## **South West Age Partnership Ltd Company Number NI 44994 Registered Charity Number 102075** ## **Report of the trustees for the year ending 31 March 2024** The trustees are pleased to present their annual directors’ report together with the consolidated financial statements of the charity for the year ending 31 March 2024 which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors’ report and accounts for Companies Act purposes. The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and 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 for Smaller Entities. ## **Chair’s report** This has been another busy year for South West Age Partnership (SWAP) in an increasingly difficult funding environment. We have been continued to offer support to many of our member clubs over the past year. We also continue to offer support to the growing number of individuals registered with SWAP, who do not belong to clubs. Through funding SWAP was able to provide food support to vulnerable adults across the district through the FODC Cost of Living funding and the Community Foundation. We supported over 77 individual older people with hot meals three times a week for 8/9 weeks. We also supported over 200 older people with luncheon clubs activities across the District. We continue to run a very successful Winter campaign in partnership with the Council and WHSCT, ‘Happy at Home’, which provided people with a wide range of activities at home or online. We were also involved in the development of 1 booklet that went out to over 2250 individuals over the Winter in the Winter. We are continuing to provide an evolving Directory of Services for local older people and professionals. We continued our successful partnership with WHSCT and FODC during Positive Ageing month and provided over 2000 copies of the Positive Ageing Booklet for 2023.l This led to working with the Public Health Agency on the development and delivery of 6000 calendars for 2024. These calendars incorporated messages from the regional mental health campaigns. SWAP continues to facilitate the FODC Older People’s Groups Grant Aid. SWAP was able to facilitate 95 groups with FODC Grant Aid awarded for 23/24. The grants were spent on Christmas events, craft programmes, exercise programmes and outings. This process has been made easier for older people’s groups and we hope to continue to work with the Council to develop this popular grant. SWAP continues to support groups and individuals through our Active Living Programme. This is the core work of SWAP, offering valuable support to the clubs, usually through some form of activity. The Fermanagh and Omagh Interagency Forum for Older People continued to meet in 23/24. The Manager continues to provide support to the Interagency, take notes and distribute relevant information. We were also able to support clubs with funding from PHA/WHSCT for Positive Ageing Grants. We received 87 applications from groups providing support to older people and were able to successfully fund 28 groups for activities in their local venue. SWAP continues to engage with local older people through activities and programmes. SWAP has also supported clubs with governance issues over the last year and provided advice and guidance. SWAP has welcomed a few new groups and also more individual older people into our services and programmes. ## **Our purposes and activities** Purpose 1: To relieve poverty: The direct benefits which flow from this purpose include increasing older people's access to pension information; related benefits and improving their awareness of their rights as individual older people; older people will be enabled to access the skills and knowledge to increase their income, through increasing benefit uptake and accessing services. They will in turn be able to share this knowledge within their groups. These benefits are evidenced by our work with regional benefits advice providers; Make the Call; Housing Executive and local advice networks. We promote the work of the relevant agencies and their grants etc. Purpose 2: To advance education The direct benefits which flow from this purpose include increasing older people's access to education and training opportunities and providing older people with the skills and knowledge to train their peer group; older people will be gain skills and knowledge to through our training and education programme. They will in turn be able to share this knowledge within their groups. These benefits are evidenced by the programmes we run ourselves and also by the classes we organise on specific training needs. Purpose 3: To promote the preservation and protection of health among older people The direct benefits which flow from this purpose include enhanced understanding of how to age well; improved physical, mental and emotional health; living longer and participation in activities designed to improve health and well-being; an increased awareness and improved health for an individual older person. These benefits are evidenced by the activity programmes we organise; run and support throughout the year through our Active Living programme. Evaluations of programmes support the need for more and provide evidence of how well people feel after an activity programme. We also work closely with the local Health Trust in the promotion of health and promote new programmes, such as Falls Prevention. Purpose 4: to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for the education, recreation and leisure -time occupation of senior citizens The direct benefits which flow from this include improved knowledge and access to local facilities; provide a safe place for older people to get together, reducing social isolation and improving older people's quality of life through dedicated programmes; improving an individual older person's access to local facilities by bringing them to an activity or programme and by reducing their social isolation. These benefits are evidenced by the amount of activities and programmes we support in a wide range of facilities across Fermanagh and Omagh. We run over 50 programmes a year for older people in suitable venues, evaluations gathered after each programme support the need and success of these programmes. Reduced social