## **Children have the right to be children**
**The Children’s Trust** Annual Report and Accounts 2020-2021
## **Who we are and what we do**
We are working towards a time when all children and young people with brain injury and neurodisability have the opportunity to live the best life possible.
The Children’s Trust is the UK’s leading charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability. We deliver rehabilitation, education and community services through skilled teams who work with children, young people and their families.
## **Our services are provided through:**
Individually tailored rehabilitation programmes for children who have sustained a brain injury.
The Children’s Trust School and Nursery for children with a range of complex education, health, therapy and care needs.
Brain Injury Community Service providing therapeutic support.
## **The Children’s Trust was established in 1984 for the following purposes:**
‘ _For the care, treatment, rehabilitation and education of children and other persons with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and complex medical needs, including life-limiting or life-threatening conditions and neurological damage acquired through accident or other causes; for support of families and other carers involved; and for the prevention of such disabilities and disorders._ ’
‘ _To hold for the benefit of the public the freehold of the heritage property known as Tadworth Court, Tadworth, Surrey and its curtilage and to restore, conserve, improve and maintain such heritage property and all buildings, walls, parks, gardens, woodlands and appurtenances within its curtilage._ ’
These objects still guide us today as we enter the second year of our five-year strategy ‘Hope and Ambition’.
Brain Injury Hub providing online evidence-based resources for families, teachers and health professionals **.**
Our progress against the strategy is presented here as the Trustees’ 36th Annual Report and the audited Financial Statements of The Children’s Trust (‘the charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2021.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Contents
**1**
## **Contents**
- **2** Welcome from our Chair and Chief Executive
- **4** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
- **26** Summary of progress
- **28** Improving children’s lives: Our impact
- **34** Staying connected
- **38** Financial performance: Raising money and how we spend it
- **42** Fundraising and supporter highlights
- **44** Commitment to sustainability and environmental impact
- **50** Strategic report: Managing our organisation
- **52** Our organisation’s governance
- **58** Reference and administrative details
- **60** Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities
- **61** Annual statement of internal controls
- **62** Independent auditor’s report
- **66** Statement of financial activities
- **67** Balance sheet
- **68** Cash flow statement
**69** Notes to the financial statements
Welcome from our Chair and Chief Executive
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**2**
## **Welcome from our Chair and Chief Executive**
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Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, our collective commitment to supporting more children with brain injury and neurodisability remained steadfast.
The unwavering dedication and loyalty of staff, volunteers and supporters has made this a year of progress for The Children’s Trust as we pressed ahead with our five-year strategy, Hope and Ambition.
At the outset of the pandemic, the Senior Leadership Team established a Major Incident Team, which met regularly, and continued to do so throughout the year. There was enhanced co-ordination between the Chair and the Chief Executive, regular updates to Trustees, and a detailed report, including risk assessment, at each Board meeting. This ensured that there was effective oversight of the key risks, challenges and responses throughout the year.
In 2020/21 we tapped into our resilience like never before, modifying our services to ensure that we could continue them without jeopardising the outcomes of children who receive our support.
## **The impact of COVID-19 and how we adapted**
We quickly adapted our admissions process for children coming from hospital to The Children’s Trust for rehabilitation following a brain injury.
Allowing for an earlier hospital discharge to start their rehabilitation placement not only lessened the child’s risk of contracting COVID-19 at hospital, it also freed up much-needed NHS beds during the height of the pandemic. The earlier admission of children to The Children’s Trust from hospital meant that their needs were, in many cases, more complex.
The essential changes to our service delivery, in addition to the purchase of personal protective equipment and IT infrastructure to support remote working for many staff, resulted in significant unbudgeted spend.
Like so many charities we faced huge financial loss; our retail shops closed, income from international
## referrals stopped, as did our
fundraising events and community fundraising programme. However, the tide of generosity that we received from new and existing supporters during this difficult time helped offset much of this gap. We extend a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to all of our supporters for their role in helping us continue our service delivery.
From the onset of the pandemic, and throughout the year, our staff have been unwavering in ensuring the children’s care was their first priority. Staff adapted brilliantly with the changing circumstances and have been extremely flexible and collaborative in carrying out their roles.
They have shown agility,
adaptability and innovation to cope with continual challenges and uncertainty and we firmly believe we are better and stronger for the experience. Their response throughout has been admirable and we would like to pay tribute to our dedicated team.
Welcome from our Chair and Chief Executive **3**
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
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Duncan Ingram
Chair of Trustees
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Dalton Leong
Chief Executive
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Our commitment to good governance was unshaken throughout the year. We faced many difficult decisions as a result of the pandemic. As Chair and Chief Executive, we met more frequently with increased meeting times. And with consistent communication between the Board of Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team we worked tirelessly to act in the best interests of the children, families and staff.
## **Future growth**
Our strategic ambitions, set out in our Hope & Ambition strategy, launched just before the pandemic, have progressed well despite the temporary and necessary pausing of some projects within our business plan.
While this year has presented challenges, it has set the wheels in motion for further improving our facilities and working more efficiently. We are taking confidence from how effectively we have adapted and the speed with which we were able to change our ways of working.
We feel empowered by the use of technology, which we have all become more proficient with over the year. This rapid adoption of technology extends to the evolution of our service provision too. Our plans for the use of robotics and other assistive technology will help to improve the outcomes for many of the children we support and we will be trialling robotic equipment in our rehabilitation and school settings this coming year.
We are in the process of developing support to children in the community with the creation of new teams. Regardless of where they live or their socio-economic background, we will ensure that all children who need our support following an acquired brain injury will have access to our services. We will be also be expanding our work in schools and raising public awareness of acquired brain injury.
## **State-of-the-art new build**
Project Butterfly, a redevelopment at our Tadworth Court site will be the most significant capital project to be undertaken by The Children’s Trust in more than ten years. At the time of writing, we are preparing to submit our proposal to seek planning permission for a new centre to replace our School building. This will be so much more than a new school.
Project Butterfly will become our new National Centre of Excellence, delivering integrated education, health, therapy and care, and with an ever-greater focus on putting children and families at the heart of our work.
There will be opportunities for staff to share best practice, develop new skills and shape how The Children’s Trust can influence others, in the UK and overseas. The new centre will be a beacon of commitment by The Children’s Trust to consistently drive change in the pursuit of excellence.
In alignment with how we have evolved and grown over recent years we will be working on redefining our culture and values this year. This area of work will
play a key role in helping us deliver our strategy. We have also committed to improving our work on equity, diversity and inclusion and have appointed an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer to bring focus to this priority.
We are an organisation on a mission, focused on reaching and supporting more children with brain injury and neurodisability and striving for excellence in everything we do. We are looking to the future with optimism as we continue to follow our roadmap of growth.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and Senior Leadership Team, we would like to thank you for your support and interest in our work. If you would like to keep up to date with our programme of work and progress, we would encourage you to sign up for our newsletter. **thechildrenstrust.org.uk/email-sign-up**
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**4** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
## **Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy**
Despite the challenges presented this past year, we have made progress with our Hope and Ambition strategy since it was launched in April 2020. We are moving ever closer towards a time when all children and young people with brain injury will have the opportunity to live the best life possible.
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## **Building excellence – underpinning our aims**
- People and culture
- Adding value to our communities
- A responsible organisation • Systems and processes
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
**5**
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During the pandemic we adapted our services to
ensure we met the needs of children and families.
Aim one: Build on We moved from a five-day to a
our specialist knowledge six-day model of care for those
receiving rehabilitation. Children
to grow our services at and young people coped well with
Tadworth Court and this and it enabled us to discharge
them more quickly. We temporarily
help more children reduced our average length of stay
and young people from 12 weeks to 6 weeks.
While we had to make the
As the only organisation of its kind difficult decision to restrict sibling
in the UK, we have a duty to maximise visits, measures were put in place
our unique expertise, experience and so that parents could remain and
facilities so that we can offer new were encouraged to stay at our
services and help even more family accommodation during
children with acquired brain injury their child’s time with us.
and neurodisability.
We maintained social distancing
Adapting our delivery where possible and in many cases
of rehabilitation parents became more hands-on during
therapy sessions, with the support of
The pandemic inadvertently gave us our expert guidance and instruction.
the opportunity to modify some areas This slightly modified delivery of our
of our residential rehabilitation service services proved beneficial, giving parents
in order to comply with national and the opportunity to feel more involved in
local COVID-19 restrictions and ease the rehabilitation process and learn skills
pressure on the NHS. Firstly, we admitted which they could implement when they
children from hospital for rehabilitation returned home.
earlier than normal so that we could
support the referring hospitals and
help increase NHS capacity.
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The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**6** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
**Lily and the team at The Children’s Trust taking part in a popular dance, which helped her regain strength in her arm.**
## **Lily’s story**
## **During the first national lockdown, eight-year-old Lily had a stroke.**
“ _She had all the typical stroke symptoms; her face had dropped on one side, her arm was affected and she had slurred speech,_ ” explained mum, Natalie. “ _It just never occurred to me that this could happen to a child. I always assumed that it just happened to older people. I was wrong._ ” Lily spent four weeks in hospital. The restrictions meant that only one parent was able to be with her throughout this time.
Natalie said: “ _We were all excited to get Lily to The Children’s Trust. It was exactly what she needed and it also meant that as soon as she got there, I would be allowed to see her as both parents could be on site. I was so thankful to be a part of her rehabilitation._ ”
“ _Alfie, Lily’s brother, wasn't able to visit so it was still challenging for us and the family still felt somewhat separated. Lily felt a bit apprehensive about it all, but the staff were amazing, and they really helped settle her and make her feel welcome._ ”
During her time at The Children’s Trust, Lily received physiotherapy, speech and language, play and occupational therapy, as well as school lessons. One of her goals was to improve the strength in her right arm for activities such as dressing herself and being able to do arts and crafts.
Specialist Occupational Therapist, Mairi explains: “ _It was a joy to work towards this with Lily as she always encouraged us to find lots of ways to make therapy more fun. This included learning lots of dances that were popular on social media and included the use of Lily's right arm, making bracelets and making slime using both hands. By the end of her placement, Lily's right arm was much stronger and we could barely keep up with her dances!_ ”
In July 2020 Lily rang the special bell to mark the end of her rehabilitation and to celebrate all that she had achieved during her time at The Children’s Trust.
She returned to school in September, attending for two hours to begin with and building this up gradually. “ _Family life is starting to feel normal again,_ ” said Natalie.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
**7**
## **New innovative services to support more children**
Our Innovation Programme will enable us to launch five new services over the course of this strategic period. Clinicians identify, discuss and design potential new services and the programme provides effective and robust governance, ensuring that these interventions will improve outcomes for children and young people.
The pilot of our first new service, Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) packages, has proved successful. FND is the name given for symptoms in the body which appear to be caused by problems in the nervous system, but which are not caused by a physical neurological disease or disorder. While we have previously not supported children with this condition, many of the symptoms and effects such as fatigue, seizures and movement disorders mirror those experienced by children with brain injury.
Significant progress was made by the young person we supported during this first phase of the pilot, which is underway at the time of writing. The interdisciplinary therapeutic support for this package is initially offered virtually followed by a week of on-site support. We will be taking more referrals throughout 2021/22.
We are now on course to launch the pilot of our second new service, Outpatient Movement Disorders which will be a significant expansion to what we already offer. In many cases, early treatment options are crucial to prevent decline in children with movement disorders but there are often long waiting lists for medical and therapy intervention. Our hope is that by developing our service we will create additional options for local commissioners so more children are able to benefit.
**Frankie, a pupil at The Children’s Trust School being supported in using robotics equipment.**
## **Investing in robotics**
For children with neurodisability we are also initiating a trial of the Innowalk Pro. This is a robotic device intended for people with moderate to severe disabilities. It is a supportive piece of equipment that starts with the user in a sitting position. It brings them up into a standing position and then passively moves their legs to facilitate a stepping motion.
Evidence regarding the benefit of robotics is growing. We know that therapy is supported by repetitive, meaningful and rewarding practice of movement and by practising motor skills, both of which robotic devices enable.
In 2021/22 we will invest in upper limb robotics equipment as a trial within our rehabilitation services to address some of the greatest clinical challenges. This equipment offers effective rehabilitation to children with no or very little arm and hand movement following their brain injury for whom other evidence-based interventions for children are less effective.
We have assessed children residing at The Children’s Trust School and we hope that it will provide an opportunity for an alternative type of movement and physical activity, where a lot of these young people do not regularly access these opportunities. Physical benefits have been reported including improving muscle tone, respiratory and digestive function.
The device eliminates gravity, enabling movement. Movement is initiated by the children and not a therapist as per conventional therapy. It allows children to carry out tasks such as brushing their teeth or making a sandwich unassisted. This is an important element of nurturing children’s independence after a brain injury.
The data we collect from testing robotic equipment will help inform us of its impact on outcomes for children with brain injuries or complex neurodisabilities. This will form part of our longer term innovation investment plan.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**8** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
## **Millie’s story**
**Millie came to The Children's Trust School with a history of repeated respiratory infections, often requiring prolonged hospital admissions.**
## **Long-term ventilation skills**
In the past year we have developed training programmes which include support for respiratory care. We want to develop this specialism and have factored tracheostomy and ventilation skill sets in our recruitment of nurses.
This drive in expanding our long-term ventilation expertise means we can offer support to more children, reduce hospital stays for many and in some cases offer a ‘step-down’ service between hospital and returning home.
She has a severe spinal scoliosis which significantly impacts on her abilities to breathe and cough effectively.
The Children's Trust has supported Millie in accessing specialist respiratory services, assessments and in developing a daily airway clearance routine. Since the introduction of this daily routine and the skilled team around Millie, she has not had any respiratory infections or subsequent hospital admissions for the last three years.
Because of the complexity of Millie's spinal shape and the restrictions this imposes on her breathing, ensuring that Millie is supported in her positioning is essential. Millie makes use of specialist equipment in sitting, standing and lying to ensure that her breathing is always the best it can be.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
**9**
## **The family experience**
Family accommodation is an important element of our services at Tadworth Court. It means parents of children receiving rehabilitation following a brain injury can stay with them during their rehabilitation placement and allows them to learn how to deliver their child's care and therapy requirements when they return home. Family accommodation also provides visiting opportunities for families of our residential school pupils.
This coming year we will enhance the family experience for those staying with us including the social experience, support for siblings and how we can better improve the weekends and school holidays experience as this is when family visits are most common.
The children we support come from across the UK as well as internationally so we believe this work will also support the increase in referrals from a wider geography.
## **Our research culture**
In spite of the limitations of travel and in-person conferences this year, the clinical, educational and research teams have continued to represent The Children's Trust at virtual national and international events. We have had four articles published in peer reviewed journals.
We have carried out several projects with a focus on COVID-19. These include a service evaluation of child rehabilitation data, a research study of professional roles/boundaries and a blog on a human rights-based approach to helping children with complex needs during a pandemic.
The Children's Trust's Research Music Therapist is leading an international research project to develop one of the first assessments for children and young people with disorders of consciousness (DoC). It is called MuSICCA (Music therapy Sensory Instrument for Cognition, Consciousness and Awareness) and is a music-based assessment that will help us to set treatment at the right level to maximise children's responses and enhance recovery.
## **Increasing referrals**
Throughout 2020/21, we have focused on building relationships with both existing and new referrers and funders, to increase the profile of our work and grow the number of referrals across our services. Whilst the pandemic presented some challenges, referral numbers suggest it also resulted in a short-term reduction of children sustaining brain injuries through accidents. As a result, there was less need for our services. Despite this we maintained contact with our key referrers and major trauma centres across the UK and continued to provide vital support to the NHS’s pandemic response. We did this by moving to virtual assessments which allowed us to admit children more quickly (within 10 days in some cases), helping to free up vital NHS beds.
This year we changed our way of delivering professional events. Initially enforced by lockdown restrictions, we digitised our professional events programme, delivering over 20 webinars that will pave the way for similar activity in the future. This programme allowed us to reach more than 1,500 professionals – many of whom were new contacts who may not have been able to attend a physical event in person.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**10** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
## **Aim two:** Support every child in the UK with an acquired brain injury
Sadly, there is a startling lack of support for too many children with acquired brain injuries.
While there are a range of clinical services and non-clinical assistance for children with brain injury and their families, the scope and availability varies widely across the UK and there is no obvious place for families to go for information and guidance. The required support for children with severe brain injury is patchy throughout the country and in many cases unavailable.
We know from our research that some children, particularly those who have sustained a concussion or ‘mild’ brain injury, receive no follow up care. Yet many children will suffer long-term effects which may impact them for the rest of their lives.
Our bold mission is to ensure that every child and family affected by an acquired brain injury receives information, advice and support at their time of need.
“ _We work closely with the support network around the young person, such as their teachers, carers, parents and other professionals. These people will have a big influence over the success of these goals and the aim is to work within these networks to achieve the best possible outcomes for the young person._ ” **Brain Injury Specialist**
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A member of our BICS team supporting
a young person with goal setting.
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## **Supporting children in the community**
combination of both settings by our multidisciplinary team.
Reaching children who needed our support in the community remained a top priority for us during the pandemic and various lockdowns.
A long-term register is also in place to ensure we make further contact with families at key stages of development and offer support if new needs arise.
The team have continued to deliver support through virtual clinics and liaised closely with colleagues from our four partnering hospitals to ensure that NHS redeployment did not affect the support we could offer children and families.
Our Brain Injury Community Service (BICS) provides a range of support centred around the child or young person. We offer clinical screening, advice and onward referral, as well as community-based multidisciplinary neurorehabilitation. This input is delivered at home, in school or a
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BICS Number of children and young
people supported
Leeds 442
Nottingham 400
Sheffield 311
St George’s, London 404
Tadworth (including funded) 163 (of which 15 were funded)
Total SERVICES 1720*
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* _Some children receive more than one service from BICS._
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy **11**
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Henry and his family are learning to
manage the effects of his brain injury.
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## **Henry’s story**
“ _It was such a relief to speak with someone who could tell us why our son struggled so much,”_ she said _. “The BICS team described our son's behaviours exactly. I cried with relief when I got off the phone!_ ”
**Henry was four when an infection led to encephalitis – an inflammation of the brain.**
After a week in hospital, he was discharged and returned to school within a month.
Henry and his family have continued to receive support from BICS who have been able to help them manage the effects of his brain injury through strategies and information.
