SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Annual Report and Accounts For the Year Ending 30th September 2023
SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Registered Charity Number 261220
Reference and Administrative Details
| Name of Charity: | Sway Welfare Aid Group |
|---|---|
| Alternative Name: | SWAG |
| Charity Registration Number: | 261220 |
| Contact Address: | Mrs S M Millett |
| Trecarnwenn | |
| Mead End Road | |
| Sway | |
| Lymington | |
| Hampshire | |
| SO41 6EH | |
| Trustees: | Jonathan Hartley (Chairman) |
| Sharon Millett (Treasurer) | |
| Jeremy Stevens | |
| Pat Fleat | |
| Jane Self | |
| Dr Sally Smith | |
| Sue Cornwell | |
| Bankers: | CAF Bank Ltd |
| 25 Kings Hill Avenue | |
| Kings Hill | |
| West Malling | |
| Kent |
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
ME19 4JQ Independent Examiner: Sandra Williams ACMA 3 Moser Grove Sway Lymington Hampshire SO41 6GA
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Structure, Governance and Management
The Sway Welfare Aid Group (SWAG) was established by constitution dated 28th October 1970, to serve the needs of the civil parish of Sway and its immediate neighbourhood.
The trustees manage the charity on behalf of all the residents of Sway to whom they report annually at a general meeting in November.
Trustees, and other officers, are appointed by election at the annual general meeting and serve for one year, renewable annually. All new trustees are made aware of their responsibilities under the Charities Act.
During the year the trustees take all executive decisions. At any of the public meetings during the year residents of Sway are entitled to propose possible areas of benefit for the trustees to consider.
The trustees serving during the year under review were Jonathan Hartley (Chair), Sharon Millett (Treasurer), Jeremy Stevens, Pat Fleat, Sally Smith, Jane Self and Sue Cornwell.
Sway Welfare Aid Group is affiliated to the Good Neighbours Network (GNN) which has undergone a funding change this year and is no longer funded by Hampshire County Council. It is currently supported by Council for Social Responsibility (CSR), an independent social action charity connected to the Dioceses of Portsmouth. GNN are awaiting a decision regarding their continued funding via the NHS through the Integrated Care Board (ICB). SWAG benefits from central public and employer’s liability and personal accident insurance policies taken out by GNN on behalf of all affiliated groups.
Objectives and Activities
The objectives of the Sway Welfare Aid Group are the relief of the sick, needy, disabled or aged within Sway and its immediate neighbourhood. The charity makes grants to both individuals and local organisations within these constraints. In this connection, SWAG works closely with many local organisations to ensure that it reaches out to as many people as possible in meeting its objectives.
The charity also organises a free transport service, manned by volunteer drivers, to take sick, elderly or infirm people to attend hospital and other medical appointments where they cannot provide, or are not capable of using their own transport. Mileage expenses of the drivers are met by the charity.
In addition, the charity runs a twice-monthly lunch club service for the elderly living alone. Volunteers cook the meal and the participants pay only a nominal charge for the food; all other expenses are met by the charity.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
In addition, the charity runs a weekly Community Café to provide a focal point for social interaction and to improve well-being among people in the village. The café runs on a “donations only” basis.
The trustees have paid due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and consider that the activities of the Sway Welfare Aid Group during the year are fully in accord with the objectives of the charity and are to the public benefit.
SWAG runs an annual Christmas appeal within the village of Sway to raise funds for its activities and also benefits from voluntary donations from clients of its transport service and community café.
The trustees are grateful to all our volunteer officers who organise much of the charity’s work.
Achievements and Performance
During 2022/2023, SWAG continued its mission to support the residents of Sway and most especially those in our community who are most vulnerable. Despite an economic environment which has been more challenging than most expected at both the national and local levels, and thanks to the generosity of our supporters and the hard work and dedication of our amazing volunteers and activity coordinators, SWAG was able to respond quickly with financial support to those most in need, has delivered efficient and reliable help with medical transport for elderly residents, and provided valued social interaction opportunities for elderly single residents living alone. In an unusually volatile market for investment activity, your trustees have continued to invest the funds of the charity cautiously. Thanks also to the generosity of the people of Sway, the charity has concluded another twelve months in a secure financial position which will ensure the charity’s ability to continue providing these services in future years.
