2023-12-31-accounts

ac1￿11￿h Ch•rfty Rgf. Ilo. 8C038041 ANNU￿ REPORT AND Accoupirs FOR THE YEAR Elm JI DECEIABER 2023

ItIVERCLYDE FAMILY CONTAcf CEI4TrE REPORT OF THE TRusfEES For the Year ehded 31 Detember 202a CHPJIITABLE TRusf STAWS Inverctyde Famlly Conlact Centre is a Chaiitable Trust set up by The Church of SC￿tland Presbytery of Greenock & Paisley Ihereinafter called "Presbytervl ty Deed of Tnjst dated 24th and 25, November 21x13 and wlstered in the Books ofcoundl and Ses5itin. The Charitrfs referen￿ number is SC035041. TrUSTE ma￿aret Anne FO￿e, Gordon Amderson M•¢phail, Julie Fer8uson, Rebecc%7 Llttle and Ellzabeth McDonald and ReVe￿￿j Christine Murdoch (moderato￿ of PresEryteryl wa sexo cio as Moderator of the current Church of Scoiland Presbytery. were all appointed b the former PresL)Ytery 0fGreen￿k by the Presbytery OfG￿enock & Palsley. assumption by the trustees was reported to Ctyde Presbytery. TRUST PURPQSE The purpose of the Trusl Is the relief of distre55 children who do not live with both their birth father and birth mother where the familles are afferted by thfflculties andlor disputes over chlld ontact a￿1 In furtherance thereof: (al To fvtflitate where posslble the building and maintenance of healthy relationships between the chlldren and their parents. grandparents or sl8nlficant others Ibl To malntain one or mre supeNised %*nues for chlldren to have contact with their separated parents. grandparents or significant others in a safe. neutral and child<entred envlronment (Family Coniatt Centrelsl Icl Recogntsing that the chlldren's contsct perfod is a srressful time forthe ?dult5 involved. to glve eMOt￿nal supsx7rt both to those having contsct with the thildren and to those wlth whom the thiklren reside Idl To encourage the provlslon and use of famlty mediation, and discoura8e ty better education, the use of child contact as a ba￿aining counter in family dispute5 ACTMTIES AND ACHIEVUMENTS In 2023 we hive rsjn Inverctyde Famlly Contsct Centre Iopenlng every Thursday from 3.45 to 6pm every Saturday from 9.30 10 4pm)

INVERCLYDE FAMILY CONTAcf CEpnRE REPIXT OF THE TRUSTEES For the Ye•r ended 31 De¢tmb¢r 2023 (Contd.) AcllviTIES AIID ACHIEVEMENTS {Contd.) The children and tsmllles using the Contact Cenlre are Main￿ from the Inverctyde area. but we also have families who live in ClydebanK Palsiey, Lochwinnoch, Largs and Glasgow. Wrthout this servSce many of these childrÈn arKI parents slmpty woukl not have the opwrtunity io bulld or re-establlsh relatlonshlps with each other whEn the parents part company. We have the privilege of offering supportive and positlve Ruidan¢e to separated parents worklng through the care of their children followin8the breakdown of thelr relationship. Thls can be extremely daunting parkncularly for a young person who may not have had the benefft of thelr own stable family from whtch to draw personal experfence orad¥ice supportwhth others may take for8rarted. The encouragement ofstaff aThl volunteerscan be plvotal in helping these parentsto persistand be patient In buildi￿ up relatIonsh￿p5 w¢th theirchildren 9)metimes over week5and fft￿nthS against a backdrop of Intei-parental anlmoslty, The long-term benefrts of this service have a wider impact on the community in that It is recogni5ed that children who are able to have relationships w5th both parents are more Ilkety to thrlve aThl have a firmer ba￿5 on which io bulld thelr own relatlonshlps and be successful In later Itfe. The service and support we offer is r)ot limited to parents and exte￿1$ to the wider famSty rf requI￿d. We often have grarnlparents and otherfamily members using our centrewhere famity break-up ￿ bereavement has affected their ON￿rtUnItieS to build relatktrnships with their graThachlklren or cbse relatlves. We know that these bonds are so Important to all those concemed. We have around 30 famllies attending the centre each weeK between handovers aThJ contact sesslons withln the centre and Usually a Walth￿ Ilstof familles waittng to Use servke. Our aim is to protect chiklren from dlsputes between thelf parents and PJcilltate the child's contscl ¥￿th the s*parated parent by providin8 a friendty neutrnl superyised venue for contact. Where bail conditions or clrcumstances requi￿ ihat parents do not meet. staff will pass the chld from one parent to the other. We SUPF)Ort both the parent with resldebxe Wln8 up a chlld for contsct and the contact parent vtho may never have seen their child or may know and love the child but been separated for months. We faciutate Chikl Welfare Rekx)rters arwlnled by the Court and soclal Vafjrk where they are they InvO￿ed. We have a few families where Social Work and ChikI￿n,$ Panel orthe Home Offlce are involved but the Court is not and these we do charye. Gffeen￿k Sherrff Cpurt deals with approxlmatety 3(￿ Child Weltare Hearln8s In a nDrmal year, and most Invofve contact questN)ns. Some families can come to an agreement, and some aR b￿terty opposed to each other onty out of disappointment aNI hurt but In some cases therE we genulne reasons to doubt the chiklren's safety. There may be mental or physical health issues, drug or. alcohol abuse or worrles obtr domestic abuse. or threats. Sometimes a separated parent has no suitsble home to bring a child. It is these cases that need the Contact cent￿ mosi so that the children can 8et lo know the porent safefy and our oblectlve reports on progress can a55iSt better ded5ion-makin8 on their future. Even when a child can 80 over-night to ihe COnt￿t Parent, we may have to supervlse the hand-over untll trust 8rows to the polnt where at last the parents can make theirown arrangements. Thlngs on go smoothly for V￿kS and then a famify trists ol a new partner or a new baby Can cause a quarrel to flare but with patience the lawyers or our Manager ran often smooth matters . If noL we welcome them back without blame when they afft ready to try a8ain.

