Forth SPAN (Suicide Action Prevention Network) OSCR Ref No. - $C 053321
Income and Expenditure for the Year ended 30 April 2025
Income
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|||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Grants|
|EVOC|1|2500.00|
|EVOC|2|2575.00|5075.00|
|Donations|10.00|
|0.01|
|66.20|
|20.00|
|85.60|181.81|
|Total Income|5256.81|
|Expenditure|
|Training|
|Assist|130.00|
|Insurance|
|Zurich|56.00|
|Website|
|Domain|17.98|
|Ferrywell|
|Lanyards|120.37|
|Food|382.12|
|Banners|134.38|636.87|
|Picnic|Catering|100.00|
|Total Expenditure|940.85|
|Surplus for Year|4315.96|
|Bank|Balance|b/f|0.00|
|Bank|Balance @ 30 April 2025|4315.96|
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| confirm that these Accounts are a true and accurate record of the Income and Expenditure of Forth SPAN for the Year ended 30 April 2025.
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Dated 22 Je. Zerb,.
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| Date | Reference | Customer | Income | Expenditure | Balance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30/04/2024 | OPENING BALANCE | £0.00 | ||||
| 14/03/2024 | Open Virgin Money account | £0.00 | ||||
| 14/03/2024 | Test | fF | £10.00 | £10.00 | ||
| 28/03/2024 | EVOC Grant | EVOC | £2,500.00 | £2,510.00 | ||
| 31/05/2024 | Transfer to Coop Bank account | £2,510.00 | ||||
| 22/11/2024 | EVOC Grant | EVOC | £2,575.00 | £5,085.00 | ||
| 15/01/2025 | ASIST training Ru | Care and ConnectT | -£130.00 | £4,955.00 | ||
| 04/02/2025 | websitedomain | fF | -£17.98 | £4,937.02 | ||
| 10/03/2025 | FerryWellLanyard | PF | -£120.37 | £4,816.65 | ||
| 19/03/2025 | PAYPAL CODE 5368 | PAYPALCODE 5368 | £0.01 | £4,816.66 | ||
| 19/03/2025 | FerryWellfood | P | -£382.12 | -£4,434.54 | ||
| 20/03/2025 | FerryWellbanners | PF | -£134.38 | £4,300.16 | ||
| 20/03/2025 | Zurich insurance | Zurich Charities I | -£56.00 | £4,244.16 | ||
| 24/03/2025 | FerryWell donation | Alexander Goater | £66.20 | £4,310.36 | ||
| 24/03/2025 | FerryWell donate2 | Alexander Goater | £20.00 | £4,330.36 | ||
| 24/03/2025 | Picnic catering | John Russell | -£100.00 | £4,230.36 | ||
| 31/03/2025 | GIVEALITTLE PAYO | CAUTIONYOURBLA | £85.60 | £4,315.96 | ||
| 30/04/2025 | CLOSING BALANCE | £5,256.81 | £940.85 | £4,315.96 | ||
| Total Income | Total Expenditure | |||||
| Grants | £5,075.00 | |||||
| Donations | £181.81 | |||||
| Total | £5,256.81 |
Forth SPAN - SCIO (SC053321)
Trustees Annual Report 2024/25
Purpose
Forth SPAN is a registered charity (SC053321) based in Queensferry and surrounding areas. The group came about following a series of public meetings to discuss community approaches to suicide and mental health crisis, and has retained this grassroots community approach since - formalising this through application for SCIO status (granted by OSCR on 30 April 2024).
Forth SPAN aims to coordinate local approaches to suicide prevention and mental wellbeing within South Queensferry and surrounding areas. Our approach is structured around four strands of activity:
1) Acting as a hub and interface to bring together existing local groups and organisations with the people who need them;
2) Coordination and, where necessary, funding of suicide prevention training and awareness raising throughout local communities and within existing community groups;
3) Creation and dissemination of free suicide prevention resources and signposting to wider support throughout communities - in places people already go (schools, businesses, and community facilities); and
4) Facilitation of free peer support within communities - providing spaces for people to talk, and challenging stigma around suicide and mental health.
As an entirely volunteer-run charity, Forth SPAN has seen a slow start, with some challenges in building a resilient leadership group and committee underpinning the commitment of formal trustees. We have, however, delivered a modest number of impactful activities over the reporting period - furthering our charitable aims and building a strong foundation for the coming year.
2024/25 Outputs
Public Meetings
Forth SPAN came about after a series of public meetings, with an initial focus on the Forth Road Bridge as a site of suicides and regular interventions by authorities and members of the public. These meetings were held in South Queensferry in early 2024 - convened and chaired by and (now Chair and Treasurer, respectively) - and were attended by over 20 local people.
Attendees shared many of their own experiences of themselves and loved ones experiencing mental health crisis and suicide. Whilst these meetings were integral to development of Forth SPAN’s future direction, they were also clear opportunities for local people to come together, share their lived experience, and find solidarity and community.
