Home-Start Herefordshire
Legal and Administrative information
Trustees
The Trustees during the year were as follows:
Helen Tank Chair
Brian Dummer Vice Chair (from July 2009)
David J Williams Vice Chair (to July 2009)
Rob Ellam Treasurer
Elizabeth Hunter
Jane Mackay
Vicki Murray (appointed January 2010)
Michael Reed (resigned July 2009)
Peter Watts (appointed January 2010)
Christine Wright
Michael Reed retired at last year’s AGM. Peter Watts and Vicki Murray were appointed during the year and their knowledge has added to the breadth of experience on the Board. The Trustees appointed Brian Dummer as Vice Chair following last year’s AGM in place of David Williams. In accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Rob Ellam and Elizabeth Hunter will retire at the AGM and, being eligible, offer themselves for re-election. David Williams and Brian Dummer are retiring at the AGM. In his role as Chair, Vice Chair and Trustee David has helped significantly in the development of the Charity and in particular in fund raising and bringing the governance of the Charity to the highest level. The Trustees and staff thank him for his invaluable support over the years. We also thank Brian for his considerable contribution to the Charity as both Trustee and Vice Chair.
Scheme Manager Jill Hiscox (retired December 2009) Mandie Preece (appointed December 2009)
Principal address and The Fred Bulmer Centre
registered office Wall Street
Hereford
HR4 9HP
Charity number 1113432
Company number 5659978
Date of incorporation 21st December 2005
Bankers Lloyds TSB
High Town
Hereford
COIF Charity Funds
80 Cheapside
London
EC2V 6DZ
Independent Examiner / Beth NorrisChartered Certified Accountant & Registered Auditor
9 Church Crescent
Pembridge
Herefordshire
Website / HR6 9HH
www.home-startherefordshire.co.uk
Home-Start Herefordshire
Trustees' report for the year ending 31st March 2010
The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ending 31st March 2010. The Trustees have adopted the Charity (Accounts and Reports) 2008 Regulations ‘the 2008 Regulations’ and the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ issued in February 2005 ‘the SORP’ in preparing the annual report and financial statements of Home-Start Herefordshire ‘the Charity’.
Structure, governance and management
The Charity is constituted as a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. It is therefore governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
The Charity is governed by a Board of Trustees, with a Management Committee consisting of Trustees and representatives from the statutory agencies and volunteers. The Charity has a small salaried staff led by the Scheme Manager.
Trustees are recruited on the basis of a skills audit. Vacancies are advertised via various media forms including the internet. New Trustees are subject to interview by the Chair of Trustees and the Scheme Manager. A suitable candidate is recommended to the Board of Trustees and, if accepted, is subject to a CRB check. New Trustees receive a welcome/induction pack and attend one or more induction sessions with the Chair and Scheme Manager. Specific training related to the Charity is also organised by Home-Start UK at regional and national level.
Home-Start Herefordshire has adopted the policies and practices prepared by Home-Start UK, and operates under their guidance. A national Policy and Practice Guide and Quality Assurance System form the basis for operating and quality control procedures.
The Trustees actively review the major risks which the Charity faces on a regular basis and ensure that sufficient reserves are available to safeguard continuing operations. The Trustees have examined other operational and business risks faced by the Charity and confirm that they have systems in place to mitigate significant risks.
Objectives and activities
The Charity's objective is to offer informal, friendly and confidential support to parents with young children (at least one under five), to enable them to grow in confidence, to strengthen their relationships with their children, and widen their links in the local community.
The Charity’s principal activity involves the recruitment of volunteers, who are all parents themselves, to visit families, where there is at least one child under five, in their own homes. Visits are regular each week, usually for two to three hours. The families choose how this time should be used.
Family groups are also run at various locations across the county, where families meet weekly for about two hours. Play leaders provide a range of stimulating activities for the children, while the parents can relax and talk and, if needed, receive extra support from the group co-ordinator.
In accordance with section 4 of the 2006 Charities Act, charities are required to show they provide a benefit to the public. The Trustees have reviewed the guidance issued by the Charity Commission and believe that the Charity offers considerable benefit to the public through its main activities and that the Charity fully meets the public benefit requirement.
Achievements and performance
The achievements and other significant events during the year were as follows:
· We continue to train and support our home visiting volunteers and we have had considerable success in recruiting 20 new home visiting volunteers, with a further 8 volunteers attending our current evening preparation course. We have already compiled a list of potential volunteers waiting to start our new accredited training course in September.
· We still see the ripple effect of the funding cuts in 2008 but we managed to have 71 volunteers available to support families throughout Herefordshire during the year. We are also proud of the fact that we supported 146 families (2009: 168) and 292 children (of which 186 were under 5 years) this year (2009: 304).
· We continue to offer group support in Kington and Hereford city and run a very successful toy library stay and play session on a weekly basis in Ross. During the year we have seen a steady increase in families where English is an additional rather than the main language ‘EAL families’. We have also undertaken a research project for the local authority to identify EAL family pockets around the county and to promote volunteering to these ethnic minority groups.
· We continue to generate positive outcomes for families supported. Of those families for whom home visiting ceased and a final visit took place during the year 80% said that things were better although they still needed some support, 18% no longer needed support and only 2% said things were no better.
