Devon Air Ambulance Trust Annual Report & Accounts 2018

Devon Air Ambulance Trust The Charity that funds and operates Devon’s Air Ambulance service

The Official Magazi Annual Report and Accounts Year ended 31 December

2018

Devon Air Ambulance

Introduction Devon Air Ambulance Trust raises the funds to operate Devon’s Air Ambulance service We provide this life-saving service, free of charge, to everyone in Devon and neighbouring counties.

We respond to the most poorly patients who meet specific criteria based on clinical need, urgency, accessibility and distance to the hospital. We can take specialist critical care to the patient and then take them to the most appropriate hospital to treat their illness or injury. This ensures our service is as efficient and effective as possible.

Devon Air Ambulance operates two helicopters all year round from our airbases at Exeter Airport and Eaglescott Airfield. The Exeter based aircraft is night-capable and has been operating up until midnight since November 2016.

We are proud of our independence from government. This is only possible thanks to the outstanding support we receive from the local community who fund our operating costs with their charitable support.

This independence means we can plan our services many years in advance based on local needs rather than political priorities.

We are grateful to South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust who employed and part funded our paramedics during 2018.

It costs in the region of ÂŁ7.5 million every year to provide our service.

Public Benefit The benefit that Devon Air Ambulance provides is the relief of injury or illness through rapid treatment and/or transport to the most appropriate treatment centre Like all charities, we are required to demonstrate how we provide a benefit to the public. The benefits we provide are clearly laid out in the above introduction.

The trustees comply with their duty, in accordance with the Charities Act and the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, by considering it in all aspects of our activities.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

3

Contents Trustees’ Report (incorporating the Strategic Report) Introduction

3

Public Benefit

3

Our Vision, Mission and Values

5

Strategic Overview

6

Operational Statistics 2018

8

Clinical and Operational Services

10

Future Plans

12

Raising the Money and Looking After Our Supporters

14

Communications and Marketing

20

Retail

22

Supporting Our People

24

Planning to Succeed

26

Review of Financial Performance

27

Financial Position at the Year End

28

Reserves

30

Financial Risk Management

32

Other Factors in Achieving of Objectives

33

Structure, Governance and Management

34

Principal Risks and Uncertainties

36

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

37

Independent Auditor’s Report to Trustees

38

Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities

40

Consolidated Balance Sheet

41

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow

42

Notes to the Accounts

43

Legal and Administrative

56

Get In Touch

57

Contact Us

01392 466666 info@daat.org daat.org

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Our Vision, Mission and Values

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our Values

An outstanding Helicopter Emergency Medical Services, available to all, 24 hours a day

Relief of sickness and injury in the county of Devon and surrounding areas

Our values are important to us because they inform our actions and our behavior

Exemplary Patient Care Patient-led Evidence-led Developed through experience

Community Local engagement • Listening • Accountable • Owned by, and for, the people of Devon Regional partnerships National collaboration

A Safe & Just Culture Transparent Fair Inclusive Ethically aware

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Excellence Professional Volunteer support Innovative Investment in people Robust governance

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Strategic Overview Our 5-year Strategic Plan In 2017, Devon Air Ambulance published a new 5-year strategy. The plan sets out our charitable objectives up to and including 2021 in more detail, gives a clear strategic direction for the Charity and details how we aim to achieve those objectives. It also documents the strategic considerations which are fundamental to ensuring we work towards achieving our overarching goals.

The plan is split into the Charity’s six key business areas, looking in depth at Patient Services, Aviation, Income Generation, Finance, People and Infrastructure.

Our finance plan gives an overview of the targets we need to meet in order to support all our service delivery objectives. The patient services and aviation plan consider the operational importance of evidence-led decision making in relation to clinical delivery, flying hours and helicopter purchases. Our income generation plan covers all aspects of our vital fundraising operations, from lottery and donations through business and community engagement and fundraising. We also highlight the key part played by our retail operations in raising awareness of the charity in our local communities, and our public relations and marketing functions that maintain our very high

Patient Services

Aviation

Income Generation

standards of brand awareness. We also highlight our commitment to best practice in terms of our use of social media and online platforms.

