## **Chair report March 2023** Well where do that year go? I can’t believe that here we are again ready for another AGM It has been a year of hard work for most of us. We are still short staffed and unable to open full time because of this, but have 2 new staff members who have been an asset to me. I am still doing the admin and secretarial duties, taking me away from running more activities, but we have Victoria now who is helping with some of the admin and behind the scenes. I also have Kit onboard who I’ve been running an activity with on a Thursday where we do something different each week, for our mental health day. This includes, yoga, tai Chi, Qi Gong, mindfulness, meditation, walks & Groove . We also podcast and are about to start show rehearsals for our dining experience show. During the last year, we had a few volunteers onboard for short periods, who helped with cooking, this was fantastic because it brought more revenue and people were enjoying the meals. Lou was doing meal deals for £5 which included a meal with a drink. Unfortunately, both volunteers had to move on which left us not able to offer this so often. We then came up with a way to offer it by preparing things in advance. Tuesday afternoon crew would peel potatoes & prepare all salad in readiness for Lou and crew to batch cook on a Wednesday afternoon. Food at parties are always a winner. Recently we have had to revamp the kitchen with new ceiling and flooring, we still haven’t opened for cooking, but hopefully we will start soon. The My Community project that is an initiative of Royal Mencap ran throughout the year but has finished now. We lost Phil who started it off and he has been replaced by Lynne. She has been busy setting up activities around the town which a few of our members have gotten involved in. They have had a free course with learning how to use a windows tablet, they were allowed to keep the tablet. Then they tarted a desktop computer course, and some got involved in Brave art. The most exciting has been that she was to employ 4 people with a learning disability and 2 of our members who are volunteers were employed by Royal Mencap. These are Jake and Sean. So very well done to those two, we are so proud of you. Lynne has also asked us to apply for seed funding to pay someone to support me with admin and anything else that I need support with. She sourced the money to pay for our new flooring and the coach to the Royal Albert Hall and our Music Man Project performance. We have been a little more structured with parties for 2023. We have been combining each month's birthdays together and celebrating them all on one day per month. As always, they have been so much fun. We have had comedy hour start off a few of them, which has gone down really well. Lou and Marina have headed up a team to cook for the parties, which I keep well a way from, but I do try to head the clearing up patrol. Lou has also continued with leading people with crafts to make decorations for the parties and festive occasions. For Christmas last year, Lou & Sharon got together with Marina, Jackie and Toni to put on an amazing, cooked Christmas dinner for us all. WOW, what an achievement in our small space. We had a production line for Prep, which many of our members helped with. The tables were laid out lovely and there was so much happiness in the room, it was a real family Christmas for our Unity family. The ladies worked so hard, I’m not sure if they want to repeat the experience, but they deserve a medal for what they achieved. When me and Ben set up the Unity Centre, it was always having in mind that we would create a family, and that Christmas dinner showed me that we have achieved that with so many fantastic family orientated volunteers and members. Another Christmas fun day was our Community Christmas party. We invited people from the community in with their families and Lynne from the My Community project got funding from them to pay for it, this meant it was free for everyone. We did a scavenger hunt for the kids and played games, sent them to the Fort for an activity that they had to video, and we had dancing. It was a great success and we loved having everyone in. It is something that we can do annually now. We didn’t manage to do as much fundraising as we had planned to, this was down to several factors. There has been a lot of illness with staff and members, this also caused us to close for 4 days in a row during November and the odd session had to be cancelled. We did manage to have a large fundraiser in September which was led by Jane and Colin who worked really hard to make it a success. We all had fun in the garden of the Mariners pub, with music all day and evening. Our Bang & Crash group showed off their talents and did themselves proud. They were so professional and were loved by everyone there. Many musicians who watched them, told me of their surprise at how good they are. Thank you to all the bands and solo artists that took part to support us and to the photographers and the Mariners pub for all your support. And not forgetting all the people who turned up in support to raise some much needed funds for us. We have had some very successful quiz nights to raise money, which I am missing. Colin and Jane spent days sorting out the questions, score forms, photo’s for the big screen and music, while Lou, Marina and Sharon organized food, which made the very successful nights which everyone loved. Other than that, we did a few Bang & Crash fundraisers in the town Centre, and