isolation is reported and health improvements are noted, for example, through our exercise programmes. We do not anticipate any harm leading from the purposes of SWAP. SWAP's beneficiaries are older people living in the Omagh and Fermanagh District Council areas. There is no private benefit from our purposes. ## **Plans for future periods** South West Age Partnership will continue to work closely with the local Council on developing Fermanagh and Omagh as an Age Friendly district. We will continue to represent the needs of older people at meetings and committees. On a regional level we will continue to work with Age NI/PHA/DfC towards an Age Friendly region as part of the Age Friendly Network. We will continue to support the local groups through the facilitation of a Grants process with the local Council. We will continue to help groups plan and organise their own programmes. We will continue to support the our members directly, eg. Good Governance advice or Charity Commission advice. A major concern for SWAP is the ongoing financial sustainability given the current funding climate but we will endeavour to source new funding streams. We continue to strengthen our links with the community and stakeholders by providing strong programmes but also by engaging on a more strategic level with the planners for older people’s services across Fermanagh and Omagh. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** ## _**Governing Document**_ SWAP is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association 10[th] December 2010 .It is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission, under NIC 102075. ## _**Appointment of trustees**_ As set out in the Articles of Association the Board is nominated and elected by members at the Annual General Meeting. All members are circulated with invitations to nominate trustees prior to the AGM advising them of the retiring trustees and requesting nominations for the AGM. When considering co-opting trustees, the Board has regard to the requirement for any specialist skills needed. ## _**Trustee induction and training**_ New trustees undergo an orientation meeting to brief them on: their legal obligations under charity and company law, the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit, and inform them of the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the committee and decisionmaking processes, the business plan and recent financial performance of the charity. During the induction they meet key employees and other trustees. Trustees are encouraged to attend appropriate external training events where these will facilitate the undertaking of their role. ## _**Organisation**_ The board of trustees administers the charity. The board normally meets every 5 weeks. The Project Manager reports to the trustees and manages the day-to-day operations of the charity. To facilitate effective operations, the Project Manager has delegated authority, within terms of delegation approved by the trustees, for operational matters including finance, employment and programme development. ## _**Related parties and co-operation with other organistaions**_ None of our trustees receive remuneration or other benefit from their work with the charity. ## _**Risk management**_ The trustees have a risk management strategy which comprises: ● **●** an annual review of the principal risks and uncertainties that the charity face; ● **●** the establishment of policies, systems and procedures to mitigate those risks identified in the annual review; and ● **●** the implementation of procedures designed to minimise or manage any potential impact on the charity should those risks materialise. A key element in the management of financial risk is a regular review of available liquid funds to settle debts as they fall due, regular liaison with the bank, and active management of trade debtors and creditors balances to ensure sufficient working capital by the Charity. Attention has also been focussed on non-financial risks arising from fire, health and safety of staff and members. These risks are managed by having robust policies and procedures in place, and regular awareness training for staff working in these operational areas, in line with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s policies. ## **Trustees’ responsibilities in relation to the financial statements** The charity trustees are responsible for preparing a trustees’ annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the charity trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the group and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable group for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to: - **●** select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - **●** 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 charity will continue in business. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to 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 the group and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **Statement as to disclosure to our auditors** In so far as the trustees are aware at the time of approving our trustees’ annual report: ● **●** there is no relevant information, being information needed by the auditor in connection with preparing their report, of which the group’s auditor is unaware, and ● **●** the trustees, having made enquiries of fellow directors and the group’s auditor that they ought to have individually taken, have each taken all steps that he/she is obliged to take as a director in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information. ## **RESERVES** The Board of South West Age Partnership (SWAP) will create and manage financial reserves against future uncertainties to safeguard the continuing core work of the organisation and to minimise any disruption to its charitable activities. SWAP will aim to maintain a level of unrestricted reserves equating to 3 months running costs for the organisation. The Board of Directors will consider the level of reserves that is prudent for the charity on an annual basis. Consideration will be given to redundancy liabilities, lease agreements, and any other significant factors that should be taken into account were the charity to close.