Strengthening charitable organisations that support people, homes and communities www.andrewscharitabletrust.org.uk
Siân Edwards Executive Director
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”Anne Frank
ACT is pleased with what we have been able to achieve in 2023, despite another reduction in income. We focused on our three funding programmes and continued support for all the charities with whom we had existing commitments. We have also taken time to review how we work and to recruit new trustees whose skills and experience will help us build for the future.
In addition to giving grants, ACT is proud of the other ways in which we address our charitable objectives. This is especially true in Establish where our partnership with Andrews Property Group enables us to run high quality but affordable properties for young people as they transition out of care or homelessness services towards independence and a life in work
This report is only a brief summary, but it includes some stories about how we are making a difference to those who need it most We also tell you a bit more about all the things that we do to add value alongside the funding.
But, as our founder Cecil Jackson-Cole said, there is so much more to do!
Our founder, Cecil Jackson-Cole created Andrews Charitable Trust to tackle poverty, sickness and distress anywhere in the world, as an expression of Christian love
Today, we focus on strengthening charitable organisations that support people, homes and communities.
We are Christian in identity, but seek to help people of all faiths and none without prejudice or alternative intention.
We continue to mentor and advise our charity partners to achieve growth and resilience in order to deliver a better life for many people.
www.andrewsonline.co.uk
Cecil bequeathed Andrews Property Group to the Trust creating a unique link between us.
Uniting us today is the importance of people, homes and communities in everything that we do.
Through the [establish] programme we purchase residential property, close to Andrews businesses, for use as affordable homes for young people in housing need, including those leaving the care system. We select charity partners to support our tenants in developing life skills, so that they are better able to transition successfully into adult life. We encourage Andrews and other local businesses, to offer work experience, mentoring and other into-work opportunities to young people. This might also include providing advice on a pro-bono basis (e g on property matters)
We look for inspirational new or young organisations that have ground-breaking ideas that tackle housing-related poverty. Our aim for the programme is that ground breaking ideas are successfully implemented, become more resilient and that they reach more people through replication or scale up
To do this, we offer core funding, support, advice and networks that can help them to develop and replicate their approach
We work with a small number of organisations in any given year but support these organisations over a number of years whilst they become more established.
We have two approaches to supporting churches and Christian organisations, in recognition of the legacy, interests and objectives left by our founder. Both programmes focus on enabling people, of all faiths and none, to benefit from the Christian love and action at times of need.
Supporting churches to serve their communities:
We provide small grants to enable churches to start a project that addresses the local needs of their community. We currently do this in partnership with Cinnamon Network, through their recognised project scheme. See www cinnamonnetwork co uk The grant covers the work of their Church Engagement Team and 20 grants a year
We offer grants to libraries in community spaces for the purchase of comforting and useful books, written from a Christian perspective.
This is managed through a separate website www speakingvolumes org uk Books are available to all types of libraries; anywhere where books can be borrowed and are accessible to many.
In 2023, We welcomed 13 new residents into our [establish] homes. We now have 7 [establish] homes with a total of 21 bed spaces, that have housed 32 people within the year.
Andrews provides high quality landlord services, at cost for ACT. This gives young people a genuine lettings experience, with a heart
Andrews staff also fundraise for [establish] houses and this funding is used to make sure the houses feel like a home!
Each year, ACT facilitates a gathering for our charity partners to exchange project experiences. In 2023, our focus was on understanding the firsthand experiences of young people supported by our charities. We enlisted young ambassadors to conduct interviews and share their findings. The roundtable meeting was enriched by the inclusion of videos, sound recordings, and PowerPoint presentations. Insights revealed diverse causes of homelessness, including family breakdowns, gang involvement, seeking asylum, or family loss. Challenges of independent living, such as acquiring life skills and coping with anxiety, were highlighted Positive responses emerged regarding transitioning to homes like ours, indicating reduced isolation Young individuals' descriptions of our housing facilities aligned with aspirations of those in temporary accommodations. Diagrams illustrate these findings, including evaluations of support from charity workers or property managers.
ACT purchases suitable houses and refurbishes them to a high standard. Partnership with Landaid has helped fund energy saving retrofit upgrades on 2 houses so far and the benefits have been noticeable this year with energy costs soaring to new heights! Our air source heat pump has proven to be a cost-effective investment for ACT!
Our charity partners provide emotional, practical and work-related support to all of our young tenants
Amazing pro-bono support by the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants, who provided expertise for the Establish programme model and planning.
