REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: N1040060 (Nurthern Ireland) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: NIC102504 ort of the Trustees anil Fiiiancial Statements for the Year En(led 31 March 2023 for South Belfast Sure Start Acom Liinile(I b Guiiranlee Lynn Drake & Co Ltd Statutory Auditors 1st Floor 34 B-D Maiii Street Moira Co. Ariiiagh BT67 OLE Soulh Belfast Sure Start Contents of the Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 Marcl) 2023 Page Reference and Administrative Details Report of the Trustees Report of the Independent Auditors Statement of Financial Activities 14 Statement of Financial Position 15 Statement of Cash Flows 16 Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows 17 Notes to the Financial Statements Detailed Statement of Financi#l Activities 32 to 33 South Belfast Sure Start Reference and Administrative Details for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 TRUSTEES Eleanor Jordan Eelco Westerliu is Nataslia Brennan (resigiied 221912022) William Olpliert Ruth Pritcliard Nikki Jolinston Darreii Spence (resigned 221912022) J oaii Heiiderson Saiidra Webb Sioblian McDonnell Ainaiida Harper (resigned 261512022) J Scotl (appointed 221912022) G M¢Hiigli (appointed 241112023) A Grogyan (appoiiited 241112023) COMPANY SECRETARY Eelco Westerhuis REGISTERED OFFICE 9 Lower Crescent Bel fast Co. Aiilriin BT7 INR REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER N1040060 (Northern Ireland) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER NICI 02504 AUDITORS Lynn Drake & Co Ltd Statiitory Auditors I st Floor 34 B-D Main Street Moira Co. Arinagh BT67 OLE CHIEF EXECUTIVE Ms Joy Poots South Belfast Sure Start Re ort of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report witli tlie fiiiaiicial stateineiits of the charity for the year elided 31 Marcli 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Cliarities.. Statement of Recomineiided Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance witli tlie Fiiiancial Reporting Standard appl icable ii) the UK aiid Repiiblic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective l January 2019). South Belfast Sure Start ort of the Trustees for the Year En(led 31 March 2023 OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Principle activities The principle activities of the company are the provision of activities for the benefit of childreii aged 0-3 years and their famil ics living in thc South Belfast catcliinenl area. Services and programmes across the year As 2022-2023 progressed core services and prograinmes largely returned to pre Covid 'norinal' with a few exceptions. However, it was an extreinely challenging year for SBSS iii tliat we lost over 20 % of our staff teain to otlier (mostly better paying) posts, forced retirenieiits tlirougpli j Iliiess and otlier fam ily circuinstances. Soine of tliese posts were lield by very experienced aiid skil led people. Recruilinent was oiigoiiig tliroughout tlie year wilh ¢liallenges, particularly iii Early Years, iii finding suitable new recruits. Tlie last posts to be rilled li) these cycles were Early Years Assistants for wliicli we received iio applicatioiis wliatsoever. Fortunately, we had 5 x student placeinents who were just completing their QCF Level 2 who we were able to einploy on teinporary contracts with ihe condition that they started Level 3 iraining in Septeinber 2022. Training lip aiid meiitoriiig new staff (iiicludiiig inaiidatory train ing). so we can get back io previoLlS levels of expertise will lake several years. Iii additioii, to gaps iii staffiiig arisiiig froin recriiitiiient, we also had an uiiusiially l)iLih level of staff sickiiess over tlie year. Tliere were uiiavoidabl¢ disruptioiis to services or on occasioiis reduction in tlie nuinber of cliildren/sessioiis per week so tliat we could reinaiii iii ratio. Tl)e reinaiiiii)gi staff Iiave beeii outstandiiig iii iheir williiigness to cover gaps and abseiices, Inoviiig to otlier progyrainines/coiiiiiiuiiities ofteii at short notice, iiicreasii)g ilieir Iiours for teinporary periods etc. Witllout their gloodwill arid flexibility wl)ole services aiid progirainiiies would liave gvrouiid to a h2( It. SBSS added all of Ihe 20/0 uplift it received iii Autuinii 2022 to tlie wages, biit tlie reality is their reward lias beeii a pay cul in real terins. Aside froin staffing there were still soiiie issiies arisiii&? froin coming out of a global paiideinic