“ _We were told Henry would recover completely and were given no further information,”_ explained mum, Andrea. _“It was a big mistake for him to return to school. He became aggressive and could not cope with noise, smells, and sensation._ ”
_“ The BICS team described our son’s behaviours exactly. I cried with relief when I got off the phone!_ ”
## **Andrea, Henry’s mum**
“ _He experienced awful headaches and the feeling of 'ants crawling' in his head. He refused to participate in PE as jumping hurt his head and he ended up being restrained a few times._ ”
Over the next five years the family were advised that Henry’s behaviour would improve. After reaching out to The Children’s Trust’s Brain Injury Community Service (BICS), Andrea said they finally started to understand Henry’s difficulties.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**12** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
**Head injury by region (per thousand)**
**Head injury by age (per thousand)**
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10
14
39
16 15-18 15
18
11-15 29
39
19 6-10 37
21 24
3-5 45
South East West Midlands East of England 0-2 76
North West South West East Midlands
Yorkshire & London North East 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
the Humber
Age
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## **National picture of need**
Our National Picture of Need research, carried out in 2020, has given us an important insight into the unmet needs that exist for many children with brain injuries.
## **200,000**
children attend A&E with a head injury each year
**30,000** had an acquired brain injury requiring admission to a hospital ward
## **350**
children each year have severe ABI requiring prolonged admission
The report highlights the range of support children and their families need following a brain injury and it gives us an indication of where we can address gaps in the level of support.
Our findings reveal the reality of unmet needs:
- access to services for children with brain injury is inconsistent throughout the UK
- lack of a support pathway; services are not joined up
- waiting lists are lengthy (ranging from weeks to months) and service offer is limited
- limited access to support for specific needs: medical and social needs and communication, emotional, social and overall wellbeing
- psychosocial needs are frequently unmet (e.g. helping a child and their families understand a brain injury and adjust to the changes this brings)
- needs of the family are frequently missed
- lack of knowledge and awareness of brain injury, with limited support for schools
- little long-term follow up and support.
It also shines a light on the importance of public awareness and understanding of brain injury and the significant role this plays in supporting children. An educated public and workforce helps to ensure hidden needs are more likely to be recognised and support becomes the role of everyone, enabling the child to participate and live the best life possible.
As part of our strategy, we are on a mission to support every child in the UK with an acquired brain injury by 2030. This support will either be provided directly to the child or young person following a brain injury, or to their family, teacher or healthcare professional to empower them with the knowledge and information they need.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
**13**
## **Pathways of support**
We have created a model which will help us develop pathways of support for all children with brain injury. It is a three-tier model comprising of child and family focused support, based on a recognised model of support.
It is underpinned by other programmes of work such as public engagement through our concussion campaign, our schools programme and building partnerships for all the strands of work.
## **Specialist**
needs but who do not require residental neurorehabillitation
**Targeted** Screening and advice for those who require more than information materials **Universal** Information to support families of children with concussion and mild brain injury
**Research: our National Picture of Need report**
**Public Schools Building engagement programme partnerships**
## **Leading the way in specialist community neurorehabilitation**
We are currently developing a new rehabilitation service in the form of community Interdisciplinary Teams (IDTs), the first of which is due to launch in 2022. Over the duration of our strategy we plan to set up and pilot three teams in three locations in England.
These teams will sit within the top tier of our pathways of support model. Providing support for the early and long-term effects of acquired brain injury, the teams will work with the child and those around them at home, in school and in their everyday activities.
The IDTs will work with existing services in a given area to pro-actively support children from the point of hospital discharge. Each team may look different according to what is already available from existing services, the needs and gaps.
We will evaluate the teams and process as we go along and use the learnings to shape the subsequent teams. Our goal is to demonstrate models that are
examples of best practice and replicable across the country. We are confident that our new IDTs will show positive outcomes for children and their families and will deliver social and economic benefit for the public sector.
Our long-term ambition is that the new IDTs will help bring about a system change in the provision of community rehabilitation for children with acquired brain injury and ensure that pathways are sustainable and secure. We hope that our model becomes the blueprint for best practice and is rolled out across the country.
Achieving this requires ongoing partnership and collaboration working across multiple sectors. An important part of this coming year’s work will be formalising partnerships with hospitals, local authorities and commissioners necessary to co-create this much needed service, the infrastructure and governance ready for launch.
Together we will create IDTs that will fill a gap and serve even more children and families throughout the country.
**14** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
## **Concussion awareness**
In early 2021 we launched our pilot public concussion campaign on the concept of helping people understand that concussion is a brain injury and can have serious long-term consequences. Its success has helped us finalise our approach to the wider campaign we propose to launch in 2021/22.
While we already have a booklet on concussion available for parents, families, teachers and sports coaches to order, we knew we had a further responsibility to share this information more widely. We needed to share information with even more parents and caregivers, regardless of whether their children had suffered a concussion or not.
Our new campaign does that. By investing in social media advertising through Facebook, we targeted parents in specific locations with concussion information and an opportunity to order further resources. The pilot demonstrated a strong appetite from
parents for this information and we received 2,491 requests for either a digital or hard copy of our booklet and pocket card, _Concussion in children and young people: a guide for families, teachers and sports coaches._ This far exceeded our expectations.
The pilot results are informing our public engagement strategy and over the coming year we are working to secure support from corporate partners, create media engagement and provide this important information to even more parents and professionals caring for children.
Our campaign will help us:
- educate families and caregivers on the signs of concussion
- empower them to seek further advice if symptoms persist
- raise important awareness of brain injury
- raise awareness of The Children’s Trust and the services we offer so that more children have the chance of benefiting from our support.
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Pilot concussion campaign.
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The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
**15**
## **Raising awareness of brain injury in schools**
Teachers and other school staff can be hugely influential in a child’s successful transition back to school and ongoing journey after a brain injury.
The majority of children who sustain a mild to moderate brain injury will return to mainstream school. And given the rate of brain injury among school-aged children, many teachers will encounter working with a child who has a brain injury.
However, often the effects of acquired brain injury can be misinterpreted for something else, such as bad behaviour or lack of motivation. And this reflects the need for more awareness of brain injury among school staff and in the classroom.
In the past year we have developed an online Schools Programme to provide an introduction to acquired brain injury to school staff. Education professionals will be able to access and complete the introductory session at their own pace and will have an opportunity to take their learning to a more advanced level.
We will be rolling out this online provision to schools and developing the programme by offering further in-depth support which will equip schools with strategies and techniques that they can implement.
“ _The online parent_
In phase one, we aim to support 1,000 teachers and school staff through our online programme in 2021/22.
## **Online support and publications**
This year we improved the functionality and user journey for those accessing the Brain Injury Hub, our online resource that provides evidence-based information, support and advice to families and professionals on childhood brain injury and disability.
We migrated the Brain Injury Hub into The Children’s Trust main website creating a section so that families and professionals alike find it easier to access all the information they need while discovering more about the services offered at The Children’s Trust, all on one platform. Signposting has been used throughout so that users can easily find advice, peer-to-peer support, real stories and referral process.
Our latest publication, The Step-by-Step Cookbook, was published in 2020 with 187 books distributed. The recipe book was created for children and young people who have had a brain injury or those who have additional needs. Developed by our rehabilitation therapists, children and young people, the book offers a range of recipes and tips to make cooking and baking more accessible.
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**16** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
This strand of our strategy will involve developing flexible pathways between our rehabilitation and educational services. We are committed to exploring how we can transform our service provision to be more family-centred, research-based and to increase the numbers we support.
**Aim three:** Improve outcomes for children and young people through integration of our specialist skills and approaches
## **An integrated approach to learning during the pandemic**
The Children’s Trust School has established a reputation for educational excellence for young people with the most complex needs. It provides education, therapy and care exclusively for children and young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties and complex health needs.
The vulnerability of the children and young people that we support at the School meant the need for extreme vigilance in how we delivered learning, care and therapy during the year, minimising their risk to COVID-19.
We offer a diverse range of educational opportunities across the School and Tadworth Tots Nursery and for children and young people with us due to neurodisability and brain injury.
Our day-to-day structure of learning in class groups was no longer possible and 14 of the children and young people were required to shield either at home or on their residential houses at The Children's Trust. Our education, therapy and care teams continued to work collaboratively during this challenging year, delivering high quality support to the children and young people in changing circumstances and placing their quality of life at the centre of how we worked.
During our five-year strategy we are working towards further integrating education, health therapy and care across our services, leveraging the specialist skills of our staff to create innovative ways for children and young people to achieve their potential.
## **Hearing and responding to the children’s needs**
To ensure that children were kept safe some activities requiring close contact were restricted during the pandemic and during lockdowns such as use of the aquatic therapy pool.
To support the establishment of new and changed routines, the team formulated sensory stories which pair spoken word with sensory stimuli such as items to smell and touch.
However, we recognised the potential impact of the restrictions on social, emotional and mental health and implemented regular monitoring of their engagement, responses and ‘happiness’. In some cases we sought specialist support from psychosocial professionals to address emotional and mental health needs and sought ways to work that facilitated their emotional needs.
These introduced the children and young people to new COVID-19 practices such as hand washing, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), remaining in their residential houses and different feelings that they may have been experiencing.
The first step was for us was to identify each child’s priority needs and plan to deliver their identified provision (outlined in their Education Health and Care Plans) through a blended approach of both virtual and face-to-face sessions.
All children and young people were supported by a team of consistent and specified staff working holistically across education, health and therapy. Staff adapted to working in either the School (for day pupils) or in School residential houses (in children's bedrooms or house lounges) by using technology to offer education and therapy sessions remotely or in face-to-face small groups.
Our progress data evidenced that our approaches during this period have not adversely affected outcomes for the children and young people, which is detailed in p30-31.
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Helping them to understand.
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**17**
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Kenny enjoying sensory sessions at school.
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## **Kenny’s story**
**Sensory activities helped Kenny adjust to a new kind of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.**
Kenny has epilepsy, autism and complex education, health, therapy and care needs. He has been a pupil at The Children’s Trust School since 2019.
During the past year Kenny’s school day routine and class groups changed due to social distancing rules. While he initially found the changes unsettling, he quickly adapted.
During lockdown Kenny continued to have planned opportunities to continue skill acquisition and development against his intended learning targets.
Kenny’s mum, Jenny said: “ _The Children’s Trust School has really brought out Kenny’s confidence. Previously he was quite shy and would become uneasy meeting new people. Now, he is more confident and will show excitement with a big smile._ ”
She added: “ _As The Children’s Trust has continued to operate during the pandemic, I have been really blessed with the opportunity to continue working, knowing that Kenny is well taken care of and can continue to access full educational activities. I am very grateful to the staff._ ”
Kenny participated in many creative sessions both virtually and face to face wherever possible both indoor and outdoor to provide variety in approach.
There was a real effort by staff to ensure that routines were maintained to support the children’s understanding of what was happening and to make them feel secure during a time where change was huge for them.
**18** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
## **Integrating our services**
The children and young people that we support come to us for different types of support including:
- school education as day pupils
- school education as residential pupils
- school education in The Children’s Trust School whilst in rehab stepdown
- residential brain injury rehabilitation
- step down care from hospital to home
- respite care/short breaks.
Regardless of what services for which children and young people are admitted, each child requires access to high quality education, health, therapy and care across a large range of internal and external professionals.
This coming year we will explore how we can better integrate core service areas, utilising existing skills on site, across teams and services. We want to develop 'flexible pathways' where skill sets from across the organisation are available to all service users, which can be drawn upon as and when needed.
We have created an Integrated Services Lead role to develop this work by reviewing current service models across education and neurorehabilitation
and to identify overlaps, differences across services, current challenges and where there are particular gaps to fill. As part of this work we will also seek the views of children and families in regards to what they need.
We have begun to explore the existing models of working that we have on site (multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary) and have appointed a project lead to scope the model of transdisciplinary team working and define what this could look like for The Children’s Trust. The aim is to increase the sharing, teaching and learning across different professional groups and boundaries. Through greater sharing of roles we hope to enhance the team’s experience and knowledge to form highly skilled teams that can work across our services.
As part of the transdisciplinary scope we will also be identifying a project lead to explore the ‘waking day curriculum’ and during 24-hour rehabilitation programmes.
Following this initial piece of work we will develop a system map and action plan later in the year to progress this area of the strategy so that we can start working with a more blended approach and provide even better outcomes for children and young people.
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**19**
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A glimpse at our future state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence.
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## **New build plans: Project Butterfly**
stakeholder input from across all teams within the organisation and is designed to provide flexible spaces that can meet the needs of all children. It will also provide the ability to support the vision to provide an integrated education, health, therapy and care offer focused around the child and their family.
Plans for a new state-of-the-art facility are well underway, with Project Butterfly being the most significant capital project to be undertaken by The Children’s Trust in more than ten years.
The facility will provide increased opportunities for learning and skill acquisition in all locations. It will be a hub for professional sharing, research and meeting spaces for the organisation and the local community.
Our vision is to improve the life opportunities for all children and young people with brain injury and neurodisability by reshaping how education, therapy and care is delivered.
We want to become the exemplar of best practice; to share our integrated, holistic approach with families, carers and professionals in our field; and to influence service delivery for children with complex education, health, therapy and care needs across the UK.
It will deliver a physical environment to work in new and innovative ways that will also increase our capacity to meet the growing demand from children and families needing specialist care and support.
Project Butterfly will become our new National Centre of Excellence, with an ever-greater focus on putting children and families at the heart of our work. It will give us the opportunity to share best practice, develop new skills and shape how The Children’s Trust can influence others, in the UK and overseas.
This National Centre of Excellence will cover the footprint of the existing school building. However, it will not be ‘a school for a school.’
With a campus feel, the new build will enable a ‘journey’ across the site joining existing buildings. Its design has had
We are looking forward to working with the local community and our partners and submitted our planning application in the summer of 2021.
Our vision is to improve the life opportunities for all children and young people with brain injury and neurodisability.
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13
19
11
16
18
17
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**20** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
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Our current values have helped shape our organisation.
Fun
Can do Collaborative
Child and
family focused
Professional
Caring and
supportive
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## **How we work:** Building excellence
We know that the key to delivering our strategy and maintaining our ‘Outstanding’ Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted Care rating, will be the way in which we work together. We are striving for excellence in everything we do at The Children’s Trust.
We’ve already come a long way, and our ‘building excellence’ focus is about how we can continue to improve and excel. We want to attract excellent people, improve our systems and approach, and create an environment where we can all thrive; a place that inspires us to do our best work.
In the past year we’ve created the foundations and have instigated the key programmes laid out in the following pages.
## **Evolving our culture and values**
Our current values have served us well and have helped shape an organisation that we are immensely proud of.
Now, in alignment with how we have evolved and grown, it is time to revisit and redefine our culture and values. Our strategy requires us to think bigger, work in more collaborative ways, embrace innovation and inspire others to work with us. Our Culture and Values programme is a significant driver of this positive change.
The voices and views of staff, children and families will be essential in developing values and behaviours that start with their needs and that will ultimately elevate us to become an employer of choice.
We have started to capture their thoughts, together with those of our employees and volunteers, by holding focus groups. And we have developed surveys for external audiences so that anyone who uses our services, supports us or interacts in any way can contribute to this important work. We look forward to launching and rolling out our new culture and values framework later in 2021.
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**21**
## **Investing in our people**
Our employees are the most integral component in delivering our strategy. We want them to feel supported and to provide them with a range of development and training opportunities. We want to build our learning culture, working collaboratively to share experiences, outcomes and knowledge in order to continually improve and develop.
We have reviewed learning opportunities across the organisation and will develop a new structure for learning and development to ensure opportunities are accessible to all. Our priority now is to complete a training needs analysis and agree learning and development priorities over the next 24 months.
We have also launched a Leadership Development programme to motivate and equip our managers with the skills and confidence to lead and inspire their teams. This will enable us to achieve our vision and aims as laid out in our strategy and to embed the behaviour and values that will shape our culture.
We will invite all eligible managers to complete the programme within the next two years.
## **Electronic Records**
Our Electronic Records System is our latest investment to improve our processes and operational efficiency and to ensure personal data is stored securely and always available at the point of need. These systems will provide a single point of entry for all of our nursing and care, therapy, medical and psychosocial evaluations, notes and assessments – all centred around the children and young people we support. It will also help us with rostering, invoicing and relationship management for our Brain Injury Community Service and Placements team.
The Electronic Records System is an important element of enhancing our documentation process, in maintaining children and young peoples’ records. It will mean each child or young person will have one record, accessible by all those working with the child or young person. This will support joined up working across our teams and will provide a better service for the children and families we support.
Due to COVID-19 the project did slow down due to staffing concerns and availability. However, business analysis of existing documents and forms was undertaken as well as planning. Midway through the financial year as restrictions started to ease, we were able to move forward with commencing the build, training, communication and configuration.
We hope that this system will be fully implemented by 2022, and any existing manual and paper-based care, medical, psychosocial, school and therapy processes will be replaced with Electronic Records. Training, communication and support to staff in using the various Electronic Record Systems is now underway.
## **Equity, diversity and inclusion**
The coverage of, and public response to, the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, made many organisations question whether there was more they could be doing to promote equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). The Chief Executive committed the charity to the ACEVO’s (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) ‘Eight principles to address the diversity deficit in charity leadership’. We decided that action was needed to solidify our stance as an organisation that promotes equitable practices, inclusive environments and diverse participation at all levels. We decided to start this work by looking at how we can identify and directly address racism within our organisation.
## **Our EDI progress this year:**
## **EDI Working Groups:**
An EDI officer was appointed and working groups of staff from across the organisation established to influence our EDI agenda. Members of the Senior Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees are directly involved in this work.
**Updating the ‘Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’ policy:** The revised policy is reflective of our proactive stance against discrimination and our ambitions for building a more equitable, diverse and inclusive environment.
## **EDI Race & Ethnicity Survey:**
During the year we surveyed our employees on race and ethnicity-related issues and forms of discrimination that they have experienced. The survey results will support our EDI plans.
## **EDI Data Collection Initiative:**
We have asked all staff to provide information in order to gain a deeper understanding of our staff and provide a benchmark for the organisation. Over the course of the coming year, we will build upon what has been achieved so far, and will:
- develop a longer-term strategy for EDI
- introduce EDI training for staff
- deliver a micro-aggressions awareness campaign
- improve our discrimination reporting processes.
Our beneficiaries and our staff will be at the heart of this work, as we strive to create a more equitable, diverse and inclusive environment.
**22** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
## **A vision for wellbeing**
Every person at The Children’s Trust matters. Our wellbeing vision is for everyone to be able to give their best and be their best.
In 2020/21 the importance of protecting the wellbeing of our staff was never more important. We implemented measures to make everyone aware of existing wellbeing resources we had in place and instigated new ways in which to provide additional support.
An NHS-approved mental health app was introduced for clinical staff, providing advice, guidance, exercises to support mental health and access to cognitive behavioural therapy sessions. Stress training, introduced in March
2021, provided managers with tools on how to spot and address signs of stress within their teams.
