THE FAMILY HAVEN

 

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

 

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2008

 

Page 1

 

1.       REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

 

 

Address and Registered Office            31 Spa Road    

                                                            Gloucester

                                                            GL1 UY

 

Patron                                                  Kate Winslett

 

President                                             Anne Cadbury OBE JP DL

 

Trustees:

 

Chair                                                     Gillian Lunn

Secretary                                              Duncan Richardson

Treasurer                                               John Price

Fundraising Trustee                                David Mustardé                                                 

Childcare Advisor                                   Doreen McLellan

Management Advisor                              The Very Reverend Nicholas Bury

Buildings Trustee                                   David Riggs

           

Trustees are also Directors for the purposes of Company law. All the above trustees have held office throughout the year with the exception of David Riggs who was appointed as a trustee on 1 November 2007. Janet Jenkins retired as a trustee on 21 June 2007.

 

Gillian Lunn replaced David Mustardé as Chair on 17 April 2008.

 

Manager                                              Lorraine Barrett

 

Bankers                                               Lloyds TSB Bank plc

19 Eastgate Street

Gloucester

GL1 1NU

 

CCLA Investment Management Limited

COIF Charity Funds

80 Cheapside

London 

EC2V 6DZ

 

Independent accountants                    Pitt Godden & Taylor     

Brunel House

George Street

Gloucester

GL1 1BZ

 

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2.       STRUCTURE, MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE

 

 

Nature of Governing Document

 

The Family Haven is a private registered charitable company limited by guarantee, with no share capital, incorporated on 6th July 2001 governed by its Memorandum and Articles of association.

 

Each member undertakes to pay an amount not exceeding £1.00 towards liabilities in the event of the charity being dissolved.

 

Management

 

The policy and general management of the affairs of the Family Haven are directed by Trustees, one of third of whom retire each year by rotation, but are eligible for re-election.

 

The day-to-day management of The Family Haven is carried out by the manager, Lorraine Barrett.

 

The trustees affirm their maintenance of and commitment to Child Protection, Health and safety and anti-bullying policies. Details of the policies enforced are to be found in the on-line Trustee Handbook at www.thefamilyhaven.com.

 

Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees

 

Trustees are recruited with a view to diversity, sound experience in a related field or professional expertise in a relevant area. Advertisements are placed with an agency who specialise in the identification of suitable candidates.

 

Such candidates are given first-hand experience of the work of the Family Haven, interviewed by two existing Trustees and, if appropriate, are invited to a Trustees’ meeting. Appointment is then conditional on the approval of the Trustees generally. 

 

Trustees have fully documented Job Descriptions and these are to be found in the on-line Trustee Handbook at www.thefamilyhaven.com.

 

Governance

 

The Family Haven formally supports the principles of the Code of Good Governance as developed by The Governance Hub.

 

 

Risk Policy

 

Trustees place a high priority on risk management. Risks identified are categorised as follows:

 

·         Governance and management risks

·         Operational risks

·         Financial risks

·         External and compliance risks

 

It is the policy of the trustees to review all risks on an annual basis. The annual review seeks to establish that all risks are documented and that steps to mitigate such risks are established and executed. As a result of this process, the trustees are satisfied that residual risks are minimal.

 

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3.       OBJECTS, AIMS AND ACTIVITIES

 

 

Objects

 

The Family Haven is established to relieve poverty and distress of persons in the Gloucester area who by virtue of their social and economic circumstances are in need; in particular, such persons who are homeless or living in unsuitable accommodation.

 

The Family Haven concentrates its activities on vulnerable families with pre-school children.

 

In furtherance of this object the Family Haven provides a day centre at 31 Spa Road, Gloucester. The centre is open from 9.30 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday for parents and their children, as well as children with particular needs. The day centre provides cooked midday meals, washing and laundry facilities, a crèche, nursery and play area, rest facilities and basic welfare advice.

 

Aims

 

·         To empower families to take a greater responsibility for their own well-being.

·         To broaden possible life experiences.

·         To improve health, including mental health of parents and children.

·         To improve opportunities for pre-school children.

·         To encourage development of new skills for parents and children.

·         To encourage mutual support amongst the families.

·         To improve parenting skills.

·         To enable parents and children to maintain a nutritious diet.

 

Activities and strategy

 

Each of the aims is addressed by a series of specific activities, designed to bring out the desired result. Targets are then set by the management in respect of each activity and are approved by the trustees. In general, such targets were set for 2007-08 in line with activity experienced during the previous year.

 

In addition to the core activities undertaken at the day centre, The Family Haven also provided staffing for the Gloucester Prison Visitors Centre.

 

 

4.       ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

 

 

The following are the statistics in respect of certain key activities undertaken:

 

 

2007-08

2006-07

Individual families helped

84

83

Number of visits – adults

2,273

2,187

Number of visits – children

3,397

3,458

Respite / crèche session

608

615

One to one sessions with children with additional needs

1,144

1,089

Meals provided

4,301

3,395

Active listening / advice sessions

78

109

Day trips

195

172

Parenting class attendees

65

71

 

Figures are broadly in line for the current year as for the previous year. The most notable feature is that advice sessions have reduced slightly while the numbers of meals provided has risen. Trustees consider the activities carried out to be a major contribution to the local community.

 

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5.       FINANCIAL REVIEW

 

 

Performance in year

 

The Family Haven achieved a break-even for the year, this being an excellent result given the known absence of certain funding sources which contributed to the large surplus in the previous year.

 

Overall income rose by £7k compared with the prior year. This may be attributed to fees of £12k arising from participation in the Gloucestershire County Council pilot scheme for nursery provision. Additionally, good sums were again realised from voluntary donations and fundraising in the local community where The Family Haven enjoys a reputation as a provider of valuable services.

 

Expenses increased by £6k or 4%, this being the result of general inflation partly offset by prolonged staff vacancies in the year. Overall, Trustees consider costs to be well controlled.

 

In the coming year, the Trustees will seek to obtain further support from major funders in order to sustain and develop all activities into the foreseeable future.

 

Reserves Policy

 

It is the policy of the charity that unrestricted reserves, which have not been designated for a specific use, should be maintained at a level equivalent to at least six months’ otherwise unfunded expenditure.

 

The Trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that,

 

·         in the event of a significant drop in funding they will be able to continue the Charity’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised, and that,

·         sufficient funds are available to maintain the charity’s property in good order.

 

The target level of reserves has been achieved throughout the year.

 

6.       FUTURE PLANS

 

Targets set for 2008-09 are in line with activity for the previous year. It is felt that given existing funding, and hence staffing, levels the capacity is not present to greatly increase the numbers of families helped.

 

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7.       STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES

 

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

 

The Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). The financial statements are required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of its incoming resources and application of resources of the charity of that period. 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;

 

·        prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the charity will continue in business.

 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company, and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985.  They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

 

 

8.       AUTHORISATION FOR ISSUE

 

 

The Trustees authorise the issue of the financial statements on the date they are approved by the board.

 

 

On behalf of the Trustees

 

 

 

                                                                                                           

Gillian Lunn

Chair

15 May 2008