on services and progyrainines. Soine fainilies remained reluctant to Iiave visitors in their home wliich coiilribuled to ai) increase in subslaijtive telephoiie support or increased iiiiinbers atleiidiiig groiips, Weekly Pareiit & Toddler groiips and Baby Café drop-in gyroiips becaine, in tlie Inain, well attended agaiii, aiid where niiinbers were deemed to be too higli to allow tor a productive experience for all, Iliey were divided iiito two sinaller sessioiis. A few targ)ets, sucl) as Library visits or Aiiteiiatal Aqua Yoga and Baby Switn had to be abaiidoiied or rediiccd as Citller a veiiue or service was iiot available 'post-Covid'. However, having control of a iiuinber of preinises in differeiit cominuiiities eiiabled us to get face to face services up and runiiing promptly. Tlie Board of Directors decided to coiitiiiue with our Early Years staffing capacity maiiily beiiig focussed on the 2-3-year age group. We were tlierefore in the positioii to offer alniost al I fain i lies wlio requested il, a place in eitlier a Developiiieiital Progyrainine for 2-3 Year Old's or a Cliild Developinent Prograinine iii Sepleinber 2022. By Ilie Autuinn we liad over 150 children aged 2-3 years iii tliese prograinines aloiig witli a furiliei. l O placed in a special iieeds prograinine in Solas aiid a fiirther 24 in oiie of oiir 3 'Loving Leariiiiig, prograinines (fuiided through the STEP prograinine). We coiitiiiued to sel targets for all these programines wliich retlect best practice such as home and Centre based 1.1 review visits, Wellcomm/bi-liiigual screeiiiiig> nioiitlily 'Stay to Play, or 'Coine and Play, sessions, the introductory 'Ready to Play, worksliops for pareiits whose cliild is entering a programme and transition forins and related activilies for children who are leaving a programine. Because of the move to focusiiig on 2-3 year olds within the developinental prograinmes, we realised that a gap in services for cliildren iii tlie 1-2 year old age range was einergiiig and tlie nuinbers in that age group participating in services had fallen. As we moved into 2023 new prograinmes were developed such as a 4 week 'Sensory Programme, to target this age range and enable children and families to biiild relationships before entry to developillental prograinmes. South Belfast Sure Start ort of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 What became clear as services started to return to more normality was the increasing number of cliildren about whoin there are developillental concerns such as speech and laiiguage, sensory processing. ASD and attacliineiit issues. With capacity we were able to offer Sln¢iller groups (4 to 6 children) in soine afternoon prograinmes for these children. The Urbaii Villages 'A Place for Me, project's 'Play and Discover, group began to grow a waiting l 1st but fuiidiiig criteria meant it was only accessible to fainilies l iving in tlie Iniier coininuiiities. Iii respoiise some Play and Discover prograinmes were organised in Outer South during tlie year to lielp Ineet tliese demands but for capacity reasons it was not always possible to have the regular input of our SLT, who along with tlie Special Needs FSW (funded by Urban Villages) were key lo deliveriiig a quality service for these children and their parents. The SLT also rolled out the 'Building Blocks of Communication, training and resources for Fainily Support Workers so they could provide support where iiidividual needs liad been ideiitified. Tliese prograinines proinote developinent aiid support parent child interaction by provid ing iiiformation, strategies, and Slipport for parents wliile they are waiting for appointinents following referrals to Coininuijity Speech aiid Language or CDC or waiting for ASD referrals to be placed at 2yrs 9inths. Children presenling with tlie higliest needs were referred iiito Solas for specialist support however for soine pareiits il was too early iii thei r journey lo liave tliese discussioiis aiid these clii Idreii liave beeii placed witli in oiir owii Progirainines. Rcferrals liave also beeli placed for play tlierapy for children aiid adiilt coiiiiselliiig services witliiii ilie coininliiiily sector for parei)ts. Tlie nuinber of onward referrals to specialist services incliidiiig ASD assessiiieiit service, CDC, CSLT, Educatioiial Psychology coiilii)ued to iiicrease aiid ofteii due to ihe long waiting lists pareiits faced long waits for support. Witliiii Sure Start tliis has required