THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY2024 Achievements and performance Significant activities and achievements against This year our operational goal was to continue to offer a four week Summer scheme along with week long programs on the Halloween break and the February Midtemi Break. Again our programme delivery was based on the Andras Peto method. OtheSe known as Conductive Education. This is a fomi of physical therapy which is often delivered as a group activity. Conductors were recruited locally as well as from Great Britain and Hungary. 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 programmes to be delivered to the 16 children who attended, up from 12 last year, many benefiting from 180 hours of therapy each. In totsl, we were delighted to be able to deliver another 1,800+ hours again this year. Additionally, we have been making our approach more multidisciplinary and this has resulted in us bringing some physiotherapists onto the team, including a specialist neUrphySi0therap1St. She has focused on evaluating the effectiveness of our programmes by perfomiing a detailed analysis of each child's ability to perfomi across a range of activities at the beginning and at the end of the programme. Her report concluded that all children showed significant improvement in almost all areas. In addition, parents continued to speak of the social skills and confidence-building that their children benefited from, in addition to the physical improvements that they had seen in their children. Our neuro-physiotherapist will continue to help in a development role in future programme planning. Parents continue to find that it is helpful for them to spend time with other parents whose children are experiencing similar difficulties and thal this provided them with a support network as well as some much needed respite from their caring role while their children are 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 including= Increasing overall therapeutic provision and helping an increasing number of children and young people at each scheme. Planning and building our team's capabilities to deliver this increased provision, while also improving its quality, thanks to the efforts of our Director of Therapies, Rachael Elliott. Continuing to develop beneficial relationships with extemal funding partners, led by our Chair, Alan Elliott. Increasing our income from grants by 1000kn, through the work of Directors Alan Elliott, Rachael Elliott and Coirle Butler. Significant development in Community Fundraising & Engagement. thanks to the efforts of Director of Fundraising, Coirle Butler and her team of volunteers, vthid) resulted in an increase of so0 to our overall income for the year. Improving our communications, thanks to the efforts of our new Director of Communications, Harry Withers. Governance and financial management has also seen considerable improvement thanks to extensive work undertaken by our Treasurer and Secretary, Tracy Andrew with Chair, Alan Elliott. This included much improved management of reserves to help with the continuing work of the charity.
THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY2024 Financial review Income Breakdown 2023 12024 Bank knt•r*st • G.aftts Fundrasm9 Surplus Prn¥ Year 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 8 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 al a level equivalent to around 6 months expenditure. The trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure Ihat, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity's current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised. The charity's nomial main sources of income are split across fee revenue. grant funding and donations from fundraising activities. We have seen an improvement in the balan of these funding streams with approximately a third of revenue from each of the main sources as can be seen in the Income Breakdown pie chart.. Total income of the charity during the year was £60,078. This preSentS a stepchange in operating income for the year of over 2000k or £40,679 increase on the previous year (ignoring exceptional income from legacies). Reserves Policy The trustees would aim to have in hand an amount equal to six months, regular expenditure as free reserves to meet future shortfalls in income and unexpected expenses. The balance of free reseNes as at 31 st May 2024 was £227,494. This is significantly above the ideal level set by the trustees. However, we recognise that if we are to expand as planned, we wll need to keep these funds 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 £455,000 could be adequately covered by our current reserve fund. 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 savings accounts.
THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY2024 Plans for future periods Having sucSsfUllY won funding from a number of bodies, notably the National Lottery Community Fund, the LFT Charitable Trust and the Enkalon Foundation as well as benefiting greatly from the fundraising activities of Mivan Ltd, who selected us as their Charity of the Year for 2024. we now wish to continue to develop our fundraising capability. We have developed a slralegic 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 services are badly needed all year round to be truly effective. We have also noticed that physio and occupational therapy services have not retumed to pre-pandemic levels and so there is more need than ever for our seNices. We hope to continue to attract more talented Trustees wth 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 detailed development plan a reality to become a valuable and sustainable resource for parents and childrenlyoung people with neurowmotor disabilities throughout Ireland who hope lo move forwards through therapy. Structure, governance and management The Gaitway 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 vre= Mr D Campbell MrA Elliott Mrs J McKee Mrs R Elliott Mrs C Butler Mrs T Andrew Mr H A Vmthers (Resigned 23 August 2023) (Retired 23 August 2023) (Appointed 23 August 2023) (Appointed 13 February 2024)
THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY2024 Recniitment and appointment of tnistees New trustees are recruited based on their skills, experiences and commitment to the charity's mission, ensuring a well- rounded board that reflects the community's diversity. 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 viith tt)e Charity Commission in Northem Ireland. Registration number NIC107729. The trustees, report was approved by the Board of Trustees. MrA Elliott Trustee Date: 24th February 2025
THE GAITWAY ORGANISATION STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES. RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY2024 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.