we joined in with Brainwave at their community fundraising day and a stall at the Sparrows Nest on one of their Queens jubilee celebrations. Myself and Zellie did a fundraiser at Everett Park and one at Coastal Cuisine. We had a great time with our own Queens Jubilee celebrations. We were all excited to be doing Bang & Crash plus Groove in the town, but it rained a lot on the day, so we set up a gazebo outside of the centre and carried on there, as always, there was a lot of fun going on. Lou and the gang made a Queen in a wheelchair who took centre stage in the partying, and we went on to party the night away. We have another big gig booked for April 15[th] “Banged up at The Grit” This will be consisting of a catwalk to sell our many good quality clothes that we’ve been collecting, music from Bang & Crash and some great artists for the rest of the day and evening. We will also be auctioning off the talents for Lorenzo, Andrew McMeekin photography, Chakra reading from Theresa Lawson and Indian Head massage from Diane Stamp. Along with 2 different raffles. It will be the usual £1 per strip for table top prizes, then. Jac will also auction off 2 consultations of Nutritional therapy & Ben is auctioning 2 parties at The Fort. Our regular activities are going well, Karaoke is still carrying on each Tuesday morning, we have individual mic’s so people don’t have to share and Colin, Carol and Jane to support people with signing. Bang and Crash has been a success at the new time of 10am – 12pm. When we do Bang & Crash, Brainwave will join us, they love it, but they don‘t want to get involved with MMP because going to London to perform is too long a day for them. So we are doing alternate weeks for them to be a be able join in. Thursday is mental health day, then we have Friday as the creative day, with art café in the morning and our new knitting Circle in the afternoon, where the members have knitted squares for a blanket which Marina is sewing together along with knitted triangles for the First light festival. It’s fabulous for our members to be involved in that. Some weeks Marina has also been cooking cakes with the members which they enjoy. Our new Saturday event is open mic for anyone to join in with no matter what they want to do, that’s early days, so it will be interesting to see how well that goes. That will be led by me and Kit and then Carol when we’re not about. Our main grant last year was a Sports England grant for Dance for the Jubilee. Myself and Kathy took our groove gang around to different organizations to get them grooving. This was so much fun. We also grooved on the beach. The idea of Kathy being involved is so that she could demonstrate the moves whiles sitting down because some of our groovers are unable to move around. This was a great idea and worked well. Unfortunately, the reinfection of Covid, meant that we had to cancel a few sessions as the care homes went back into lockdown, but we managed to replace those sessions. Our own Groove team, loved demonstrating to others how to Groove, they got a lot out of it. We have also joined Hartford university in a research grant. This is a large grant where the university research into people with a learning disability on how art impacts their well being, they are also funding our “Lowestoft community Podcast” project. I will lead this with podcasting with local organizations to talk about their experience of working in our community, plus individuals who have achieved something despite their own struggles. Then we have Ryan Martin, Mark Smith & Dave Bryant, teaming up together to interview and chat with our vulnerable community, they will be choosing who to chat with, recording, filming and editing all by themselves. I have to become an employee of Hartford uni for us to take part in this It will pay Lorenzo for 11 months, give the Centre £100 per week running costs for the project and is a rolling grant, so if we do well, we can apply for further funding next year, so let’s put our best effort in. All participants will get shopping vouchers (yet to be determined for where) as a thank you for joining gin. Our regular art café vulnerable members will get first refusal in taking part. There is a limit on how many people can take part. This grant is coming to an end in September and we are currently looking for a new grant to further the study. The “What’s On podcasts started in March 2024, these are rising in popularity. The 2 main reasons that I wanted to start these is 1, Lowestoft is portrayed as being a dead end town where nothing goes on, which isn’t true and 2, when applying for funding, the funders always ask, something along the lines of “What do you do for your community & what doesn’t your community do for you” We are promoting the community with the podcasts and already have participants offering their support for us. We have a growing number of friends on Facebook and people private messaging asking to take part. At present, we are the largest source of what is going on in our town weekly and people are starting to realize this. It’s a lot of work, but I feel that it’s worth it. We have finally made our own membership forms, we have been getting people to fill these in with help. Our regular members with Learning disabilities have been asked to tell us more information about themselves, ie next of kin, meds and any illness that we may need to know, ie fits, diabetic issues, whereas she customers or members aren’t vulnerable don’t need to let us know that much detail. We