2023-03-31-accounts

ALTON COUNSELLING SERVICE

ANNUAL REPORT and ACCOUNTS

2022-2023

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

1. Trustees and their Advisers

Board of Trustees

Anne Bothwell (Chair) Sophia Armstrong Graham Hill Fiona Lapraik

Counsellors’ Representative

Alison Curry

Consultant Psychiatrist & Clinical Adviser

Dr Paul Warren, BM, MRCPsych

Independent Examiner

E.M.Mackeggie Gurney, ACA

Management Board

Head of Counselling Dorothy Harte Treasurer Andrew Croom-Johnson Service Manager Lissa Morris

Bankers

HSBC Bank, Lansdowne House, 74 High Street, Alton, GU34 1EZ

Premises

Quaker Meeting House, Church Street, Alton GU34 2DA

Tel: [phone]

Web: www.altoncounselling.org.uk

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

2. Structure, Governance and Management

Alton Counselling Service (ACS) was established in 1974 as charity number 279857. The governing trust deed of 6 February 1980 was subsequently amended by a deed of variation dated 7 December 2010.

The Trustees are responsible for the governance of ACS. They are initially elected and thereafter confirmed in post annually. The Trustees are unpaid volunteers who may claim reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. The Trustees help to reconcile competing demands faced by the charity. They work with the Management Board to set the strategic direction and major areas of work. The day-to-day management is delegated to the Management Board comprising the Head of Counselling, the Treasurer and the Service Manager. The Trustees meet at least four times a year and the Management Board meets at least ten times a year. Both Trustees and the Management Board may meet more often if circumstances require. The Trustees have put in place a reserves policy and financial systems to reduce as far as possible financial risk, and work closely with the Management Board to preserve and promote ACS. Professional indemnity and public liability insurances are maintained. The service operates to BACP guidelines to minimise clinical risk.

ACS provides high-quality affordable counselling for the local community and to the highest ethical and professional standards. Clients are expected to make a contribution to cover the cost of their counselling, but no one is refused counselling for financial reasons. The service ensures confidentiality and a safe environment that give clients the opportunity to talk through the difficulties they are encountering. These might include:

• feeling unhappy, lonely, anxious or depressed

• being in need of understanding or support

• finding it difficult to relate to others

• lacking self-confidence

• facing a personal crisis, such as bereavement or relationship break-down

• undergoing major changes, such as redundancy or retirement

Each counsellor is part of a supervision group meeting weekly to review client work. Any unresolved or difficult issues are referred to the Head of Counselling and, where appropriate, the Consultant Psychiatrist & Clinical Adviser.

The Service relies on volunteers in all areas of work. Counsellors work on a voluntary basis, though experienced counsellors receive a modest payment in lieu of expenses. The Treasurer, Receptionists and others work without payment. Everyone who works in ACS has a meeting at least once a year with the person to whom they are responsible, with the opportunity to express their views on the operation of ACS. There was a Christmas social event. The Trustees send quarterly newsletters to all members of the service.

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

3. Objectives

The charity’s objectives as stated in the trust deed, as amended, are:

• To provide counselling to those seeking help for emotional and psychological difficulties in accordance with current best practice

• To research the theory and practice of counselling and to publish the result of this research where appropriate

• To offer training and development opportunities in counselling to qualified and trainee counsellors.

4. Review of Clinical Practice

The last year has brought a lot of changes to the service, for a number of reasons. The emergence from some of the Covid restrictions has meant that it is now possible for some face to face work to recommence. This has not meant the end of online work and currently we are able to offer both of these services.

Along with many other counselling services, some of our counsellors have been reevaluating their commitments; nine counsellors have left the service for practical reasons, as they develop their careers in the counselling world. This is more than would normally leave in a year, but Covid did press a pause button in many people’s plans over a protracted period.

In March, we were delighted to welcome back Laura, returning after a sabbatical break, and we are also in the process of welcoming eight new students into the service.

Another big change was the opportunity to have more space for the service. Thanks to the Quakers, we now have extra rooms available and are adapting to the new enlarged space which we now have.

During this year also, my period of illness meant that the supervisors took much more responsibility for the day to day running of the service. They achieved this both smoothly and efficiently. Among other tasks, this meant completing all the work needed for our reregistration as members of BACP, for which we are all very grateful. Jeremy, Ally and Stan continue to handle much of the day to day work, with Jeremy taking a lead role. Without this input, it would have been a very difficult time for the service, and they deserve a special thank you.

No doubt the next year will bring other challenges and change, and it is great that the service continues to adapt to new circumstances and different needs.

We look forward to what the next twelve months will bring.

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

5. Treasurer’s report

Financial review

The end of year accounts show a net income for the year of £6,544.

The Covid pandemic has continued to have an affect on our finances this financial year. Although income from Counselling Sessions/Initial consultations has increased as we were able to start conducting face-to-face sessions towards the end of the financial year, we are seeing more of our clients, both current and new, suffering financial difficulties and unable to pay the standard session costs. We were however successful in obtaining a Grant from EHDC in Autumn 2020 with the second tranche of £6,000 paid in the autumn of 2021 which has offset enabled us to increase the number of clients on our bursary scheme. Due to training staff illness we were unable to run our normal programme of Training Courses during the financial year. A number of Training Courses are however now being planned for this financial year.