We asked Young People what they want, moving into a more independent home, like Establish
We also asked them to rate the support they get from their Charity Progression Coach or Key Worker ....
Sue Hill, a Support Worker from Oxfordshire Youth, received a referral for Robert, who had been in foster care but needed a stable home after his foster carer declined "staying put." Robert struggled with confidence and worthiness due to childhood trauma. He was referred to an establish home and he settled in well Sue supported him twice a week initially, helping him transition and connecting him with another charity, Aspire, for help finding a job.
Despite initial difficulties adjusting to independence, Robert embraced household responsibilities and rectified a Housing Benefit issue promptly He bought an electric scooter to get to his part-time job locally, while he secures further qualifications that will help him get into skilled construction work, which is what he wants to do eventually Regular communication with Sue allowed Robert to work on his goals and also improve his living skills, including budgeting and cooking In only three months, Robert's mental health, confidence, and employment prospects noticeably improved, demonstrating the impact of support and a stable living environment
In 2023 we funded three organisations, each addressing this issue in different ways and in different places: Child Rescue Nepal, Hope into Action and Go Forward Youth.
Total provided for Housing Related Poverty Grants
Hope Into Action partners with churches to enable them to house and support the homeless. Churches find local investors and provides tenants with an Empowerment Worker. HIA provides the professional expertise and know-how so that churches can focus on providing a loving community.
2023 is the third year of a five-year grant worth £246,400 to fund core costs.
HIA have now grown to 113 homes in 35 neighbourhoods and last year they provided homes to over 400 tenants every night. In 2023, they opened 20 new homes their most successful year to date They have 412 Total tenants supporters, 93% of Tenants maintaining tenancy and 92% abstaining from crime.
Antonio was homeless and sleeping rough with a life dominated by addiction and despair As he explains what his life was like: “I can sum it up in one word: hopeless. I was deep into addiction…cold, lonely…I had pushed away everyone that loved me, and I was on the streets with no way out ” But as Antonio explains, through the support of Hope into Action and our wonderful partner church, Antonio has found security, dignity and hope.
As you can see in Antonio’s film, he is now working, serving his local community and part of the church. This is Hope into Action’s vision: to see people journey on a path from homelessness to hope To find life in all its fullness.
Child Rescue Nepal continue to rescue children trapped in modern day slavery. In 2023, ACT contributed £10,000 in funding for the radio 4 appeal. In total the appeal raised £110,000! Child Rescue Nepal report that they are convinced ACT funding was a great motivator for people to give!
www.childrescuenepal.org
This young charity was founded by care-leavers for care-leavers so that they have somewhere and somebody to turn to at times of loneliness, crisis or for celebrations and festivals such as Birthday’s and Christmas.
We are in our last of three years of core support by covering salary/core costs to the value of £158,906. In 2023 we gave £54,540. In the year they recruited their first youth manager and started two new music based projects. Their entrepreneur training programme, “Own It”, took place in their learning hub in Camden for the first time.
Although this brings to an end our funding partnership, it has given GFY some strong foundations for the future. They are bringing to grow other funders and community fundraising events
www.go-forwardyouth.org
GFY runs an education project called Own-it, here are some of the 2023 graduates.
Our Christian Community Grants help Churches and individuals to make a lasting impact in their community.
ACT funding supports CN to support churches who want to set up projects which will meet the needs of their communities. CN recommends a big range of projects to work with (including Renew Wellbeing, Street Pastors, Job Clubs, Foodbanks etc ) and ACT provides £2,000 individual grants to help meet the costs of setting up the project. CN provides training and resources to manage all the practicalities like fundraising and managing volunteers.
We provided 8 micro grants in 2023 in the sixth year of our partnership.
Since 2018, ACT has provided funding to allow £218k to be given out in microgrants, resulting in 109 projects started, substantially over our target of 60 projects It is estimated that this has helped an estimated 10,400 beneficiaries and created 825 voluntary roles.
106 vo,lunteer roles were created, providing 3,817 hours to run the projects Based on the real living wage of £10 90, the value of volunteer support across the projects above, is worth at least £41,605.30.
In 2023 1,340 direct & indirect beneficiaries were helped
“I don’t think that we would have started without the Cinnamon funding,” Matt Macdiarmid - Assistant Pastor, Leicester
Our Speaking Volumes grant scheme brings comfort and hope to many through Christian literature. Working in conjunction with the nation's Christian booksellers, publishers and distributors we placed £38,071 worth of books in 159 libraries and community spaces where they can be accessed in time of need.