Our people and infrastructure plans detail how we ensure our workforce has the right skills and experience to drive forward our objectives within our ‘just’ culture environment. This includes ensuring we have the right systems in place in terms of I.T., training and our working environment.

We also continue to be committed to maintaining the independence of the Charity and ensuring that any decisions taken that have any element of external influence are made in the best interests of our service delivery, our fundraisers and supporters.

The plan very much continues to be a dynamic and ‘live’ document as we need to be responsive to changes in our operating environment which are sometimes challenging to predict long term.

For instance, the current plan was written before the move towards clinical independence had been formalised and, as such, an amendment will need to be made to reflect this significant change of strategic direction.

Finance

People

Infrastructure

Values There are a number of key values which influence our strategic direction.

Putting Our Patients First

Our principal charitable aim is the relief of sickness and injury in Devon and surrounding areas. We ensure this aim is met by providing exemplary patient care, with any decisions made about future direction of the service based on evidence gained over 25 years of experience, development and learning. When agreeing on our strategic direction, therefore, we adopt a patient-led, patient-first approach, and ensure that providing exceptional patient service is the principal factor in determining all other strategic decisions.

Independence

The Charity is financially independent from any local or national government funding, reliance on other central funding streams such as the National Lottery, or from any EU funding. This enables the Charity to remain agile and responsive in terms of decision-making and strategic direction and allows us to think in the longer term about how we continue to provide a first-class service. Because of our independence, the money we receive from our donors, individuals, business supporters and local fundraisers can be specifically targeted toward enhancing our service, both now and in the future. Operationally, owning our two helicopters and having our own Air Operator Certificate enables us to save money by

reducing overall operating costs when compared to leasing from a commercial operator.

At the Heart of All Our Communities

We are very proud to say that Devon’s air ambulances are owned by and for the people of Devon. It is the local communities across the county that make our work possible. We are committed to working with them as they develop their own Community Landing Sites (‘CLS’). We are proud to confirm that our 100th CLS went live at the end of 2018. We also maintain our presence, engage with our supporters and raise the visibility of the DAA brand, through our 19 retail shops. As part of our move to clinical independence in 2019, we are now required to (and have begun to) monitor our carbon footprint.

Having a Just Culture

Our staff are a key component in maintaining the professionalism and reputation of the Charity and we proactively nurture a working environment that is both safe and just through promoting transparency, fairness, inclusivity and ethical awareness. We also ensure our supporters are protected by looking after their data securely and fostering a culture of mutual respect.

Maintaining Excellence

Underpinning our outstanding HEMS operations, and at the core of our overall vision for DAA, are robust governance and professional conduct, and ongoing support and development for our staff and invaluable volunteers.

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t

Operational Statistics 2018

1109

PATIENTS ASSISTED

Our patients were

32% Female 68% Male

Busiest day of the week was

FRIDAY

49% of missions were due to

TRAUMA 51%

MEDICAL

missions

11%

of medical emergencies were

CHILDREN

238

287

instances where crew utilised

advanced clinical skills

trauma incidents were

road traffic

collisions

465

of medical emergencies were

CARDIAC RELATED

52

6%

incidents required both 53 incidents required our helicopters both our helicopters

NO ROAD ACCESS

We deployed to

of incidents had

100

incidents

IN THE DARK

PM

The busiest time of the day was between

100

Community Landing Sites

12 AND 1PM

established & operational

70

road traffic collisions

involved

motorcyclists DAAT.ORG

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Clinical and Operational Services Patient Services In our annual report last year, we reported how 2017 had been Devon Air Ambulance’s busiest year ever.

In line with our expectations from the successful delivery of our Strategic Plan, 2018 was even busier.

Responding to patients suffering life threatening medical conditions or serious traumatic injuries, our operational crews consisting of Pilots, Critical Care Paramedics and Doctors, deployed to 1,503 missions on our helicopters and delivered care to 1,109 patients.

We continue to invest in the clinical development of our service and last year we were proud to see our first cohort of Critical Care Paramedics successfully pass their Master’s Degree in Pre-Hospital Critical Care Retrieval and Transfer. Our second cohort are due to graduate this year.

Alongside developing our paramedics, we have throughout 2018 invested further in increasing our number of Critical Care Doctors who, as well as helping to support and train our paramedics in advanced procedures which traditionally were only able to be carried out in the hospital, are also able to carry out complex surgical interventions previously only able to be delivered by a doctor.

