THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY2023 The directors, who are also trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 May 2023. The trustees have adopted the provision of the Companies Act 2006 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable in the UK and Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 20151 in preparing the annual report and financial statements for the charity. Reference and administrative details Registered Office.. 35 Belfast Road, Antrim, BT41 1 PS Trustees.. Alan David Elliott, Rachael Elliott. Tracy Andrew. CoiTle Butler (appointed 23108123}, David Campbell (resigned 23108123), Janice Campbell (Resigned 23108123) Independent Examiner.. Amanda Harbinson FCA. colgan CA Limited. 24 Greystone Road, Antrim, BT412QN Objectives and activities The principal activity of the company is the provision of increased access to specialist therapy not generally available to children and young people in Ireland. The Charities {Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northem Ireland) 2015 requires organisations to meet criteria i.e. 'Charitable Purpose, and 'Public Benefit,. In relation to the 'charitable purpose, the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Gaitway Organisation states that the organisation meets a number of the charitable purposes as set out in the regulations i.e. 'the prevention or relief of poverty, the advancement of health or the saving of lives, and 'the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage,. The GaiaY Organisation meets the public benefit test, as the organisation provides services, which can be accessed by members of the public who are in need of such services. The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the GaiaY Organisation should undertake.
THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY2023 Achievements and performance This year our goal was to expand provision beyond the Summer scheme by running programs on the Halloween break and the February Midtemi Break as well as the main four week scheme run during August. Again our program delivery was based on the Andras Peto method otherwise known as Conductive Education. This is a form of physical therapy which is often delivered as a group activity. Support was provided by a team of assistants, recruited locally, who were mainly University Students studying nursing, medicine, physiotherapy and other subjects. This enabled a number of very high quality programs to be delivered to the 12 children who attended, up from 5 last year, most benefiting from 180 hours of therapy. This makes a total in excess of 1800 hours delivered this year up from 600 hours last year. Additionally, we have been making our approach more multidisciplinary and this has resulted in bringing a specialist Neuro-physiotherapist on to the team. Initially her focus will be on evaluating the effectiveness of our programs before taking on a development role in future program planning. As in previous years analysis of each child's ability to perform across a range of activities was conducted at the beginning and the end of the program. All children showed improvement in almost all areas. In addition, parents spoke of the social skills and confidence building that their children benefitted from in addition to the physical improvements that they had seen in their children. Parents also fell that it was helpful for them to spend time with other parents whose children were experiencing similar difficulties and that it provided them with a support neOrk as well as some much needed respite from their caring role while their children were attending schemes. Parents commented that they felt they could really enjoy their respite because they all felt that their children were having all their needs so comprehensively met at the same time. We are delighted to be able to report on a number of improvements in many areas of our operation spanning.. an increase in overall provision, helping an increasing number of children and young people at each scheme, broadening our expertise across disciplines. wnning funding from extemal bodies and being very fortunate to have come into possession of significant financial reserves to help us to continue to expand sustainably in the years ahead. Financial review The financial statements are presented in the standard fomiat required by the Charities SORP and cover the activities of THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION. The Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) on page 6 shows the gross income from all sources and the split of activity between restricted and unrestricted funds. It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to around 6 months expenditure. The trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity's current activits'es while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised. The charity's normal main source of income is fee revenue, grant funding and donations. This year however due to Covid-19 there was only a small amount of fee revenue received Total income of the charity during the year was £219,000. Of this £200,000 was an inheritance. The twstees would aim to have in hand an amount equal to six months gUlar expenditure as free reserves to meet future shortfalls in income and unexpected expenses. The balan of free reseNes as at 31st May 2023 was £210,865. This is significantly above the ideal level set by the trustees. We recognise however that if we are to expand as planned we will need to keep these fvnds available to cover significantly higher levels of monthly spending when staff and premises are secured. It is particularly difficult to build these reserves of unrestricted funds for new charities and we are very grateful that a legacy has put us in a position where an annual budget of up to £420,OOOPA could be adequately covered by our current reserve fvnd. In the meantime we are actively managing these funds to maximise income to the charity by way of an appropriate mix of interest bearing cash accounts.
THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY2023 Plans for future periods Having successfully won ndIng from a number of bodies notably the National Lottery Community Fund and the LFT Charitable Trust for the coming year. we now wish to continue to develop our fundraising capability. We hope to attract a director with experience of this area and to develop a community fundraising and engagement committee to help with this. We are developing a strategic plan with the aim of continuing to offer schemes at the current level while working in earnest towards obtaining suitable permanent premises where other therapeutic methods could be made available and offered throughout the year as these ServIS are badly needed all year round to be truly effective. We have also nOtid that Physio and OT ServIS have not returned to pre-pandemic levels so there is more need than ever for our services. We hope to attract more Directors with as wide a range of relevant experience as possible and would dearly like to be in a position to employ senior management staff to take things to the next level over the coming years. We will continue to work towards our goal of making our development plan a reality to become a valuable and sustainable resource for parents and children throughout Ireland. Structure, governance and management The GaiaY Organisation is a company limited by guarantee. The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were= Mr D Campbell (Resigned 23 August 2023) MrA Elliott Mrs J McKee Mrs R Elliott Mrs C Buder Mrs T Andrew (Resigned 23 August 2023) (Appointed 23 August 2023) None of the trustees have any beneficial interest in the company. Each of the trustees are members of the company and are liable to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 towards the assets of the company in the event of liquidation. The company is a registered charity vlith the Charity Commission in Northem Ireland. Registration number NIC107729. The trustees. report was approved by the Board of Trustees. MrA Elliott Trustee 27 February 2024
THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES. RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY2023 The trustees, who are also the directors of The GaiaY Organisats'on for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees. Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Aepted Accounting Practi). Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial ststements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the stale of affairs of the Gaitway Organisation and of the incoming resou$ and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to= select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently- obseNe 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., and prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the GaiaY Organisation will continue in operation. The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Gaitway Organisation and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015, and the provisions of the trust deed. 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.