INVERCLYDE FAMILY ComrA￿ CEpmiE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES For the Year ended 31 December 2023 Icontd.) ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS Icontd.) Contatt parents may be allowed I hour in the Contact Centre at first, gradually buildlng as we see the contatt parent building a good relatiorsship with the child. They may then graduate to IS minutes In the Centre, I hour OLrt5ide and 15 minute5 back with us so that we can see whether the child Is well and happy and then to have the full time or longer outside with only the handovers monitored by us. Our manager provides valuable telephone 5UPPOrt and professional advice to parents and relatives. doing oll they c3N to help families overcome obstacles and provide reassurance so that contact goes ahead whenever possible. They are helped by our as5i5tant manager who also provides much needed support. This year we recruited an extra member of staff to a551st on a sessioE)al basis helping to improve the resilience of our small team. This year we have welcomed 55 children from 37 famllies with ages ranging from 6 months to 15. 28 parents had bail cor)ditions or other issues such as drug or alcohol problems which meant that the contact centre was the On￿ solution to facilitate contact with their children. We have 6 children from three families who are under kinship care and have also supported 8 children with additional support needs. The mojority of these children have now been dlagnosed with ASD. In March we We￿ successful In our application to bewme a SCIO (Scottish Charities Incorporated Organisationl We will be retaining our original charitsble purposes and aims as we begln the transition from our former ststus as a charitable trust to that of a SCIO. We aim to have thi5 transition complete in 2024. After our long association with the Church of S=ot'and we were ve, Moderator of the Church of Scotland, and families at the Contart Centre during his visit to Clyde in April. leased to welcome the who met stsff Due to the increasing demand on our services, starting in De¢ember for a limited period, we opened the centre for an additional day each week to accommodate families on our waiting list. These additional hours enabled 9 children and 14 parents to start seeing each other before the Christmas period and into 2024. Our building provides fantastic facilities with a variety of spaces & Tooms which are able to accommodate the diverse needs of our families. Understandably these Come at a significant cost. As an old building it often needs attention irb terms of repair5. This Year we identified the need to repair the leaking roof, replace old skylights and make repairs to the floor on the ground floor. Difficulties With material supplies and contracior availability have necessitated this work continuing into early next year. We were privileged to receive some expert support from an Associate of the Cattanach Trust, enabling staff and trustees to participate in a workshop in November. The aim was to help us create an effertive evaluation strategy and develop ideas to improve our ways of working. We intend to develop the outcome5 from this workshop in 2024. Thi5 year we were a150 excited to launch our new website www.invercl defamil contsct.com this provides easily accessible up-to-date infomation aboLrt our services, volunteering and donor opportunities.

INVERCLYDE FAMILY coMfAcf CEpifRE REPORT OFTHETRU5TEES For the Year ended 31 December 2023 Icontd.) As always the Trustees are hugely grateftjl to our committed staff 8nd volunteers, who give so much time effort and care to the centre and the families and all those whose work behind the scenes and financial sUPPOrt have enabled us to continue this important work. We are also grateful to the locally based charity. Children In Poverty Inverclyde who once again generously donated several toys at Christmas. Looking forward to our plans for next year. We will rise to the challenge we already see of increasing numbers of children uslng our centre. who have additional support needs. We want to meet their needs well, so this will include looking at our use of space and creating sensory area5 within the building as well as exploring funding for additional staff. We also intend to take forward and implement the learning from our workshop such as reviewing and streamlining some of our administration proces5 for greater efficiency and improving our client experience. FINANCE The year saw the first increase for some time in our fee structure and, as a result, the income from fees increased substantially and led to a surplus on the Unrestricted Funds of Ell,586. We are grateful for the continued support of the Cattanach Trust who contributèd greatly to our costs this year. The Cattanach money is recetved at the end of our financial year and is included in the unrestricted funds carried forward amounting to £46.038. Restricted Funds: During the year we received funding from Inverclyde Council to assist with wages and repairs to the roof, Muth of this work ha5 been carried out but we still have £3,750 carried forward to 2024 to carry out further work to the roof and purchase new carpeting. All funds expended by the Trust were applied to the runnlng costs of the Family Contact Centre, as shown in the Annual Accounts. Reserves Pollcy.. The Trust endeavours to maintain ReseTves of one half of annual running costs but at the moment this has not been possible. However, the sttuation continues to improve and the Trustees are confident that the desired level of Reserves will be attained in 2024. (Chairperson) Date.. 23 September 2024