Grants
Once again, the charity has concentrated its grant resources on individuals and families. The charity has been in a position to respond to all requests for financial assistance received which were commensurate with our charitable objects.
The amount of the traditional heating grants was increased to £748 per year in December 2022 due to the predicted increased costs of both gas and electricity following the global economic recovery from the Covid pandemic. Ten residents of the village benefitted from heating grants this year.
Approaches received by the charity from Sway residents experiencing financial hardship did not match, in financial terms, the amount disbursed in the previous year, however through our support to the local primary school a greater number of low income families did receive much needed help thanks to SWAG grant funds.
The relevant details of grant sums disbursed may be viewed in the Financial Review section of this report.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Community Café
The Community Café had an extremely successful year thanks to the leadership of the Café’s two enthusiastic coordinators, Sue Cornwell and Grete Steen, and supported by a committed team of helpers. Meeting some 49 times and welcoming an average of 22 guests per session and operating only on a donations basis, the Café continues to provide a highly valued social engagement opportunity for a loyal group of local clients, many of whom live alone. The Café also extends a welcome to a small number of residents of Sway Place residential home. In 2023, the Community Café was successful in being selected by the Co-operative Group team to be one of three community causes to benefit from proceeds of Co-op clients purchases from shops in the New Forest area. The sum raised from this source will be known after closing date of our accounts and will be reported in our next annual report.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Lunch Club
Due to the dedication and enthusiasm of the two Coordinators, Jane Pitts and Deborah Walker and a dedicated team of volunteer cooks and helpers, the Lunch Club met on 23 occasions and attended on average 24 members, providing members with a nourishing two course hot meal and a much-anticipated social mingling opportunity. Transport is provided to those members who need it by SWAG volunteer drivers.
Both the Community Café and the Lunch Club have raised, through voluntary donations and subscriptions respectively, pleasing sums which contribute towards costs of food and refreshments and to room hire costs, which are funded from SWAG charitable funds.
Medical Transport Service
Our medical transport service achieved an impressive 496 hospital and clinic transfers, providing a critical service to 94 clients, some requiring support on a repetitive basis for limited periods of time. The trustees’ thanks are due to the small volunteer team of coordinators led by Mike Green who give up their free time to run the service, in addition to themselves acting as volunteer drivers. We have been very fortunate to attract a number of new volunteer drivers this year, which has enabled us to maintain our driver strength at approximately the same level as the year before. Thanks go to all our volunteer drivers, whose efforts are so appreciated by the residents who rely on this service to be able to get to their medical appointments.
Support for Sway community activities
SWAG has, again, in 2022/2023 granted to the Sway Thursday Afternoon Club a sum of money sufficient to cover entirely the group’s venue hire costs.
Referral activities
Over the period of this report, SWAG made 10 referrals for three residents to the New Forest Basics Bank. We also became aware that clients of SWAG known to be of low income status are availing themselves of the local Fareshare food facilities.
Future Outlook
As the UK and the wider world continues on the road to recovery from the human and economic impact of the pandemic, made worse by the stresses and economic impacts of the war in Ukraine, it seems inevitable that many residents of Sway will experience some harmful impact to their lives and those of their families, be that medically, financially or emotionally. In such an environment, your trustees anticipate a rising demand for our help during these difficult times ahead.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Thanks to donations from so many Sway residents over the years, and the prudent management of our invested reserves, SWAG has, during 2023, been in a position to continue to support our local community in Sway during these exceptional times.
In conclusion, mention should be made to all our volunteers who, despite the many pressures on their own lives and those of their families, have continued unselfishly to give their time, energy and enthusiasm, the critical commodities which are fundamental to the future of the charity.
Financial Review
Funds
SWAG has three funds, an Unrestricted Fund that provides for all the charity’s activities, an expendable Endowment Fund that is invested to provide interest and dividend income for the Unrestricted Fund and a Restricted Lunch Club Fund, the income for which comes from the subscriptions paid by lunch club members for their meals.
