's Aid, Dundee| |Nelson Trust, Swindon|Women's Aid, Glasgow| |Ollalo House, London|Women's Aid, Inverness| |Pottergate Arc, Norwich|| |Pram Depot, London|| |Ronald McDonald House Charities, London|| |Salvation Army Hoxton, East London|| |Seaview, East Sussex|| |Spitalfields Crypt Trust, East London|| |St Anne’s, Little Sisters of the Poor, North London|| |St Hilda's House, St Hilda's Church, Ashford, Middlesex*|| |St Luke’s Hospice, Essex|| |Stonepillow, West Sussex|| |Swindon Domestic Abuse Support Service|| |The Upper Room, Central London|| |Warming up the Homeless, Bexhill-on-Sea|| |Your Place,East London|| ## **THANK YOU LETTERS** ‘…. we help ladies…recently released from Bronzefield Women’s Prison which is down the road from our church. We provide a safe place for them to live at St Hilda’s House and help reintegrate them into society. We have used the items donated by QMCG to make our own ‘Welcome Packs’ ready for future tenants. Our current tenant was very pleased with her bundle and really appreciated the knitted blanket. She said she could use it on the sofa to keep warm. She liked the colours and pattern and said, ‘This really brightens the place up and will keep me cosy in the cold months, I love the colours.’ **St Hilda’s House, St Hilda’s Church, Middlesex** ‘Thank you to the Guild knitters. Your colourful creations have made such a difference whilst the temperature has plummeted. Another carer was already wearing the knitted hat on the zoom today. Some can't afford heating; you are literally keeping lives warm and toasty. Thank you’. ‘I received a small blanket from the donations, and I am using it as a shawl for the cold evenings. It is beautifully made, and in soft wool so it is very comforting. Please thank the Guild for their kindness, I really appreciate the effort that has gone into making this, and very grateful that there is someone thoughtful enough to make it for carers’. **Carers Centre, Tower Hamlets** ‘Thanks to the support of the Queen Mother’s Clothing Guild, we’ve been able to pass on blankets, sheets and pyjamas to families with babies and children under five, keeping them warm and snug at night, and reducing worry for London families surviving on very low incomes. Little Village and other baby banks are a ray of light for these families as we’re giving them a gift at a time when they really need our help.’ **Little Village, London** ‘Thank you for helping to end homelessness, one person at a time. I’d like to express our gratitude for the very generous donations received last week from the Queen Mother’s Clothing Guild, to support people who have lost their homes. Please convey our appreciation to all those who made your kind donations of blankets, towels, sleeping bags and warm clothing possible - all of which will be greatly appreciated by our residents. With the rising costs of living and winter drawing in, these warm layers will be more important than ever as residents come to us from the streets, and as we support them to move into their own homes.’ **Your Place, East London** ‘On behalf of all of us here – especially the homeless people we see every day - a huge THANK YOU to you and everyone who made it all possible. The donations were incredible and are already flying off the shelves to the people who need them most. We just could not do what we do without QMCG and we are so very grateful.’ **The Upper Room, London** ‘Thank you also for such incredible donations. They are exactly what our guests request - thermals, thick socks, tracksuit bottoms, sleeping bags, t shirts, underwear ... the list is endless. And we were also fortunate enough to receive some knitted items that you are so well known for. They are an array of wonderful colours and beautifully made. It will be such a treat for us to hand out these items to those who need them.‘ **Companions of the Order of Malta, London** Everyone at St Vincent’s Hospice is deeply grateful that you have chosen to continue supporting us, and I can confirm that the bedding has started to be used within our patient rooms. Each gift we receive helps us continue providing specialist palliative care and support services to patients and their families across the neighbouring communities of Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire. Your generosity means so much to all our staff, patients and their families – the bedding will make a real difference here. **St Vincent’s Hospice, Renfrewshire** 12 13 Charities supported by QMCG in 2023 Homeless eharltles ?] charitim V¢bosiipw>M those* W?￿1•5$. LVA Hospkes and the Elderly ycenlreg Wom•n's charltl•s supp￿* Chlldrèn and Famlllej i?.v 13 chantle5 5UPWrtingchbldrEn¥ Veierans Ictbarity 5UPPDrtlnl¥eivw5 QM QUEEN MOTHER'S CLOTHING GUILD 14 QM CG QUEEN MOTHER'S CLOTHING GUILD FOUNDED 1882