Registered Charity No. SC048410 Annual Report 2025/26
Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Table of Contents
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 March 2026.......4 Our Vision and Mission..........................................................5 Impact Report...........................................................................8 Review of activities................................................................12 Financial Review.............................................................................14 Independent Examiner’s Report..............................................15 Statement of Receipts and Payments...................................16 Statement of Balances................................................................17 Notes to the Financial Statements.........................................18 Contact Us.......................................................................................20
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
About us
Charity Name Tweed Togs (SCIO)
- Trustees Angela Preston (Co opted Trustee) Becky Wallace Charles Donkers (Treasurer) Elaine Wise (Vice Chair) Lucy Carter (Chair) Lynne Cuerden (Secretary) Susan Walker (Co opted Trustee)
Charity number SC048410
Principal address 5 Silverbirch Studios
Cavalry Park Peebles
EH45 9BU
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Trustees Report for the year ended 31 March 2026
The trustees are pleased to present their report together with the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026
Structure, Governance and Management
Constitution
The Charity is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. It was registered as a SCIO on 24 May 2018 and has a two-tier structure consisting of the Members and the Board of Trustees.
Appointment of Trustees
Trustees are appointed in accordance with the constitution by members of the charity.
Charitable Purposes
Tweed Togs purposes are to: Prevent or relieve poverty in the Scottish Borders.
Relieve those in need by reason of age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage.
Advance citizenship or community development.
Support sustainable living by reducing clothing waste and encouraging reuse and recycling of clothes.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Our Vision And Mission
Vision
“No child or young person should fail to realise their potential through want of suitable clothing.”
In 2017 a group of like-minded folks got together to provide a service in the Scottish Borders similar to that in neighbouring authorities – to provide donated and recycled clothes for children so they could take part in any opportunity to help fulfil their potential. Within twelve months five Trustees were in role, the charity was registered, volunteers joined, 65 children were supported with 195 bags of high quality clothes, lovingly presented as gifts in presentation bags.
With a great team of committed volunteers Tweed Togs emerged from these humble beginnings to becoming an established charity, providing a reliable, caring service for children from birth to 12 years.
Children who don’t have the right clothes for many and various reasons can be denied valuable experiences which enhance their development. Lack of access to play activities, socialising, outdoor pursuits, school residentials or just having enough clothes to cope with weather changes is enough to affect future development. These adverse childhood experiences can have a lifelong impact.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Our Vision And Mission
Mission
Local People Clothing Local Children
Tweed Togs is a small charity with a huge beating heart. Since starting in 2017 all referral requests have been completed within the 14 day timescale, emergency referrals sooner and some delivered the next day when the need was most urgent. Our ‘Can Do’ reputation goes before us and our volunteers are more than willing to give of their time to process the very best donated clothes to fulfil requests from the diverse range of health, education and care agencies that refer to us.
We bring people together to build strong community connections across the Scottish Borders. Volunteers, local businesses and partner organisations work together to help us reach the children who need us most. Many businesses act as donation drop-off points and share their support on social media, helping us grow and strengthen our community network.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Our Vision And Mission
Mission
Our Activities:
Collect clothes from generous donors around the Scottish Borders.
Sort clothes into stock boxes. Redistribute items not suitable or required to other charitable organisations for reuse. Below standard items are recycled.
Respond to requests for referrals from agencies.
Select appropriate clothes for referred children.
Launder and pack selected clothes as gifts into presentation bags.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Impact Report
Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026 we received 287 referrals and delivered 615 packs of clothing to our beneficiaries. All with the help of 56 dedicated volunteers.
Demand for clothing for children aged 3 to 5 years remains particularly high:
Recipients were slightly more likely to be boys (42%) than girls (39%):
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Impact Report
The majority (48.6%) of packs were delivered within the Galashiels area:
Autumn and spring continue to be our busiest periods:
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Impact Report
Referrer network - We work with qualified professionals who serve the physical, mental, social and cognitive health needs of children and families.
The majority (58%) of referrals originated from health services:
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Impact Report
The difference our gift bags make - a selection of anonymised feedback we have received during the year:
“On behalf of everyone at X, I would like to extend our sincere thanks for your generous donation of outdoor clothing. Your support means a great deal to our students and our school community. Many of our pupils come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and access to suitable outdoor clothing can make a real difference. Because of your kindness, our students will be able to participate more comfortably and confidently in outdoor activities, school trips, and daily learning experiences. Your generosity not only provides practical support but also shows our students that people in the community care about their wellbeing and opportunities. For that, we are truly grateful. Thank you again for your thoughtful contribution and for helping us create a more inclusive and supportive environment for our students."
“I had another family recently where the mum and wee girl had fled from domestic abuse so had come with very little, the Mum had sorted her benefits to reflect it being a single not a joint claim but there is always a delay in the first payment coming so she was getting into debt. They were both quite shell shocked when I first met them and when I returned with the clothes a few weeks later the joy on the wee girls face was wonderful. Life was pretty difficult for them and receiving bags of lovely new things not only brought that wee girl physical warm and comfort but emotional happiness. The Mum was overwhelmed with the clothes and was grateful as it made her daughter feel special. It also helped to build my relationship with family.”