Donations and Fundraising
This year we were, again, fortunate to benefit from a £5,000 legacy from the estate of the late Pamela Donaldson and from further donations totalling £562 from friends and family in memory of another deceased resident of the village.
Overall donations increased by 15% after Gift Aid was added. Donations from our medical transport clients amounted to £6,115, a 13% increase, our Christmas Appeal amounted to £6,433, an increase of over 70%. This did, however, include a single generous donation of £2,500, including Gift Aid and discounting this donation, the increase in the Appeal would have been 4% and the increase in the overall donations figure 3%. The Community Café donations amounted to £1,046, including recovered Gift Aid, an increase of 11%.
The charity did not run any fundraising events this year.
Charitable Activities
The Small Fuel Grant scheme which was introduced last year to provide fixed grants of £200 to help families struggling to cope with unexpectedly large fuel bills has not received any requests in this financial year and only three in the previous financial year.
The trustees responded to the fuel price increases this year by increasing the charity’s regular heating grants paid to needy beneficiaries in the village to £748, paid in two £374 instalments in December and March. Ten families benefitted from this scheme.
Requests for help under the normal hardship grant scheme fell by two thirds from last year with only six families receiving assistance.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Organisations to benefit from SWAG grants in the year under review were:
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£1,000 to New Forest Basics Bank
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£3,500 to St. Luke’s Primary School – support to vulnerable families
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£525 to Sway Thursday Afternoon Club for hire of the room for their meetings
The cost of the medical transport service is 6 % down on last year. The costs of this service largely represent the money paid to SWAG drivers for their petrol and are directly related to the miles driven on the charity’s behalf. The level of drives per month appear to be back to pre-Covid levels, now that the NHS is back to normal. The donations received from clients, using this service, together with the recovered Gift Aid, were sufficient to cover the transport service and the support costs providing an operating surplus of £421.
Lunch Club members pay a nominal £4 per session for their food. The charity continues to meet the room hire and other support costs from unrestricted funds and a transfer of £924 from the Unrestricted Fund to the Lunch Club Fund has been made for this.
The cost to operate the Community Café was £1,144 and it generated £1,046 in donations including Gift Aid recovery, therefore a small deficit of £98 for the year.
No trustee has claimed expenses for their work for the charity in the period under review.
There were no related party transactions in the year.
Investment Performance
After a very disappointing year end in September 2022, which closely followed the mini budget, the investments have stabilised again. Generally, the equity funds have grown over the year, but the fixed interest fund is still affected by persistently high interest rates and has shown a further small reduction in value. This has restricted the overall growth of the expendable Endowment fund to 5%.
A reduced call on the Charity’s resources during the year generated a surplus of cash of £15,000, which the Trustees agreed to invest into the M&G Charifund to maximise income for future years.
The yields were 3.96% for the Endowment fund and 4.2% for the Unrestricted fund investments.
Overall Position
The charity has ended the year with income exceeding expenditure creating a surplus of £16,220 which is three times that of last year. Total funds were up by 8% on last year.
Expenditure on charitable activities was down by 20% on the previous year. Total reserves in the Unrestricted Fund were £54,287.
After investing £15,000 in June, the charity remains in a much stronger position than last year.
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Approval
This report and the associated accounts were approved by the members on 19[th] February 2024 and signed on their behalf.