We introduced many ways to engage with staff and to encourage communication with colleagues during the year. This is detailed in p34.
We refreshed our Wellbeing Strategy in 2020/21 to better align with the organisation’s strategy, Hope and Ambition, and to move forwards from our current tactical approach, building more depth and embedding wellbeing throughout the whole organisation.
## **Key performance indicators for our Wellbeing Strategy include:**
- a 10% decrease in sickness statistics relating to workplace stress and anxiety
- all line managers will receive training on mental health in the workplace
- education of staff in mental health, with 100 members of staff taking part in e-learning on the impacts of stress and coping mechanisms in 2021
- a mental health app offered to staff, with 60% of those offered the app signed up by December 2021.
## **Our wellbeing ambition is:**
- that everyone can find and access support when they need it
- that everyone is equipped to adapt and overcome challenges
- to empower staff to take care of their wellbeing by using the range of strategies, initiatives and resources we have in place.
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Personal Wellbeing
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Organisational Wellbeing
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We will create and maintain a culture where employees can fulfil their potential and purpose. We aim to create a healthy workplace that helps staff to flourish, creating an environment that actively promotes wellbeing. We will ensure that we consider wellbeing within our policies and processes, and our Culture and Values programme will help embed wellbeing throughout the organisation.
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Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
**23**
## **National award: Leading the way in clinical auditing**
**Wendy leads the way in clinical auditing.**
## **Embedding a culture of quality through assessment and accreditation**
Demonstrating that we operate at the highest standards is essential to building confidence and trust in our beneficiaries and stakeholders.
Our ratings from Care Quality Commission (CQC), Ofsted Care and Ofsted Education and the achievement of our ISO9001 Quality Standard (awarded by CHKS) allow us to demonstrate that we provide high-quality care.
Undergoing rigorous external assessments helps us maintain compliance. It drives us to work in more efficient and effective ways and it enables us to review and challenge our working practices. And while our clinical services are routinely assessed, we know that our corporate services would equally benefit from this same level of rigour. We want to develop and embed a culture of quality throughout all services.
In November 2020 our Audit & Research Administrator, Wendy Houweling was awarded the national prize in the Clinical Audit Professional of the Year category in the Audit Heroes Awards. The awards are run by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) which promotes quality in healthcare.
Judges commended Wendy’s work in championing clinical auditing, raising good practice among nursing, care and therapy teams and working with senior clinical staff to ensure that changes in practice are implemented for the benefit and safety of the children.
This coming year we will be agreeing assessments, awards and accreditations to pursue and will develop an implementation plan.
## **Business performance and management information**
The information and data that we collect from across the organisation is essential to our decision making and strategic performance.
In 2020 we agreed the structure and resource of a new Business Performance team to improve and formalise our management information.
This new area of work will not only streamline our process of management information collection but it will also help us develop strong analytic and presentational techniques to generate significantly improved insights which help us deliver improved and proactive performance management.
They praised Wendy for bringing new learning to a specific area of auditing. Having gained inspiration from external training, Wendy worked with the Head of Clinical Education to update and improve the pain audit that we were using.
This work helped refine the data that was being captured to improve the child’s experience of their care.
Our aim is to develop a reporting environment which allows us to capture the relevant information that evidences the true impact of our services and monitors outcomes for children and young people. We aim to further develop our leading performance and risk indicators so that we gain foresight of potential future issues and can take action.
In the coming year the team will work closely with stakeholders to develop key performance indicators to help inform decision-making and we will be implementing analytic software to support this work.
You can read more about our impact reporting on p28-33.
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**24** Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
## **The volunteer journey and Trustee governance**
We have a long and proud history of voluntary support and the impact of volunteers on the culture and financial health of the charity cannot be over estimated.
We conservatively calculate, our circa 1,200 volunteers contribute over £750,000 in added value by giving time alone. That figure quickly rises when we consider that most of our volunteers are engaged in income generating activities.
A new volunteering strategy was approved in March 2021.
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Our events wouldn’t be possible without
the help of our amazing volunteers.
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## **Our new volunteering strategic framework**
**Internal** Recruit 500 additional volunteers
**Volunteer delivery**
We will continue to recruit and support the core groups of volunteers that are essential to our service delivery and charitable operational activities:
- volunteer drivers
- retail volunteers
- child-facing volunteers
- on-site volunteers
- events volunteers
**External** Volunteer management Achieve investors training for staff in volunteering
Volunteer best practice
**Strategic alignment**
**Early career programme**
**Governance support**
We will deliver a programme We will create and of opportunities to enable implement a compliance early career development. plan for Trustees & Governors. This will include mandatory We will work with schools training and Trustee to encourage young people training requirements. to volunteer as part of continuing to diversify our And we will also ensure access volunteering pool and provide to development opportunities. opportunities in the voluntary sector. In addition, we will scope and research a work experience programme for young people who have experienced an acquired brain injury.
We will create volunteer opportunities that enable us to deliver our strategy ‘Hope & Ambition’.
The four themes are underpinned by: A Great Volunteer Journey
- recruit additional volunteers
- volunteer management training for staff
- • investing in volunteering • volunteer best practice
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Hope and Ambition: Delivering our strategy
**25**
## **Supporting our employees for the future**
Providing a competitive employee pension scheme and educating employees on planning for future retirement is an important strand of our Building Excellence aim.
In 2020/21 an independent and full review was undertaken to compare our current scheme against other pension suppliers in the workplace pension market. And as a result we changed our pension supplier from June 2021 to ensure that we are providing employees with the best options in saving for their future. Employees have been urged to attend pension workshops as a way of understanding the change and the importance of investing in a pension.
*Many of our clinical and teaching staff are members of the NHS Pension Scheme or Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
## **Estate of the future**
We are committed to the restoration, conservation and maintenance of Tadworth Court estate, which houses our residential services, our School and most of our staff. Our new Estate Strategy has been created to help us reach our organisation’s ambitions, while ensuring sustainability and meeting our obligations as described in the Memorandum of Association of The Children’s Trust.
The new strategy covers 2021-2025 and will promote a structured and transparent process for estate management. It will support our sustainability work and ensure we meet the needs of children, families and staff without compromising the needs of the future. Preventative maintenance will be prioritised enabling less reliance on reactive maintenance.
## **Commitment to sustainability**
As part of our Hope and Ambition Strategy we have committed to being a more responsible organisation. For this to happen we need to make sure our practices are sustainable, from the top of our supply chain, through to our impact on our people, the environment, and the communities in which we operate. We have developed a Responsible Organisation Strategy which sets out how we intend to make progress in this area. This is a project in which we have involved the children and young people we work with who, like us, are extremely passionate about this topic. You can read more about this on p44-48.
## **Joining forces with the sector**
Throughout this year we continued to work alongside our sector colleagues, united in our common goal to advocate for disabled children. We attended government roundtables and maintained contact with sector bodies in Surrey and at a national level.
Over the course of the pandemic the Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP), of which we are a founding member, carried out research which showed the devastating and disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on disabled children and their families.
Our pre-pandemic call to government to transform support for disabled children and their families matters more than ever. Our coalition, which is made up of more than 90 organisations, has engaged with government officials throughout the year to make them aware of our research and to influence their decision making. We will continue to campaign for improved health and social care for disabled children, young people and their families.
Our call to government is to:
- prioritise disabled children
- review and reform the complex and opaque system
- and invest in services.
**26** Summary of progress
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## **Summary of progress**
## **Our business plan 2020/21**
## **Red, Amber, Green (RAG) ratings:**
|**Red**|Progress delayed|
|---|---|
|**Amber**|Progressingwith minor delays|
|**Green**|Complete/on track|
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Aim one: Build on our specialist knowledge to grow our services at Tadworth Court and help more children and
young people
Identify, design and launch one We piloted our first new service, Functional Neurological Disorder
new service a year for each of the (FND) packages.
next five years.
We are on course to launch the pilot of our second new service,
Outpatient Movement Disorders.
Develop a comprehensive offer Some initial work was undertaken, with early recommendations made
for resident families and carers. to improve family accommodation. The pandemic has slowed progress
of this programme.
Build the competencies and skills to A Respiratory Standard Operating Procedure has been written, and
provide more long-term ventilation work continues with the education team in reviewing competencies
and step-down places. and training.
Increase clinical staffing to budget We have now closed the clinical establishment gap and continue to work
in all services. on our required staffing levels and recruit to need.
Increase residential referrals for Marketing for referrals continues, with contact being extended to
rehabilitation, education and more hospitals. There is now a good pipeline of school referrals.
neurodisability care at Tadworth Court. The international private marketing is underway. This includes a
substantive review of our offer.
Aim two: Support every child in the UK with an acquired brain injury
Optimise our existing operations through We have created a draft strategy to digitally deliver ABI content to
the Brain Injury Community Service and families and have developed an initial case for an IT solution to help
achieve greater integration of our clinical streamline data capture and triage of referral information from hospitals.
and information offers.
We are drawing on our National Picture of Need report and adding more
Develop and launch interdisciplinary detail around our first potential site to inform the service design for our
teams in three new locations across first Interdisciplinary team.
the country.
Develop an integrated In the past year we have developed and launched an online schools
schools programme. programme to provide an introduction to acquired brain injury to
primary schools.
Public engagement: increase public We launched a pilot concussion campaign on social media, which
awareness of concussion, concept demonstrated a strong public appetite for information on concussion.
development and testing. The strategy for delivering the campaign is now part of our corporate
and volunteer programmes.
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Summary of progress
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**27**
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Aim three: Improve outcomes for children and young people through integration of our specialist skills and approaches
Transform service provision for We ran a workshop with education, health, therapy and care teams
all children from a multidisciplinary to discuss the transdisciplinary approach and what it means for the
/interdisciplinary to a organisation. We have developed a job description for an Integrated
transdisciplinary approach. Services Lead secondment role to oversee the development of this work.
Transform our delivery model to enable We placed this work on hold until our transdisciplinary work is underway,
flexible personalised pathways for all as the two aspects will work in alignment.
children and young people.
Explore an integrated approach to Whilst some initial discussions have taken place this project is now on
governance across Education, Health, hold for 2021/22. We will re-assess the suitability to proceed next year.
Therapy & Care (EHTC).
Design a new, state-of-the-art building We submitted for planning permission in summer 2021.
that empowers excellence by facilitating
transdisciplinary working to meet the
needs of young people and their families.
How we work: Building excellence
Culture and values We finalised our brief for the culture and values work and we are now
embarking on a process of extensive stakeholder engagement to help
us determine desired values and behaviours. This will help us to create
a cultural framework which we expect to launch and embed from
August 2021.
Learning & Development Framework We developed a scope for the Leadership Development programme and
launched the programme in April.
Develop performance & management A Business Performance team was established and work is underway
information work to build a data hub to improve our reporting processes and
operational performance.
Assessment and accreditation Scoping exercise in progress but work slowed as this project was placed
on pause for 2021/22.
Sustainability Delay in appointing to post due to the pandemic but strategy complete
by end of 2020/21.
Digital Digital content: We created a content strategy for our
digital communications.
Digital efficiency: Initial scoping work complete. Information Strategy
will be developed in 2021/22 and is included in the business plan.
Digitisation of services: The pandemic has had a significant impact
on how we deliver our services and in many instances has transformed
our approaches.
Systems audit Audit complete.
Electronic records/people planner The plan to go live with Electronic Records System was pushed back from
2020/21 to 2021/22 due to COVID-19 pressures on teams who need to
be involved in system development and training.
Pension review Agreed our new pension advice provider.
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The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**28** Improving children’s lives: Our impact
## **Improving children’s lives: Our impact**
As a charity our mission is to help children with brain injury and neurodisability live the best life possible. Partners and funders believe in this mission and support us to deliver our services. In return it is vital that we can robustly demonstrate the impact we have on the children we support and the wider world.
## **Rehabilitation impact**
At the start of their placement and with the support of their family and our team, children are asked to set five goals that they would like to achieve during their time at The Children’s Trust.
The rehabilitation team plans therapy to help the child or young person achieve these goals.
## **Examples of the types of goals:**
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Child’s goal Associated therapy goal
To stand The young person will be able to transfer
using an assistive device.
To see The young person’s friends will have some
my friends understanding of brain injury and its effects.
To write For the young person to hold a pen using a
two finger grasp.
Increase For the young person to be able to wash their
independence upper body with a flannel, apply deodorant
in self care and lip balm.
Sing along For the young person to consistently vocalise
to music at certain points during a song, such as a
keyword or the chorus.
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We use Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) to score the extent to which the child or young person’s goals are achieved. GAS is used worldwide and we benchmark our goals and outcomes against worldwide data.
43 children were discharged during 2020/21 with their GAS goals documented by the therapy team in their discharge reports.
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Goal outcomes 100%
6%
compared with 17%
previous years 9%
80%
Much more
than expected 22%
More than
expected 60%
57%
Achieved as
expected
Less than
44% 40%
expected
Much less
than expected
20%
27%
15%
0%
2019 - 2020 2020 - 2021
Year
% of goals
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The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Improving children’s lives: Our impact
**29**
## This year 83% of the goals set were achieved as ‘expected’, ‘more than expected’ or ‘much more than expected’.
Research suggests that for standard clinical practice, goals should be met ‘as expected’ 50% of the time (Kelly et al, 2019*), to indicate that the goals set are both appropriately challenging and realistic. These results indicate that we are cautious when setting goals, meaning that we often achieve ‘as expected’ or above in a higher number of cases.
This was particularly the case last year when, during the pandemic, we admitted children sooner than normal. As a result, goals were being set much sooner after a brain injury than we would usually set them. The goal setting requires the rehabilitation team to predict the possible outcomes for the young person, while ensuring the goals are balanced between achievable and challenging. Getting this balance was more difficult this year given that the team do not usually set goals
at this more acute stage of a brain injury recovery.
Encouragingly the young people exceeded our expectations with more children achieving above the ‘expected’ level than in the previous year. This has helped the team learn about goal setting at an earlier stage after a child sustains a brain injury.
It is encouraging to see that from the 246 individualised goals, jointly set by children, families and the teams supporting the children, so many are met as expected and above. This demonstrates that our rehabilitation service is helping children meet therapy goals and achieve their personal targets, giving them better quality of life after a brain injury.
## **In the community**
The Brain Injury Community Service supported 1,711 young people across the UK during 2020/21. Depending on a child’s needs, this comprehensive and specialist support includes clinical screening, advice about acquired brain injury and rehabilitation, onward referrals and liaison with a child’s professional network and school.
During 2020/21, 16 children received a community-based neurorehabilitation skills package delivered by the Brain Injury Community Services. It was identified that these children had on-going needs which could not be supported through local services, and our team secured funding from local health bodies to provide this vital support.
The team work with each young person to set goals at the outset of the support. We can then measure their progress against these goals at discharge.
Some examples of goals from 2020/21:
- to be able to walk home from school
- to prepare my lunch without supervision
- I want my teachers to understand the challenges I have due to my brain injury
- I would like to feel more comfortable talking about my brain injury
- to participate in homework tasks.
The children and young people who accessed our community-based neurorehabilitation skills packages set 26 goals in total between them. 85% of these were achieved as ‘expected or above.’
**16 children received a community-based neurorehabilitation skills package. These results are based on the six children and young people who completed their skills package and were discharged in 2020/21.**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
package. These results are
based on the six children and 11%
15%
young people who completed
their skills package and were
discharged in 2020/21.
22%
Less than expected
Achieved
as expected
More than
expected
52%
Much more
than expected
**----- End of picture text -----**
* Kelly, G., Dunford, C., Forsyth, R., & Kavčič, A. (2019). Using child and family centred goal setting as an outcome measure in residential rehabilitation for children and youth with acquired brain injuries: The challenge of predicting expected levels of achievement. Child: Care, Health and Development, 45, 286–291.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**30** Improving children’s lives: Our impact
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Breakdown of targets
achieved and at what level Expected Above Exceptional
expectations
80% 76%
71% 72% 69% 4%
70%
8% 8%
12%
20%
60%
12% 16%
12%
50%
40%
30%
51% 52%
48%
45%
20%
10%
0%
2019-2020 2020-2021 2019-2020 2020-2021
Cognitive Communication,
language and literacy
% targets achieved and at what level
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Achieving goals in school**
The Children’s Trust School uses the ImPACTS Curriculum to set annual goals for each child and young person. ImPACTS is an assessment tool and curriculum that has been developed to ensure the pupils are at the centre of the assessment and planning process. It is used widely by schools that support children with profound and multiple learning difficulties and our goal setting and scoring is externally moderated with partner schools.
Some goal examples set for the pupils:
- respond to a known adult voice
- track sound-making objects
- show clear responses to a small range of stimuli
At the end of the school year the education, care and therapy team will make an assessment of each young person against their goals. The assessment requires evidence, internal and external validation, before it is summarised and collated.
## **Our 2020/21 impact**
The graph above shows that this year the young people in the School have achieved a greater number of targets as ‘expected’ and above than the previous year. More targets were achieved at ‘above expectations’ and ‘exceptional’ than in the previous year, so not only have these targets been achieved but the young people have gone above what was expected of them for these goals.
- attempt to repeat a movement again for desired effect, such as banging a drum
- vocalise in response to a favourite activity.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Improving children’s lives: Our impact
**31**
## **School Goals Attainment Scale (Light)**
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Much more 3% 5% 100%
4%
than expected
14%
More than
27% 80%
expected
Achieved as
expected 36% 60%
Partially
Achieved
50% 40%
No change 17%
Worse
20%
28%
16%
0%
2019 - 2020 2020 - 2021
Year
% of goals achieved
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In addition to using the ImPACTS Curriculum to set goals, The Children’s Trust School also uses the Goal Attainment Scale-Light model. This is a more developmental goal-scaling approach for use across disciplines with any students where individual goals are set as part of the therapy process.
Throughout the academic year the students and their families are asked to set goals that they want to achieve. These goals are integrated into sessions in the students’ individual house and class sessions. Some goals are set within very specific and measurable timeframes, whereas others may represent aspirations of the child and family, such as supporting quality of life or reducing pain.
Here are some examples of these goals:
- engage with sensory and leisure games using eye gaze technology by intermittently keeping my eyes open and moving them on occasion
- • ride my trike to School on a weekly basis to experience movement outdoors
- use my switch to change the direction of movement when driving during powered mobility
- use my chewing skills to manage textured foods
- consistently use my voice within a musical context to turn-take and express my musical preferences.
And the end of each goal’s timeframe the therapists will review the goal and determine what level the child has achieved. This graph shows the achievement of goals, at what level, and in comparison to last year.
Last year 66% of goals were not achieved fully and we were concerned that goals were perhaps too challenging for the young people and set over too long a period.
This year we have been setting and measuring goals much more frequently so that we can capture incremental changes and progress that happens throughout the year.