28% said that the books had made a big contribution to helping their readers through difficult life issues such as bereavement or anxiety
43% of grantees thought the selection of books was excellent 58% of respondents said that learning about Christian practices such as prayer or forgiveness has benefited their readers
Choice Words Bookshop is a book shop in Newton Abbott, Devon, set up by the very passionate duo Pam and Roy Brittle, and now un der a new management team, Phyllis and Katherine, plus a team of experienced volunteers
They won the Community Impact Award because of their excellent skills in reaching into the community to find libraries that could benefit from Christian books. As Katherine used to be a teacher she has done excellent work speaking to teachers who are delighted to apply for a Speaking Volumes book grants for their school!
Sitting between Dartmoor and the coast, the bookshop serves a wide area When the books arrived they stayed in their boxes in the shop. “That’s because as soon as we had an order ready we would hand deliver them”, explained Katherine which took her as far down to the coastal town of Brixham and up to the remote heights of Dartmoor.
The librarian at All Saints Marsh Academy said “the children wanted to start reading them before she had stamped them and put them in the library.”
A Trussel Trust Foodback volunteer sorting food. One of the 39 Cinnamon Network recommended projects.
We provided £2,000 towards The Big Give’s Together Fund. Part of £106,214 pledged by ‘champions’ from the Christian Funders Forum as match funding.
Small Christian Charities apply to be part of a Christmas promotion campaign and if successful, any funds raised are match-funded from champions. Some of these small charities are ones that we support through Cinnamon Network In 2022 £608k was raised for 311 charities.
Katherine, Ann and Phyllis inside the bookshopSupport from Andrews plays an important part in what we do and how we achieve our charitable objectives. This is achieved through strengthening the partnership between the business and charity.
Andrews provides essential support to ACT and our charitable partners, through professional housing management services, tenancy support, risk and compliance management.
In addition, they also regularly go 'above and beyond' by voluntarily participating in marathons, sleepouts and fundraising for our many charity partners - running is clearly a favourite activity for Andrews staff! Here's a couple of photos of Andrews raising money for CAYSH and Go Forward Youth in 2023.
In 2023, ACT was delighted to be joined by four fantastic new voluntary trustees, adding valuable new skills and experience to the running of the charity. Please join us in welcoming them on board!
I searched extensively for a trustee position that matched my skills and aligned with my passion for making a difference. ACT stood out due to its focus on homelessness.
As a turnaround specialist at Deloitte, I hope that my skills will help ACT be a challenging shareholder, supporting ACT’s investment in Andrews Property Group, so that it can get back to providing healthy profits for ACT’s charitable good works
My day job is Investment Director for the social impact property fund business, Resonance, I hope that my skills will help ACT, as we build for future growth
I have worked in Housing in Bristol for over 30 years and it it is great to put this experience to support ACT, especially through the Establish programme.
I was recruited specifically because of my accounting and auditing background as chair of the finance and investments committee It is a privilage to support ACT in its charitable objectives i also provide representation for ACT as a NED on Andrews Property Group board
In 2023, ACT gave funding, as grants, to all the charities mentioned in this report. This was in addition to the housing, professional services and networking support that we also provided
In total grants given in 2023 total £243,360.
Two children rescued from child labour slavery by our charity partner Child Rescue Nepal
" so much more to do"
Cecil Jackson-Cole 1901-1979
£243,360
total grant & gift funding distributed
WetaketheopportunitytoacknowledgeandthankAndrewsPropertyGroup,itsstaffanddirectorswhose hardworkensurestheabilityofthebusinesstoprovideincomeforACT.ItistheprofitsofAndrewsthat canthenbedistributedtoexcellentcharitiesandenableACTtocontinuetoachievethesocialchangeand charitablesupportthatwesetouttoachieve
Wealsothank:
Ourpartnercharities,includingthepeople'atthecoalface'whohelpvulnerablepeopleeveryday
Allthosewhohaveprovidedadditionalfunding,adviceandencouragementthroughouttheyear
Ouramazingtrusteesandtheirsmallstaffteam,whose1.2FTEmakeallthishappen.
www.andrewscharitabletrust.org.uk
The ClockHouse, Keynsham, Bristol, BS31 1HL ACT is a charitable company, limited by guarantee Charity no 1174706 Company no 10961227