Bringing Critical Care Paramedics and Doctors together as a team on a helicopter, which is able to access all parts of Devon quickly, alongside the ability to bypass the closest hospital in favour of flying the patient direct to a hospital which offers the specialist treatment they need, helps provide the patient with the very best chance of a successful outcome.

As our service can help provide a patient with time critical needs and the best chance of survival, we don’t

Patients Assisted

We continue to invest in the clinical development of our service and last year we were proud to see our first cohort of Critical Care Paramedics successfully pass their Master’s Degree in Pre-Hospital Critical Care Retrieval and Transfer

just respond to the rural or inaccessible areas of the county as people might expect an air ambulance to do. Last year only 6% of the patients we responded to were located somewhere that didn’t have any road access, with most patients being located within a town or village. Responding to patients who may have needed care beyond even the advanced treatment land-based paramedics are able to provide, saw our service deployed over 50 times into the city of Exeter and 53 times into Plymouth.

We recognise that our service is one link in the chain of survival that includes community responders, the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, other emergency services and the hospitals to which we convey our patients. Each month Devon Air Ambulance hosts an Education and Clinical Governance Day, inviting personnel from the other services and the hospitals to share experiences and undertake joint learning so that we can help provide patients with a better experience and an even greater chance of a successful outcome.

1109

2018

990

2017

843

2016

Night Operations We have been able to operate our helicopters in the dark for over 2 years, enabling all the benefits of our clinical care to continue to be available to patients up until midnight each day. Working with communities in Devon, we have established a network of Community Landing Sites (CLS). We survey these CLS to ensure they are suitable for landing safely at night, with the ability to remotely activate flood-lighing at the sight, and have good egress/access to enable us to reach our patients quickly.

Building on this success, all four of Devon’s main hospitals have already or are currently investing in making their helicopter landing sites suitable for us to use at night.

Each month more Community Landing Sites are going live and at the end of 2018 we had 100 sites operational with another 117 in development, with even more communities starting to engage with us about developing their own site.

Sites already live Sites in development

We are delighted that the support of the public during 2018 has meant that in January 2019 our service extended our operating hours even further, through to 2am each morning.

Our vision remains to offer our service 24/7 if the evidence shows there are patients requiring our specialist care throughout the night.

Each month more Community Landing Sites are going live and at the end of 2018 we had 100 sites operational with another 117 in development

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Future Plans Independent Healthcare Provider Registration

The most fundamental change for 2019 and beyond is the decision taken in 2018 for DAA to directly employ its clinical and paramedic staff, effective from 1st April 2019. This has involved registering with the Care Quality Commission as an Independent Healthcare Provider. This gives us full control of the continuing clinical development of the service and

Replacement for helicopter

2020

(G-DVAA)

At the end of 2017, an internal team – led by the Flight Operations Director and including members of the wider operations, aviation safety and clinical teams – started a detailed and comprehensive process looking at the possible options for replacement of our existing G-DVAA helicopter. This involved engaging and seeking feedback from other air ambulance charities and visits to manufacturers’ factories, both in the UK and abroad. The key factors being considered were cost, future mission requirements, reliability, maintenance requirements and support, size and capacity for required interior fit and an overall improvement over the current aircraft, not only in terms of future-proofing the avionics but also ensuring capacity and capability for enhanced clinical provision.

After the comprehensive review was completed, a

freedom to recruit, manage, train and retain our own staff.

decision was taken in Spring 2018 to purchase an Airbus H145. It was believed this option offered the most appropriate solution for our aviation and clinical needs, with the added benefit of continuity of servicing provision by maintaining our pre-existing business relationship with Airbus.

Following ratification of this decision by the DAA board, further detailed work started in relation to the required specification and interior fit. A fully costed proposal was received from Airbus and initial down-payment made in August 2018.

As of the end of 2018, a serial number is awaited for the new aircraft and a slot on the production line will be allocated in early 2019. Build is anticipated to commenced in early 2019 with delivery of the new helicopter on track for May 2020.

Post-delivery of the new helicopter, and to help offset costs, G-DVAA will be sold when it is deemed market conditions are most favourable.