We’re pleased with the outcomes this year as they demonstrate that the goals were both challenging and realistic, with an increase of goals achieved as expected or above.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**32** Improving children’s lives: Our impact
## **Family centred care achieves better outcomes for children**
We know that organisations that are family-centred achieve better outcomes for the children they support. We fully appreciate the impact that a family can have on the children we support through our services and we strive to put the entire family at the heart of our work.
We now use the Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC) to get an insight and to assess parents’ perceptions of whether the care they and their child receive from us is family-centred. MPOC is used internationally and assesses family-centred behaviours of healthcare providers.
Since November 2020, 23 families of children receiving rehabilitation, attending short breaks or pupils at The Children’s Trust School responded to the MPOC survey. They were asked about the different aspects of support we provided and to what extent they felt we had considered the whole family as we supported the child.
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How family centred is our care?
Co-ordination and
6.4
comprehensive care
Respectful and 6.2
supportive care
Enabling
5.8
and partnership
Providing specific
5.7
information on the child
Providing
5.5
general information
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Average score
1= not centred at all
7= centred to a very great extent
Categories of care
**----- End of picture text -----**
_* We started collecting this data in November 2020 and are currently working to find a suitable organisation against which to benchmark our scores._
## **4. Specific information on**
## **1. Coordination and comprehensive care**
**the child** example question: To what extent did we provide you with written information about your child’s progress?
example question: To what extent did we treat you as an individual rather than as a ‘typical’ parent of a child with a disability?
**5. Providing general information** example question: To what extent did we give you information about your child’s disability (e.g. its causes, how it progresses, future outlook?
**2. Respectful and supportive care** example question: To what extent did we look at the needs of the ‘whole’ child (e.g. at mental, emotional and social needs) instead of just physical?
Respondents can rank between one (not at all) and seven (to a very great extent).
**3. Enabling and partnership** example question: To what extent did we provide opportunities for you to make decisions about treatment?
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Improving children’s lives: Our impact
**33**
## **Friends and Family Test**
How likely are you to recommend the service to friends, family and other parents if they needed similar careor treatment?
## **2020/21:**
72 families responded with 100% of results being ‘likely’ or ‘extremely likely’
**Compared with previous results of:** 2019/20: 98.7% 2018/19: 100%
The NHS last benchmark of February 2020 was 92.7% ‘likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to recommend the service.
## **Public benefit and activities**
In assessing the charity’s impact on our beneficiaries the Trustees follow the Charity Commission guidance and are confident that the services provided by the charity meet those requirements. The Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team measure the achievement of the objectives and performance of the charity by regularly reviewing key performance indicators and outcome measures. This is done through monthly business meetings, a detailed quarterly review process led by the Chief Executive and through regular reports to Trustees.
As is expected, the pandemic has had an impact on some of our key performance indicators. For instance, it is likely that less children sustained brain injuries from accidents during the lockdown period which has resulted in less referrals for rehabilitation. And our change in service delivery, (rehabilitation programmes ran over six days instead of five) has resulted in a decreased average length of stay.
##
##
## **Performance against our principal (non-financial) key performance indicators was as follows:**
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2019/20 2018/19
1,863 direct services were delivered to children with brain 1,951 1,243
injury and neurodisability
72 children and young people received intensive 96 89
rehabilitation for brain injury or other support from our
child and family services at our national specialist centre
22 was the average number of children in rehab per night 23.5 23.4
(Children and family services)
78.4 nights was the average length of stay for children in 93 118
rehab (mean average)
57 children attended The Children’s Trust School 73 71 [1]
and nursery.
27.2 was the average number of residential school pupils 24.9 25.5
and 12.3 the average number of children as day pupils [2] and 8.6 and 7.7
Operational metrics:
Sickness absence was 3.0% [3] 5.9% 3.3%
Our 12 month rolling turnover 19% 26.8%
(staff attrition) is 16.2% [3]
Mandatory training 93.7% 90.6%
compliance was 91.9% [3]
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_1These previous years’ numbers include those attending our parent and toddler group, Taddies which did not run in 2020/21 due to the pandemic.[2] These figures do not include children who attend our nursery.[3] As at March 2021._
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**34** Staying connected
## **Staying connected**
Our staff and volunteers are our most valued asset. Their dedication and commitment has remained unwavering in an uncertain year.
Staff have adapted brilliantly with the changing circumstances and been extremely willing, flexible and collaborative in carrying out their roles. This has ensured that the care and support that we provide to children and young people has remained consistent.
We used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme from March 2020, when the first lockdown commenced. The number of staff on furlough varied each month.
Throughout March 2020–June 2020 we had the highest number of employees furloughed, which was 50. September was the month in which we had the least number of furloughed staff at two.
Furloughed employees included staff from retail, facilities and fundraising. In some instances, we made use of the flexible furlough scheme, where employees could do some work where available.
Our aim was to ensure that staff were not impacted financially as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns.
## **Prioritising staff morale**
With a mix of remote working and social distancing, we have strived to ensure that staff did not feel isolated and we’ve created new ways to engage, interact and update on organisational news. In particular, we focused on ensuring we systematically provided information on matters we knew would be of particular concern to them.
Our Chief Executive sent video messages to staff throughout the year, sharing news from all departments and encouraged anyone who needed support to get in touch. We ensured that staff were provided with guidance on safe homeworking and provided workstation assessments to help prevent issues like back injury and eye strain.
Strategy Spotlight sessions have been delivered during year. These live virtual sessions have kept staff up-to-date with our strategy progress and presented an opportunity for the voice of employees to be heard, so that their views could be taken into account in making decisions likely to affect their interests. The virtual nature of the Strategy Spotlights enabled us to encourage every member of staff to participate either live or by tuning into the recording.
Staying Connected was launched as a weekly email update featuring organisational news and signposting to sources of wellbeing support. This included emotional and wellbeing support, bereavement support, financial wellbeing, staying active and home-schooling advice.
We also publish a monthly newsletter distributed to the Operational Leadership Team (OLT), entitled ‘Need to Know’. Each team head was responsible for giving an update for their area of the organisation, which was then discussed in monthly meetings. The information contained within this update was then cascaded
to the individual teams thereafter. The ‘Need to Know’ newsletter included a financial summary section, that reported on both the financial and economic factors affecting the performance of the organisation.
Virtual tea breaks were held regularly for staff as an opportunity for people to have some interaction and talk to colleagues across site.
The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) has been promoted consistently throughout this challenging year. The programme is an external confidential support service to support all aspect of wellbeing.
## With a mix of
remote working and social distancing, we have strived to ensure that staff did not feel isolated.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Staying connected
**35**
## **Protecting our staff**
Many of our staff have remained working on-site during the pandemic. They have had to adjust to wearing PPE and working in novel ways to limit the risk of infection. At the height of the crisis on-site staff were working in an environment where they could catch COVID-19 at any time.
We put the following measures in place to ensure we were providing the utmost support for our people:
- completed COVID-19 risk assessment for each child individually
- completed COVID-19 risk assessment for approximately 700 staff
- mandatory Infection Prevention & Control Training on working safely in a COVID-19 secure environment for non-clinical staff and volunteers
- offered occupational health reviews in addition to COVID-19 risk assessment for clinically vulnerable and extremely clinically vulnerable staff
- offered authorised paid leave instead of Statutory Sick Pay as directed by government guidelines to clinically extremely vulnerable staff who were asked to shield and could not work from home
- A poster Campaign to remind everyone of COVID-19 safety measures.
The start of 2021 marked a significant moment as we were able to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to all of our staff. This was a huge step towards lifting some of our own restrictions and helped inform our own roadmap out of lockdown.
We had a positive uptake of the vaccination with over 658 vaccines administered to staff and 59 administered to volunteers.
## **Creating a recruitment pipeline**
It was a positive year for the Recruitment & Compliance team in terms of progress, in particular closing the clinical gap in 2020 prior to which we had vacant posts, particularly in nursing and Children’s Support Assistant roles. Filling these vacancies made us ‘fully established’.
Not only have we been able to close this gap but since January 2021 we have been able to pipeline applicants, helping us to avoid future clinical gaps and speeding up our recruitment process in the future.*
We recruited and filled 229 roles in 2020/21, 44 of which were internal moves.
- We closed the clinical establishment gap during the reporting period 2020/21. At the time of writing there is once again a clinical establishment gap and we are working to close this.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**36** Staying connected
## **Gender pay gap**
## **Monumental support of volunteers**
This is now the fourth year of our Gender Pay Gap Report and the mean and median pay gaps we reported in 2019/20 remain almost unchanged. Relating to data collected in 2020, our Gender Pay Gap Report highlighted that on average men at The Children’s Trust earn 20.4% more than women. And at the midpoint of salaries, men are paid 21.3% more than women. This data was extracted from the April 2020 payroll and was accurate, as of the 5 April 2020.
This past year has seen a shift in how our volunteers have been able to support us but they have risen to the challenge and we are eternally grateful for their loyalty and support.
Some volunteering activity temporarily ceased due to COVID-19 restrictions such as supporting children and young people in our school classrooms, helping maintaining our grounds or volunteering in our shops.
We continue to take steps towards narrowing the gap. We have developed a Gender Pay Gap Action Plan based on recommendations made by the Government Equalities Office and our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion working groups, and will review our recruitment and candidate selection process.
However, it gave us the opportunity to explore different avenues of remote volunteering, engaging volunteers to help support our essential recruitment and compliance processes and our fundraising efforts remotely. We intend to expand this exciting new branch of volunteering for The Children’s Trust.
For further information on our findings and how we’re working to address our pay gap, you can read the report by visiting **www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk/ about/regulations-policies.**
And while the pandemic has prevented many of our volunteers from engaging with their roles over the past year, we have been pleased to remain connected to them through our monthly
At The Children’s Trust we recognise how important it is to have leadership that reflects the children, young people and families that we support.
We also recognise that staff, comprised of a range of backgrounds and experiences will help us to better understand the needs of those we support, and how we can best represent their interests. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds and those from other under-represented groups.
The Children’s Trust is committed to achieving equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across all levels of the organisation. We are currently collecting staff diversity data including information on ethnicity and disability and we are actively encouraging staff to provide this data to inform our forthcoming EDI strategy.
e-newsletter and by inviting them to virtual ‘catch-ups’.
We are so proud of the monumental efforts of volunteers who have been able to support us during this time, and we eagerly anticipate welcoming our wider volunteering cohort back in the coming year.
This past year has seen a shift in how our volunteers have been able to support us but they have risen to the challenge and we are eternally grateful for their loyalty and support.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Staying connected
**37**
**Volunteer drivers drove more than 31,000 miles in 2020/21**
**As a volunteer driver Emilia takes children to medical appointments and on other outings.**
“ _There are many reasons to volunteer for The Children’s Trust. For me, the best thing about it is how rewarding it feels being able to help children and staff taking them to various medical appointments. Although being a volunteer driver comes with quite a bit of responsibility, the induction process was really reassuring._ ” **Emilia, volunteer driver**
With over **1,200** volunteers, this is what our volunteer activity looks like:
**----- Start of picture text -----**
58.7%
event volunteers.
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working in our charity shops. **27%**
**4.4%**
volunteers/school volunteers).
**3.4%**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
1%
Governors and Trustees.
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**38** Financial performance: Raising money and how we spend it
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## **Financial performance: Raising money and how we spend it**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Clare, The Children’s Trust School nurse.
**----- End of picture text -----**
on the prior year.
We also strengthened our cash position and delivered a strong capital programme of just over £3m of investments.
Behind these figures lies a year of profound financial challenge. The first lockdown had an instant effect: our retail shops closed (£1.8m of planned revenue), our international referrals (£1.3m) stopped, as did our fundraising events programme (£0.8m) and a significant element of our community and corporate fundraising programme (£0.5m). With non-frontline staff working from home, we needed to spend £0.4m on IT to facilitate these new arrangements.
The earlier than usual discharges from hospitals to our rehabilitation facilities in that period brought its own challenges. The needs of children and young people were significantly more complex, bringing financial pressures on staffing, medication and PPE. These admissions were on a fixed-price contract and at a time when staffing levels were under considerable strain.
Financial performance: Raising money and how we spend it **39**
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Retail shops were closed for most of the year.
**----- End of picture text -----**
**The following factors contributed significantly to achieving our budgeted operating surplus:**
- £2.7m of capacity grant was received from the NHS to support the continued operations of our rehabilitation services (and thereby, to enable continued/accelerated discharges from paediatric trauma units). This largely offset the income and cost pressures in that area
- retail shops were closed for most of the year. The receipt of furlough grant of £0.35m covered the majority of the net losses in that area.
- the pressures on fundraising and corporate costs were offset largely by a gain of £1.4m on our investment portfolio (offsetting the loss of £1.3m sustained in the final quarter of 2019/20)
- our working capital challenges were addressed by tackling the high levels of debt owed by NHS, CCGs and by Local Authorities. From a peak of £4.4m in July 2019, trade debtors stood at £0.5m by March 2021. Over 90 days debtor balance as at 31.03.20 was £0.9m
• working capital was also eased by slippage on non-critical elements of the capital programme. Notwithstanding, the refurbishment of the external fabric of the Mansion House at Tadworth Court was completed, £0.4m was spent on initial design fees for the new build and a further £0.4m on the first phase of our final major IT systems investment: the £1.3m Electronic Clinical Records project. The capital budget spend on infrastructure was £3.1m in 2020/21, with budget spent at 102%. (The capital budget spend in 2019/20 was £2.48m with budget spent at 120%, and the capital budget spend in 2018/19 was £2.2m with budget spent at 92.5%).
Looking ahead, 2021/22 will be a year of transition. With no further grant funding, the view of the Trustees is that the organisation should be capable of returning to pre-pandemic levels of activity and income by the second half of the new year. Strategically, we have lost at least a year: the challenge will be for the charity to return to target
strategic performance levels (including specifically fundraising and international work) in order to be in a position to commit contractually to the construction phase of our new build, Project Butterfly.
The view of the Trustees is that the organisation should be capable of returning to pre-pandemic levels of activity and income by the second half of 2021/22.
Financial performance: Raising money and how we spend it
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**40**
## **Our approach to raising voluntary income**
During 2020/21 The Children’s Trust supporters raised a total of £4.3m from fundraising activities and its shops raised £1.319m (minus Retail Grants of £590K and gift aid at £39K the income was £690K). Our fundraising and retail income is made possible by the very generous contributions from donors, organisations and volunteers who help make our work possible. We are very grateful for all of their support.
The charity’s approach to fundraising focuses on seven main areas:
1. a chain of shops and online retail selling new and donated goods
2. soliciting gifts from trusts, foundations and statutory partners;
3. the solicitation and stewardship of donations or entries to a lottery being paid either by direct debit, or as cash gifts
4. gifts in Wills from supporters
5. running our own events and entering individuals into third-party activities
We also receive Gift Aid on monetary donations, events sponsorship and donations to our shops and in 2020/21 the payments received totalled £267k (2019/20: £346k). The decline was due to a lower level of fundraising income activity as events and other activities were cancelled or postponed as well as the closure of our shops during the three national lockdowns.
We have a programme to increase the level of Gift Aid take-up among our supporters and now report on our success in Gift Aid penetration. We expect this number to increase again in 2021/22 as our retail chain returns to full operation and fundraising activities start again. Against this, the charity sustained irrecoverable VAT of £1,066k (2019/20: £858k).
## **Gift Aid**
Gift Aid penetration: **46.96%** (2019/20: **44%** )
6. building partnerships with businesses, schools, community groups and other organisations to support them in raising money on our behalf
7. supporting individual members of the public to conduct their own fundraising activities on our behalf.
Financial performance: Raising money and how we spend it
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**41**
## **We take responsibility for our actions**
The charity is a member of the Fundraising Regulator scheme and is thereby entitled to use the Regulator’s logo on its fundraising materials; it operates in accordance with the Code of Fundraising Practice and is an organisational member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
The charity’s fundraising programmes are compliant with the Institute and our own Vulnerable Person’s Policy, and the key tenets of the policy are incorporated in our training programmes. The charity also operates a whistleblowing policy and a complaints policy and process, as required by the Code of Fundraising Practice. It is also registered with the Gambling Commission for the purposes of running a lottery, conducting a supporter raffle and to hold draws at local events.
The charity continues to review its Supporter Promise, which is available on our website. This confirms our commitment to abiding by the Fundraising Preference Service, and the Mail and Telephone Preference Services.
## **Voluntary income complaints**
We take a robust approach to handling complaints and welcome feedback from supporters and the public. During the financial year 2020/21, 100% of complaints were investigated and almost 100% have been resolved (three are pending/being actioned).
Complaints in relation to fundraising activity (those in connection with retail operations):
- 2020/21: 16 (retail: 14)
- 2019/20: 42 (retail: 29)
- 2018/19: 56 (retail: 30)
- 2017/18: 30 (retail: 26)
These complaints should be seen in the context of over 100,000 emails, 64,411 items of direct mail, over 7,600 people who took part in our events and box collections, third-party events and approaches to over 4,192 businesses and trusts contacts.
The retail complaints are in the context of over 250,000 customer transactions in our shops. There were no instances where a complaint was required to be referred to the Fundraising Regulator, Ofcom, the Information Commissioner’s Office or any other regulatory body.
Income is made possible by generous donors, organisations and volunteers who help. We are very grateful for all of their support.
During the course of 2020/21 we engaged only one commercial participator; Sterling, who manage The Children’s Trust Lottery. The participator operates within the same policy framework as staff and we monitor their compliance. There were no incidents to report in 2020/21.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**42** Fundraising and supporter highlights
## **Fundraising and supporter highlights**
The generosity of new and existing supporters in 2020/21 was truly humbling.
Individuals, companies, schools, community and sports groups throughout the country continued to organise and participate in virtual events to support our charity, at a time when everyone’s lives were impacted by the pandemic. And for that, we would like to express a heartfelt thanks.
The various lockdowns and restrictions shut our shops for over half of the year and led to the cancellation of many events run by the charity and its supporters. However, when our shops were opened our customers were very generous and many people adapted their fundraising to work online.
## **Highlights from the year**
- In response to the first lockdown announcement the charity launched its Special Appeal. Over the first quarter of the year, individual supporters, major donors, trusts, groups and companies very generously donated over £675k, with many giving the largest donations they had ever made. We are very grateful to everyone who supported the Appeal as this made a massive difference to our financial performance over the year and increased our confidence in maintaining our services through the pandemic.
- Many local people generously gave their support for the Appeal through a variety of gifts-in-kind, with large amounts of PPE, hand sanitiser and other practical items that were in short supply, but also treats for the children and the staff to help them all through a very challenging time.