are starting staff appraisals to find out how staff feel about the Centre and there roles with us, these are private and nobody else needs to know what the volunteers are saying. It will help us improve working conditions and making sure that all staff are happy. Plus, it is a requirement when having a staff team ## Unity Youth Projects: Unity Youth Projects is Lowestoft and District Mencap Society's gaming-specialised department. Unity Youth Projects specialises in improving social connectivity and life/social skills through digital/IT-based and modernised projects and activities. It is based in The Fort, a bespoke social and creative space that was opened in December 2019. The Fort provides activities, resources and games for the community, specialising in providing enriching activities that will appeal to local young people. Lowestoft and District Mencap Society and Unity Youth Projects operate with a combined set of accounts, with Unity Youth Projects having its own department, and its own bank account. The existence of Unity Youth Projects allows Lowestoft and District Mencap Society to provide even more diversified and modernised provisions for people with mild to moderate learning disabilities. The merger between The Unity Center and Fort is complete, we are getting passed some of the teething problems, which mainly centers around grant applications and payments. The Fort is home of Unity Youth Projects, which developed from Unity gaming which ran from The Centre from when we opened in 2011. We had a great group outing to the Hippodrome circus for the Christmas Spectacular, which was an experience. Everyone who attended had a great time. It isn’t easy for us to do outings like this, we don’t always have the staff available, which makes it difficult to plan. Our trip to the Royal Albert Hall was amazing, we had so much fun and we were so proud of our Bang & Crash gang. Nobody can prepare you for what an amazing experience it is to take part, you have to be there. They mostly applied themselves to rehearsals really well, but it can be mentally tiring, not to mention tedious, rehearsing the same things over and over, but they stuck with it and did us and themselves proud. Finally I have to mention the Business plan and application for CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organization) status. As it stands, we are a society and as such, we are not eligible to buy our premises. Simon O’Leary has been working alongside Ben with input from Me and Zellie and the constitution and CIO application have been approved by Royal Mencap. We are now waiting for them to be submitted to the charity commission for approval. Once approved, our aim is to start trading as a CIO in October, which is the start of our financial year. We can start applying for funding to buy the properties as soon as we get approval though, making it be known that we’ll be changing to a CIO from October. So lots of positive things to look forward to, although still a lot of work to be done. We have a good team across the 2 entities, I am sure we’ll have another successful year. Jacs Chairwoman ## Unity Youth Projects [Unity Youth Projects is Lowestoft and District Mencap Society's gaming-specialised department. Unity Youth Projects specialises in improving social connectivity and life/social skills through digital/ITbased and modernised projects and activities. It is based in The Fort, a bespoke social and creative space that was opened in December 2019. The Fort provides activities, resources and games for the community, specialising in providing enriching activities that will appeal to local young people. Lowestoft and District Mencap Society and Unity Youth Projects operate with a combined set of accounts, with Unity Youth Projects having its own department, and its own bank account. The existence of Unity Youth Projects allows Lowestoft and District Mencap Society to provide even more diversified and modernised provisions for people with mild to moderate learning disabilities.] ## History of Unity Youth Projects: We are an initiative created by Lowestoft and District Mencap Society (LDM), a charity that supports people with learning disabilities. We started as a small card game club in 2010, that ran in a local library as a fundraising activity for LDM. In 2011 we all moved together, from a small office into a larger building, which became the Unity Centre. The gaming club continued to grow, until we became our own department, Unity Youth Projects, in 2016. In 2019 we had the chance to expand into a neighbouring unit, which became The Fort! Unity Youth Projects specialises in improving social connectivity and life/social skills through the medium of gaming. Our activities include PC/Console games, Virtual Reality, tabletop/card/board gaming, Live Action Role Play, and anything else our community wants to do! ## Our passion for Lowestof and District Mencap and Unity Youth Project’s objectves: We believe passionately in the value of community focused gaming/digital related activities, when it comes to teaching people social/life skills through mediums that they enjoy. It’s especially challenging to provide something enriching for young adults, while keeping it exciting and enjoyable for them. Our activities have benefits that are "hidden in fun", such as the literacy/numeracy/cognitive skills practised through card/board/tabletop games, or the teamwork, social interaction and problem solving skills practised through digital team based games. We also specialise