Annual report & accounts

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2022. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in Note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity’s constitution, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published on 16th July 2014.

As we started to get back to normal in 2022 following COVID, the legacy left for some by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, meant that the fund was busy continuing to help those in most need. In addition, we have also seen an explosion in energy costs which has particularly affected the most vulnerable people in our society. I am very happy to report that the Fund has been able to respond effectively to all these challenges thanks to the continuing high level of support from our contributing members and corporate donors.

In 2022 we awarded grants of £523,507 and helped 410 individuals, couples and families who needed financial support. Cases from current BT employees remain high and account for 43% of our case load. We awarded 3 grants of £5,000, which were the largest we made in 2022 and these were for a wet room, an all-terrain wheelchair and a standing wheelchair. We also made 23 grants of £2,500 or more. In addition to our single grants, we ended the year paying weekly grants to 128 former BT people on very low incomes. We talk to our weekly grant recipients on a regular basis, so we know what a huge difference these payments make and how grateful they are for our support. We also made additional Christmas payments to them, which included a £100 winter fuel payment funded in part from the donation received from the Civil Service Insurance Society Charity Fund (CSIS CF) and a Christmas bonus payment of £150. With the increase in energy prices these payments were particularly important again this year.

Our income exceeded £1million for the 9th year in a row. Membership donations, together with Gift Aid made up over 70% of this and thanks must go to the CSIS CF, BT and Openreach for their very generous contributions. Other income came from investments, Christmas card sales and various one-off donations. We again ended the year with a surplus and have substantial reserves, which will help to support our long-term activities.

Recruiting and retaining regular donors continues to remain challenging, with the total number of people making regular donations decreasing by 2.5% to 17,167. We did see a slight increase in the number of existing BT employees that donate to us and we will continue to try and increase employee donations further in 2023.

This year the Fund’s Trustee Board has remained unchanged throughout 2022. The whole Board has worked hard in support of the Fund's operations and kept future challenges firmly in focus when deciding on strategic issues. My thanks go to them for all their time and effort.

As always, the Secretariat team worked extremely hard in support of those that come to us for help and my thanks go to them for their continued commitment and enthusiasm. I have no doubt 2023 will provide a new set of challenges for the Fund. We are in a strong position to tackle those challenges head on, and I am confident we will be ready and prepared to help those in need who look to us in difficult times.

Mark Murphy
Chair of Trustees