- • One of the first major events cancelled due to lockdown was the Virgin Money London Marathon. To support charities in making up for the shortfall, a 2.6 Challenge took place in April last year. The idea was simple: to pick any activity with the theme of 26 or 2.6. Our supporters got behind this and helped raise more than £40k by running for 26 minutes, being sponsored to eat as many pieces of sweetcorn using a cocktail stick in 26 seconds, through to running 26 miles over the course of the weekend!
- Our community of golf supporters attended two golf days and one supporter, forced to cancel his annual golf day held a ‘no-golf, golf day’ raising more than they would at their typical day. Overall, the golf days raised £35k for us.
- • With so many running events cancelled, our half marathon and marathon running ‘Squads’ went it alone, pivoting their mass participation run into solo runs, running in their neighbourhoods across the UK. The Local Landmarks and Virtual London Marathon saw teams of 30 runners donning their Children’s Trust vests and making their training miles count. Our Step Forward virtual step challenge grew for the third year in a row with 152 people ‘stepping forward’ for children with brain injury.
- Our Christmas Concert went online for the first-time ever. Hosted by Nicholas Owen, the virtual audience enjoyed performances from West End star Grace Mouat, St Catherine’s Preparatory School and the University of Surrey String Orchestra. There was a special première of ‘Are you Ready for Christmas’, a song by The Children’s Trust School’s very own band, Cedar Super Sounds.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Fundraising and supporter highlights
**43**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2020/21 2019/20 2018/19 2017/18
183,600 visitors to The Children’s Trust website 163,312 153,391 182,665
2.52% average monthly engagement rate on 4.61% 2.66% 2.49%
The Children’s Trust social media (FB, TW, LI)
14,344 active supporters 14,187 17,389 17,905
**----- End of picture text -----**
- The Children's Trust were part of • The Children's Trust were featured a ten-charity consortium who on the BBC One Lifeline Appeal created and presented The Massive in November. The nine-minute Get Together, an online streamed programme was presented by variety show featuring Basil Brush, singer and broadcaster Martin Alex Brooker, Sophie Ellis-Bextor Kemp, who himself has suffered and The Children’s Trust a brain injury, and shared the Ambassador, Adam Hills. The stories of three young people event raised over £52k for the supported by us. Generous viewers charities involved and streamed donated over £38k to the Appeal. to over 1,500 households. • Where events were cancelled
- • Despite having a heavily or postponed, a number of kind disrupted year, the support supporters donated their ticket from our community of school fees to us in lieu of refunds and for supporters was fantastic. Students that, we are enormously grateful. took part in sponsored runs, walks • We are also very grateful to those and held virtual concerts to raise individuals who left us gifts in their much-needed funds for Wills during the year, contributing The Children's Trust. £728k to our work.
Fundraising underpins our strategic activities and our ambition to help support every child in the UK with a brain injury. It allows us to invest in equipment, facilities, information and advice services and therapy staff to help give children with brain injury and neurodisability the opportunity to live the best life possible.
**Ambassador, Elaine Paige OBE, recorded a special cover of ‘Sing a Rainbow,’ to raise money for The Children’s Trust during lockdown.**
**Harry Judd, drummer of McFly, and his wife Izzy, became Ambassadors for The Children’s Trust in 2020**
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**44** Commitment to sustainability and environmental impact
## **Commitment to sustainability and environmental impact**
As part of our Hope and Ambition Strategy we have committed to being a more responsible organisation.
And for this to happen we need to make sure our practices are sustainable, from the top of our supply chain, through to our impact on our people, the environment, and the communities in which we operate.
We have developed a Responsible Organisation Strategy which sets out how we intend to make progress in this area.
We will take responsibility for our impact, working to improve it across five themes with action plans and targets.
**Chris maintains our grounds here at The Children’s Trust.**
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Olive makes a mud pie in the rose garden.
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The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Commitment to sustainability and environmental impact
**45**
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## Community
## Ethics
## Environment
- Build on our existing relationships and awareness in the community of who we are and what we do.
- Be an employer of choice.
- Explore ways to open our site for the benefit of the local community, businesses and residents.
- Hold ourselves to the highest standards of ethical practice and transparency.
- • Base investment decisions on long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability.
- Ensure our supply chain protects human rights and fair practices.
- Create a plan to achieve net carbon zero, in line with or ahead of the Government’s UK wide commitment.
- Reduce the waste we produce by focusing on resource efficiency and circularity.
- Nurture and protect our natural environment.
## People
## Leadership at all levels
- Provide an equitable and inclusive environment where diversity can thrive.
- Support the wellbeing of our people.
- Provide jobs offering security, rights, fair income, personal development, and progression.
- Commit to positive change of the organisation’s social, economic and environmental impact.
- Understand the impact of our work across our beneficiaries and communities.
- Engage stakeholders.
- Support the local communities through work and volunteer opportunities.
- Ensure our supply chain also provides good jobs and fair pay.
- Develop a generation of responsible future leaders.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Commitment to sustainability and environmental impact
**46**
## **Lydia is passionate about sustainability**
## “ _It is important to_
_do something about this crisis now. The Children’s Trust is about children, and our future. It’s important that The Children’s Trust focuses on the problems that will impact the future of children, including protecting the world they will live in._ ” **Lydia, who received rehabilitation at The Children’s Trust.**
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Lydia in front of the Mansion at The Children’s Trust.
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## **Impact this year**
## **Environment**
- We produced 396.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide (scope 1 & 2).
In launching the strategy this year we wanted to report some initial impacts and in future years we will provide comparisons, showing change over time.
- We generated 142 tonnes of waste. 20 tonnes of this was recycling, a further 53 tonnes was clinical, infectious and sharps waste and the remaining 68 tonnes of refuse went into energy from waste, this is where non-recyclable waste is diverted from landfill and is used to generate energy in the form of electricity and/or heat.
## **Community**
- We spent £1million (£1,007,777) within the local economy through businesses who are based within 10 miles of The Children’s Trust in Tadworth.
- Our vehicles travelled 67,292 miles this year, transporting children and young people as well as supporting retail, fundraising and other staff activity. This resulted in 19.25 tonnes of carbon emissions.
- We employ 619 employees at The Children’s Trust, Tadworth. 70% live within 10 miles of Tadworth.
## **Ethics**
- Heating and electricity at Tadworth Court resulted in 369.8 tonnes of carbon emissions.
- We have reported on the Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) impacts of our investment portfolio on p54. We also responded to the Charity Commission’s consultation on responsible investments for charities, advocating that charities should make investments in line with not only their charitable purpose and values but also with wider ESG impacts taken into consideration.
## **Streamlined Energy and Carbon Report (SECR)**
- Start date for SECR period: 1 April 2020
- End date for SECR period: 31 March 2021
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Commitment to sustainability and environmental impact
**47**
## **Methodology**
All the SECR data requirements for large companies have been met and the energy consumption and emissions are reported below. This includes UK consumption of electricity, gas and transport fuels where the company is responsible for the fuels.
The methodology used to calculate emissions is the GHG Reporting Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. UK Government greenhouse gas emissions conversion factors for 2020 have been applied.
Scope 2 emissions from purchased electricity have been calculated using the location-based approach only.
## **Base year recalculation**
We are following advice given in the government’s guidance on how to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions. Should we discover errors in the energy and fuel consumption data that we used to calculate our yearly emissions, we will recalculate our base year emissions using revised/amended data in order to correct the errors. This is the case for the baseline year 2019/20 in this report.
## **Third party verification**
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No third party data verification of the emissions data has been carried out
Reported emissions (and carbon offsets) tonnes CO2e
2020/21 2019/20
Total gross emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3) 396.8 612.0
Total direct and indirect emissions (scope 1 and 2) 389.0 595.8
Total direct (scope 1) emissions 139.1 289.7
Direct emissions (scope 1) stationary combustion 119.8 238.4
Direct emissions (scope 1) mobile combustion 19.3 51.4
Direct emissions (scope 1) from transport mobile combustion 19.3 51.4
Direct emissions (scope 1) from other mobile combustion 0.0 0.0
Direct emissions (scope 1) from agricultural sources 0.0 0.0
Total indirect emissions (scope 2) 250.0 306.0
Indirect emissions (scope 2) from electricity 250.0 306.0
Total other indirect emissions (scope 3) 7.7 16.3
Other indirect (scope 3) emissions from 7.7 16.3
business travel
Other indirect (scope 3) emissions from business travel where company is responsible 7.7 16.3
for purchasing fuel
Energy Consumption kWh kWh
Total energy consumption used to calculate emissions 1,831,198 2,767,184
Energy consumption, combustion of gas 651,561 1,296,512
Energy consumption, electricity 1,065,586 1,190,750
Energy consumption, combustion of transport fuel 114,051 279,922
Energy consumption, other 0 0
Intensity ratio tCO2e/FTE tCO2e/FTE
Intensity ratio 0.6 1.2
The reported emissions intensity ratio is the total gross emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3)
per full-time employee (FTE).
Intensity ratio based solely on mandatory data True
Operational control of legal entity or facility True
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The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**48** Commitment to sustainability and environmental impact
## **Energy efficiency action report**
6. Due to COVID-19 we have adopted new digital ways of working that will allow us to reduce emissions including electricity use and staff commute emissions as we transition into a more hybrid approach to working. 7. We are in the process of installing a new boiler system in our Grade I listed building. We expect this to save us around 13% of emissions from using gas fuel at The Children’s Trust.
1. Retail was closed for significant time periods throughout the year, therefore there was a reduction in energy use.
2. Due to lockdowns and retail closure our fleet did fewer miles.
3. We appointed a Sustainability Lead to develop a sustainability strategy (called Responsible Organisation). As part of their role they have undertaken an in-depth carbon footprinting exercise, 8. identifying areas of opportunity to reduce carbon emissions.
We are working towards BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) ‘very good’ status for a new build at The Children’s Trust Tadworth site. As part of Project Butterfly (which is the development of our new build) we are implementing energy efficiency measures and considering broader environmental impact for now and the long-term. We are using three hybrid vehicles as part of our fleet, including two new hybrid vans for our retail shops. This has reduced our carbon emissions by eight tonnes.
4. We have engaged external expertise to help us create a map to achieve net carbon zero, including timelines.
5. All new projects and developments must undertake a sustainability impact assessment that asks all project managers to consider environmental impact (as well as other impacts) of their project and 9. whether the organisation can redesign, mitigate or accept this impact.
**Operational Financial Control boundaries**
Name of controlled legal entity or facility
Financial control of legal entity or facility
**The Children’s Trust (01757875) True**
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Commitment to sustainability and environmental impact
**49**
## **Statement on Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006**
Section 172 (Statement of Director’s Duties to Stakeholders)
Trustees have a duty to act in good faith to promote the success of the charity for the benefit of its members and in doing so are required by section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 to have regard for various specific factors including:
- the likely consequences of any decision in the long term
- the interests of the company’s employees
- the need to foster the company’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others
- the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment
- the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct
- the need to act fairly as between members of the company.
We have regard for these factors taking them into consideration when decisions are made. We behave responsibly, ethically and fairly at all times.
During the pandemic and particularly in the early weeks, the management team were required to make important decisions quickly, in a way that could be seen as ‘fair and balanced’.
## **Examples of this include**
## **1. Interests of our employees**
When the government announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough scheme) would provide grants to support 80% of furloughed employees' wages we made the decision to pay the remaining 20%. Our main aim was to ensure that staff were not impacted financially as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns. The Trustees value the dedication and hard work of employees and recognised that any alternative decision would have resulted in a false economy.
## **2. Business decisions**
A consequence of the pandemic was an escalation in unpaid bills, with debtor balances rising sharply, as commissioners’ finance teams relocated to their homes. At some financial risk we agreed to recruit a team of freelance credit controllers to address this issue. Over a six-month period, debtor balances were reduced by 75%, generating working capital at a critical time.
## **3. Unbudgeted investment**
In the first half of 2020/21 two immediate financial priorities emerged, where expenditure was unnegotiable in order to protect staff and continue our business in supporting children and families.
Firstly, we had to source PPE for front line staff, amidst stiff market competition: to this end, we refocussed our small procurement team almost solely on this priority and sourced over £100k of PPE, of which about one third remains in inventory. As a consequence, our service provision was uninterrupted and we were able to ensure utmost protection for staff and children.
Secondly, with the need for many employees to work remotely, we invested £400K to equip staff with the necessary IT equipment to continue their work.
## **4. Managing clinical risk during COVID-19**
A Major Incident Team was formed at the start of the pandemic and met daily. The meetings were chaired by the Director of Clinical Services (Chief Nurse) and attended by all relevant Directors and managers. Minutes were taken and an action log recorded in line with major incident management.
The agenda covered areas such as infection control measures, supplies, management of the estate, staff requirements such as shielding guidance and vaccinations. We also made decisions on clinical issues, processes for admitting children
and young people onto site and the shielding requirements for our most vulnerable children. All staff communications were agreed at this meeting.
The Directors also wrote a three phased approach on the process of lockdown and prepared possible communications.
## **5. Reducing rehabilitation placements durations**
Following the announcement of the first national lockdown, we felt duty-bound to support the NHS by taking referrals much earlier than usual to free up NHS beds for COVID-19 patients. We also recognised that we needed to keep children and young people as safe as possible so as to prevent them contracting COVID-19. Therefore, placement durations were reduced from 12- to six-week stays. As well as reducing the risk of contracting COVID-19, this placement reduction also reduced the anxiety for many families who wished to be at home during this time.
The Children’s Trust research team have reviewed the outcomes for these children and young people and found that they were not disadvantaged in any way and their goals and outcomes were consistent to that had they been on-site for 12 weeks.
To ensure that the children and young people were not disadvantaged in their progress, rehabilitation programmes ran over six days instead of five.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**50** Managing our organisation
## Strategic report: Managing our organisation
The financial performance of the organisation is reviewed on p38-39. The aspects on the right, however, require further disclosure.
## **Going concern**
A year ago, this area was critically important for the charity, as it was for the wider sector. With the loss of international income, key elements of fundraising income and potentially the long-term closure of retail shops, coupled with working capital challenges, there was much to consider. Moreover, the charity’s investment portfolio was not a realistic reserve, as liquidating elements of that portfolio at the bottom of the market would not have been appropriate.
A year on, the UK has seen the successful roll-out of the vaccination programme and the nation is on course to resume something close to normality in the summer of 2021. The charity’s retail units are now open and are trading successfully. Occupancy levels in rehabilitation and in the school are on target.
Some practical problems remain. While the payment of the NHS Capacity Grants of £0.45m have now been received, after some delay, legal processes remain much slower than normal: one consequence is that we still have a significant ‘tail’ of legacies which are due, but unpaid. The reopening of one of our residential houses has been delayed due to challenges on recruitment and if unresolved, this will begin to impact income.
**The 2021/22 budget document identified three key areas of financial risk:**
- The need to stabilise the levels of rehabilitation referrals, which had been volatile. At the time of writing, those numbers are stable.
- The settlement of a very high pay increase for NHS nursing staff would add a significant cost pressure, with uncertainty on whether our contracts with the NHS would be inflated to cover the increase. At the time of writing, a modest national offer has been proposed, but this is not finalised. For each additional 1% the full year cost would be £200k per annum.
- The charity needs to rebuild its private international work. With international travel due to open up in 21/2022, albeit with graded restrictions, our international work is uncertain. This is a fundamental strategic target. The net income risk on international work is circa £1m. Growth in international referrals is a fundamental element of the charity’s five-year strategy.
With regards to the risks above, there are three levels of contingency in place:
- Approximately £0.7m is being carried as in-year contingencies.
- Of the £1.8m capital programme, approximately £0.8m relates to elements that can be deferred if necessary.
- The investment portfolio (£8m) is now back at a stable market valuation and as such can be utilised as a final level of contingency.
Consequently, given the strength of the balance sheet, we cannot envisage any scenarios which would compromise our ability to continue in business through to September 2022 (a period of at least 12 months from approval of these financial statements) and beyond.
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**51**
Managing our organisation
## **Reserves**
As at March 2021, reserves totalled £27.4m (2020: £27.0m), of which £2.4m (2020: £2.6m) relates to Restricted Funds and £0.7m (2020: £0.6m) relates to Endowment Funds.
Of the balance of £24.1m, £17.2m (2020: £15.8m) has been Designated to represent that element of the reserves which is represented by fixed assets and is therefore not available as working capital.
## **Trading subsidiary**
The subsidiary (The Children’s Trust Trading Company Ltd.) re-commenced trading during the year 2020, after an interregnum of 18 years. This has been re-established because of increased business and levels of commercial activity. However, with the cancellation of virtually all public activities during the pandemic, revenues and costs were not material. The results of the trading subsidiary were not consolidated, on the grounds of immateriality.
With regard to the balance of £6.9m (2020: £7.7m) of ‘free reserves’, the view of the Trustees is that this balance is required for two purposes:
- Firstly, as set out previously, there is still an element of financial risk being carried as the charity transitions back to its pre COVID-19 levels of activity. That is in the range £1-2m.
- Secondly, the charity is committed strategically to a new build (Project Butterfly), with capital costs estimated currently at £15m. Whilst it is intended, strategically, that construction is funded by a combination of a fundraising appeal and the charity’s own capital programme, these reserves (essentially, the value of the investment portfolio) will act as the charity’s funding reserve for this project.
These allocations are consistent with the basis adopted by the Trustees in March 2020. Consequently, reserves held reflect the strategic requirements of the charity.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**52** Our organisation’s governance
## Our organisation’s governance Structure, Constitution & Objects
The Children’s Trust is a charitable company not having a share capital. The charity’s objects as set out in the Articles of Association describe the charity’s core purpose which is: “ _for the care, treatment, rehabilitation and education of children and other persons with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and complex medical needs, including life limiting or life threatening conditions and neurological damage acquired through accident or other causes; for the support of families and other carers involved; and for the prevention of such disabilities and disorders._ ”
In addition, our objects define a further duty to: ‘hold for the benefit of the public the freehold of the heritage property known as Tadworth Court, Tadworth, Surrey and its curtilage and to restore, conserve, improve and maintain such heritage property and all the buildings, walls, parks, gardens, woodlands and appurtenances within its curtilage.’
The Children’s Trust Trading Company Limited is a wholly owned trading subsidiary of The Children’s Trust, trading from 1 April 2020.
## **Board of Trustees**
The Children’s Trust is governed by the Board of Trustees (“the Board”) who are also the charity’s directors under company law. Our Trustees may
## **Governance**
The Governance Working Group which comprises three Trustees, Director of People & Culture, Director of Education and the Company Secretary meets on a quarterly basis and sets an annual programme of work focussed on reviewing and improving compliance with the Charity Governance Code, adopted by the charity through our ‘Principles of Governance’.
serve in total for a period of nine years with the option to stand for re-election annually thereafter, for a maximum of three further 12-month terms.
