Hilton Familv Support 5cotti5h Charity No 048719 Hilton Family Support SC048719 Trustees, Annual Report 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 Charity contact infomiation Hilton Family Support Scottish Charity Number: SC048719 clo The Light House 4 Tomatin Road Inverness IU2 4UA Website.. V4*W. hiltonfamil .su ort Facebook.. htt s'.IAvvM.facebook.comlHilton-Famil -su 113255910311359 ort- Charity Trustees Objectives and activities The Charity's purposes are: The prevention and relief of poverty The advancement of education amongst poor and disadvantaged children The relief of those in need by reason of age. ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage The provision of recreational facilities or the organi5ation of recreational activities, with the objed of improvin8 the condition5 of life of those in need. Structure. Governance and Mana8ement Type of governing document Hilton Family Support is a charitable unincorporated association, and the purposes and administrative arrangements are Set out in our constitution. Trustee recruitment and appointment New Trustees may be appointed by the current Trustees. Only individua15 approved unanimously by the current trustees shall be appointed as Trustees. The appointment of a new Trustee or Trustees should be effective by way of a minute signed by all existing Trustees and the Trustee or Trustees to be appointed. The minimum number of Trustees should be three. Trustees should be recruited according to their knowledge and experience of both the locality in which we operate and of the works of the Charity. Trustee5 are attached to either the Governance Group or the Service Delivery group with meetings held on a monthly rota basis wrth a joint meeting of all Trustees every third month. The staff attend the Service Delivery group and provide wrltten reports for these meetings. An important work of the Trustees is to ensure that all Policies are monitored, reviewed and updated on a regular ba5[5 and all our Policies were reviewed at least once during the vear. During 2024the Trustee Treasurer esigned (2510912024) due to work commitments and in Au8USt 2024 the support worker, left after nine years with the charity. to pursue his commitment to support Ukralnlan refugees. A part time administrator Is employed. Achievements and performance Having two full time workers in place for most of year enabled a wide range of 5UPPOrt work to be offered. Two groups support families who have been referred through local agencie5, the toddler group has families with children under five and a range of group5 provide for families with children in the narrower age range of birth to three years. These include a weekly baby sensory group, and a baby massage group. One project worker has been providing a buggy walk every week meeting for coffee afterwards and a book bug session for the children. The other support worker has been able to work weekly until August in the local school to provide 5UPPOrt to the schoDI who have families from Poland and Ukraine as he was competent in the languages and the culture. With the recruitment of more volunteers the Toddler group has been expanded. A hub has been created where I to I sessions are held for those parents who wish to meet to share issues. Ongoing support is being given by both workers in areas like food, nappies, essential clothing etc. Referral to'Food Bank, has enabled emer8ency help to families who have no money for food. Stock of good quality second-hand clothes hel p families to ease the c05t of replacing clothing. A significant networking With other agencies in the local area has enabled the development of the most effective sharing of resources and skills. A weekly PEEP group (Parents as Early Education Prowdersl was initiated. The creation of new initiatives indicate that we are ahead of our expectations and aims for this period. Feedback is extremely posbtive, and families report feeling less lonely or isolated, anxletv and stress being reduced, confidence increased, and social skills improved as children meet with others. We have seen improved bonding between parents and chlldren. All of this has brought us to the fore In terms of impacting our community and our work is being recoEnised and supported financially by both local organisations and local authority. A local community initiative to provide meals twice a week has not only provided food but also an opportunity for our families to meet in a social setting, to encourage each other, and provide peer support. In addition. a local national work force has continued to support the charity a5 its local community initiative and has provided a significant amount of Christmas and Easter gifts including shopping vouchers for the famllies. We have continued to expand the number of families benefiting from the services and groups. The numbers attending is in itself evidence that the support we offer is needed and appreciated. Care has had to be exercised to ensure that our budget not only meets the salaries of our staff but also enables the purchase of the resources needed to support their work. Through questionnaires. discussion and consultation with our families we are able to identify what work5 best for them and their children. We have also built positive relationships with other organisations such as Mikey's Line (Crisis and suicide prevention) and 'Grace and Gap, who provide resources such a5 Nappies and clothes. We regularly invited organisations like the Fire Service and CAP (Debt relief and advice) to visit the groups. ArtsPlay Highland provided much appreciated weekly music session for part of the year, but the withdrawal of their funding brought that to an end in June 2024. An initiative set up by the area Councillor to coordinate the 5UPPOrt available in the area has made links with a number of local Eroups and this has raised the profile of the Charity and the support we offer. One of our sUPPOrt groups played host each week to groups of 14115 year old pupils along with a member of school staff. The pupils were doing 3 skills course on early years. As part of the assessment of the course the young people had to plan activities and observe the responses of the children. All families benefitted from these sessions and the young school pupils learned about early child development and the challenges of being a parent. Whenever possible outdoor activities have been used to encourage families to make use of what is available locally. In addition, trips to activitie5 wider afield have proved to be invaluabSe in breaking down barriers and establishing trust. Openness to Learning