Flying to 2am and 24 hours in the future

Looking further ahead

Flight Time...

The lease agreement for the Exeter airbase is due to end shortly after the end of the strategic plan, so an initial review of potential options is in progress. This has included visiting other facilities in use by Air Ambulance operators to assist in scoping and identifying key requirements for a future home for our Exeter based aircraft.

Having successfully flown one of DAA's helicopters up until midnight each day since November 2016, a decision was taken to increase operations on that aircraft to 2am every day, commencing 7th January 2019. It is anticipated that progression to 24-hour operations will be achieved by the end of 2021, although this will only be implemented if supported by evidence of need. We continue to work proactively with our local communities to help them facilitate their own Community Landing Site and we were very pleased to see the 100th CLS ‘go live’ in December 2018. Another 132 communities are actively working with us, either at the early planning stages, undertaking surveys or during the implementation process, and we are confident of welcoming an additional 45-50 CLS’s each year until the end of 2020.

24hr Cover

2021

Future Funding

In line with our strategic plan, DAA has been building its free reserves for a number of years in preparation for some significant enhancement to its service provision taking effect in 2018 and 2019, which in turn will increase our ongoing spend commitments.

FINANCIAL RESERVES

Service developments such as extending operating hours, advanced training for Critical Care Paramedics and clinical independence all create an immediate increase in direct costs as well as a wider increase in essential support costs that will be incurred before, during and after the immediate increase in direct costs.

Our full 5-year strategic plan looks beyond what we have identified as our key aims and objectives in 2019. DAA has always been open and transparent about how we work to deliver our lifesaving service. Our current Strategic Plan for 20172021 is therefore available in full on our website. We welcome any queries or questions on the strategic direction of the Charity and would encourage our supporters to get in touch to let us know what they think or to offer us support in achieving our strategic aims.

It was necessary to have this cushion of reserves in place before making these commitments, as we knew that the increase in funding required to support these additional investments in the service would take place more gradually.

With a number of these cost increases now in place, it is expected that the additional costs in 2019 will result in a deficit, which will continue until the more gradual increase in income catches up. This is expected to take several years during which these planned deficits will be supported by using the built up free reserves.

£10m FORECAST FREE RESERVES

£7.5m £5m £2.5m

TARGET FREE RESERVES 2018

2019

2020

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2021

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

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Raising the Money and Looking After Our Supporters Fundraising As a charity that receives no local or national government funding or reliance on any other central funding, fundraising is absolutely essential to raise the money the Charity needs, not only to deliver our current service but to ensure the service grows and improves in the future.

We actively promote a wide range of fundraising activities, such as income generation through our own large-scale annual events and providing help and support to individual or community fundraising events.

Our volunteers are crucial to the delivery of our fundraising activities and provide support across a range of activities in the community such as servicing our collection boxes, talking to local schools and community groups in order to raise the profile of the Charity, attending local shows and events to support our stands. They also are a vital in the support they give to our retail shops and also at Head Office, where volunteers provide a range of support functions such as cover on Reception.

Devon Air Ambulance’s own fundraising events Royal Marines Commando Challenge October 2018

In partnership with The Royal Marines Charity, the Royal Marines Commando Challenge was held in 2018 for the third time since the Charities took full control of the event. It took place on the 13th and 14th October and once again was held on Woodbury Common. The event featured two distances – 5k and 10k – available to participants on both the Saturday and Sunday. A donation of £5 per entry was donated to Pebblebed Heath Conservation Trust towards supporting, maintaining and protecting the flora and fauna of the Common.

Learning from the previous two years, and DAA’s commitment to provide a more attractive, enhanced experience for both competitors and visitors, this

commandochallenge.co.uk year saw the provision of an enhanced and larger event village, providing entertainment, facilities and refreshment outlets for participants and spectators to enjoy.

This year, the event attracted more than 1,100 competitors, generating income (after direct costs) of £68,000 which covered indirect costs. This contribution is expected to increase over the next few years as the initial costs of taking on the event are now fully paid, and the event is expected to continue its growth.