We have again been unable to run any fundraising events due to the ongoing pandemic. We were able to claim Gift Aid on the £10,000 anonymous donation we received.

Our Operating Expenses continue to be carefully monitored and managed, with most of our Operating Expenses being fixed costs. Having taken on extra counselling space within the Quaker Meeting House in January our premises costs have risen.

HMRC/PAYE

We have continued to use the HMRC supplied RTI software to manage our payroll and NIC payments. This continues to be trouble free and has ensured that we meet our obligations to HMRC in a timely manner.

Credit card system

The Worldpay (formally Cardsave) virtual terminal credit card system continues to meet our credit card processing needs. In October 2022 we renewed compliance to the Payment Card Industries Digital Security Standards as required by Worldpay.

Employee Pensions

We are registered with The Pensions Regulator regarding workplace pension law (Pensions Act 2008) for our only employee. We have a Workplace Pension Scheme with NEST.

Reserve account

Reserve funds continue to be held in a Charity Deposit account with Virgin Money, paying 0.65% interest as at 31[st] March 2023.

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

6. Overview from the Chair of Trustees

This year has continued to see a rise in clients unable to pay full fees due to the cost-ofliving crisis. The Bursary scheme, as shown in the accounts, has always related to those clients who are paying less than £30 per session. We have had an increase in clients unable to pay the full fee but able to pay more than £30. These clients are not eligible for the Bursary but thankfully we have received a grant from the National Lottery which has offset the shortfall for the moment. We continue to monitor the situation so that, hopefully, we can return to a position of at least breaking even in the near future. To this end and having investigated other local charity fees, our fees were increased slightly from January 2023. We continue to provide high quality, professional counselling at affordable prices in accordance with our aims.

In conjunction with the Management Board, the trustees continue to investigate sources of funding for a variety of projects and are grateful to the Albert Hunt Trust, the EHDC Councillor Grant, Alton Lions and Binsted Parish for their generous help this year. Thanks must go to Lissa, Dorothy and Andrew for their work on applications.

Our Supervisors continue to give excellent training to our trainees and we are delighted that 9 qualified this year. Many have moved on to their own practices and we have welcomed a new cohort of trainees in the early part of 2023. Our accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) is up to date, giving validation to the training we offer, and for the work involved in the accreditation, we particularly wish to thank Lissa and Ally.

Use of the new rooms in the flat has risen so that, on some days, it is in constant use for counselling and supervision sessions. We are in the process of agreeing a new lease with the Quakers and this should be completed soon. We continue to monitor costs associated with the flat. The Library, which is on the ground floor, remains in use for those clients with mobility issues.

Counselling sessions are either face-to-face or on Zoom or telephone, offering a flexibility of choices, which clients appreciate. New trainees have begun to take on clients thus reducing the waiting list. There remain a few clients waiting due to their time limitations and Lissa keeps in touch with them regularly. Thanks must go to Ally, Jeremy, Stan and Sophia for taking on the Initial Consultations.

Our training programme continues to be successful and well attended, taking place on zoom so that there is a wide catchment area of attendees. Thanks go to Dorothy for her short-term counselling training, which was as a result of links with Bushey Leaze. The service continues to strengthen its links with local groups and services and responding to their needs. We are a member of the National Counselling Network (NCN).

We welcomed Sophia Armstrong to the board of trustees; Sophia is well-known to Alton Counselling Service, having been one of its counsellors. We will be looking for more trustees to join us if possible.

With the management committee we have approved a development plan, which takes us to 2026 and have put in place what we hope will be realistic timeframes. These will be discussed and monitored at future executive meetings.

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

A great deal of the work of the service goes on behind closed doors, from our Service Manager, Head of Counselling, Treasurer and Supervisors all of whom make essential and valuable contributions to making the service work efficiently, successfully and above all, viably and my thanks go to all of them.

Finally, my sincere thanks go to our counsellors, without whose work and dedication we would be unable to function.

7. Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

The Trustees are required to prepare an annual report and financial statements for each financial year. These statements should give a true and fair view of the charity’s financial activities during the year and its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing these financial statements the Trustees have:

• selected suitable accounting policies and then applied them consistently

• made judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent

• taken responsibility for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Signed:

Anne Bothwell, Chair of Trustees Date: 8/05/2023

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Charity Commission registered number: 279857
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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

Clinical Organization

Head of Counselling

Dorothy Harte

Clinical Supervisors

Alison Curry Jeremy Hughes Stanley Roman

Consultant Psychiatrist & Clinical Adviser

Dr Paul Warren, BM, MRCPsych

Counsellors

The following counsellors have made themselves available to ACS during the year:

Paul Brand Susan Buesnal Alison Curry Nikki Figgins Jeremy Hughes Laura Jerram

Mandy Keene Lucy Mc Kulloch Laura Jerram Jaqueline Sands Pete Smith Szabina Wagner

Nicky Barnett (student) Liz Drew (student) Kate Fox (student) Cathy Harding (student) Christina Hoskins (student) Krystyna Jankowska (student) Mary Lucas (student)

Michelle Macey (student) Victoria Miller (student) Rupal Patel (student) Julia Reynolds (student) Savanna Stephens (student) Amy Sutton (student) Victoria Townsend (student)

Volunteers

Tracey Major

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

ALTON COUNSELLING SERVICE

Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

Receipts and Payment Accounts

			Notes
	Total	Funds	(1)
	This Year	Last Year
	£	£
Receipts
Counselling Sessions and Initial Consultations	45,793	43,315
Training Courses	430	2,385
Grants and Donations	19,453	7,838	(2)
Bank Interest	22	106
Fund-raising events	0	0	(3)
Friends of ACS subscriptions	495	495
Gift Aid	2,783	0
Sundry income	0	0
Total Receipts	68,976	54,139
Payments
Counselling and Training	(20,027)	(19,079)
Training Courses	(100)	0
Bursary Payments	(7,263)	(6,421)
Administration	(28,405)	(30,868)
Premises Costs	(5,843)	(3,146)
Insurance and Affiliation Fees	(794)	(662)
Fund-raising events	0	0
Total Payments	(62,432)	(60,176)
Net of Receipts/(Payments)	6,544	(6,037)
Cash Funds lastyear end	19,712	25,749
Cash Funds thisyear end	26,256	19,712

Statement of Assets and Liabilities at Year End

		Unrestricted Funds
		£
Cash Funds
Petty Cash		36
Current Account (HSBC bank)		9,472
Monies due from Streamline		0	(4)
Savings Account(Virgin Money)		16,748
	Total Cash Funds	26,256

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023

Notes to the accounts

1.	Restricted Funds (Grants) Credit Debit Balance £ £ £ Grant from East Hampshire District Council (i) 3,412 3,412 0 Grant from East Hampshire District Council (ii) 6,000 6,000 0

(i) Grant given towards paying for Counsellors annual Zoom subscriptions to enable counselling sessions to continue over the internet following Covid 19 restrictions on using our office (shown under “Administration” in the accounts) and towards our Bursary scheme (shown under “Bursary Payments” in the accounts) for clients unable to pay the full counselling session fee. Grant to be for 18 months from August 2020 and to be received in 2 tranches of £6,000. As at 31[st] March 2021 we had used £2,588 of this grant.

(ii) The second tranche was paid in autumn 2021 and has been used in full.

2. Grants and Donations

During the year, Grants and Donations were received from the following:

	During the year, Grants and Donations were received from the following:
	£ Anonymous 10,000 East Hampshire District Council 6,000 Small donations of under £51 (2 donors) 41
	Total 16.041
3.	Fund-raising events During the year, receipts from Fund-raising events were as follows: £0
	Total nil

4. Monies due from Streamline

This figure relates to Client Credit Card payments processed and entered into the Accounts before 31[st] March with payment received into the bank account after 31[st] March. Payments are not normally received into the bank account for 3 to 4 working days after processing.

Charity Commission registered number: 279857

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Alton Counselling Service For the financial year ended 31 March 2023 Independent Examiner's Report on the Accounts Independent Examiner's Report on the Accounts I report on the ¥cwunl8 of Alton Counselling Service for the year ended 31¥1 March 2023 Respectlv• The charity's trustees are responsible for tha prgparation of the a¢￿￿ntS responsibilities of The Gharily's Iruslees consider that an audit Is not reqLJired for this year trustees and oxamlnor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 Ithe Chanties Act) and th* an Independent exam1nalion Is needed. It Is my responsibility to. examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act. to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Ch3nly Commission (under section 14515llbl of the Charities Act. and lo slate whether particular matters have come to my attention Basls ol Independent My examination w35 carried Dut In 3ccordance wrth general Direetions gwen examiner'5 Statement by the Charity Commission. An examination include5 a ieview ol the 8e¢ounting records kept by the charity and a comparison ol the accounts presented with those records. 11 also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the a¢counls 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 cons8qu8nlly no opinion is givgn as lo whelhtrr the accounts present a 'lrue 8né fair, view and the report is limited lo those matters set out In the slalemenl tel¢)w. Indèpendènt In connection with my examination. no matter has come lo my attention oxamin•r's ststemont 1 which gives me re#$onable cause to believe that In, any material resFect. tho requirements". to keep accounting records in ac¢ordanu with se¢tion 130 of the Chanlies Act. and lo prepare accounts which accord with the 8ccounting records and comply with the accounting r8quiremftnts of the Charilies Act have not been md". or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn In order lo enable proper understanding ol the accounts lo be reached Elspelh Mackeogie Gurney 45 Lenlgn Street Alton ampshir GU34 1HE Charity Commi55ion registered nurnber.. 279857 12