Baby Bank Scotland (LBB) SCIO(SC047393)

Annual Report of Trustees2017/2018

Baby Bank Scotland (LBB) SCIO

Scottish Charity Number: SC047393

Registered Address:

31 Clyde Street,

Carluke

ML8 5BA

lanarkshirebb@outlook.com

http://babybankscotland.btck.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/BabyBankScotLBB/

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Charity Trustees

1. Jillian Thompson (Secretary)2. Agnes Kerr (Treasurer)3. Sheenagh Williamson (appointed 04 January 2018)4. Caroline Noon (appointed 04 January 2018)5. Steven Noon (appointed 04 January 2018)6. Kenneth Linn (resigned 03 June 2018)7. Laura Livingstone (resigned 16 September 2017)

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Objectives and activities

Baby Bank Scotland (LBB) SCIO supports families living in poverty or experiencing financial difficulty by providing baby and child essentials that they would otherwise struggle to afford.

Reasons for financial difficulty often include single parents with lack of support, families struggling on benefits, mental health issues, in work poverty and families fleeing domestic violence.

We provide a wide range of items from clothing and bedding to cots and prams and all sorts of baby equipment. We also provide nappies, baby wipes and baby care products.

We provide toiletries for the whole family to ensure basic hygiene levels can be maintained, anything from soap and shower gels to shampoo and deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes and feminine hygiene products.

The items we provide are donated to us by local individuals and businesses and are predominantly pre-loved items.

We have a large warehouse where the donations are sorted and stored and packaged and delivered to families in need by our volunteers.

Families can be referred to us via professional and third sector organisations where a need for our service is identified. We also accept some self-referrals where there is no direct link to other organisations or where this would pose difficulty for the family.

Absolute discretion and confidentiality is applied to all service users with only minimal information being required and retained for management information and statistical purposes.

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Structure, governance and management

Constitution

Our Governing Document is in the form of a Constitution.

As a charity, we comply and adhere to our policies and principals as defined by our Constitution.

A copy of our Constitution is available upon request.

Trustee recruitment and appointment

In January 2018, we recruited a further three Charity Trustees to our Board of Trustees. This was mainly due to the prior resignation of one of our original Trustees which reduced our Board to the minimum requirement of Trustees as set out in our Constitution.

The new Trustees were previously known to the current Board of Trustees prior to being appointed, either through their capacity as Volunteers or previous involvement with the Baby Bank. The new appointees were approached and invited to join the organistation in the capacity as Charity Trustees.

The Board of Trustees agreed unanimously to the appointment of the new Trustees with a view to strengthening our capabilities and governing the Charity going forward.

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Achievements and performance

For the period January 2017 to December 2017

245 Families were supported throughout the year This comprised of 161 Adults (Parents/Carers) and 510 Children Around 370 packs of nappies were given out 40 Cots/Cotbeds were provided 45 prams/buggies Our Christmas 2017 toy appeal saw around 1,500 toys donated

and 338 local children benefit

In order to achieve this

We have had the support of 70 volunteers We have worked a total of 3,000 voluntary hours We have received a total of £12,245.62 in financial donations

from individuals and businesses that support the work we do We bag packed in a local supermarket over two separate days

raising a total of £1,050.82 We had fundraisers that took part in the Kiltwalk to raise funds

on our behalf, raising a total of £347.50 The local High School performed a concert in aid of Baby Bank

Scotland and raised a total of £958.40 We have held volunteer recruitment days to encourage local

support We held a summer BBQ in celebration of our volunteers

Financial review

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The following charts demonstrate the main areas of Income and Expenditure throughout the last financial year

Income

Donations FundraisingGrants Disposal of unuseable stock

Expenditure

Rent Utilities InsuranceVolunteer Expenses Sundries BID Levy

Statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

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Our Financial reserves policy states that 6 month’s general running costs be held in reserve along with an additional amount of £1,000 to cover unforeseen emergencies relating to the up keep of the building. Based upon current levels of expenditure, 6 months running costs would total £3,120 and the emergency fund of £1,000 would mean that £4,120 would be held in reserve.

This amount allows a level of comfort in sustaining the charity should the level of donations or fundraising activities dwindle. The £1,000 emergency fund also provides a fair level of comfort given that the terms of the licence to the premises dictates that the tenant is responsible for general upkeep of the building.

It is also agreed that surplus funds beyond the amount to be held in reserve could be used for the benefit of the organisation. It was agreed that surplus funds could be used as follows –

to maintain stock levels of certain items required but not often donated

to pay Volunteer expenses

to purchase sundry items in relation to cleaning and maintenance costs

to cover costs relating to office stationery

This policy will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis.

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Future plans

Further networking and engagement with Health and Social care services across North and South Lanarkshire to build closer working relationships and establish channels of support to those in need of help via our services.

Increased engagement with other third sector organisations to increase the level of help available to those in need at point of contact, through channels such as cross referrals.

Increase awareness of the services we provide and to whom.

Maintain consistent fundraising activities to allow us to cover our running costs and maintain the service we provide on a voluntary basis.

Additional information

Baby Bank Scotland (LBB) SCIO is an entirely voluntary organisation, ran by our Board of Trustees and our dedicated Volunteers. We rely on donations and support from the local community in order to provide for the local community.

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Declaration

Signed on behalf of the charity trustees:

Print name

Designation

Date

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Jillian Thompson

Charity Trustee - Secretary

12 April 2018