Motorcycle Ride-Out – July 2018

For the 13th year, DAA’s Motorcycle Ride-Out took to the streets of Devon, with approximately 1,000 participants taking part. To enable an orderly start, and to encourage greater participation from riders based in the north of the county, the 2018 event saw riders departing from two starting points, at Trago Mills in Newton Abbot and, for the first time, from Evans Transport in Bideford. The riders took a scenic 80-mile journey around the Devon countryside, finishing at the Den in Teignmouth for an afternoon of live music, entertainment and refreshments. If the event and the number of participants continues to grow, alternative venues will be considered that would be more suited to accommodate a large number of motorcycles and spectators, as well as give greater control over costs and concessions.

the event in order to raise awareness of safe riding and ensure this event is run in a safe manner, working alongside the Devon Advanced Motorcyclists.

In 2018, the event raised £13,200 from participants’ fees, donations and concessions. As with all DAA’s own events, the organisation, planning and delivery, as well as practical support on the day, is provided by the fundraising team, other staff and volunteers. We are extremely fortunate that Bridge Motorcycles of Exeter continue to sponsor the event and have pledged to do so until at least 2020.

One of the main purposes of this event is to promote safe riding throughout the motorcycle community. Sadly, during the 2018 event, there was a road traffic collision involving several bikes, which tragically resulted in the death of one of the riders. After receiving feedback from the family and with their encouragement, we plan to continue

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

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Dragon Boat Festival – September 2018

The 5th Dragon Boat Festival took place at Exeter Quay on Sunday 23rd September, supported by Pavey Group. Despite the total number of boats being slightly down compared to previous years, overall income increased by approximately £10,000 on the 2017 figures to £17,000 (before costs).

Further donations of £2,000 are pledged for early 2019 for this event. Despite the very inclement weather, the event was extremely enjoyable

for participants and spectators alike. In terms of the overall delivery of the event, all the equipment, boats, safety equipment, training and prizes are provided by Dragon Boat Events, with teams paying a set fee of £360 per boat, and team members raising additional funds through individual or team sponsorship. The DAA Fundraising team, volunteer staff and volunteers provide logistical and organisational support on the day.

Dragon Boat Festival

Additional income and support Legacies

Legacy income remained strong and steady throughout 2018, and ended the year at £2,817,000, 41% ahead of budget. This was a decrease of 1.4m from the prior year which had been unusually high and illustrates the variability of legacy income. While the Charity has made a conscious decision not to aggressively market or target individuals to leave a legacy, the possibility of leaving a gift in a will is flagged in a number of ways, such as through our website, our Helipad publication and as part of the presentation we deliver to community groups and organisations.

For the first time, Devon Air Ambulance participated in the month-long Wills Campaign which started at the beginning of National Air Ambulance Week on the 10th September 2018. This campaign asks local solicitors to donate 50% of the fee they receive for each standard will they draw up in the month to a charitable cause.

While the take-up was relatively low in terms of numbers, DAA will be aiming to increase participation in 2019 by using the learnings from this year, supported by targeted and proactive marketing.

Lottery

As at the end of 2018, the number of people playing DAAs weekly lottery remained relatively static in relation to 2017 figures at 38,570 members, balancing any attrition with new sign-ups. While we are confident numbers will grow in 2019, signups were relatively modest in 2018, largely due to operating with less than the optimum number of canvassers due to the switch over to the new Direct Debit system. We will be looking to employ more canvassers in 2019 in order to start to see a more marked increase in lottery members signed -up.

Following a lengthy and sometimes challenging implementation phase, our new Direct Debit system went ‘live’ in the autumn of 2018. Despite some expected ‘teething problems’ the system now seems to be working well and looks as if it will meet our needs in terms of being more automated, easier to use and with greater cost and

time savings. Going forward, we are also looking to enable new members to sign up to the lottery directly online via our website.

Overall, the lottery generated £2m of income for the Charity in 2018, similar to 2017.

Community Fundraising

2018 was a busy year in terms of the number of local events and individual sponsored activities that DAA supported but, overall, income was down 13% on 2017 figures, ending the year at £671,000.

However, direct donations were up at £589,000 for the year from £458,000 in 2017. There are a number of factors which can influence the overall income from these events, and this fluctuation in overall income is not of concern.

Local Business Supporters

In 2018, we worked closely with 31 local businesses who actively raise funds for the Charity, many by nominating us as their ‘Charity of the Year’. In 2018, this included Savills Estate Agents, Otter Garden Centre Torquay, South West Water, Burts Potato Chips Limited, Thomson Reuters and pub chain Hall & Woodhouse.