It was evident that there was a need for a more coordinated community response to address mental health issues and support suicide prevention in South Queensferry. It was these meetings that drove us to take an holistic approach to suicide prevention - prioritising activities which contribute to community wellbeing.
Website and Social Media
As many small groups do, we started out using social media, and expanded our online presence later - working with a local web designer (Rob Mawson) - to develop a website https://forthspan.org/. The Website provides information on the charity, but also offers links to useful information and evidence on mental health and wellbeing, as well as to support for those in mental health crisis.
Stakeholder Engagement
Forth SPAN’s early months were characterised by engagement with a wide range of local and national groups and networks, including key organisations such as Bear Scotland, Police Scotland, NHS Fife, the Samaritans, Scottish Recovery Network and Andy’s Man Club. This engagement was integral to our development and growth as a charity as we built our own networks, and learned a great deal about what works (and what might not) from partners.
We supported Andy’s Man Club with setting up a local meeting and this has successfully been running in Kirkliston since early 2024.
Ferry Well: Mental Health and Wellbeing Festival
In March 2025 we ran the first ever Ferry Well festival focussing on mental health and wellbeing for the residents of South Queensferry.
Over the course of the weekend, Forth SPAN funded and facilitated 2 sessions of free suicide prevention training accredited by Public Health Scotland to more than 30 people who work, volunteer, and/or engage with the community in South Queensferry and surrounding areas.
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SafeTALK is a suicide alertness training course delivered over half a day (3.5h). The session teaches you to recognise people who may have thoughts of suicide and how to connect them to appropriate help. SafeTALK prepares participants to activate a suicide alert by following th
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A dry bar social on the opening night welcomed around 20 people for soft drinks, snacks, and a quiz.
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A charities fair was held on the second day with a range of local charities, social groups, sports clubs & societies participating - taking advantage of the opportunity to connect with the Queensferry community, showcase their work and activities, and promote volunteering and leadership opportunities.
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Alongside the fair we ran a free ‘Chatty Cafe’ which was facilitated by Andy’s Man Club volunteers, and encouraged people to sit and chat over a hot drink and a sweet treat.
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For the duration of the Ferry Well Festival, the local library had a mental health and wellbeing themed display, providing a range of relevant books and information.
Outcomes and Impacts
Over this reporting period Forth SPAN has developed slowly but surely from a loose collective of local people discussing local issues into a formalised charity with clear charitable aims and objectives. This has not been without its challenges, and we look forward to bringing greater structure to the charity and building on the strong foundations we have laid.
Much of our activity over this period has focussed on building relationships within the local community and with local, regional, and national mental health organisations. Our Chair has undertaken a comprehensive 2 day suicide prevention training course, and we aim to ensure all trustees have this training by the end of 2025/26.
Ferry Well Festival
Ferry Well Festival achieved modest impacts – particularly in building increased resilience in the community through increasing the number of people trained to offer support.
Throughout all of the events, people were encouraged to speak openly about their own experiences and needs where they felt comfortable and able. The feedback from participants and volunteers was that this had been an important factor in raising awareness and reducing stigma, and that the opportunity to speak openly and freely without fear of judgement had been a very positive experience which they would carry into the wider community with them.
The feedback on the training was uniformly excellent from the participants and the trainers. Through our facilitation, we have built capacity within the local community to reduce deaths by suicide through increased awareness, knowledge and skills. Some of the feedback from our evaluation of the event is included below:
“A brilliant training course”
“Well presented and very informative”
“A really great, important course that as many people as possible should try and get to. Highly recommend if they run it again”
“Great to see the event come to life […] and your collective effort is so important”
Finances
A record of our accounts have been reviewed by Diamond Financial Ltd, and can be found appended to this report. Below is a high-level account of income and outgoings over the reporting period.
Income
| Income | Income | Income |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting period |
Amount | Source |
| Apr 2024 - Apr 2025 |
£5,256.81 | EVOC Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund Donations |
| Expenditure | ||
| Reporting Period |
Amount | Purpose |
| Apr 2024 - Apr 2025 |
£940.85 | Ferry Well March 2025 Website fees Public liability insurance |
A Look Ahead to 2026
For 2026 we hope to expand on the solid foundations that we have laid in the previous year. We would like to re-introduce monthly meetings again and encourage wider involvement from more people to spread some of the responsibilities and generate diverse ideas.
We are in the early stages of planning a Ferry Welcome event to celebrate mulit-culturalism in South Queensferry in response to racist and islamophobic graffiti that appeared in December 2025 and January 2026. We would also like to deliver free mental health and suicide prevention training again to the community, potentially targeting local hospitality businesses that have most contact with the local public.
We are keen to hold another Ferry Well Mental Health and Wellbeing Festival, and will build on learning from evaluation of the festival in March 2025.
We are also looking to collaborate with local charities such as the Forth Hedgehog Hospital (who produce mental health support materials) and Good Vibes Meditation Mental Health and Wellbeing Trust.
Signed Trustees:
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