One of the key learning outcomes has been a need to recognise that our families live often chaotic lives and we have learnt not to be surprised or disappointed when our plans need to be changed or cannot be implemented. We have maintained an openness to learning opportunities and the following recognised training has been accessed by staff. NHS Certificate on Decider Skills, Scottish Mental Health First Aid Certificate, Trauma workshop and an NHS session on Money Counts. Families are attending groups on a regular basis and by observation of staff and volunteers we notice the progress in development of relationship between child and parent. In several instances parent5 are attending more than one of the groups enabling regular contact to be made with workers and volunteers. Feedback forms and the use of regular 'check in, di5CU5sions with families about the support they need/receive provide information about benefits. Social media group chats evidence that the families are keeping in touch with each other and providing support beyond the formal sessions. Being able to provide resources such as nappies, cleaning products, clothes, toys etc to families has helped with financial demands. We have started to work with a National Initlative called Highland Whole Family Wellbeing. This aims to assist us in developing focussed family support that addresses needs when they arise and not just at the point of crisis. In doing so. we aim to strengthen family resilience so that every child we work with can be raised and thrive in their own family. We were selerted because it was recognised that the work we were doing was an example that could be developed across Highland. The importance of agencies working together in localities has been a significant learning outcome for us. Group work can be more effective when resources and strategies are shared rather than when working in isolation. Families have benefitted from this approach and the fact that many of our families feel comfortable to attend a range of facilities as well as the ones we offer is evidence that that approach is effective. Sometimes the need5 of a family are evident while at other times the needs are hidden. Joint working prevents a family from falling through any gap in support they need. Role of Volunteers In addition to our two paid employees, we also value the support of a number of volunteer5. Without their help and support many of our activities would be limited in impact. The knowledge and skills of the volunteers complement the planned work of the staff. The volunteers provide a listening ear and can feed back to the staff any unmet needs. New volunteers have been recruited for the new groups which have been set up. As an ongoing requirement we are looking to increase our volunteer base particularly to assist with the new groups being set up. All volunteers land staff) are required to have PVG clearance, and this is processed through Volunteer Scotland. Future Plans The recruitment of a second worker will be progressed when sufficient funding has been identified. The funding process is often a long drawn out one with no certainty of success so matching criteria and aims and objectives requires careful preparation and understanding in order to submit appropriate and successful applications. PEEP training will continue with a new group. Due to the resignation of our Support Worker. we have had to curtail some of our activities in the latter third of the year. Two Trustees along with their volunteers undertook to continue the two weekly support groups until a new appointment can be made. One area of our work that we had begun to develop and that we were unable to fully support was with families whose children have progressed to school. We hope to re-visit this gap when a new worker is appointed. Resolving the limitations set by funding sources will determine how this Is progressed. All other groups will continue into next year. Financial review Income Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Donations 13,301 Fundraising 781 Grants 15,000 30,000 Gift Aid 1,820 Activity Income 595 Total 31.497 26,439 30,000 Expenditure Statement of the charit¢s policy on reserves HFS alms to hold a minimum of 3 months annual expenditure (around £25,000) in unrestrirted reserves. This will allow the charity to continue to operate for an acceptable period, if there are any delays or gaps in funding. It will also allow time for the Trustees to assess what decisions need to be made within the organisation if future funding does not look achievable. At the end of 2024 we held around £26,000 in unrestricted reserves. Financial Summary HFS operated at a small deficit in 2024. Funding has been secured for the next 2 years, this will see us through to almost the end of 2027. We rely on volunteers to support our Project workers in delivering our services. This enables HFS to provide a wide range of services to a larger number of users, cost effectively. We would Ilke to thank all the individuals who support HFS financially and the following funders and companies - Highland Council The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation Haventus Highland Industrial Supplies Cattanach Garfield Weston The Highland Wellbeing Fund Statom Declaration Signed on behalf of the charity trustees: Designation C4kpdR r£u5TrgS Date 251081202 HILTON FAMILY SUPPORT SC048719 Hilton Family Support Receipts and payments accounts Fortho pgrlod DI January 2024 ai DoL￿ber 24 Sectlon A Statem&nt of recelpts and payments Unrestricted funds Expondabl• RtStii¢ted funds endoviment funds P•rman• endov*Thent funds Total funds ¢yrr•nt ￿rI0￿ Total funds last rlod elrest E 10 neareslE 10 neareSl£ Al R•coi Donabons 13.301 13.301 13.805 Fundrais1 781 781 447 Grants 15,000 30,000 45,000 Gfft 1.820 1.820 Income 595 1.036 Al Sub tot•1 31A97 30.000 61.497 31897 30.000 61,497 A2 Payments Service Delivery cèterinE 866 817 1.683 Christm 304 388 C 136.3641 at8Trd ofy8ar 2S976 2),f￿5 981 5&975 B2 Deu Detaly B4 Uobilhies Td B5 COn￿n￿l Ilabllttks Print Narne Datr Of approval 25AW2025 ## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Hilton Family Project** I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31st December 2024. ## **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 examiner’s 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 view given by the accounts. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** 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: - 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 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. **Date:** 17 March 2025