in supporting children and young people with mild to moderate types of learning disability, while also providing them an environment where they can safely socialise with mainstream people. Our building was set up with accessibility and inclusion in mind. For example, our computer desks are custom built, so that they can fit a standard sized wheelchair. We also have a ramp to access the building, and have set up the layout, lights, etc to be as comfortable as possible for neurodivergent individuals (Parents are often apprehensive about bringing neurodivergent children to new places, but we are proud that it is often commented how comfortable they are with our building and our staff team). ## Unity Youth Projects so far: Lockdown happened not long after The Fort first opened, so we had to quickly adapt to try and survive financially, while also trying to find ways to still support our local community safely. We became a location that provided enrichment sessions for the educational sector, whilst keeping in line with government lockdown rules. We also decided to expand in to the online space, which also taught us how powerful an online community environment is for people in disadvantaged situations, even after lockdown ended (See “Backstory of our Twitch channel” for more details on this). Eventually lockdown ended, and we were so proud to have survived such an unprecedented world and economy changing situation to be able to open our doors to the public once more. Over the years since then we grew our reach and reputation, to the point where local event organisers like Kidzfest and Seafest would seek us out to ask if we want to attend their events. Our online presence started to get the attention of event organisers further afield in places like Norwich, and we became one of the first organisations to take part in a large scale pilot event, One Life Left 2022. This event boasted thousands of attendees over its duration, and we made enough of an impression to earn ourselves a guaranteed invite to One Life Left 2023. We were humbled that for both events the organisers valued us enough to provide a vendor space free of charge, where other groups would usually have to pay to have a slot. We continued to expand our influence in the local community, and became a valued community space for multiple groups, such as Home Education groups, and Specialist Education Services. The nature of these groups means that their members are more likely to struggle socially, or have additional needs, so our unique setup that provided both a community space for these types of individuals, and the staff team to be able to work with them with compassion and understanding, helped us quickly become indispensable to numerous groups. ## Backstory of our Twitch channel: The Fort started using its Twitch channel when lockdown started, so that people had free access to online social interaction, if they were isolating alone. We loved it so much that we kept going after lockdowns ended, especially because even without a nationwide lockdown there are numerous reasons why someone might be unable to take part in our activities in person. We are also situated in one of the poorest areas of the country, so our local community is more likely to have problems with social isolation, finding employment or accessing/completing educational courses. Our emotes/emojis are set up so that people with learning disabilities, or other circumstances that might make communicating difficult, can more easily join in with the chatting! (Our follower emotes/emojis are a simple "HI", "LOL", etc and our sub emotes have even more ways to communicate, such as our Fort Knight giving a thumbs up, or a cartoony representation of one of our staff members saying "WOW"). All of our emotes/emojis, artwork and branding are almost exclusively created by a member of our staff team that has learning disabilities, and we absolutely loved being able to nurture an environment where he can show that he is an incredibly valuable team member, and would be an asset to any organisation. ## Twitchiversaries! For our one-year anniversary on Twitch, we celebrated with a 24hr livestream, with sub/donation goals related to things like buying more games for the building, giving people free time for their PC accounts, with the big end goal being to raise money to host a free Open Day at The Fort, providing free access to all of our PCs/consoles, and a free BBQ! Thanks to some amazing community members, we raised enough money to run a whole Open WEEKEND instead of just one day! It has now turned in to a bit of a tradition to fundraise for the Open Days each year, with 2024 being our third Twitchiversary! th - Unity Youth Projects (AGM 17 June 2024) ## The most recent year: The Fort has had an amazing year! Since the last AGM (Mon 24[th] July 2023) we have continued to grow, whilst showing no signs of being anywhere near our limit for our maximum potential. Our community is continuing to grow, with more and more people becoming regular or returning members, and our birthday party bookings are becoming increasingly popular, to the point where people are now having to book early to guarantee the dates they want! We continue to strive to provide an environment where both people with and without learning disabilities can be part of a welcoming and enriching community environment together, no matter their situation. We have had individuals with learning disabilities join our community by finding us online, and then loving what we do so