a sigiiificaiit ainouiit of plaiiiiiiig aiid SLipporl to eiisiire tliese fainilies are receiving tlie Inost appropriate SLipport. It also Ineaiit tlie SLT had to prioritise Specialist work, Ineaiiiiig less support was available for Targeted aiid Uiiiversal services. An arisiiig area of iieed we had iiot aiiticipatedlset targets for, was the Iiiiinber of asylum-seekiiig famil ies, chi Idreii aiid preginaiit woineii liviiigy jii 'contingNeiicy accoiiiinodatioii, (forinerly holels) witliiii our catcliineiit area. Wlii le tliere are fairj i lies coiniiig aiid g)oiiig tliis built to ali average of So add itional clii Idreii registered with SBSS aiid families with high levels of need tliat SBSS supported, SBSS staff coiitribiited to tlie establ ishineiit of, aiid Ihen atteiided on a fortiiiglitly basis Fainily Help cl ii)ics for these fain i lies. Soine of tlie childreii were placed iii 2-3 year progiraiiiines aiid pareiits began to coine out of the ¢oiiliiigeiicy accoiiiinodatioii to atteiid activities in IoLal coininuii itie5. In regard to rainily Support the risiiigl cost of living, poor Ineiital healtli, aiid additioijal needs preseiited as tlie maiii reason for I:1 fainily support within tlie local coininuilities and for tlie Cliiiiese aiid Roina coininunities. While the fainily support teaiii Iiave bLiiIt stroiiLF relatioiiships witli tlieir local coiniiiuiiity groiips to explore various types of siipport and fiindiiig for fainilies this becoine Inore dirriciilt to access as tlie i)uinbers requiring support begaii to build into tlie wiiiter. l ainilies were regularly signposted to Food Baiiks and F(Iinily Siipport Hubs for food/voucl)ers, gas aiid electric top ups and school uniforixs. In tlie Early Years seltings staff Inade sure tl)ere was extra food for the children by providiiig a 'breakfast' wlieii they arrived as well as a substantial 'snack' before the children went home. Likewise, we upped tlie quantity of food available at parent and child groups, baby cafes etc. SBSS Ltd was successfiil in a bid to DE'S Fair Start for the Hope/Speranta project for the Roina coinmunity. Tlie Hope Project eiiabled us to provide early interveiition and siipporl services for Roma faiiiilies froin pregnaiicy to 6 years oldlend of P l. Tlie fiindiiig started in SepteiT]ber 2022, and allowed us to einploy a full-tiine Co-ordinator/FSW worker who is responsible for delivering both Sure Start eleineiits (0-3) aiid early educatioii (4-6) support for the Roma cominunity. Tliis brought a lot of stability as well as dcvelopinent to this work which was particularly iinportaiit given the Cost of Living crisis and the coiilinued outworking's of Brexit, witli more and more of these families Inoviiig into total destitution. South Belfast Sure Start ort of the Trustees for Ilie Year Ended 31 March 2023 While the continuation of core DE fuiidiiig was by far tlie most important resource in delivering services and programines for families the 'added value, of other fuiiding has been vital in enabling us to respond to emerging iieeds, grow our services, iiinovate and pilot, provide more 'out of hours, services and retain some skilled aTid coinmitted staff. Quality improvement initiatives within the SBSS The fainily support and early years teams coiitiiiued lo work togetlier to produce evidence for localised plaiiiiing arid evaluation to ensure effective service delivery. Online prograinme evaluation torms were developed to iiiforin fulure service delivery withii) iiidividual areas aiid the wider SLire Start areas. Tlie fam ily Slipport team witliiii the Iiiiier aiid Outer areas contiiiued to provide SLipport across geogyrapliical areas depeiidiiiLF 011 ski I I set ai)d capacity aloiig witli jo iiil services for parents aiid clii Idren e.g., 'Coine Siiig with Me,, S iiigiiig7 tor Health and Parenling Plizzle. Weekly allocalioii Ineetiiigs also provided a soiirce of support along with biweekly ineetings between fainily support and early years teains. Witliin tli¢ Perinatal T¢ain it was decided to follow up the iiiitial telephone contact with an einail providiiig the relevant iiiforinatioii to ensure tliat anteiiatal pareiits are fully aware of service delivery aiid at what stage of tlieir pregyiiancy they sIIoLild expecl lo receive tliis. Eclrly Yeic rs teains coinpleted exit queslioiinaires witli pareiits of cliildren leaviiig tlie prograiiiines as part ot" tlie evaluation process to eiiable iiiiproveineiits to service delivery