“Tweed Togs offer an invaluable service to our clients. They and their child feel valued with the high quality of the clothes which is so beautifully presented. Tweed Togs enables us to speak to our clients meaningfully about budgeting and using what money they have to address the financial constraints they are under rather than spend money on clothes for their children. My clients really appreciate the clothes and try to give back by donating their baby clothes to Tweed Togs when they are finished with them. This is a good environmental message about recycling items and not wasting clothing which are clients are happy to participate in. This is such a great service, lovely staff and quick excellent communication with referrals.”
“Tweed Togs make an essential contribution to our commitment of reducing poverty for children in the Borders. The provision of clothing for our families living in poverty means that we can offer tangible support to free up their finances to buy food and heat their homes. As an organisation they work really hard to ensure the right clothing is provided and the fact that is lovingly packed and laundered and the items are of good quality helps the children and parents feel valued and worthy. This is invaluable in helping HV’s build relationships with families who often mistrust professionals due to childhood trauma. It can often keep us having access to children who are at risk of neglect or abuse and therefore allows us to ensure better outcomes for these children. Additionally as we deliver the clothing it tackles rural deprivation as not all our families have access to transport to get to shops which sell affordable clothing.”
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Review of activities
It has been an exceptionally busy and exciting year for Tweed Togs. Referral numbers continue to steadily increase (by 6% since 2024/25) and we have distributed 202 outdoor clothing packs to disadvantaged children across the Scottish Borders (thanks largely to a National Lottery Cost of Living Grant received last year).
In January 2026 we moved to our new premises in Peebles. This is giving us the space we need to store and prepare clothing parcels more efficiently, and helps us to meet the growing needs of the families we support. It is a more user-friendly and organised working space for volunteers, therefore more pleasant volunteering experience
Grants and Donations
We have been grateful to receive a number of donations and grants, including:
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£20,000 grant from the National Lottery Awards for All. This will help to fund our running costs, including rent.
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£12,500 from Scottish Borders Council’s Adopt and Adapt Fund which has been used to purchase clothing including specific requests for snowsuits, for premature babies and for children with severe and complex needs.
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£10,000 from the TSB Foundation Neighbourly fund to purchase clothing.
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£500 unrestricted funding from the TKMaxx and Homesense Foundation.
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£3,000 unrestricted funding from the Barratt Redrow Foundation.
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£1,200 from Peebles & District Round Table - from the proceeds from Peebles fireworks, sponsored by Stobo Castle.
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£70 from Girlguiding Peebles District.
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£120 from the Rotary Club of Peebles' Circle of Friends.
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£1,481 from Kailzie Estate, including income from Scotlands Gardens Scheme and a donation from the owners.
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£210 from our bake sale at Cardrona Christmas Fayre.
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450 blue FRAKTA bags from IKEA’s community request scheme.
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Between £500 and £1,500 from Stronger Starts Bags of Help, depending on how many ‘blue tokens’ we collected in Tesco in Peebles in early 2026.
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To be confirmed - income from our text to donate winter campaign.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Review of activities
Huge thanks also to several individuals and organisations who have generously donated money, clothing, time and expertise this year. This includes local knitters, Cardrona Beavers, Peebles High School, Lighten the Load, CCA signs and Lemon Digital Design. Many are repeat donors and are family and friends of volunteers.
Celebrating our volunteers and supporters
In January 2026 we held an Afternoon Tea for our volunteers and supporters. The was a chance to pause, reflect and say thank you to the community whose time, generosity and commitment underpin the success of Tweed Togs. The celebration was made possible thanks to a specific fund within the National Lottery’s Awards for All grant, and the generosity of Neidpath Castle, which provided a stunning venue for the afternoon. Our new Patron Suzanne Mulholland (aka The Batch Lady) delivered a heartfelt and inspiring speech. Read more about the event on our website and Peeblesshire News.
Demand continues to outstrip supply
We would like to thank our collection points (St Andrew’s Church West Linton, Fat Face in Peebles, the Coop in Innerleithen, Tree Top Toys in Melrose, and Cafe ReCharge in Galashiels) as well as individual supporters for managing a steady flow of donations throughout the year.
Unfortunately donations are still not keeping up with demand so we regularly need to purchase new clothing for certain age groups. To help us continue to respond to every request, as of June 2025, for referrals for ages 5-12 yrs we reduced the number of outfits in each referral.
Following a trial selling high-end designer clothing donations on eBay, only 3 of 10 items sold with minimal returns. The trustees have decided this is only beneficial for Tweed Togs when items are brand new or excellent quality. Otherwise, these clothing donations should be added to our referrals to support families.