much that they travel all the way from London to see us every month, because they said that nothing in their local area even comes close to the environment we offer. We have spent the better part of the last year working closely with a computer games company (for a game that has over 130,000 players on PC alone!), going so far as to be the location where they chose to host an official launch event! They loved what we provided as a charitable organisation so much that they have provided free copies of the game for our computers, and repeatedly promote us on their social media channels that have over 40,000 followers. They have repeatedly given us early access to different parts of their game, so that we can showcase it Live on Air to the whole world before anyone else. We have staff members that are listed in the credits of the game, and The Fort’s brand was also added in to the game as a rare dinosaur! Most recently they have also asked us to take part in a research project that is centred around how wholesome games can be beneficial to people’s lives. It makes us so proud that people with no prior connection to us can really feel the passion we have for our objectives. In May 2024 we had the opportunity to send several staff members to a big network event in London. It was the inaugural event hosted by this organisation, so it was a privilege to be able to attend. It was also hosted by people that are connected to a worldwide multibillion-dollar games company, so to be in at the ground floor for what proved to be an incredibly successful event has immense future potential. Some other non-profit organisations gave talks at the event, so we are aiming to be one of the groups giving those talks next year! We have had gaming shops around the country support us by promoting us, and sending equipment and products to us free of charge, because they loved what we do in both the gaming and the non-profit space. The reach of our brand is continuing to slowly spread around the world, so who knows whose attention we might catch next year! At the start of this month we had our third annual large scale fundraiser, where we were Live on Air on our Twitch channel for 24 hours straight, to raise money for free Open Days and BBQs at The Fort. This fundraiser has become a yearly tradition that we do on the anniversary of starting our Twitch channel, which garners love and support from around the world. We can’t wait to see what the next year brings us! Plans we already have in motion to further our growth include working on a Reward System for customers, further increasing our networking reach to become a known brand around even more of the world, and further expanding our activities and products. Signed: Name: Miss Giselle Czajka Role: Trustee and Treasurer Date: 16/06/24 ## **REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 233331** **Report of the Trustees and Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 30th September 2023 for** **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society incorporating Unity Youth Centre** **SGH Services 4 Bodiam Way Carlton Colville Lowestoft NR33 8DN** ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Report of the Trustees for the year ended 30 September 2023** The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 30th September 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommemed Practice 2015 (SORP2015) Accounting and reporting by charities issued in January 2015. ## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Charity number 233331** ## **Principal Address** The Unity Centre Unit 1 6 Milton Road East Lowestoft NR32 1NT ## **Trustees** Mrs J Guyton Chair Ms G Czajka Treasurer Ms T Jackson Ms L Abel Mrs J Craig Mr M Adamski Mr A Roll ## **Independent Examiner** Mrs S Hyde ACMA SGH Services 4, Bodiam Way, Carlton Colville, Lowestoft. NR33 8DN ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** ## **Governing Document** The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes an unincorporated charity. The Charity is governed by a model constitution for branches of MENCAP. The model constitution was adopted by the branch on 16th November 2007. This was revised on 30th September 2019. Page 1 ## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees ogf Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Lowestoft and District Mencap Society (the Trust) for the year ended 30th September 2020. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act') as amended up to 30th September 2023, I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examnation I have followed all applicable directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5))b) of the Act. ## **Independent examiner's statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: - 1 accounting records were not kept in repect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act ; or - 2 the accounts do not accord with those records: or - 3 the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities(Accounts and Report) regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I confirm that there are no other matters to which your attention should be drawn to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Sheila Hyde ACMA SGH Services 4 Bodiam Way Carlton Colville Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 8DN 17/06/2024 Page 2 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 30th September 2023** |**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM**
Donations
Trading activities Mencap