When recruiting and appointing Trustees, we look for individuals who can provide leadership and expertise across our key services and disciplines of nursing, care, education, therapy and fundraising and who can support and bring effective challenge to the senior leadership team on business strategy, finance, operations, governance, risk and regulatory compliance. Each Trustee will be assigned as a lead for a particular business area or professional discipline.
Like many charities we recognise the importance of board diversity and are committed more broadly to the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion from ‘board to floor’. Aside from ensuring the Board collectively has the necessary professional skills and sector-specific experience to govern the charity effectively, we are actively reviewing our approach to recruitment to ensure that our Board and wider workforce are more representative of the beneficiaries and communities we serve.
The Board of Trustees meets six times a year, with the Chief Executive and other members of the senior leadership in attendance. Each meeting follows a core set of agenda items, allowing Trustees to hear from and challenge
In 2020, the working group has reviewed and updated the charity’s Articles of Association, Matters Reserved for the Board, Delegation of Financial Authority and the terms of reference for each of the Board’s committees. In 2021 the working group will be looking again at Board effectiveness and undertaking a Trustee skills audit and training needs analysis. The Board has also recently reviewed the
management on business performance and to have oversight of governance, risk and compliance matters. In addition, a rolling forward agenda builds in strategic check-points, governance reviews, risk deep dives and operational spotlights at key points throughout the year.
All Trustees follow a dedicated induction programme and complete mandatory refresher training across key areas of risk and compliance, such as safeguarding and health and safety, annually. We set high standards of professional conduct and integrity for our Trustees and conflicts of interest are regularly reviewed by the Board.
The effectiveness of the Board has been internally assessed twice in recent years and in 2021 we plan to conduct an externally facilitated evaluation of Board performance which will provide insight and benchmarking from the wider charity sector.
## **Board Committees**
Given the breadth of sectors we operate across, the Board delegates some of its key functions and responsibilities to a number of specialist committees as follows.
findings and recommendations from high-profile safeguarding investigations such as the Saville and Elizabeth Dixon enquiries. These reports and recommendations will inform the work and priorities of the Governance Working Group in the forthcoming financial period.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**53**
Our organisation’s governance
## **Committees**
## **Clinical Governance & Safeguarding Committee**
This committee provides a structured, systematic oversight of the organisation’s clinical governance, risk management and safeguarding policies and procedures. It holds management to account for compliance with key regulations and statutory guidance, including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014; Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 and The Care Standards Act 2000 and provides assurance to the Board over the same. The committee meets at least five times per annum.
## **Educational Governance Committee**
This committee has delegated authority to act as the de facto ‘governing body’ of The Children’s Trust School. The scope and objectives of the committee are informed by UK legislation and statutory guidance from Department for Education. The committee’s role is to hold the Director of Education and senior leadership team to account for the educational performance, internal organisation and management and control of the School, including the performance management of staff. The Committee meets four times per annum.
## **Finance, Fundraising and General Purposes Committee**
The primary purpose of this committee is to support the Board in ensuring the charity manages its finances, income, human resources, estates and facilities and IT responsibly and ethically in pursuit of its charitable purposes, and that its fundraising practices are compliant, efficient and effective. The committee meets five times per annum.
## **Audit & Risk Committee**
This committee’s primary purpose is to provide assurance to the Board on the adequacy of risk management, internal control and governance arrangements and that public and charitable funds are used efficiently and effectively.
## **Investments Committee**
The primary purpose of the committee is to establish and monitor the charity’s investment policy.
## **Appointments Committee**
The Appointments Committee’s primary purpose is to review Board composition and approve trustee, honorary officer and senior leadership team appointments.
## **Remuneration Committee**
The primary purpose of the Remuneration Committee is to determine employment and remuneration policies and to approve the annual pay review.
## **Research Governance Committee**
This committee was established to ensure that the charity undertakes good quality research to further its reputation with leading clinicians and healthcare institutions.
## **New Build Committee (Project Butterfly)**
This committee was established to govern all aspects of a major construction project at Tadworth Court. A new £15m facility will replace the existing school building and provide shared spaces for our multi-disciplinary teams, children and young people and their families to come together.
## **Investment policy & objectives**
In the final quarter of 2019/20, our portfolio lost £1.4m of its value due to impact of COVID-19 . This had to be reflected as a cost in 2019/20 accounts.
With the worldwide recovery on financial markets, a gain of £1.4m was achieved in 2020/21, thereby bringing the portfolio back to its pre COVID-19
position by March 2021. The portfolio has continued to gain in value in the first quarter of 2021/22.
The yield on investment income was down significantly in absolute terms, at £149k (2019/20: £220k), reflecting the very gradual recovery in investment performance worldwide over the course of the pandemic. Given the very large
corrections in portfolio value over the period of the pandemic, % yield data is not shown this year, as being of limited value. Income levels in 2021/22 are already up 24% on the prior year levels.
Results continue to be monitored by the Investment Committee, which meets with representatives from Investec at each meeting.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**54** Our organisation’s governance
**Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) impact of our investment portfolio** The current investment policy precludes any direct investment in tobacco companies and other companies that may harm or exploit children or young people.
As part of our responsible organisation work, we report on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) impact of our investment portfolio in the annual report and accounts.
The ESG performance of our investment portfolio is measured and benchmarked by two separate third party analytics solutions providers (Sustainalytics and Institutional Shareholder Services) that
give us a score against sustainability factors and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Our direct investments scored an average of +1.7, when scored against the UN Sustainable Development Goals with a range of +10 to -10. The MSCI UK IMI index benchmark is +1.1.
Sustainalytics measured our average score as 23.1 (range is 0-100 with low scores good and high scores bad). The MSCI UK index average score is 23.3. In conclusion our investment portfolio ESG scores are better than the average and benchmark scores for UK wide investments. In the next year we will continue to review how we approach and report on responsible investments.
## **Key risks and handling strategies**
The senior leadership team and board formally review and assess the principal risks to the charity’s strategic and objectives bi-annually. At the end of the financial year 2020-21 the principal risks were identified as below.
## **Principal Risk**
## **COVID-19**
COVID-19 continues to pose a direct and immediate threat to the health and well-being of our clinically extremely vulnerable children and young people and our staff, and to our ability to continue with business as usual.
## **Health & Safety**
The health and safety of the children and young people we care for, staff, volunteers, visitors, contractors and anyone who may be affected by our undertaking, are paramount. Failure to put in place appropriate policies, procedures and training could put our beneficiaries, colleagues, supporters or others at risk and result in regulatory enforcement action, litigation and prosecution.
## **Financial Sustainability**
A failure to generate operating surpluses in our core business or the loss of or scaling back of key contracts could create financial instability and uncertainty. Furthermore a failure to grow new business (private and international) and/or a decline in voluntary income could adversely affect our ability to deliver our strategic objectives.
## **Strategic Projects**
Our strategy for 2020-25 aims to help the charity reach and support more children, young people and their families and deliver improved outcomes. In doing so we will demonstrate to our funders that we are trusted, offer value for money, are an essential partner and service provider.
## **Mitigation**
We have continued to operate a COVID-secure site, with stringent infection prevention and control measures and regular testing of staff and beneficiaries, throughout the pandemic. We have also had a high uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines amongst staff. These measures have ensured and continue to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our vulnerable children and young people and colleagues.
We have a robust health and safety management system in place comprising policies, procedures, mandatory training, risk assessments, KPIs and incident management and reporting, all of which help manage this risk to an acceptable level.
Business performance against budget is closely monitored by the senior leadership team and reported regularly to the Board. At The Children’s Trust School, residential occupancy has increased by 30% over the last three years and referrals to our brain injury rehabilitation service are now strengthening after a volatile year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The execution of our strategic projects and initiatives is closely monitored on a monthly basis by the senior leadership team with regular updates reported to the Board. We are also developing a suite of KPIs to measure benefits realisation as strategic initiatives are delivered.
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
Our organisation’s governance
**55**
## **Principal Risk**
## **People**
Our people are instrumental to achieving our strategy and objectives and to delivering the high standards of health, care and education we aspire to for the children, young people and families we support. A failure to attract, retain and develop colleagues with the right skills and experience, or to establish the right culture values and standards of behaviour that we expect, could impact the quality and delivery of our services and achievement of our objectives.
## **Mitigation**
Our staff handbook, corporate policies and procedures, mandatory training and comprehensive induction programme ensure that our culture, values and expected standards of conduct are clearly articulated to all new joiners.
On staffing, management has processes in place to monitor critical staffing levels (such as nurses) and to promptly identify gaps against forecast requirements.
On physical and mental health and wellbeing, we have an on-site occupational health service operated by Epsom and St Helier Hospital, as well as comprehensive range of other wellbeing resources and initiatives accessible to staff and volunteers.
## **Information Technology**
During the year we continued the roll-out of our new cloud-based IT systems following a number of years of under-investment in our IT infrastructure.
The outsourced hosting arrangements provide for a high level of operational resilience and business continuity and management meets regularly with senior supplier representatives to ensure operational performance continues to meet expectations.
This change in our IT operating model brings about significant operational benefits but also introduces key supplier dependency risks which, unless managed effectively, could lead to significant business interruption.
## **Quality and compliance**
Including health and care, education and fundraising. Delivering a high quality and safe service is our primary objective. A failure to comply with regulatory requirements could compromise the health and safety of our children and young people and colleagues and/or lead to significant fines and negative publicity.
## **Safeguarding**
The Children’s Trust supports some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our society. A failure in our internal control system or governance arrangements to prevent or adequately respond to safeguarding incidents and near misses could put our children and young people at risk of harm and adversely impact our CQC and Ofsted Care ratings.
We have robust policies, procedures and controls in place to ensure compliance with applicable regulations and have recently been re-accredited to CHKS healthcare and ISO9001 quality standards. Following a dual inspection in April 2020, The Children’s Trust maintained its ‘Outstanding’ rating with CQC and Ofsted Care. Our last inspection from Ofsted Education in May 2017 rated our school ‘Good’ with outstanding effectiveness of leadership and management.
Safeguarding is one of the charity’s top priorities and Trustees dedicate significant time and attention to checking and challenging the effectiveness of governance arrangements and systems of risk management and control in this area. Our rigorous recruitment procedures, policies, staff training and open and transparent culture help us reduce the likelihood of a safeguarding incident taking place and ensure that risks and issues are identified and addressed at the earliest possible opportunity.
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**56** Our organisation’s governance
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2020/21 2019/20 2018/19 2017/18
Subject access requests: 24 45 53 26
Safeguarding incidents: 19 46 19 17
Complaints (Children/ 25 25 23
families, business
operations): 14
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## **Best practice and compliance**
The Children’s Trust Financial Statements for 2021 and the 2020 comparative figures are constructed in line with best practice. Compliance with best practice extends to the need to address the ‘public benefit’ provided by the charity, in line with Charity Commission guidelines.
This Report of the Trustees prepared under the Charities Act 2011, which also contains all information required in a Directors’ report by the Companies Act 2006, and the incorporated Strategic Report prepared under the Companies Act 2006, were approved by the Board of Trustees on 10 September 2021 and signed on behalf of the Trustees by:
The Financial Statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).
## **Duncan Ingram**
(Chair of Trustees)
Date: 10 September 2021
In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance ‘public benefit: running a charity (PB2)’.
## **Auditor**
Our external auditor RSM UK Audit LLP has indicated its willingness to continue in office. In so far as the Trustees are aware:
- there is no relevant audit information of which the charity’s auditor is unaware; and
- the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
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Our organisation’s governance
**57**
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Annual Report KPIs 2020/21 31/03/21 31/03/20
Year end trade debtors (£’000) 1,136 4,267
Turnover (£’000) 28,468 25,667
Year end debtors (months) 0 2
Year end debtors (days) 15 61
Year end trade creditors (£’000) 1,032 1,268
Total expenditure (£’000) 29,424 26,371
Year end creditors (months) 0 1
Year end creditors (days) 13 18
Inventory (months) 0.60 0.57
(total non-pay actual less insurance and depreciation over inventory)
% Completion of capital programme 102% 83%
Agency spend (£’000) 817 1,179
% of payroll 4% 6%
Bank spend (£’000) 389 389
% of payroll 1.74% 1.94%
Fundraising margin (%) 32% 36%
Retail margin (%) -1% 18%
Corporate fixed costs (%) 23% 22%
(as defined at budget setting and excluding depreciation) as % of income
Average yield on investments (%) 25% -13%
(dividend income plus change in portfolio value over average amount invested over the year)
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**58** Reference and administrative details
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## **Reference and administrative details**
## **Trustees**
**Duncan Ingram** Chair of Trustees and Remuneration Committee (Chair) and Appointments (Chair)
**Sarah Baker** Clinical Governance & Safeguarding Committee, Whistleblowing & Safeguarding Lead
**Viv Berkeley** _**(appointed Trustee 29 January 2021)**_ Educational Governance Committee (Chair)
**Timothy Davies** Finance, Fundraising & General Purposes, Audit & Risk, Investments, Educational Governance and New Build Committees
**Denise Matthams** Clinical Governance & Safeguarding (Chair), Educational Governance, Remuneration and New Build Committees
**Toby Mullins** Educational Governance, New Build and Research Governance Committees
**Nigel Scott** Finance, Fundraising & General Purposes, Audit & Risk (Chair), Investments (Chair) and New Build Committees (Chair)
**Fiona Sheridan** Finance, Fundraising & General Purposes (Chair), Audit & Risk, Investments and Remuneration Committees
**Sam Thomson** Finance, Fundraising and General Purposes Committee
**Anne Walker** Clinical Governance & Safeguarding, Finance, Fundraising & General Purposes and Audit & Risk Committees
**Melissa Grigsby** resigned as a Trustee in January 2021. Until then she chaired the Educational Governance Committee.
Our particular thanks go to **Mike Gercke** who retired from the Board of Trustees in September. He served as Vice Chair and was Honorary Treasurer.
**Professor Gareth Morgan** resigned as Medical Director & Consultant Paediatrician during the reporting period.
Reference and administrative details
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## **Senior Leadership Team**
**Dalton Leong** Chief Executive
**Jayne Cooper** Director of Clinical Services (Chief Nurse)
**Paul Farthing** Director of Income Generation and Communications
**Colin Kerr** Director of Finance & Business Performance
## **Registered Office**
## **Company Secretary**
The Children’s Trust Tadworth Court Tadworth Surrey KT20 5RU
Olivia Rowntree (appointed October 2020) Colin Kerr (Prior to October 2020)
## **Advisors**
## **Medical Advisor**
## **Bankers**
Lloyds Bank 4th Floor 125 London Wall London EC2Y 5AS
Dr Sarah Aylett
**Members of The Children’s Trust**
## **Auditor**
The Trustees Paul Burgess Philip Davies Andrew Dick Christopher Dulley Dr Mary Greenway David Harrison Dr Margaret Mayston PhD MCSP Lady Jane Pickard Sir Roger Singleton CBE Dr Patricia Sonksen Simon Tate Millie Wentworth-Stanley MA LLM Sir Adrian White CBE DL Timothy Yeo
RSM UK Audit LLP 25 Farringdon Street London EC4A 4AB
## **Solicitors**
DAC Beachcroft 100 Fetter Lane London EC4A 1BN
## **Investment Managers**
Investec Wealth & Investment 30 Gresham Street London EC2V 7QP
## **Michael Maddick**
Director of People and Culture
## **Samantha Newton**
Director of Education
**Dr Vijay Palanivel** _**(as of March 2021)**_ Interim Medical Director & Consultant Paediatric Neurodisability
## **Nicola Smith**
Director of Strategy and Transformation
## **Ambassadors**
Amanda Burton Jenni Falconer Jacqueline Gold CBE Richard Hammond Adam Hills Harry Judd Izzy Judd Nicholas Owen Elaine Paige OBE Joely Richardson Phil Tufnell Holly Valance David Walliams OBE Sophia Warner BEM
**60** Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities
The Trustees (who are also directors of The Children’s Trust for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the organisation will continue in business.
Annual statement of internal controls
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## Annual statement of internal controls
The Charity Commission’s guidance on ‘Internal financial controls for charities’ states that ‘trustees should, at least annually, ensure a review is conducted of the effectiveness of the charity’s internal financial controls’. The Board of Trustees retains ultimate responsibility for the charity’s system of risk management and internal control in its widest sense.
## **System of internal control**
The table below sets out the key components of the internal control system1 which have been in place during the course of the financial year ended 31st March 2021.
## **Significant Control Failures**
Management does not consider there to have been any significant control failures during the period although the following
statutory notifications were made to regulators which require disclosure in the annual report and accounts.
A serious incident was reported to the Charity Commission as a precaution following a whistleblowing report to Care Quality Commission (CQC) during the time of their statutory inspection in 2020. The investigation, which was completed over a period of months, concluded that the whistleblower’s allegations were not upheld. A number of recommendations were made as a result of the investigation which are now being implemented. No further action was required by CQC and the incident was closed.
A personal data breach was notified to the ICO in July 2020 after a phishing
attack led to the personal data of a limited number of staff and other individuals, held in Outlook, becoming compromised. The data breach investigation resulted in a number of actions being agreed to strengthen controls against phishing attacks, most importantly, the roll-out of multi-factor authentication for all staff which has been completed. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) advised that they would not be taking any action against the charity and the incident was closed.
## **Conclusion**
In the basis of this assessment, the Audit and Risk Committee has concluded that the system of internal control and risk management is designed effectively and fit for purpose.
## **Control environment**
## **Risk assessment**
- Board of Trustees
- Robust governance
- arrangements responsible for including formal defining risk sub-committees of appetite and the board of trustees approving the each with its own charity’s risk terms of reference. management policy
- • Clear organisational and procedure. structure, • Reassessment twice management a year of corporate accountability and risks alongside business objectives. strategic review.
- Delegated • Ongoing risk authorities. assessment as part
- • Formal of business as usual organisational across all areas. policies and • Risk assessment procedures. integral to all
- • Oversight corporate projects. of business performance and monitoring of KPIs.
- Performance management procedures.
## **Information and communications**
## **Control activities**
## **Monitoring**
- Designed,
- Monitoring
- Financial reporting implemented including key and monitored judgements. by management.
- Financial reporting implemented and assurance via including key and monitored dedicated control judgements. by management. functions and
- • Updates on • Financial controls committees, strategy and to prevent fraud, e.g. Clinical business inefficient use of and Educational performance. charity assets Governance, Quality
- • Results of internal or financial and Compliance. and external audit. misstatement. • Information
- misstatement. • Information
- • Internal and external Governance, legal support to Health & Safety minimise and Governance contract risk. Working Group.
