2025-03-31-accounts

APPENDIX 1 OSCR Tiustaas, Annual Report for the pariod Period start date Period end date Mcth Ye Month Ye 2024 March 2025 From To 31 Scottish Chaity Regulator Office of Ihe Scottish Charity Regulator Reference and administration details Charity name Other names charity is known by Registered charity number Charity's principal address Silver City Surfers SC041496 clo ACVO, VSA Building 38 Castle Street. Castlegate Aberdeen Postcode A8115YU Names of the charity trustees on date of approval of Trustees, Annual Report Truslee name Office lff any Dates acted Ti not for whole year Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any) Chai￿an Treasurer Minute Secretary

APPENDIX 1 Reference and administration details Names of all other charity trustees during the period, rf any, (for example, those who resigned part way through the financial period) Name Structure, governance and management Type of governing document Constitution Trustee recruitment and appointment Our Trustees are elected by the members at the Annual General Meetings and appointed by the committee at other times. When we require new Trustees, we advertise through the local Volunteer Centre, Social media and word of mouth. Training is provided through our local TSI and all Trustees receive the guidelines provided by OSCR. We require Trustees to sign a declaration form stating that they are willing to act as a charity trustee in respect of Silver City Surfers; they are fully aware of the organisation's purpose and of the duties and responsibilities as a charity trustee; and they are not disqualified from acting as a charity trustee (as in sections 69 and 70 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005)

Objectives and activities Charitable purposes To provide opportunities for adults to try out technologies by making facilities available which are user-friendly To ensure that adults have access to learning opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills. To ensure that adults do not become isolated through lack of knowledge and understanding of technology. To work in partnership with other organisations to achieve these purposes Summary of the main activities in relation to these objects We provide a seNice to any adult who is marginalised by their inability to access technology. Our sessions are run by highly motivated and caring volunteers. Our sessions are informal but educative and are offered on a 1-2-1 basis at the leamers own pace. We are also funded through the Govemment's Employability Development Programme to engage with city residents 16+ who face barriers to employment and support them to address those barriers, with a view to helping them move closer to the labour market or into employment, including self-employment, training, education, or volunteering. We also received funding from the Scottish Government's Community Mental Health Fund to provide taster sessions to unpaid carers and to adults attending local health hubs in partnership with Quarriers, Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership. The social aspect of our services remains of great importance. Free refreshments are provided to our learners, and they have the opportunity to interact and share information on a range of issues local as well as making new friends. We work conjointly with others very successfully as evidenced by our new Projects in partnership with other charities, National and Scottish Governments, Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership. APPENDIX 1 Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the financial period

• Report from the Chairman

It has been another busy year for us with increased sessions and additional projects. For example:

• ABZ Works where we supported working-age adults to gain digital skills, increase employability, and foster independence.

• Carers project - we ran taster sessions for unpaid carers and adults at local health hubs, in partnership with Quarriers and the Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership. Feedback from carers was overwhelmingly positive, praising the quality and relevance of our support.

We reached our 20[th] birthday in January. The fact that we have been providing a free service for over 20 years speaks for itself. We have been rewarded with a Civic Reception at the Town House in June.

We have also been fortunate to have been nominated for the KAVS by . Our service has been assessed by two local Deputy Lord Lieutenants who were very impressed with our work. We should hear in November, fingers crossed!

The service we provide requires a highly skilled, reliable and patient volunteer team. We are very fortunate to have them – thanks for supporting our learners and for being the mainstay of our organisation. We wouldn’t be here without you.

Highlights of 2024 2025

• Expanded services and Volunteer team

• Thanks to funding from ABZ Works, we introduced two new weekly sessions at Tillydrone Community Hub, and Torry Library at the Greyhope Community Hub. This brought our total number of weekly sessions to six. While the original ABZ Works funding has now ended, these sessions are established as an important part of our core service delivery.

• Our long standing weekly drop-in sessions continued to thrive thanks to the generous support of the Fairer Aberdeen Fund. Their ongoing funding has been vital in sustaining our work and helping us reach our 20 year milestone.