Trading Activities Fort Shop
Grants
Other Income
**TOTAL**
**EXPENDITURE ON**
Charitable Activities
**NET INCOME/EXPENDITURE**
**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**
**FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD**
**FUNDS INTRODUCED UNITY YOUTH PROJECT**
**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Total Funds**
**30-09-23**
**Total Funds**
**30-09-22**
18,645
18,645
16,855
23,201
23,201
14,637
24,382
42,900
67,282
55,508
566
566
**66,794**
**42,900**
**109,694**
**87,548**
45,329
35,962
81,291
96,984
**21,465**
**6,938**
**28,403**
**-9,336**
**26,032**
**22,293**
**48,325**
**25,337**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**22,988**
**47,497**
**29,231**
**76,728**
**48,325**| |---|---| Page 3 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Balance Sheet** ## **at 30th September 2023** |**Notes**
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible Assets
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Cash at Bank
**CREDITORS**
Amounts falling due within one year
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
**TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT**
**LIABILITIES**
**NET ASSETS**
**FUNDS**
Unrestricted
Restricted
**TOTAL FUNDS**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
1
1
47,496
29,230
0
0
**47,497**
**29,231**
0
0
**47,497**
**29,231**|**Total Funds**
**30-09-23**
2
76,726
0
**76,728**
0
**76,728**
47,497
29,231
**76,728**|**Total Funds**
**30-09-22**
3
48,322
0
**48,325**
0
**48,325**
26,032
22,293
**48,325**| |---|---|---|---| The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 22/07/24 and were signed on its behalf by:Mrs J Guyton - Chair …............................................. Ms G Czajka - Treasurer …............................................ Page 4 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 30th September 2023** ## **1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES** ## **Accounting convention** The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective January 2015), the Charities Act 2011 and the requirements of the Statement of Recommeneed Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities. ## **Incoming resources** All incoming resources are included on the Statement of Financial Actvities when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. ## **Resources expended** Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. ## **Tangible fixed assets** Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life. |Fixtures and fittings|25% on cost| |---|---| |Computer Equipment|25% on cost| |Motor vehicles|25% on cost| ## **Taxation** The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities. ## **Fund Accounting** Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restricted Funds arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements. ## **2 OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES** |Food and drink takings
Gaming takings
Bric -a-Brac Takings
Centre events
Other
Total|30/09/2023
30/09/2022
14,649
10,553
3,794
6,600
6,033
3,776
80,875
70,862
109,694
87,458| |---|---| Page 5 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 30th September 2023** ## **3 TRUSTEES REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS** A total of £10503 was paid to 2 trustees for managing actvities during the year to 30th September 2023. A total of £10912 was paid to 2 volunteers for managing activities during the year to 30th September 2023 ## **4 STAFF COSTS** |**Wages and salaries**
The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows :
**Staff**
No employee received emoluments in excess of £60,000.|30/09/2023
£
**8257**
**1**|30/09/2022
£
**7648**
**1**| |---|---|---| ## **5 COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES** |**INCOME & ENDOWMENTS FROM**
Donations and legacies
Trading Actvities Mencap
Trading Activity Fort Shop
Grants
Other income
Total
**EXPENDITURE ON**
Charitable activities
**NET INCOME /(EXPENDITURE)**
**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**
**Total funds brought forward**
**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**|**Unrestricted Funds**
**£**
18,645
23,201
24,382
566
66,794
45,329
**21,465**
**26,032**
**47,497**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
42,900
42,900
35,962
**6,938**
**22,293**
**29,231**|**Total**
**Funds**
**£**
18,645
23,201
55,508
566
109,694
81,291
**28,403**
**48,325**
**76,728**| |---|---|---|---| Page6 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 30th September 2023** ## **6 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS** |||**Furniture**|**Computers**|**Vehicles**|**Total**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**and**|||| |||**Fittings**|||| ||**COST**||||| ||At 1st October 2022|28,011|9,491|650|38,152| ||Disposal|||-650|-650| ||At 30th Septmber 2023|28,011|9,491|0|37,502| ||**DEPRECIATION**||||| ||At 1st October 2022|28,011|9,490|649|38,149| ||Charge for year|||1|| ||Disposal|||-650|| ||At 30th Septmber 2023|28,010|9,490|0|37,500| ||**NET BOOK VALUE**||||| ||At 30th September 2023|1|1|1|3| ||At 30th September 2022|1|1|0|2| |**7 **|**CREDITORS AMOUNTS**|**FALLING DUE**|**WITHIN ONE**|**YEAR**|| ||Other Creditors|||30/09/2023
£
0|30/09/2022
£
0| |**8 **|**MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**||||| ||**Unrestricted funds**||**At 01-10-22**|**Net**