Looking ahead
In 2026/27 we look forward to continuing to increase our reach and success in collecting good quality clothing as well as financial donations through expanding our profile on social media as well as in the local community, through fundraising events.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Financial Review
Income for the period was £67,262 and expenditure was £53,827 giving a surplus of +£13,435.
This compares to a surplus of +£35,677 in 2025.
The accumulated surplus at 31 March 2026 of £70,081, is made up of unrestricted funds of £43,427 and restricted funds of £26,654.
Our main funding during this period has come from National Lottery “Awards for All” funding of £20,000, a Scottish Borders Council “Adopt and Adapt fund” award of £12,500 and a £10,000 award from the TSB “Neighbourly Fund”.
During the year we spent £35,370 on underwear and sleepwear, outdoor clothing as well as other essential clothing, utilising grant funding carried forward (£27,998) and part of the new funding secured in the financial year (£7,372)
In addition, we received donations from individuals, companies, and local groups and we are very grateful to all those who donated to us, many of whom do so year-on-year.
Income from fundraising activities amounted to £3,176 through running our own 50/50 club, as well as the generosity of Kailzie Gardens who hosted two Garden Open days as fundraising events.
We have had a successful year of Fundraising. Mainly to cover the costs of underwear and the purchasing of essential clothing but are intending to apply for grants to cover annual operating cost (mainly rent and running costs), although these types of Grant are less prevalent.
Reserves Policy
At the present time, the trustees consider that the balance of unrestricted funds will be sufficient to carry on the current level of activities for 2026/2027 and beyond. The Trustees are therefore comfortable that Tweed Togs has sufficient reserves to operate normally for the foreseeable future.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Independent Examiner’s Report
Independent Examiners Report to the Trustees of Tweed Togs (SCIO) I report on the accounts of the charity for the year to 31 March 2026 which are set out on the pages below.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). The charity trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the 2006 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.
Basis of independent examiners statement
My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations. 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 vew given by the accounts.
Independent examiner’s statement
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention
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1.Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: a) to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations b) to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, have not been met, or
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2.to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: Date:
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026 LOCAL e PEOPLE CLOTHING LOCAL fy/LDftE Statement of Receipts and Payments Unr8Strlct•d R8Strlct8d Funds Funds Y8ar Ended 31 March 2026 Year End8d 31 March 2025 Recelpls Nolos D¢9110n5 Grants Fund RaisinG- 50150 Club Fund Raislng- Kallae Fund Raising- Coffee Muning Fund Raising- Other Ju51 GiK4ng Rag bag sales Glft 17.902 17.902 42.500 2.695 481 13.430 43.850 2.140 742 1,420 42,500 2.6 481 91 91 2.596 595 401 132 2.5 Mlscellaneous peebies Interest Rec&ved 401 295 T¢éo1 Recelpts Fund Raising- 50150 Club Fund Raising- Coffee Mcfning TOTAL Fundralslng Cc6ts 1,371 1,371 1,178 300 1,477 1,371 1,371 Cc6t d Charllable ActleS 7.798 44,658 52.456 24,855 T¢éal Paert$ SJrplusllDeflcYcl perl¢>J Local peop18 clothing local ehildr8n 16
Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Statement of Balances
Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:
Lucy Carter Trustee Date:
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Notes to the Financial Statements
1. Basis of accounting
These accounts have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis in accordance with the Charities & Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
2. Nature and purpose of funds
Unrestricted funds are those that may be used at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the objects of the charity. The trustees maintain a single unrestricted fund for the day-to-day running of the organisation/
Restricted funds may only be used for specific purposes. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for specific purposes.
3. Related party transactions
No remuneration was paid to the trustees or any connected persons during the year.
4. Grants Received
5. Cost of Charitable Activities
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026
Notes to the Financial Statements
6. Statement of Funds
Purpose of restricted funds
[SPIFOX]
£814 of the Grant was used to purchase packaging materials (remaining balance of £1,250 awarded) and £1,700 was spent on underwear & essential clothing etc. (remaining balance of £6,800 awarded)
NATIONAL LOTTERY – COST OF LIVING SUPPORT FUND
The £26,298 remaining balance of the award was spent during the financial year on essential clothing, including outdoor clothing and underwear.
NATIONAL LOTTERY – AWARDS FOR ALL
This £20,000 award over two years will help to fund our running costs
SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL ADOPT AND ADAPT FUND A £12,500 award to fund the purchase of essential clothing
TSB FOUNDATION NEIGHBOURLY FUND
A £10,000 award to fund the purchase of essential clothing
Liabilities/Commitments
The Charity has entered a rental agreement for a unit in Cavalry Park for a total monthly cost of c£840 for a five year term, with a 3 year break close (8 January 2029) with three months written notice required to terminate the lease.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 March 2026 Contact Us
Contact us: tweedtogs@gmail.com Referral requests: tweedtogsreferral@gmail.com https://www.tweedtogs.org/
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