· We held various family events and outings during the year, including a seaside trip in the rain, a Halloween adventure in the woods and a memorable farm outing which saw our youngest children having lots of fun especially when it came to feeding “Annabelle” the pig with potatoes.
· A story telling grant from the PCT small grants scheme has enabled us to offer story telling training and resources to our volunteers and enjoyable story telling workshops for our families.
· In September we were successful in securing funding from Home-Start UK to work with families who were experiencing difficulties as a result of the recession. This project has enabled us to support additional families and provide training to our volunteers on helping families survive the recession.
· We underwent a Home-Start UK quality assurance assessment in October and were successful in meeting all 16 quality assurance standards with many areas of excellent practice identified. AcquA performed a review of the Charity in January and they have recently confirmed that we have been awarded re-accreditation with acquA.
· In March we held our first charity fashion show where both young and old took to the cat walk wearing some beautiful summer fashions.
Plans for the future
We have agreed a move to new premises and our principal address, with effect from 27 August 2010, will be as follows:
Suite 1, Unit 1, Thorn Business Park
Rotherwas
Hereford
HR2 6JS
Our major short term future plans are as follows:
· Develop a new accredited preparation training course for volunteers effective from September 2010.
· Recruit a more diverse work force with a view to recruiting more male volunteers, volunteers from EAL communities and more volunteers in North Herefordshire and South Wye (identified as areas of deprivation in Herefordshire).
· Endeavour to recruit volunteers with varying skills and experience who in turn will be able to provide support to families with more complex needs (families who have a parent/carer or child with a disability)
· Offer families in the Ledbury area an opportunity to use a plot of land to grow their own produce and to focus on healthy lifestyles.
· Offer a wide variety of activities involving parents and children and support and encourage interaction which emphasises the enjoyment of family life.
· Set up a family discussion group to enable the Charity, via feedback from service users, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our service.
· Identify families that could benefit from a Common Assessment Framework assessment and provide support throughout the process.
· Develop greater partnership working and opportunities to share skills, knowledge and resources.
· Devise and deliver a new training programme for new Trustees and recruiting new Trustees.
In the longer term our major plans are as follows:
· Secure longer term funding through 3 year contracts with Herefordshire Council and other more permanent funding.
· Develop the Charity in line with local and national initiatives.
· Develop and implement a marketing strategy plan to ensure the sustainability of the Charity’s activities.
· Provide high quality training for staff and opportunities for career development.
· Enable staff to obtain the qualifications they may need as professionals supporting families.
· Offer additional training to volunteers on issues that interest them and which could be of added benefit in their role with the Charity.
Financial review
Certain funds received by the Charity can only be used for specified purposes. The income and expenditure relating thereto is shown in the accounts as restricted. Restricted funds at the end of each year represent amounts received but not yet spent on restricted activities.
Incoming resources increased marginally to £176,535 (2009: £175,433). Lower voluntary income was broadly offset by increases in income from restricted charitable activities. This arises partly from the change in treatment of income from Four Acre Trust. Total expenditure was broadly unchanged at £167,816 (2009: £167,566). However, expenditure on core (unrestricted activities) reduced by 36% to £50,094 (2009: £78,439) and expenditure on specified sponsored activities (restricted activities) increased by 32% to £117,722 (2009: £89,127) largely reflecting the associated switch in incoming resources. The resultant surplus for the year on core operations of £6,475 (2009: £5,805) has been added to reserves.
The Trustees endeavour to hold sufficient reserves to enable the charity to continue normal operations, without further funding, for a period of 6 months. This is considered necessary in view of the uncertain funding streams and to allow time to establish alternatives, where necessary. This has not yet been achieved and the Charity will continue to work towards this goal.
Funding this year was received from a wide variety of sources including Henry Smith Charity, Eveson Trust, Herefordshire Council, Four Acre Trust, EYES, BBC Children in Need, PCT Small Funds, Home-Start UK and Allpay Ltd. We are grateful for their support.
In addition money was received in the form of donations from individuals and the proceeds from fund raising events. We are grateful to the donors for their generosity and to all those involved in fund raising events for their hard work and commitment.
Tangible fixed assets for use by the Charity
Details of movements in fixed assets are set out in note 6 to the accounts. Investments are stated at current market value.
Investment policy and returns
The Charity has the power to make investments which the Trustees see fit. The Trustees have considered the most appropriate policy for investing funds and have found that unit trusts with COIF meet their requirement to generate income and capital growth and be fairly accessible if required.
Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities
This statement is provided to distinguish the relative responsibilities of Trustees and Independent Examiners in respect of the financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Independent Examiner’s Report.
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the surplus or deficit for that year. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
· select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
· make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
· state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
· prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the 2008 Regulations. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Charity and to prevent and detect fraud and irregularities.
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with these requirements and, being satisfied that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, continue to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.
Independent Examiner
A resolution proposing the re-appointment of Beth Norris will be put to the AGM.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to the small companies’ regime and were approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by:
Helen Tank
Chair
23 August 2010
Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Home-Start Herefordshire
I report on the accounts for the year ending 31st March 2010, which are set out on pages 7 to 11 following this report.