**movement in**
**funds**|**At 30-09-23**| ||**General funds**||**19,032**|**21,465**|**40,497**| ||**Closure resserve**||**7,000**||**7,000**| ||**Restricted funds**||**26,032**
**22,293**|**21,465**
**6,938**|**47,497**
**29,231**| ||**TOTAL FUNDS**||**48325**|**28403**|**76728**| ## **9 RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES** **There were no related party transactions for the year ended 30th September 2023** Page 7 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society incororating Unity Youth Centre Detailed statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 30th September 2023** ||30/09/2023|30/09/2022| |---|---|---| |||£| |**INCOME & ENDOWMENTS**||| |**Donations and Legacies**||| |Donations|3772|| |Grants|67282|| |**Other Trading Activities**|71054|| |Food and drink takings|14649|| |Gaming takings|3794|| |Bric-a-Brac takings|6600|| |Fundraising|3810|| |Centre events|4811|| |Other|4976|| |**Other Income**|38640|| |Insurance claim||| |**Total incoming resources**|109694|| |**EXPENDITURE**||| |**Charitable Activities**||| |Wages|0|| |Managing activities|29672|| |Rates and water||| |Insurance||| |Light and heat||| |Telephone||| |Consultancy||| |Advertising||| |Sundries||| |Food Purchases||| |Arts & Crafts||| |Art Café||| |Gaming stock||| |Rent||| |Waste disposal||| |Licensing fees||| |Property repairs||| |Travelling||| |Depreciation||| |**Governance Costs**||| |Independent examiners fee||| |**Total Resources expended**||| |This page does not form part of the statutory financial statement||| ||Page 10|| ## **REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 233331** **Report of the Trustees and Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 30th September 2023 for** **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society incorporating Unity Youth Centre** **SGH Services 4 Bodiam Way Carlton Colville Lowestoft NR33 8DN** ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Report of the Trustees for the year ended 30 September 2023** The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 30th September 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommemed Practice 2015 (SORP2015) Accounting and reporting by charities issued in January 2015. ## **REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Charity number 233331** ## **Principal Address** The Unity Centre Unit 1 6 Milton Road East Lowestoft NR32 1NT ## **Trustees** Mrs J Guyton Chair Ms G Czajka Treasurer Ms T Jackson Ms L Abel Mrs J Craig Mr M Adamski Mr A Roll ## **Independent Examiner** Mrs S Hyde ACMA SGH Services 4, Bodiam Way, Carlton Colville, Lowestoft. NR33 8DN ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** ## **Governing Document** The charity is controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes an unincorporated charity. The Charity is governed by a model constitution for branches of MENCAP. The model constitution was adopted by the branch on 16th November 2007. This was revised on 30th September 2019. Page 1 ## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees ogf Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Lowestoft and District Mencap Society (the Trust) for the year ended 30th September 2020. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act') as amended up to 30th September 2023, I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examnation I have followed all applicable directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5))b) of the Act. ## **Independent examiner's statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: - 1 accounting records were not kept in repect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act ; or - 2 the accounts do not accord with those records: or - 3 the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities(Accounts and Report) regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I confirm that there are no other matters to which your attention should be drawn to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Sheila Hyde ACMA SGH Services 4 Bodiam Way Carlton Colville Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 8DN 17/06/2024 Page 2 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 30th September 2023** |**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM**
Donations
Trading activities Mencap
Trading Activities Fort Shop
Grants
Other Income
**TOTAL**
**EXPENDITURE ON**
Charitable Activities
**NET INCOME/EXPENDITURE**
**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**
**FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD**
**FUNDS INTRODUCED UNITY YOUTH PROJECT**
**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Total Funds**
**30-09-23**
**Total Funds**
**30-09-22**
18,645
18,645
16,855
23,201
23,201
14,637
24,382
42,900
67,282
55,508
566
566
**66,794**
**42,900**
**109,694**
**87,548**
45,329
35,962
81,291
96,984
**21,465**
**6,938**
**28,403**
**-9,336**
**26,032**
**22,293**
**48,325**
**25,337**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**22,988**
**47,497**
**29,231**
**76,728**
**48,325**| |---|---| Page 3 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Balance Sheet** ## **at 30th September 2023** |**Notes**
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible Assets
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Cash at Bank
**CREDITORS**
Amounts falling due within one year
**NET CURRENT ASSETS**
**TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT**
**LIABILITIES**
**NET ASSETS**
**FUNDS**
Unrestricted
Restricted
**TOTAL FUNDS**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
1
1
47,496
29,230
0
0
**47,497**
**29,231**
0
0
**47,497**
**29,231**|**Total Funds**
**30-09-23**
2
76,726
0
**76,728**
0