Mondays@ Michies Café from 1pm-3pm

Wednesdays@ Crown Terrace Methodist Church from 2.15pm-4pm Thursdays@ Cummings Park Community Flat from 11am-1pm Saturdays@ Central Library from 10am-12pm

Our busiest session during this period has been the Central Library on Saturday mornings, followed by Michie’s on Monday afternoons, Crown Terrace Methodist Church on Wednesday afternoons, Tillydrone Campus on Thursday afternoons, Torry Library on Tuesday mornings and Cummings Park Community Flat on Thursday mornings.

• In line with our growing reach across the city, our volunteer recruitment activity expanded, and created the potential for a larger more diverse team. And we welcomed three inspiring young people who joined us at just age 16. They have brought a fresh dynamic of intergenerational collaboration to our Saturday morning Library session. Our older learners clearly enjoy the bond and relationship they have formed with our young tutors as when they are absent for holidays or studying for exams, they are often asked about and missed.

 Community engagement

Throughout 2024-2025, we enjoyed taking part in more

community events, fairs, galas and university activities, helping us spread the word - both about our free drop-in sessions and our volunteering opportunities.

Larger events attended have included the Grampian Gathering at Beach Ballroom, Health & Wellbeing event at Pittodrie and the Big Help Out at the Trinity Centre.

 Partnerships

We’ve enjoyed partnering with a range of local organisations, including-

The Health Village, The Vaccination Centre, The Job Centre, Pittodrie Community Hub, RGU and SHMU.

Having delivered our sessions for Carers, supportive relationships have continued with Quarriers, Barnardos and Northfield Community Centre.

And we also made valuable connections with the potential for future work with- Cairncry Community Centre, Middlefield Hub and Bethany Christian Trust.

Figures 2024-2025

Some statistics for the last period and what we have achieved in terms of numbers-

Altogether during 2024-2025 we ran 194 drop-ins and delivered 620 one-to-one support sessions. Many of our learners come back regularly, so the number of one-to-one support sessions represents 166 different individuals worked with during the year.

We saw at least one new learner every week. With an average of 3-4 learners at each drop-in session.

We saw 8 learners who came to us specifically for help to develop employability skills, writing of CVs and job applications.

APPENDIX 1 Other optional information We finished the period with a total of 14 Volunteers. this includes the three young people recruited during this time and the number of Volunteer hours contributed came to 964. Achievements For 202412025 Number of sessions offered across the city 194 (prev. 230) Number of 1-1 tutorials delivered 620 (prev. 630) Number of individual learners seen 166 Number of new leamers seen 64 (prev. 108) At least 1 new leamer every week Average number of leamers at each session 34 (prev. 6) TIllY￿0￿ tsking average down to 3, averaging 4 across our other sessions One to one tutoring sessions to enable learners to develop CV skills, job application. and IT skills Recrurtment and Training of Young Volunteers to enhance IT and Tutoring skills to develop transferable skills when applying for paid jobs Number of volunteers 14 Average number of volunteers at each session 2.5 (prev. 3) Number of volunteer hours contributed

Case Study: ABZ participant- L One of these learners, first came to our Tory session looking for support - but more than anything. she wanted to rebuild her confidence to retum to work. Having eXperien￿d disappointment in a short-lived role just before the pandemic. she had initially planned to take some b.me to reflect on her next steps. However. what began as a short pause gradually tumed into a longer period of hesitation and self-doubt. Hearing about the many changes in technology and IT systems left her questioning whether she would be able to keep up in a modem workplace. With the support of our tutors over a few sessions, Iwas soon getting her job search underway. expressed her thanks and gratitude to the Silver City Surfers team at Greyhope- has .1 have been attending the Hub every Tuesday and have had a great amount of support and tuition on my new laptop. ￿ have all made me very welcome and have helped me greatly with different aspects of knowledge on my keyboard. regarding my CV and also guiding me to do a job application. I feel I'm more confident and getting set for a future job position. My greatest thanks to you Declaration The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report above. Signed on behalf of the charty's trustees Signature(s) OSCR will accept digital or typed signatures Full name(s) Position (e.g. Chair) Chairman Tré¥8siirer Date 0611112025 0611112025

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I

tees of Silver City Surfers

I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The charity trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1) (c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

My examination is carried out in accordance with the Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention

1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

2. to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, and

3. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations

have not been met, or

1. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

2. 6 September 2025