Little Orchids Company Llmlted by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) Year ended 31 March 2024 The trustees, who are also the directors for the purposes of company law, present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024. R6fer8nee and admlnlsirative detalls Reglsiered charlty nam8 Llttla Orchids Charfty regl8tratlon numbar 100096-0 Cornpany reglstratlon numbar Nl 071926 Prlnclpal offlce and roglsiernd Woodlea House offl¢e Gransha Park L'Derry BT47 6TF N ireland The tru81008 Dervla Feeney Emma McDaid Paula Mcconway Gregory Sloane Deborah Sheehan Sarah McGill Anne Marie Kavanagh (Appointed 21 March 2024) {Appointed 21 March 2024) {Resign8d 21 March 2024) (Resigned 21 March 2024) (Resigned 21 March 2024) (Flesigned 21 March 2024) Independent examlner Keith McElhSnney 42A Cloonay Terrace Watersid8 Londonderry BT47 6AP Structur•. govemance and management The Charlty is managed by an Executive Committee which consists of all Ihe appo￿nted trustees, and the selection of any new Trustees is deaft with by that Committee. Little Orchids Company Llmlted by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) {contlnu•d) Year ended 31 March 2024 Objectlves and a￿1VitieS We provide therapeutic intervention and supp)rt for children 2-4 years with special needs arKI those who may require additional support. We cater for children who have a wide variety of specific needs. All staff are highly experienced and committed to ongolng training to provide the best outcomes for children and their families. We are located at Gransha Park, L'D8rry and have no specific calchment area. Referrais are usually made by professSonals involved with the child. Parents can also self refer. We We run 2 sessions per day and have a high adult child ratio. Observations are used to assess each child's individual needs, strengths, interests and abilities and to plan experiences that will encourage further learning. Throughout the daily routs'ne we promota each child's social skills, communication skills, self help skills, play skills and independenc8. We liaise closely with Health and Education Professlonals involved with each child to share information to achiev8 common goals for the b8nefit of the chlld. Little Orchids Company Limlted by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report) (contimmd) Year ended 31 March 2024 hievements and performance In the Year 2023124 we ran morning and aftemoon sessions from September 2023 urrtil June 2024 and we operated a 3 week summer scheme in July. All the children were offered 2 days due to the high numbers of referrals. 31 children finished with us in June. All children who attended were in their pre preschool year Some reasons for referrals were:. Early Developmental impairment. Speech and Language delay ' Nonverbal ' Genetic Conditions Pulmonary hypertension Cardiac condition Chronlc lung disease Behavioural challenges No danger awareness High pain threshold ' Sleep issues Hyperactivity Poor communlcatlon and social skllls ' Concems about possible ASD and ADHD Poor play skills Feeding difficullies Dystonia Sensory processing difficulties Repetitive behaviours Juvenlle Idiopathic Arthritis Brain Haemorrhage and stroke ' Suspected Foetal Alcohol syndrome Attention and concentration difficulties and difflcutt to engage ' Very self-directed Poor inconsistent response io name Inconsistent eye contact Delayed self-help skills ' Doesn't understand simple commands Finds transitions very dlfflcult when leaving place or activity Non mobile Visual impalrment Toiloting issues Smearing We have used different ways to monltor and measure the impact of our seNlce these Include observation records, behaviour monitoring forms, task analysls, and critical communication list. We continue to have 3 monthly reviews io meet with parents to discuss each chlld's progress and monitoring forms are completed. We use information from parents gathered before the child begins as a baseline. Other Information gathered is from planning, evaluation, action plans and feedback from other professionals. We We review all our work annually by seeking the views of Parents via a questionnaire. Feedback from June 2024 was extremely positive with all Parents strongly agreeing with all questions including that their child is gaining confidence and independence as a result ol hislher experience at Little Orchids. Comments from Parents included:. .1 am so glad I sent my son to Little Orchids he has developed and progressed so much. l am delighted with his level of care and support. "Grateful for Ihe support my child has received and the progress he has made" Best decision I made for my child" I feel immensely relieved and grateful. Little Orchids has exceeded my expectations in everf "Great that my child had somewhere safe to go" Little Orchids Company Limlted by Guarantee Trustees. Annual Report (Incorporatlng the Directorfs Report) (contlnu•d) Year ended 31 March 2024 'Love it and recommend to other special needs parents" "Confident that this was the right placement for my child. "My child has loved Little Orchids, he will miss coming along and seeing staff" I feel that the service was even better than what I could have expected" Second to none, all very productive and encouraging" 'Amaang kewrl(er support alongside support of manager was brillianf Amazing child development suppor "I feel very grateful of every support we got" "I've been offered great support throughout Ihe year. 'The support we have received has been outstanding. We always feel well informed about my chlld's progress" "l am more than pleased with the support" 'Great Support network, my son has loved coming along, advice VRS alwmys welcomed from stafl" The SUPKK)rt and guidance provided have been invaluable" Achlevements thls year Over the past year we secured furKling from the Publlc Health Agency for a 7th year to run a Making Mums and Dads lives better Project. This project ran for 1.25 hours per week for 4 weeks in December/January. The feedback was extremely positive. We have also secured funding to run the project again. We secured funding from the Pathway fund to contribute towards the Playroom staff salaries from April 2023 until March 2024. We secured one to one funding from HSC8 Fair Play Regional Small Grants Scheme to support those children referred with very high complex needs who required one to one support. We secured funding from National Lottery Awards for all towards our running costs and this has also been secured for the incoming year. We secured a grant from Enkalon to bring in Jo Jlngles for Rhythm and Rhyme sessions. ' We secured grants from The Hedley Foundation and Ulster Garden Villages to contribute towards the cost of Salaries for the afternoon session. We were featured on BBC Nev￿line. The Mark Patterson show and Colum EaS￿oOd mentioned us in the House of Commons to raise awareness regarding possible cuts to Government funding. Jay Doherty made a promotional video to highlight the worft we do.. Many Parents arKI friends of the Centre held fundraisers. ' We held a Charity night which was w811 supported by Parents and the local communSty. Concerns We are dependent on fundraising to contribute to the Staff salaries and running costs., The high number of children who are referred to the Centre and we are unable to offer places to all children. Difficulty in recruiling childcare staff. How we will overcome this We will continue to encourage parerrts to support any fundraising events.. We will continue to make applications lor funding. We continue to source fundlng to allow additlonal one to one support staff whlch means we can continuo to offer 8 additional places in the incoming year. Including soclal media. We will advertise all vacant posts online, Flnanclal rovlew The Charity had a surplus for the year to 31 March 2024 of £4.464 (2023: deficit £19,889). and at 31 March 2024 had net assets of £113,973 {2023: £109,509) Small company provislons This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the small companies exemption. Little Orchlds Company Llmlted by Guarantee TNstees' Annual Report (Ineorporatlng the Directorfs Report) (conllftued) Year ended 31 March 2024 The trustees, annual report was approved on 21 November 2024 and slgned on behaif of the board of trustees by: Derrfla Feeney Trustee