Signed Signed Jonathan Hartley Sharon Millett Chair Treasurer
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Independent Examiners Report
I report on the accounts of the Sway Welfare Aid Group for the year ended 30[th] September 2023, which are set out on pages 9 to 12.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed under the Act. It is my responsibility to:
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examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act;
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follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act); and
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state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair” view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
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to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or
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(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Sandra Williams ACMA Independent Examiner
Date: 16 December 2023
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
Signed
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
| STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL | ACTIVITIES | for | the year | ended | ended | 30th September | 30th September | 30th September | 30th September | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||
| Notes | Unrestricted | Fund Restricted |
Lunch Club | Fund | Expendable | Endowment | Fund | Total Funds | Total Funds Last Year |
|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||||||
| Income and Endowments from: | ||||||||||
| Donations and legacies | 2 | 22,544 | 150 | 22,694 | 19,583 | |||||
| Charitable activities | 2,304 | 2,304 | 1,843 | |||||||
| Investments | 16,823 | 16,823 | 15,713 | |||||||
| Total | 39,367 | 2,454 | 0 | 41,821 | 37,138 | |||||
| Expenditure on: | ||||||||||
| Raising funds | 3 | 103 | 103 | 178 | ||||||
| Charitable activities | 4 | 22,319 | 3,178 | 25,498 | 31,813 | |||||
| Total | 22,422 | 3,178 | 0 | 25,601 | 31,991 | |||||
| Net Gains/(losses) on investments | (506) | 0 | 19,785 | 19,278 | (58,333) | |||||
| Net income/(expenditure) | 16,438 | (724) | 19,785 | 35,499 | (53,185) | |||||
| Transfers between funds | (15,924) | 924 | 15,000 | 0 | ||||||
| Net movement in funds | 514 | 200 | 34,785 | 35,499 | (53,185) | |||||
| Reconciliation of funds: | ||||||||||
| Total funds brought forward | 53,772 | 511 | 379,404 | 433,688 | 486,873 | |||||
| Total funds carried forward | 54,286 | 711 | 414,189 | 469,186 | 433,688 |
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
BALANCE SHEET at 30th September 2023
| Note Fixed assets: Investments - Endowment 5 Investments - Unrestricted funds 6 Current assets: Debtors 7 Deposit account Cash at bank and in hand Liabilities: Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 8 Net assets or liabilities The funds of the charity: Endowment fund Unrestricted fund Lunch Club fund Total charity funds |
2023 2022 £ £ 414,189 379,404 33,959 34,465 893 1,296 19,858 18,218 896 1,405 (610) (1,101) 469,186 433,688 414,189 379,404 54,286 53,772 711 511 469,186 433,688 |
|---|---|
The notes on pages 11 and 12 form part of these accounts.
Approved by the trustees on 13[th] November 2023 and signed on their behalf by:
Jonathan Hartley – Chair of Trustees
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the year ended 30th September 2023
1. Accounting policies:
a) The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with SORP2016, the
Financial Reporting Standards FRS 102 and the Charities Act 2016.
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b) Donations are credited to income when received.
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c) Income from investments is credited to income when received.
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d) Investments are stated at their market (bid) value at the balance sheet date.
2. Donations:
| 2. Donations: Donations received In memoriam Legacy GiftAid recovery Donations in the Previous Year: Donations received In memoriam Legacy GiftAid recovery |
2023 2022 Appeal Transport Lunch Club Café Other Total £ £ £ £ £ £ £ 5,469 5,094 150 857 2,895 14,465 11,463 562 562 903 5,000 5,000 5,000 964 1,022 189 493 2,667 2,217 6,433 6,115 150 1,046 8,950 22,694 19,583 3,128 4,525 30 753 3,027 903 5,000 645 863 188 521 3,773 5,388 30 941 9,451 |
|---|---|
3. Costs of fundraising:
| 3. Costs of fundraising: Appeal Publicity 4. Charitable activities: Hardship grants to individuals Heating grants to individuals Small fuel grants scheme Grants made to organisations Transport service Lunch Club Community Café Total costs of charitable activities |
2023 2022 £ £ 58 54 45 123 103 178 2023 2022 Direct Support Total £ £ £ £ 3,169 182 3,351 9,902 7,106 7,106 8,160 600 5,025 5,025 2,750 4,891 802 5,694 6,107 2,900 279 3,178 2,871 980 164 1,144 1,422 24,071 1,427 25,498 31,813 |
|---|---|
General support costs are divided among the various activities in proportion to the share of the total direct costs made by each activity (see below).
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SWAY WELFARE AID GROUP
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS continued
| Allocation of Support Costs: Grant making Transport service Lunch Club Community Café 5. Investments - Endowment: Carrying value at start of period Additions at cost Unrealised gain/(loss) on investments Carrying value at end of period 6. Investments - General Funds: Carrying value at start of period Unrealised gain/(loss) on investments Carrying value at end of period 7. Debtors: GiftAid refund due Uncredited cheques Pre-payments: Room hire charges Postage in hand 8. Creditors: Accrued mileage costs |
2023 |
|---|---|
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