- Risk reporting.
- Compliance reporting.
- Whistleblowing.
- Delegation • Reporting of of financial incidents, lessons authority policy learned sessions, and formal capex root cause analysis approval process. and control deficiencies via relevant Board sub-committee.
- Independent internal and external audit and assurance.
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**62** Independent auditor’s report
## Independent auditor’s report to the members of The Children’s Trust For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **Opinion**
We have audited the financial statements of The Children’s Trust (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2021 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion the financial statements:
- give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2021 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
- have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
- have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.
## **Basis for opinion**
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
Conclusions relating to going concern In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
## **Other information**
The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material
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## Independent auditor’s report to the members of The Children’s Trust For the year ended 31 March 2021
misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
- the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
- certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
- we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit
## **Responsibilities of trustees**
We have nothing to report in this regard.
## **Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006**
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:
- the information given in the Trustees’ Report, which includes the Directors’ Report and the Strategic Report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
- the Directors’ Report and the Strategic Report included within the Trustees’ Report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Directors’ Report or the Strategic Report included within the Trustees’ Report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
- adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities set out on page X, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements**
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists.
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**64** Independent auditor’s report
## Independent auditor’s report to the members of The Children’s Trust For the year ended 31 March 2021
Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
The extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraudIrregularities are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. The objectives of our audit are to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding compliance with laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, to perform audit procedures to help identify instances of non-compliance with other laws and regulations that may have a material effect on the financial statements, and to respond appropriately to identified or suspected non-compliance with laws and regulations identified during the audit.
In relation to fraud, the objectives of our audit are to identify and assess the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements due to fraud, to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the assessed risks of material misstatement due to fraud through designing and implementing appropriate responses and to respond appropriately to fraud or suspected fraud identified during the audit.
However, it is the primary responsibility of management, with the oversight of those charged with governance, to ensure that the entity’s operations are conducted in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations and for the prevention and detection of fraud.
In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud, the audit engagement team:
- obtained an understanding of the nature of the sector, including the legal and regulatory framework that the charitable company operates in and how the charitable company is complying with the legal and regulatory framework;
- inquired of management, and those charged with governance, about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, including any known actual, suspected or alleged instances of fraud;
- • discussed matters about non-compliance with laws and regulations and how fraud might occur including assessment of how and where the financial statements may be susceptible to fraud.
As a result of these procedures we consider the most significant laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the financial statements are FRS 102, Charities SORP (FRS 102), Companies Act 2006, Charities Act 2011, and the charitable company’s governing document. We performed audit procedures to detect non-compliances which may have a material impact on the financial statements which included reviewing the financial statements including the Trustees’ Report, remaining alert to new or unusual transactions which may not be in accordance with the governing documents.
The most significant laws and regulations that have an indirect impact on the financial statements are Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2019, the Code of Fundraising Practice, the Children and Families Act
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## Independent auditor’s report to the members of The Children’s Trust For the year ended 31 March 2021
2014, the UK General Data Protection Regulations, the Care Act 2014 and the Care Quality Commission regulations. We performed audit procedures to inquire of management and those charged with governance whether the charitable company is in compliance with these law and regulations and inspected correspondence with regulatory authorities.
The audit engagement team identified the risk of management override of controls as the area where the financial statements were most susceptible to material misstatement due to fraud. Audit procedures performed included but were not limited to testing manual journal entries and other adjustments, evaluating the business rationale in relation to significant, unusual transactions and transactions entered into outside the normal course of business, and challenging judgments and estimates.
A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities
## **Use of our report**
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
## RSM UK Audit LLP
Hannah Catchpool (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of RSM UK AUDIT LLP, Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants 25 Farringdon Street London EC4A 4AB
21 December 2021
This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
Statement of financial activities
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Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) For the year ended 31 March 2021
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Unrestricted 2021 2020
General Restricted Endowment Total Total
Note Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds
Income and endowments from:
Charitable activities 2 19,008 - - 19,008 18,296
Donations and legacies 3 3,252 550 - 3,802 3,984
Government grants 3a 358 3,029 - 3,387 165
Other trading activities
– Events 132 - - 132 542
- -
– Charity shops 1,319 1,319 1,826
– Lottery 167 - - 167 148
4 1,618 - - 1,618 2,516
Investment income 5 148 - 23 171 230
Other income 6 482 - - 482 486
Total income 24,866 3,579 23 28,468 25,677
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
- -
– Costs of donations and legacies 1,811 1,811 1,730
– Investment in future income 195 - - 195 56
– Events 252 - - 252 503
- -
– Charity shops 1,885 1,885 2,021
– Lottery 141 - - 141 144
8 4,284 - - 4,284 4,454
Charitable activities 7 21,822 3,318 - 25,140 21,917
Total expenditure 8 26,106 3,318 29,424 26,371
Net (expenditure) before gains (losses) (1,240) 261 23 (956) (694)
Net unrealised (loss)/gain on investments 15 1,293 - 82 1,375 (819)
Net (expenditure)/income 53 261 105 419 (1,513)
Transfers 21 488 (488)
Net movement in funds 541 (227) 105 419 (1,513)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward 23,656 2,671 675 27,002 28,515
Total funds carried forward 24,197 2,444 780 27,421 27,002
**----- End of picture text -----**
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
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**67**
## Balance sheet As at 31 March 2021
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 2021 2020 2020
Note £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Fixed assets
Intangible fixed assets 14a 1,794 1,496
Tangible fixed assets 14 15,442 14,371
Tadworth Court 14 1,466 1,519
18,702 17,386
Investments 15 7,986 6,370
26,688 23,756
Current assets
Stocks 195 183
Debtors 16 3,081 5,481
Cash at bank and in hand 773 282
4,049 5,946
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 17 (3,316) (2,700)
Net current assets 733 3,246
Net assets 27,421 27,002
The funds of the Charity
Unrestricted funds 6,966 7,789
General funds 17,231 15,867
Designated 24,197 23,656
Restricted funds 2,444 2,671
Endowment funds 780 675
Total funds 27,421 27,002
**----- End of picture text -----**
The financial statements were approved by the Trustees and authorised for issue on 10 September 2021
The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of these financial statements. Company Number: 1757875
**Fiona Sheridan** Chair of Fundraising, Finance and General Purposes
**Duncan Ingram** Chair of Trustees
**68** Cash flow statement
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## Cash flow statement For the year ended 31 March 2021
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 2020
Note £’000 £’000
Net expenditure for the reporting period before gains/(losses) 419 (1,513)
Adjustments for:
Interest and investment income (171) (214)
Depreciation 14 1,712 1,429
(Gain)/loss in investment in market value 15 (1,375) 819
Increase in stocks (12) (21)
Decrease/(Increase) in debtors 2,400 (994)
Increase in creditors 616 634
Net cash used in operating activities 3,589 140
Cash flows from investing activities
Investment income received 171 220
Investment income reinvested 15 (171) (220)
Capital expenditure 14 (3,028) (3,009)
Sale of investments 15 (500) 544
Purchase of investments 15 430 -
Net cash (used in)/provided by investing activities (3,098) (2,465)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period 491 (2,325)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 282 2,607
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 773 282
2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash at bank and in hand 773 282
Total cash and cash equivalents 773 282
**----- End of picture text -----**
The accompanying accounting policies and notes form an integral part of these financial statements.
Notes to the financial statements
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## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **1. Accounting policies**
## **1.1 Basis of accounting**
These financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis, under the historical cost convention, as modified by the revaluation of investments being measured at fair value through income and expenditure within the Statement of Financial Activities.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). The Charitable Company is a public benefit entity for the purposes of FRS 102. The Charity also prepared its financial statements in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (The FRS 102 Charities SORP effective 1 January 2019) and the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest one thousand pounds.
The Charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity.
The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the financial statements are set out below.
## **1.2 Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis**
In March 2020, the Board approved a five year strategy for the charity, with an operating surplus of £0.4m in 2020/21, rising to £1.5m in 2021/22 and remaining at that level. The strategy was configured primarily to facilitate a significant capital asset rebuild of approximately £15m. The funding was to come from a new fundraising appeal, with £6m generated from internal retained surpluses. The charity’s investment portfolio (currently valued at £8.0m) would underpin the financial risk. No commitments have been made yet and it can be postponed if not achieved.
The view of the Board is that the charity – with one key caveat – will be able to return to previous levels of activity from approximately October 2021, enabling a break-even financial performance in the 20221/22 year.
The charity targeted growth in international income as a key strand of growth within the original strategy, reflecting real progress in the period 2018-2020. The Board has set an objective to rebuild referrals to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021. This will require an easing of restrictions
in international travel to the UK, a rebuilding of private workload in paediatric neurosurgery in the major London hospitals and a re-establishment of the referral arrangements from those hospitals to this charity. This is the primary business objective for the charity in 2021/22.
Most of the financial risk for 2021/22 has been covered through in-year reserves, but failure to rebuild international work at a strategic level would necessitate a review of the strategy and the potential deferral of the new build. If such a state of transition were to arise, the charity would look to its investment portfolio of £8m to provide support.
Based on this, the Trustees consider that adequate resources exist to continue in operational existence for the short to medium term and that it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
## **1.3 Income**
All income is accounted for in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the charity is legally entitled to the income, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
Collections made by third parties on behalf of the charity are accounted for when received.
Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
For legacy income, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date on which either: the charity is aware that probate has been granted, the estate has been finalised and notification has been made by the executors that a distribution will be made. Receipt of a legacy is only considered probable when the amount can be measured reliably and the charity has been notified of the executor’s intention to make a distribution.
Funds received for capital projects are accounted for as restricted income. The treatment of the assets provided depends upon the restrictions imposed by the grant and if the fixed asset acquisition discharges the restriction then the asset will be held in unrestricted funds. A corresponding transfer of the associated restricted income will be made to the unrestricted fund.
Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item.
**70** Notes to the financial statements
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## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
On receipt, donated services/goods are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain services of equivalent economic benefit on the open market.
Any capital gains or losses arising on the investments are allocated to the related fund. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in note 21.
## **1.6 Fixed assets**
## **1.4 Expenditure**
Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been listed under headings that aggregate all the costs related to that activity. Liabilities are recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Costs of raising funds include the costs associated with attracting voluntary income and the costs of trading for fundraising purposes.
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries.
Support costs, including governance costs, are those costs that, whilst necessary to deliver an activity, do not themselves produce or constitute the output of the charitable activity. Where support costs cannot be directly attributed they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of the resources. The basis of allocation has been explained in note 9 to the accounts.
Any irrecoverable VAT is included as part of the cost to which it relates. The amount incurred in the year is disclosed in note 11.
## **1.5 Fund accounting**
General unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the charitable objectives of the charity.
Designated funds are set aside by the Trustees out of unrestricted general funds for specific future purposes.
Restricted funds are funds subject to specific restrictions imposed by donors or by the purpose of the appeal.
Endowment funds are funds where the assets must be held by the charity, principally in the form of investments.
Income from endowments is included in income, either restricted or unrestricted, in accordance with the terms of the endowment.
## _Tangible fixed assets_
Tangible fixed assets costing more than £1,000 are capitalised and included at cost. Depreciation is calculated to write off the cost of tangible fixed assets by equal annual instalments over their expected useful lives as follows:
|Freehold land||Not depreciated|
|---|---|---|
|Freehold and leasehold property|
4%, 10% and 20%||
|Tadworth Court||2%|
|Plant and offce expenditure and|equipment|10%-20%|
|Residential houses furniture and equipment||20%|
|Computer equipment||33%|
|Motor vehicles||20%|
|Motor vehicles – vans||14%|
|Motor vehicles – minibuses||13%|
At the end of each reporting period, the residual values and useful lives of assets are reviewed and adjusted if necessary. In addition, if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable then the carrying values of tangible fixed assets are reviewed for impairment.
Assets in the course of construction are carried at cost less any identified impairment loss. Depreciation commences when the properties are ready for their intended use.
## _Intangible fixed assets_
Intangible assets are initially recognised at cost and are subsequently measured at cost less accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses. Amortisation is calculated to write off the cost of intangible fixed assets by equal annual instalments over the expected useful lives as follows:
|Computer software|33%|
|---|---|
|Computer software – major systems|17%|
## **1.7 Tadworth Court**
This balance represents the freehold of Tadworth Court, it houses our pharmacy, catering, meeting and administrative facilities. The asset is stated at cost and is depreciated over 50 years. The Trustees ensure that the building is carefully maintained and is fit for purpose. Any significant expenditure which is required to preserve or prevent deterioration is capitalised when it is incurred.
Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**71**
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **1.8 Investments**
Quoted investments are included at market value (bid/selling price). Investments in subsidiaries are stated at cost. Realised and unrealised gains and losses are shown in the appropriate section of the SOFA.
## **1.9 Stock**
Stock is stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value; stocks are not normally held for resale.
## **1.15 Cash and cash equivalents**
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand and deposits held at call with banks.
## **1.16 Creditors**
Creditors are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors are recognised at their settlement amount.
## **1.10 Debtors**
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid.
## **1.11 Pension costs**
Certain of the charity’s clinical and teaching staff are members of the NHS Pension Scheme or Teachers’ Pension Scheme respectively, both of which are defined benefit schemes. The schemes are not designed to be run in a way that would enable individual employer bodies to identify their share of the underlying scheme assets and liabilities. Therefore, the schemes are accounted for as if they are a defined contribution scheme: the cost of participating in the schemes is taken as being equal to the contributions payable to the scheme for the accounting period.
Other staff are able to join the charity’s defined contribution pension scheme. The employer contributions are included within resources expended and represent the amount of contribution payable to the schemes in respect of the accounting period.
## **1.17 Financial instruments**
The charity has applied the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments. Financial instruments are recognised in the company’s balance sheet when the company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument. Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
With the exceptions of prepayments, deferred income, social security and other taxation liabilities, all other debtor and creditor balances are considered to be basic financial instruments under FRS 102. See notes 16 and 17 for the debtor and creditor notes.
## **1.18 Employee benefits**
The cost of short-term benefits, such as accrued holiday are recognised as a liability and an expense.
## **1.12 Operating lease payments**
Total payments under operating leases are charged to the SOFA on a straight line basis over the lease term.
## **1.13 Consolidation**
The financial statements include the results of the charity only on the basis that the results of The Children’s Trust Trading Company Limited are immaterial to the charity. Accordingly, consolidated statement of financial activities and balance sheet has not been prepared for the year.
## **1.14 Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement**
## **1.19 Significant events**
The significant event for the charity was the WHO designation of COVID-19 as a global pandemic, which occurred in the final quarter of the 2020 financial year.
For the UK, the conclusion of the vaccination programme for at-risk groups, together with the end of social distancing regulations in July, mean that the country can begin the process of economic recovery. As stated in 1.2, the Trustees believe that the charity should be capable of returning to pre-pandemic levels of activity from October 2021.
In preparing the financial statements it is necessary to make certain judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts recognised in the financial statements. No material estimates were required.
**72** Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **2. Charitable activities**
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2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Care and rehabilitation services 10,261 - 10,261 10,793 - 10,793
The Children’s Trust School 8,720 - 8,720 7,447 - 7,447
Community services 27 - 27 56 - 56
Total charitable activities 19,008 - 19,008 18,296 - 18,296
3. Donations and legacies
2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Donations and covenants 2,524 550 3,074 2,462 945 3,407
Legacies 728 - 728 577 - 577
Total donations and legacies 3,252 550 3,802 3,039 945 3,984
**----- End of picture text -----**
Included in donations is a grant of £248,069 (2020: £165,379) received from NHS England for palliative care. Substantial support was received from Constable Educational Trust and The Wellcome Trust, plus funding from the Community Foundation for Surrey to support our increased cleaning and PPE costs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
## **3a. Income from Government grants**
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2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
NHS England Palliative Care - 248 248 - 165 165
NHSE Capacity Grant - 2,781 2,781 - - -
UK Government Furlough
Scheme 358 - 358 - - -
Total Government grants 358 3,029 3,387 - 165 165
**----- End of picture text -----**
Charity shop gift aid is included in donations.
## **4. Other trading activities**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Events 132 - 132 542 - 542
- -
Charity shops 1,319 1,319 1,826 1,826
Lottery 167 - 167 148 - 148
- -
Total other trading activities 1,618 1,618 2,516 2,516
**----- End of picture text -----**
Included in charity shops is £590k of emergency funding from local authorities during the pandemic period.
Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**73**
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **5. Investment income**
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2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Dividends and interest: UK 107 13 120 143 25 169
Dividends and interest: foreign 41 9 50 44 8 51
Bank interest - 1 1 10 - 10
Total investment income 148 23 171 197 33 230
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**6. Other income**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total as
£’000 £’000 £’000 as restated £’000 restated
£’000 £’000
Lettings – both staff and parents 131 - 131 124 - 992
Catering 65 - 65 129 - 1,032
Nursery 106 - 106 113 - 904
Other 180 - 180 120 - 960
Total other income 482 - 482 486 - 3,402
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **7. Expenditure on charitable activities**
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2021 2020
Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total as
£’000 £’000 £’000 as restated £’000 restated
£’000 £’000
Charitable activities 21,822 3,318 25,140 21,209 708 21,917
Total expenditure 21,822 3,318 25,140 21,209 708 21,917
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**74** Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **8. Expenditure on:**
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Support Governance
Direct costs costs 2021
costs £’000 £’000 Total
£’000 (Note 9) (Note 9a) £’000
Charitable activities
Care and rehabilitation services 9,009 4,132 206 13,347
The Children’s Trust School 7,365 3,380 168 10,913
Community services 594 273 13 880
16,968 7,785 387 25,140
Raising funds
Costs of generating donations and legacies 1,224 559 28 1,811
Investment in future income 132 60 3 195
Events 170 78 4 252
Charity shops 1,331 528 26 1,885
Lottery 96 43 2 141
2,953 1,268 63 4,284
Total expenditure 19,921 9,053 450 29,424
Direct Support Governance 2020
costs costs costs Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Charitable activities
Care and rehabilitation services 8,522 3,632 176 12,330
The Children’s Trust School 6,057 2,608 124 8,789
Community services 553 234 11 798
15,132 6,474 311 21,917
Raising funds
Costs of generating donations and legacies 1,124 583 23 1,730
Investment in future income 56 - - 56
Events 326 169 8 503
Charity shops 1,494 497 30 2,021
Lottery 93 48 3 144
3,093 1,297 64 4,454
Total expenditure 18,225 7,771 375 26,371
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Expenditure on raising funds is unrestricted in both years.
Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**75**
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **9. Allocation of support costs**
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Care and rehabilitation services School Fundraising Retail Community 2021 Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Marketing 107 88 19 16 7 237
Communications 217 177 39 32 14 479
Facilities 1,056 865 189 157 70 2,337
Human resources 639 523 114 95 42 1,413
Finance 385 313 69 57 25 849
IT 323 265 58 48 21 715
Chief Executive's Office 85 70 15 13 6 189
Strategy Team 208 171 37 31 14 461
Risk (insurance) 90 73 16 13 6 198
Depreciation: Tadworth 580 472 104 - 38 1,194
Depreciation: Other 233 192 42 35 16 518
Provisions 209 171 38 31 14 463
Total support costs allocated (note 8) 4,132 3,380 740 528 273 9,053
Care and rehabilitation services School Fundraising Retail Community 2020 Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Marketing 133 93 26 22 8 282
Communications 213 150 41 36 14 454
Facilities 1,190 835 230 202 76 2,533
Human resources 611 429 117 103 39 1,299
Finance 309 273 155 66 25 828
IT 262 184 51 44 17 558
Chief Executive's Office 88 62 17 14 6 187
Strategy Team - - - - - -
Depreciation: Tadworth 665 469 131 - 39 1,304
Depreciation: Other 59 41 11 10 4 125
Historic water bill 102 72 21 - 6 201
Total support costs allocated (note 8) 3,632 2,608 800 497 234 7,771
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## **Basis of allocation**
Support costs are recharged relative to the proportions of direct costs.
Risk and governance costs relate to insurance (included in Finance in 2020): all other Risk and Governance costs are shown in Note 9a.
Provisions comprise: Dilapidations (£51k), Impairment (£62k), Debt provision (£132k), Other (£218k).
**76** Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **9a. Allocation of governance costs**
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2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Risk and governance 418 344
External audit 32 31
Total 450 375
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## **10. Net income/(expenditure) for the year**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 2020
£’000 £’000
This is stated after charging:
Depreciation 1,712 1,429
Impairment 62
Payments under operating leases:
• Retail properties 363 459
• Equipment 8 36
Auditor remuneration:
• Audit of the financial statements 32 31
• Other audit services 3 1
• Tax advisory - 3
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## **11. Gift Aid**
For the year ended 31 March 2021, the charity received Gift Aid payments of £267k (2020: £346k). Against this, the charity sustained irrecoverable VAT of £1,066k (2020: £858k).
Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**77**
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **12. Staff remuneration and pensions**
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2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Salaries 18,405 15,826
Social security costs 1,735 1,513
Pension costs 1,301 1,121
Temporary staff costs 104 398
Agency staff costs 817 1,179
22,362 20,037
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The year end head count was 713 staff (2020: 647 staff). This figure includes permanent, fixed term and active bank workers.
## **12a. Average monthly number of full-time employees during the year**
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2021 2020
FTEs FTEs
Charitable activities 370 348
Fundraising 30 29
Charity shops 30 30
Support 96 81
Governance 6 7
532 495
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Key management personnel include the Trustees, Chief Executive (and senior staff reporting directly to the Chief Executive). The total employee benefits of the charity’s key management personnel were £1,046k (2020: £923k). (Trustees = £nil). This comprises gross pay, employer pension contributions and Employer’s National Insurance.
The number of employees whose emoluments fell within the following ranges are set out below. The number of current employees earning over £60,000 has been split between clinical and executive staff. The Chief Executive’s emoluments fall into the £120,001-£130,000 band.
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2021 2020 2021 2020 2021 2020
clinical clinical executive executive total total
£60,001-£70,000 2 2 8 2 10 4
£70,001-£80,000 3 - 2 - 5 -
£80,001-£90,000 - 1 2 2 2 3
£90,001-£100,000 1 - - 1 1 1
£100,001-£110,000 - - 1 - 1 -
£110,001-£120,000 - - - 1 - 1
£120,001-£130,000 - - 1 - 1 -
£170,001-£180,000 1 - - - 1 -
£190,001-£200,000 - 1 - - - 1
7 4 14 6 21 10
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During the year the charity made payments to 11 staff (2020: 9 staff) in respect of redundancy and termination totalling £70k (2020: £71k ).
No amounts are included in creditors at the balance sheet date (2020: £nil).
**78** Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **Pensions**
The charity has contributed to both defined benefit and defined contribution schemes during the year. Defined benefit schemes are accounted for as if they were defined contribution schemes if required by FRS 102 Section 28 (‘Employee Benefits’). The total cost to the charity for the year ended 31 March in respect of pension contributions, which have been allocated between resources expended categories in proportion to staff costs and charged to the Statement of Financial Activities as appropriate, is as follows:
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2021 2020 2021 2020
£’000 £’000 Number Number
TCT Group Pension Plan 1,095 748 522 480
Teachers' Pension Scheme 91 70 11 8
NHS Pension Scheme 348 303 70 66
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## **The Children’s Trust Group Pension Plan**
The charity’s Group Pension Plan is a defined contribution scheme, administered by Legal & General Assurance, as personal pension plans for the benefit of employees. The scheme is also used to comply with auto-enrolment requirements, which came into effect from 1 November 2013.
## **Teachers’ Pension Scheme**
The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is a statutory, contributory, defined benefit scheme, governed by the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Regulations 2014. The TPS is an unfunded scheme and members contribute on a ‘pay as you go’ basis – these contributions, along with those made by employers, are credited to Access.
## **Valuation of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme**
The Government Actuary, using normal actuarial principles, conducts a formal actuarial review of the TPS in accordance with the Public Service Pensions (Valuations and Employer Cost Cap) Directions 2014 published by HM Treasury every four years. The aim of the review is to specify the level of future contributions. Actuarial scheme valuations are dependent on assumptions about the value of future costs, design of benefits and many other factors. The latest actuarial valuation of the TPS was carried out as at 31 March 2016. The valuation report was published on 5 March 2019. The key results elements of the valuation and subsequent consultation are:
- employer contribution rates set at 23.68% of pensionable pay (including 0.8% administration levy)
- total scheme liabilities (pensions currently in payment and the estimated cost of future benefits) for service to the effective date of £218,100 million and notional assets (estimated future contributions together with notional investments held at the valuation date) of £196,100 million, giving a notional past service deficit of £22,000 million
- the SCAPE rate, set by HMT, is used to determine the notional investment return. The current SCAPE rate is 2.4% in excess of prices and 2% in excess of earnings. The rate of real earnings growth is assumed to be 2.2%. The assumed nominal rate of return including earnings growth is 4.45%.
The next valuation result is due to be implemented from 1 April 2023.
The pension costs paid to TPS in the year amounted to £91k (2020: £62k).
The TPS is a multi-employer pension plan and there is insufficient information to account for the scheme on as a defined benefit plan so it is accounted for as a defined contribution plan.
There were no outstanding teacher’s pension contributions at year end for either year.
## **National Health Service Pension Scheme**
The NHS operates an unfunded defined benefit scheme for the nursing sector, in which the charity participates. The Charity is granted permission by the Secretary of State to be able to contribute to the cost of the scheme as a ‘Directed Employer’ (an employer that can continue to have non NHS employed staff as members of the NHS pension scheme).
The cost represents the contributions advised by the NHS Pensions Agency. The charity is not liable for past service costs beyond these contributions. Contributions remained at 14.3% in 2021 and in 2020.
Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**79**
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **13. Trustee emoluments and reimbursed expenses**
Trustees should be encouraged to claim expenses to avoid this being a barrier to new Trustees. If Trustees don’t wish to claim expenses, then they can make a donation of a similar amount. Gift Aid can then be claimed on such a donation.
The charity purchased insurance costing £4,480 (2020: £3,302) included in support costs to protect it from loss arising from neglect or default of the Trustees and to indemnify the Trustees against the consequences of neglect or default on their part.
## **14. Fixed assets**
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Freehold & Plant, Assets
Tadworth Freehold leasehold furniture & Motor under
Court land buildings equipment vehicles construction Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Cost
At 1 April 2020 2,697 750 23,138 3,969 431 1,111 32,096
Additions - - 35 671 2 1,778 2,486
Transfers - - 1,170 182 - -1,352 -
At 31 March 2021 2,697 750 24,343 4,822 433 1,537 34,582
Depreciation
At 1 April 2020 1,178 - 11,603 3,196 229 - 16,206
Charge for the year 53 - 907 440 68 - 1,468
At 31 March 2021 1,231 - 12,510 3,636 297 - 17,674
Net book value at
31 March 2021 1,466 750 11,833 1,186 136 1,537 16,908
Net book value at
31 March 2020 1,519 750 11,535 773 202 1,111 15,890
**----- End of picture text -----**
Tadworth Court is a Grade 1 listed mansion building. It houses our pharmacy, catering, meeting and administrative facilities.
Parts of the building and grounds are open to the public on several days in the year.
Department of Health grants in respect of the Grade 1 listed building are secured by way of a legal charge over the freehold property. (See Note 21 in respect of restricted funds).
## **14a. Intangible fixed assets**
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Computer software Assets under construction Total
£’000 £’000 £’000
Cost
At 1 April 2020 1,696 284 1,980
Additions 157 385 542
Transfers 255 255 -
2,108 414 2,522
Amortisation -
At 1 April 2020 484 - 484
Charge for the year 244 - 244
728 - 728
Net book value at 31 March 2021 1,380 414 1,794
Net book value at 31 March 2020 1,212 284 1,496
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**80** Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **15. Investments**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Market value at 1 April 2020 6,370 7,519
Cash transferred 100 (544)
Increase/(decrease) in market value 1,375 (819)
Investec Wealth and Investment dividends re-invested 171 220
Fees/charges (30) (6)
Market value at 31 March 2021 7,986 6,370
Historical cost as at 31 March 2021 6,175 6,275
2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Fixed investments 1,186 986
Listed equities 5,864 4,567
Property 374 399
Alternatives 442 273
Cash 120 145
Total 7,986 6,370
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£75,000 received originally from the Victoria Convalescent Fund is currently invested through Investec. The market value at 31 March 2021 was £72k (2020: £63k).
At 31 March 2021 the charity held 100% of the issued share capital of The Children’s Trust Trading Company Limited, an unquoted investment, the cost of which is £2 (2020: £2). The registered office of the subsidiary is Tadworth Court, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 5RU.
## **16. Debtors**
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2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Trade debtors 1,136 4,267
Accrued income/other debtors 1,249 953
Intercompany debtors 31 -
Prepayments 665 261
3,081 5,481
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Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**81**
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **17. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
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2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Trade creditors 1,032 1,268
Accruals 537 616
Other creditors 32 48
Intercompany creditors - -
Deferred income 675 380
Social security and other taxation 1,040 388
3,316 2,700
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Analysis of deferred income**
Income is deferred where it relates to future events or services for which monies had been received prior to the year end. During the year £380k was released to income and £675k was deferred.
## **18. Financial and capital commitments and contingent liabilities**
At 31 March 2021 the Trust had total commitments under non cancellable leases/agreements as follows:
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Leasehold buildings – up to 1 year 290 277
Leasehold buildings – between 1 and 5 years 480 539
Leasehold buildings – more than 5 years 58 200
Other – up to 1 year - 14
828 1,030
**----- End of picture text -----**
At 31 March 2021, capital commitments authorised and contracted for (net of payments to date on account) amounted to £115k (2020: £127k). No other capital expenditure was authorised but not contracted for (2020: Nil).
**82** Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
## **19. Government grants**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
2021 2020
£’000 £’000
NHS England Children's Palliative Care grant 248 165
NHSE Capacity Grant 2,781 -
UK Government Furlough Scheme 358 -
Devolved capital grant - 22
Department For Education grant - 17
**----- End of picture text -----**
There are no unfulfilled conditions which would require the repayments of any grants.
## **20. Related party transactions**
During the year, management fees of £23k (2020: £nil) and other costs of £10k (2020: £nil) were charged to the charity’s subsidiary. At the balance sheet date, £33k (2020: £nil) was owed from the subsidiary.
## **21. Capital and reserves**
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At 1 April At 31 March
2020 Income Expenditure Gains/(losses) Transfers 2021
a(i) Movement on funds £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Unrestricted general funds:
Undesignated 7,789 24,866 (26,106) 1,293 (876) 6,966
7,789 24,866 (26,106) 1,293 (876) 6,966
Designated funds:
Tangible fixed assets reserve 15,867 - - - 1,364 17,231
15,867 - - - 1,364 17,231
Total unrestricted 23,656 24,866 (26,106) 1,293 488 24,197
Restricted funds:
Development and operational 834 3,579 (3,318) - (436) 659
Grants 318 - - - - 318
Department of Health grant 1,519 - - - (52) 1,467
2,671 3,579 (3,318) - (488) 2,444
Endowment funds:
Gardiner Fund 612 21 - 75 - 708
Victoria Convalescent Fund 63 2 - 7 - 72
675 23 - 82 - 780
Total funds 27,002 28,468 (29,424) 1,375 - 27,421
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Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**83**
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
**----- Start of picture text -----**
At 1 April At 31 March
2019 Income Expenditure Gains/(losses) Transfers 2020
a(ii) Movement on funds £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Unrestricted general funds:
Undesignated funds:
Undesignated 10,850 24,534 (25,663) (674) (1,258) 7,789
Investment revaluation 61 - - - (61) -
10,911 24,534 (25,663) (674) (1,319) 7,789
Designated funds:
Tangible fixed assets reserve 14,234 - - - 1,633 15,867
14,234 - - - 1,633 15,867
Restricted funds:
Development and operational 660 1,110 (708) - (228) 834
Grants 318 - - - - 318
Department of Health grant 1,572 - - - (53) 1,519
2,550 1,110 (708) - (281) 2,671
Endowment funds:
Gardiner Fund 747 30 - (132) (33) 612
Victoria Convalescent Fund 73 3 - (13) - 63
820 33 - (145) (33) 675
Total funds 28,515 25,677 (26,371) (819) - 27,002
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## **Designated funds**
The fixed asset reserve, together with the Department of Health (DoH) restricted fund represents the charity’s investment in fixed assets.
## **Restricted funds**
These are set out subsequently.
## **Endowment funds**
The Gardiner Fund is an endowed special trust, established as an appeal fund in 1983.
The Victoria Convalescent Fund is a permanent endowment and represents a gift of capital to the charity, the income from which is restricted and is used to fund care for children for whom no statutory funding is available.
Transfers between the funds related to capital expenditure and depreciation recharged from the unrestricted funds.
**84** Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
**----- Start of picture text -----**
At 1 At 31
b(i) Analysis of April 2020 Income Expenditure Capital Transfers March 2021
restricted funds £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Operational:
NHS Capacity - 2781 (2,781) - - -
NHS Palliative - 248 (248) - - -
Sub total - 3029 (3,029) - - -
Community 1 138 (134) - - 5
Walkway - 100 - (92) - 8
New Build - 97 - - - 97
ECR System 331 25 - (307) - 49
Camelia House 9 - (4) - - 5
Maple House 30 - (1) - - 29
Mulberry House 48 - (1) - - 47
Oak House 45 0 (3) - - 42
Chestnut House 47 0 (1) (2) - 44
Hawthorn House 25 - - - - 25
Jasmine House 53 - (2) - - 51
Willow House 5 - (3) - - 2
Cheyne Centre 51 7 - (10) - 48
Other 189 183 (140) (25) - 207
Sub total 834 3,579 (3,318) (436) - 659
Grants
School standards 318 - - - - 318
Sub total 318 - - - - 318
- - -
Department of Health 1,519 (52) 1,467
Total 2,671 3,579 (3,318) (436) (52) 2,444
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Notes to the financial statements
The Children’s Trust 2020/2021 Report and Accounts
**85**
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
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At 1 April At 31 March
2019 Income Expenditure Capital Transfers 2020
b(ii) Analysis of restricted funds £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Operational:
ECR System - 331 - - - 331
Mansion Lift 67 0 - (50) - 17
Central Stores 65 0 - (48) - 17
Jasmine House 34 22 (3) - - 53
Chestnut House 37 12 (2) - - 47
Willow House 0 6 (1) - - 5
Maple House 0 35 (1) (4) - 30
Oak House 17 36 (4) (4) - 45
Mulberry House 22 27 (1) - - 48
Hawthorn House 13 12 - - - 25
Camelia House 5 6 (2) - - 9
Community 13 90 (103) - - -
Early Years 110 21 (37) - (94) -
Cheyne Centre - 69 - (19) - 50
Music Therapy 18 40 (40) - - 18
Play Services 10 121 (131) - - -
Volunteers 65 50 (109) - - 6
Other 184 232 (274) (9) - 133
Sub total 660 1,110 (708) (134) (94) 834
Grants
School Standards Fund 318 0 - - - 318
Sub total 318 0 - - - 318
Department of Health 1,572 0 - - (53) 1,519
Total 2,550 1,110 (708) (134) (147) 2,671
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Development and Operational funds represent restricted donations received for the development of the existing site as well as to provide funding for equipment and outings for the children, depending on the bequest granted by the donor.
The Department of Health made grants in 1995 to the charity in relation to the Grade I listed property known as Tadworth Court. These grants, totalling £2.85m, are only repayable under certain circumstances which, in the opinion of the Trustees, are unlikely to arise. Of the total grants, £750,000 was applied to the transfer of the freehold of the site and £2.1m was applied to repairs to the building. The grants are secured by a legal charge over the freehold property.
**86** Notes to the financial statements
## Notes to the financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2021
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March
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment 2021
c. Analysis of net assets between funds £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Fund balances at 31 March 2021 are represented by:
Fixed assets 17,236 1,466 - 18,702
Investments 7,206 - 780 7,986
Current assets 3,071 978 - 4,049
Current liabilities (3,316) - - (3,316)
Total funds 24,197 2,444 780 27,421
March
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment 2020
c. Analysis of net assets between funds £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Fund balances at 31 March 2020 are represented by:
Fixed assets 15,867 1,519 - 17,386
Investments 5,695 - 675 6,370
Current assets 4,794 1,152 - 5,946
Current liabilities (2,700) - - (2,700)
Total funds 23,656 2,671 675 27,002
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**22. Financial instruments**
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2021 2020
£’000 £’000
Financial instruments measured at fair value are as follows:
Financial assets 7,986 6,370
Investec Investment 7,986 6,370
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flUISII
The Children’s Trust Tadworth Court Tadworth Surrey KT20 5RU
01737 365000 enquiries@thechildrenstrust.org.uk thechildrenstrust.org.uk
Charity registration number: 288018 Company registration number: 1757875
The Children’s Trust is registered with the Fundraising Regulator, accredited by CHKS with ISO 9001 certification (for organisational and clinical management systems), inspected and rated ‘Outstanding’ by CareQuality Commission and rated an ‘Outstanding Provider’ by Ofsted Care (for residential houses). The Children’s Trust School is rated a ‘Good Provider’ by Ofsted Education. TCT_1000 05/21.