## **FOYLE DOWN SYNDROME TRUST** ## **Annual Report and Statement of Accounts** For the year to 28[th] February 2023 **Foyle Down Syndrome Trust – Registered Charity No NIC105694** info@fdst.org.uk Page |**_Annual Report for the year ended 28th February 2023_**|| |---|---| |**_Achievements, Performance and Activities_**|| |The Year in Numbers|
2| |Early Intervention programme|2| |Healthy Hearts and Minds programme|2,3| |Project 21 programme|3,4| |**_Financial Review_**|| |Financial Performance|5| |Income|5| |Expenditure|5| |Financial Management and Reserves Policy|6| |**_Reference and Administrative Details_**|| |Charity Name|7| |Charity Number|7| |Charity Address|7| |Charity Trustees as of 28thFebruary 2023|7| |**_Structure, Governance and Management_**|| |Governing Document|8| |Board of Directors|8| |Board Meetings|8| |Serious Incidents Statement|8| |**_Objectives and Activities_**|| |Charitable Objectives|9| |Public Benefit Statement|9| |Signed on behalf of Board of Directors|10| 1 | P a g e ## **Annual Report for year ending 28[th] February 2023** The Trustees of Foyle Down Syndrome Trust Ltd are pleased to submit their report and accounts for the period 1[st] March 2022 to 28[th] February 2023. In this report the Trustees present a summary of its purpose, governance, activities, achievements and finances. It contains the information required to be provided in the Trustees Annual report under the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) guidelines. The directors of the company are also charity trustees for the purpose of charity law and under the company’s constitution are know as members of the board of directors. The financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act (NI) 2008, FRS 102. ## _**Achievements and Performance**_ ## **The Year in 6 Numbers** **27[th ] 2557 934 6315 12 38** Year Early Intervention programmes Programme Service Staff Volunteers Supporting children Activities Delivery and young people Attendance with Down syndrome ## **Early Intervention Programme** A total of 1201 one-to-one education lessons were planned and facilitated for 45 children with Down syndrome, aged 0 to 12 years. Each high quality, structured lesson was tailored to suit each child’s educational, emotional and social profile, in partnership with parents and focussed on the enhancement of early numeracy competency, speech, communication, fine motor skills and dexterity. Using scientifically proven interventions such as ABBLs, See and Learn, Numicon, Jolly Phonics and TACPAC, our Education Outreach Officers record and analyse lesson data to ensure each child reaches their full and individual potential and achieve the very best possible learning and development outcomes. Our Music Therapist created person-centred therapeutic approaches for each young person with Down syndrome, aged 0 to 18 years, with the development of communication and confidence skills playing central goals for each of them. Both one-to-one and group music therapy sessions provided an explorative and important gateway for all our children and young people to build and achieve a greater sense of emotional wellness and confidence, strengthening their communication skills, using a wide range of musical instruments and musical techniques. ## **Healthy Hearts and Minds Project** ## **Health and WellBeing** All activities were planned in partnership with our children and young people, aged 8 to 25 years, empowering them to shape and drive activities, whilst encouraging them to embrace new and challenging opportunities and experiences to develop a range of core competencies. Fun, interactive, physical, emotional and structured, weekly projects afforded our children and young people to cycle, swim, play sports, do arts and crafts, attend residentials, holiday in Scotland, relax with yoga, cookery, have socials with their peers from other groups across our city, including, The Londonderry YMCA, Rugby Tots, Ryan McBride Foundation, Lincoln Court Youth Clubs and many more. Fitness levels, confidence, independence, resilience, motivation, emotional wellness and skills learning have all increased significantly throughout the year. 2 | P a g e ## **Mentoring and Inclusion** Our 8 to 12 and 13 to 19year groups have been engaged in a varied, enjoyable, developmental programme throughout the week. Saturday sessions have allowed for the children to flourish in a safe, child-friendly and enjoyable environment. Saturday sessions incorporate outdoor learning and mentoring time as one programme. These sessions have been busy year-round, with fantastic attendance. Members have been flourishing as they have built confidence, friendship, and rapport with their peers. The children have also learnt many new skills and we have seen great improvement in their fine motor skills, dexterity, and energy levels. It has been a truly wonderful experience to watch friendships grow and to be engaged in such a joyful, child-centred learning programme. The group have continued to work together through social games, songs, messy and free play to develop their