within clii Idreii's &proiip progFrainines. For cli i Idreii joiiiiiig prograinines eiitry qiieslioiiiiaires were coinpleted to lielp gatlier pareiit's hopes and aspiratioiis for thein aiid tl)eir cli ild by atteiidiiig the progjrainine wli icli cali tlien be coinpared witli tlie exit questionnaires at tlie end of tlie acadeimic year, Aloiigy witli 3 011)er Belfast Sure Stal'l progyrainines iii our BFI 'Cliildreii's Centre, g7foLlP we liad cl siiccessfLII reaccrcditatioii of oiir Baby Frieiidly st2( lus. Bri accreditalioi) lias been a veliicle tlial lias siipported tlie proinotioii of breasifeediii&F or respoiisive bottle feediiig witliiii SBSS. Significant activlties South Belfast Sure Start was established in 2001 witli 4 aiins: ( l ) To Improve Health (2) To Iinprove tlie Ability to Learii (3) To Iiiiprove Social and Einotional Well-Beiiig (4) To Strengtlieii Families and Communities The programine is core fui)ded by tlie Department of Education (througli the Health and Social Care Board) and Inaiiaged by a Board of Directors tliat is a partiier5hip of community, voluntary and statutory ageiicies that work logether to improve outcomes for young chi Idren and tlieir fainilies iii the catcliinent area. SBSS has worked with the SPPG at the Departinent of Healtli to develop the core Sure Start services witliin an Outcoines Frainework. Al l activities aiid services tliat are coininissioiied througli the core DE fuiiding are recorded on a Sure Start Prograiiiines inforination systein. In addition, SBSS as a Limited Company has obtained funding for programmes and activities that add value or are coinplem¢iitary to tlie core DE funded services aiid respond to needs that could not be met within the restrictions of the core annual budget. Tliese accounts provide a clear record of the funding received, expenditure and activities that derive from the core DE funding and other fundiiig sources. South Belfast Sure Start ort of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Public benefit To improve the healtli and wcll-b¢iiig of children aged 0-3 years living in disadvantaged coiiiinuiiities or circuinstances in Soutli Belfast througli the provisioii of healtli and social care services to cliildreii and tlieir pareiitslcarers as wel l as to pregnai)t woineii. The direct benefits whicli flow from tliis piirpose is iliai ihrough services and information to parents and pareiits to be, they will be siipported to prevenl ill liealth and developmeiital delay iii their cliildreii. ideiitify healtli and developinental issues at an early stage and access otlier services that their chi Idren Inay require. These benefits are deinonstratcd tlirougl) quarterly and annual activity reports and outcoines-based evaliiatioii. Tliis purpose does not lead to harm. The beiieficiaries of th is purpose are: Childreii aged 0-3 years aiid, their parents and carers and expectaiit parei)ts priinarily living in the Soutli Belfast Siire Start catcliineiit area. A private beiiefit to triistees inay arise if the knowledge tliey gaiii as a trustee in regards, to good governance aiid health proinotion is transferable to anotlier setting. These beiiefits are incidental aiid necessary to ensure tlie benefit is provided to the beneficiaries. To iinprove the social and einotional developinenl of cliildren aged 0-3 years living iii disadvaiitaged coininiiiiilies or Circuinstaiices in SoLltlI Be Ifast throiigli progvrainiiies and services tliat siipport pareiits, in caringy for tlieii. cliildrei1. Tlie direct beiiefits which flow froin tliis piirpose is iliat by providii)g faiiiily siipport services to pareiits, carer5 and pai'eiits lo be, Iliey will be supported to develoi) lieallliy atlacliiiieiits witli iheir iiifaiits, g)ood pareiilii)g skills, bctter tainily fuiictioii ing aiid iinproved ecoiioinic ai)d enviroiiiiieiital circuinstaiices. These benefits are deinonstrated throug71I quarterly aiid aniiual activity reports aiid outcoines-based evaluatioii. A risk Inay arise if tl)rougJli tlie provisioii of fainily support services, a child or parenilcarer is hariiied by a meinber of staff or a meinber of staff is liarined iii tlie course, of tlieir duties. Tl)ese risks are In iniin ised ihrougih the iinpleinentatioii of Ch ild Protectioii and Vuliierable Adulis pol icies, staff supervisioi) aiid Loile Working policy aiid are OLltweiglied by tlie overall beiiefils to cl)1 Idreii aiid fain il ies. Tliis piirpose does iiot lead to harin. Tl)e belief ici