**76,728**
47,497
29,231
**76,728**|**Total Funds**
**30-09-22**
3
48,322
0
**48,325**
0
**48,325**
26,032
22,293
**48,325**| |---|---|---|---| The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 22/07/24 and were signed on its behalf by:Mrs J Guyton - Chair …............................................. Ms G Czajka - Treasurer …............................................ Page 4 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 30th September 2023** ## **1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES** ## **Accounting convention** The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective January 2015), the Charities Act 2011 and the requirements of the Statement of Recommeneed Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities. ## **Incoming resources** All incoming resources are included on the Statement of Financial Actvities when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. ## **Resources expended** Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. ## **Tangible fixed assets** Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life. |Fixtures and fittings|25% on cost| |---|---| |Computer Equipment|25% on cost| |Motor vehicles|25% on cost| ## **Taxation** The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities. ## **Fund Accounting** Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restricted Funds arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements. ## **2 OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES** |Food and drink takings
Gaming takings
Bric -a-Brac Takings
Centre events
Other
Total|30/09/2023
30/09/2022
14,649
10,553
3,794
6,600
6,033
3,776
80,875
70,862
109,694
87,458| |---|---| Page 5 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 30th September 2023** ## **3 TRUSTEES REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS** A total of £10503 was paid to 2 trustees for managing actvities during the year to 30th September 2023. A total of £10912 was paid to 2 volunteers for managing activities during the year to 30th September 2023 ## **4 STAFF COSTS** |**Wages and salaries**
The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows :
**Staff**
No employee received emoluments in excess of £60,000.|30/09/2023
£
**8257**
**1**|30/09/2022
£
**7648**
**1**| |---|---|---| ## **5 COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES** |**INCOME & ENDOWMENTS FROM**
Donations and legacies
Trading Actvities Mencap
Trading Activity Fort Shop
Grants
Other income
Total
**EXPENDITURE ON**
Charitable activities
**NET INCOME /(EXPENDITURE)**
**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS**
**Total funds brought forward**
**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**|**Unrestricted Funds**
**£**
18,645
23,201
24,382
566
66,794
45,329
**21,465**
**26,032**
**47,497**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
42,900
42,900
35,962
**6,938**
**22,293**
**29,231**|**Total**
**Funds**
**£**
18,645
23,201
55,508
566
109,694
81,291
**28,403**
**48,325**
**76,728**| |---|---|---|---| Page6 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements - continued for the year ended 30th September 2023** ## **6 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS** |||**Furniture**|**Computers**|**Vehicles**|**Total**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**and**|||| |||**Fittings**|||| ||**COST**||||| ||At 1st October 2022|28,011|9,491|650|38,152| ||Disposal|||-650|-650| ||At 30th Septmber 2023|28,011|9,491|0|37,502| ||**DEPRECIATION**||||| ||At 1st October 2022|28,011|9,490|649|38,149| ||Charge for year|||1|| ||Disposal|||-650|| ||At 30th Septmber 2023|28,010|9,490|0|37,500| ||**NET BOOK VALUE**||||| ||At 30th September 2023|1|1|1|3| ||At 30th September 2022|1|1|0|2| |**7 **|**CREDITORS AMOUNTS**|**FALLING DUE**|**WITHIN ONE**|**YEAR**|| ||Other Creditors|||30/09/2023
£
0|30/09/2022
£
0| |**8 **|**MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**||||| ||**Unrestricted funds**||**At 01-10-22**|**Net**
**movement in**
**funds**|**At 30-09-23**| ||**General funds**||**19,032**|**21,465**|**40,497**| ||**Closure resserve**||**7,000**||**7,000**| ||**Restricted funds**||**26,032**
**22,293**|**21,465**
**6,938**|**47,497**
**29,231**| ||**TOTAL FUNDS**||**48325**|**28403**|**76728**| ## **9 RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES** **There were no related party transactions for the year ended 30th September 2023** Page 7 ## **Lowestoft and District Mencap Society incororating Unity Youth Centre Detailed statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 30th September 2023** ||30/09/2023|30/09/2022| |---|---|---| |||£| |**INCOME & ENDOWMENTS**||| |**Donations and Legacies**||| |Donations|3772|| |Grants|67282|| |**Other Trading Activities**|71054|| |Food and drink takings|14649|| |Gaming takings|3794|| |Bric-a-Brac takings|6600|| |Fundraising|3810|| |Centre events|4811|| |Other|4976|| |**Other Income**|38640|| |Insurance claim||| |**Total incoming resources**|109694|| |**EXPENDITURE**||| |**Charitable Activities**||| |Wages|0|| |Managing activities|29672|| |Rates and water||| |Insurance||| |Light and heat||| |Telephone||| |Consultancy||| |Advertising||| |Sundries||| |Food Purchases||| |Arts & Crafts||| |Art Café||| |Gaming stock||| |Rent||| |Waste disposal||| |Licensing fees||| |Property repairs||| |Travelling||| |Depreciation||| |**Governance Costs**||| |Independent examiners fee||| |**Total Resources expended**||| |This page does not form part of the statutory financial statement||| ||Page 10||