interpersonal skills, friendships, and physical development. They also have enthusiastically engaged in baking lessons, singing, arts and crafts, highland dance lessons and wellbeing activities which have been received very well by all. ## **Outdoor Learning and Development** All children and young people with Down syndrome, aged 8 to 19 keenly participated in activities such as coppicing Willow trees to make willow pegs, learned how to identify native ancient trees, river monitoring in leaky dams, using ancient techniques to create art by flower pounding, making safe campfires and most importantly toasting and enjoying s’mores. The John Muir Certification Award was presented to each young person on completion of this project which supported them to connect and enjoy with nature, the landscape and the natural environment. Our 8 to 12year group took part in “The Green Buddies Programme”, which afforded them opportunities to create mud pies in a mud kitchen, scavenger hunt, engage in outdoor games, arts and crafts, dancing, bug hunts and litter picking in and around our outdoor space. The main aim of this programme was to help our young people understand, enjoy and learn about the world around them, develop friendships, confidence and improve their fine motor skills and individual abilities and it certainly did that. Outdoor play has greatly enhanced our children’s social awareness skills, encouraged them to develop healthy ways of forming friendships, respond appropriately to physical interaction and use their imaginations to entertain each other and gain respect for nature. ## **Project 21** ## **Social, Personal Development and Inclusion** In September 22 the group began the “Steeper Steps” programme in partnership with local youth organisation YouthAction NI and outdoor activity provider Far and Wild. This programme focused on exploring our city and discovering new adventures on our doorstep. From kayaking on Enagh Lough to slacklining in St Columbs Park the group got the opportunity to really challenge themselves whilst also learning some outdoor skills such as creating a small fire to cook smores on. The group also began a new 12week programme in collaboration with North West Cricket Union which focused on developing their leadership skills, learn new ways of keeping fit and participate in fun cricket based games. Upon completion, they achieved “Cricket Activators” accreditation and received cricket equipment which they have been using to introduce other groups to the fundamentals of cricket and how it can be used as a fun way of keeping fit. One of the highlights of 2022 was when the Project 21 group hosted the first ever Peace Games in the city. This soccer event brought together over 100 young adults from different learning disability groups to play football and socialise in the spirit of play. We have grown this event and will host over 150 young adults in September 2023 with a bigger and better Peace Games which we hope to make an annual event to celebrate peace through play. In January 2023 the group began a new exercise and fitness programme with Inclusively Fit, travelling to Ulster University, Magee Campus to take part in gym sessions using a range of cardio, resistance and gym equipment to enhance fitness levels, become educated on how to use various gym equipment and boost their confidence to attend a gym independently. We also embraced the new year energy by beginning “The Biggest Improver” initiative in partnership with The Old Library Trust. Each member completed health checks at the beginning, middle and end of the programme which included height & weight, blood pressure and BMI. We also completed fitness checks with each member and helped them to set their own achievable 3 | P a g e health goals. To help achieve these goals the group enjoyed Zumba Dancing, Boxing, Yoga and circuit sessions. Our Project 21 Group busy waste warriors continued their wonderful work on saving our planet during the year with cleaning up local parks, beaches and walkways. As noble as it is to clean up our environment it’s a lot easier when you have friends to give you a hand and great teamwork was in abundance. The group invited their friends from Moving on Up, Destined and The Prince’s Trust and together they did a marvellous and tidy job doing a coastal clean-up in partnership with the Lough’s Agency. Each of our groups spent time throughout the year diligently working in our garden and during an enjoyable “Green and Me” programme they prepared soil for planting, planted for the season ahead, designed and painted flower beds, and accomplished many DIY and crafts activities in our outdoor classroom. ## **Social Enterprise** Our young people have been learning how to successfully navigate and computer programmes such as ‘Creative Studio, Serif 9 and Cut Studio’, assisting them to create digital designs for products. With less focus on vinyl printing for our clothing products, we have expanded our skills to include sublimation dye printing. This process allows us to transfer a photo or unique design onto t-shirts or