INVERCLYDE FAMILY CONTACT CENTRE INDEPENDENT EXAMINEAV REPORT TO THETRU5TEfS OFTHÈ INVERCLYDE FAMILYCONTACT CENTRE I rewrt on the accounts of the Charity fur t￿ year ended 31 December 2023. whlch are set out on pa8&$ 6 and 7. Respective r¢sponslbllAles of trustees and examiner The charlty's trusteesare responsible forthe pfeparation of theaccounts In affordance wlth the tems of the Charities and Trustee Invesiment (Scotlandl Art 21XIS and the Charities A¢¢ounts Iscotlandl Regulations 2￿6. The charity trustees mnsider that thE audit ￿quIrement of Reguloilon 10111 Id) of the Atcounts Regulation5 does not apply. It b my resporslbllity to examine the accounts as requlred under 5ertion 4411) {cl of the Act and to stste whether ￿rtiCUlarMatterS have corre to our attention. Basls of Independent e￿ner¢ report My examination wascarrd out In accordance with Re8ulation 11 of the CharitieyAtcounts Iscotlandl Re8ulation$ 2006.An Examlnation indudes a reviewof the accountlng records kept by the charlty and a comparlson of the accounts presented with th)se reoird5. It also includes con5ideratlon of any unusual Items or dlsclosure In the accoun14 and seek5 explanat5on5 from trustees concerning any such matters. The procedwes undertaken do nc•t provide all the evidence that woukl be requlred in an audrt, and corwuentty I do not express an audit ¢)pinion on the view 8iven by the accounts. Independent ex•nlntrf statement In the coutse of my examlnation, no matter has come to my attention: whlch glves me reasonable tause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: • to keep accounts records in accordance wlth Sertion 4411)la) of the 2￿5 Act and Re8ulation 4 of the 2(K16 Accounts Re8ulations, and to prepare accounts which occord with the accounting record5 and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations have not been met, or to which, In my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding ofthe accounts to be reached. Date: 24IIYJ/2024

INVERCLYDE FAMILY CONTACT CETr￿RE RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOU for tho year ended 31 Decemb￿ 2023 2023 Restrictgd Vnrestrf¢ted Total 2022 Re¥tri¢ted Unrestricted Total RECEIPTS Fees Received Inverclyde Council Mairfs Trust Groundworks (Tescol Foundation Scotland Ivolant Trust) Gifts and Donations CJLang Cattanach Trust Sundry Income Total reeelpt8 28.435 28,435 8,750 13,072 13,072 5,000 8,750 5,000 12,500 1,905 1,000 20,000 680 12,5C 1,905 1,000 20,000 680 2.831 2,831 20.000 20,000 1.460 10,210 51,266 61,476 5,OCM) 49,157 54,157 PAYMENTS Paymonts for Charitablo Actlvltl•8 Wages & Pension Contributions Rent Heat & Light Repairs and Renew818 Telephone Insurance Legal and Professional Fees Miscellaneous Expenses Total Payments for Charitable Activitle5 20,754 7,C60 7,146 1,079 1,421 872 20,754 12,060 7.146 2.539 1.421 872 18,425 7,000 2,648 4,650 806 1,506 16,425 12,000 2,648 4,650 806 1,506 s,000 1.460 1,348 39.680 1,348 46,140 787 787 5,000 33,822 38,822 SURPLUS I-DEFICIT FOR YEAR 3.750 11.586 15,336 15,335 15,335 NOTES 1. The charity did not incur any fvnd raising costs. support costs or govemance ￿sts during the year 2. During the year, the Trustees made donations to the Chanty totalling £200 (2022- £2001.

INVERCLYDE FAMILY coKfACT CENTRE STATEMENT OF BALANCES As at 31 December 2023 2023 2022 BANK AND CASH IN HAND Bank Balance 49,788 RESERVES o￿nIng Incoming Outgolng Closing Balance Re60urces ￿oUrCeS Balanco UNRESTRICTED FUNDS General Fund 34,452 51,286 39.680 46.038 34.4S2 RESTRICTED FUNDS 10.210 6.480 3.750 46,140 49,788 34,452 Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behaff.