any item of clothing and we have been busy putting the skills to use with the production and completion of many orders including concert t- shirts, hen and stag party t-shirts, birthday trips and many other events. The run up to Christmas was an extremely busy time for our Social Enterprise, with our young people working hard and overtime to fulfil orders for personalised santa sacks, jigsaws, stockings and mugs, with an additional product range which we introduced including personalised Christmas tree decorations and packs of Christmas cards. We chose wooded snowflake shaped tree decorations and these proved very popular with customers who requested photos of their children and families printed on them, as well as many with photos of family pets! For our Christmas cards we collaborated with our Early Learning and Development Team, who worked with children from our 4 to7year group, and we used each child’s design to create beautiful packs of unique cards that proved so popular we struggled to keep up with the demand! With our expanding range of products, we decided it best to also develop our branding. Hence, we created unique packaging informing customers that the product they are purchasing has been carefully crafted and designed by our young people in their very own Down Right Crafty enterprise. We joined forces with ‘Seagate’ collaborating on their Generation Innovation Project involving 14 to 16year old Business students from all across Northern Ireland working on developing consumer awareness and how to encourage people to make more socially responsible decisions when shopping, thus contributing to a positive social impact within their communities. 4 | P a g e ## **Financial Performance** Financial performance in the year to 28[th] February 2023 has been predominantly consistent with the Board of Director’s forecasts and expectations; a net surplus of £8,651 for year ending 28[th] February 2023. This year, our reserves totalled £257,463. **----- Start of picture text -----**
INCOME
2%
13%
85%…
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Grant Aid **£419,802** Fundraising **£56,718** Gift Aid **£14,247** 85% of our total income was secured through successful funding applications and requests to a wide range of funding Trusts, Foundations and Charities. 12% (£51,327) of this particular income stream was from new funding sources and the remaining 88% (£368,475) from long term funders, ie BBC Children in Need, Pathway Fund, Western Health and Social Care Trust and The National Lottery Community Fund. 13% of our total income, £56,718 was raised by our families and friends through various fundraising events. 2% of our income was raised through Gift Aid, adding a total of £14,247 to our reserves. **----- Start of picture text -----**
EXPENDITURE
Direct Charitable Expenditure £428,276
Operating Costs £53,840
12%
Direct Charitable
Expenditure
Operating Costs
88%
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88% of our income was expended towards Direct Charitable Expenditure, covering core staff expenditure items of salary, pension costs, travel and training (£365,749), programme activities (£47,110) and resources (£15,417). Our salary and pension expenditure increased by 15% from the previous year with the additional cost of Support Worker fees and increase in hours worked of existing staff members. A combination of both grant funding and reserves was used to cover these particular costs. Our operating costs saw a significant increase of 16% of our expenditure for the year, due to rising costs of heat, light and rent, coupled with a significant increase in depreciation with the purchase of a new minibus. 5 | P a g e ## **Financial Management and Reserves Policy** Foyle Down Syndrome Trust has a Financial Management Policy which meets the requirements of the Charities Act 2013 and The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015. Our annual accounts are prepared for each financial year as required by the Companies Act. They show a true and fair view and follow accounting standards issued by the Accounting Standards Board and adhere to recommendations of Statements of Recommended Practice. The Charity’s total income for the year ending 28[th] February 2023 was £490,767 (2021: £480,670) and expenditure was £482,116 (2021: £409,366). Our robust financial management is a continuous process and includes budget setting, financial monitoring and decision making. Restricted Reserves will be maintained at a level required for fulfilling our financial obligations to current funding streams. Unrestricted Reserves will be maintained at a level to cover unforeseen costs that may arise, recognise the volatile grant environment as well as allowing for the payment of liabilities which would arise should the company cease to exist. Any call upon the use of reserves will be at the approval of our Board of Directors which will examine the rationale for doing so and agree an amount where appropriate. 6 | P a g e ## **Reference and Administrative Details** ## **Charity Name** ## **Charity Number** ## **Company Number** ## **Charity Address** ## **Charity Trustees as of 28[th] February 2023** ## **Independent Examiners / Accountants** ## **Bank** Foyle Down Syndrome Trust Ltd 105694 NI039134 Shared Future Centre 61 Irish Street Waterside Londonderry BT47 2DB Elaine Kirk Patricia Bray Anthony Kirk Angela Thompson Seamus Farren Mari McElgunn Deborah Rogers Clare McMonagle Gary Walsh Rosin Hamill McGroarty McCafferty and Company Ltd 2 Carlisle Terrace Londonderry BT47 2DB AIB (NI) Meadowbank Strand Road Londonderry BT48 7TN 7 | P a g e ## **Structure, Governance and Management** Foyle Down Syndrome Trust Ltd is a charitable company limited by guarantee and not having any share capital and is registered under the Companies Act 2006. ## **Governing Document** The charitable company’s document is the Memorandum and Articles of Association adopted in 1996 and last updated on 10[th] December 2018. ## **Board of Directors** The Directors of the Company are also Charity Trustees for the purposes of Charity Law and under the organisation’s Articles are known as Members of the Board. The charity is governed and directed by a voluntary board which comprises of 10 people from varied backgrounds and skill sets, including, finance, community development, health, education, community development and human resources. The aim of the Board is to provide leadership and develop strategy as well as to ensure good governance and financial control. New Board members receive training to brief them on roles and responsibilities and their legal obligations under Charity and Company law, the organisational structure and key organisational activities. The Board ensures the good governance of the charity by setting its strategic objectives and policy direction and by monitoring the charity’s operations. ## **Board Meetings** The Board of Directors met 7 times in person last year and 3 times online via Zoom, including the Charity’s Annual General Meeting. The day to day operations of the Charity are managed by a Manager. He has led up a team of 12 members of staff during the last year and attends Board meetings and presents financial reports and other operational information to the Board to assist them in their governance role. ## **Serious Incidents Statement** We, the Trustees, confirm that there have been no serious incidents or other matters during the year which need to be reported to the Charity Commission. 8 | P a g e ## **Objectives and Activities** ## **Charitable Objectives** Foyle Down Syndrome Trust endeavours to support and empower children and young people with Down syndrome, from birth to adulthood, to lead full, meaningful and productive lives and to help them reach their full and individual potential, ensuring they take and enjoy their rightful place in the community. We foster a culture of inclusion for all our members, with an holistic approach to addressing their educational, social and emotional needs, aspirations and goals, to enhance their literacy, numeracy, dexterity and social skills, improve their cognitive, communication, behaviour, emotional and language skills, whilst affording them new, regular, structured, interactive and challenging experiences and opportunities to improve their quality of life, break down barriers to achievement, increase educational attainment, reduce social isolation, build and strengthen friendships, increase their confidence, motivation and self-esteem. We strive to address inequality and endeavour to find innovative ways of addressing it and support our members overcome their many daily challenges. ## **Public Benefit Statement** The direct benefits are to relieve and rehabilitate children and young people with Down syndrome, improving their well-being and quality of life as well as their extended families and caring circles. They receive better services that fully meet their needs. They are enabled to participate in mainstream life including social activities and employment. They learn skills for life. To advance the education of children and young people with Down syndrome and their carers, improving outcomes through the development of capabilities, competencies, independence, play skills, communication and understanding. To organise conferences and workshops to enable professionals offer a more cohesive service to the families and this is a wider benefit to the community. These benefits are demonstrated through improved ability to engage in everyday life, using life skills learned, improved motor skills, muscle tone, behaviour, confidence, communication and selfesteem. Evidence is sought to demonstrate the benefits by seeking and receiving continuous feedback from participants and carers and carrying out regular monitoring and evaluation of our service provision. 9 | P a g e This report is prepared in accordance with the special provisions of the Companies Act 2006 and was approved and authorised for issue by the Board of Directors on 8[th] November 2023 and signed on its behalf by our Chairperson. ## ___________________________________ **ANGELA THOMPSON CHAIRPERSON** 10 | P a g e