We continue to nurture our relationships with many local businesses to raise awareness of our service.

In addition, we have been fortunate that, in 2018, two local breweries (Ventons Devon Cyder and Black Tor) have pledged to donate 10p for every pint sold of their DAA-branded cider and ale to the Charity.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

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GDPR On the 25th May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into statute.

This new regulation – which is part of the Data Protection Act 2018 – was implemented to consolidate data privacy laws as well as enhance the protection and rights of individuals. The new legislation looks at the collection, use, storage, management and deletion processes of all personal data it holds to ensure it is managed in a controlled, risk-free way to protect it effectively and efficiently.

As with many charities, Devon Air Ambulance holds a large quantity of personal data relating to its supporters, fundraisers and lottery members.

While the Charity does not disclose or sell any of the personal data in its possession, it is important

to ensure our current systems are robust and compliant with the new GDPR legislation. Our IT, Data and Compliance Manager has therefore been working with a team of DAA staff and Sampson Hall, an Exeter-based company specialising in supporting organisational excellence, to carry out a ‘health check’ of DAA’s existing data management systems and policies, and to ensure ongoing compliance.

Ensuring we comply with our GDPR obligations is an ongoing process, with all staff having to complete an e-learning training package. Our marketing and communications team has ensured all literature is compliant in terms of the necessity for supporters to ‘opt in’ and that our website is also fully compliant.

Information Technology Awareness of cyber security continues to be extremely important and all staff have completed e-learning training. In early 2018 we upgraded from Cyber Essentials, the government information assurance scheme operated by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), to Cyber Essentials Plus. This enabled us to complete the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit, which in turn enabled us to have an NHS mail account to facilitate secure encrypted information sharing with NHS services, such as hospitals and the ambulance service.

The process to achieve this enhanced certificate includes a two-day audit from an independent cyber security firm. DAA has also started an annual Penetration testing programme, again using a third party external company to ensure our website is fully protected from malicious attacks.

We continue to champion digital solutions to get the optimum benefit from IT resources, using it to support daily tasks including future development around the existing Microsoft Office 365 platform and its integration into the Charity.

Our Supporter Promise The Charity continues to be totally committed to our ‘Supporter Promise’. We have never been, and will never be, involved in cold calling, direct mailing or any form of pressure selling. We take the protection

of the personal data of all our supporters and donors extremely seriously and constantly monitor and review our fundraising policies and procedures to ensure we deliver ‘best practice’ within the sector.

• We do not share or sell any of our supporters’ data, • We treat our supporters as we would wish to be treated ourselves, • The only mail we send out is our Helipad magazine (three times a year) to keep our supporters up-to-date with our activities and local interests, • We do not authorise any house-to-house fundraising or sales. The only face-to-face sales we authorise are for our in-house lottery • We do not employ third party companies to ring our supporters asking for more or to cold call.

Our Patients Unexpected end to their holiday In July, Jim and Rebecca Himsley from Reading were enjoying a holiday in Westward Ho! with their 13-month old daughter Grace when their plans changed dramatically.

and was strapped on to the stretcher with Grace on her lap. Rebecca’s thoughts were then with Jim, left on the ground to make the journey to Bristol by road.

In the week that they stayed at Bristol Children’s Hospital, Grace was treated with sterile baths to remove the damaged skin. Rebecca was so proud of her little girl, explaining, “She was such a little trooper. Once the morphine had started to work, she calmed right down and, other than hating the three sterile baths she had to have, she was brilliant throughout. We are so grateful to everyone who helped us at that time.”

Preparing breakfast in their holiday accommodation, Rebecca had just poured boiling water into the mugs for their coffee and turned to get the milk, when toddler Grace reached up and grabbed a mug, tipping the boiling hot liquid over her chest and stomach.

With Grace screaming in pain, Jim ran to the shower to hold his daughter under the cold running water. Despite never having had any formal first-aid training, they knew that cooling the skin was vital but, as they watched, the pressure of the water coming out of the shower was pulling the scalded skin from Grace’s tummy. Rebecca soaked a towel in cold water and cuddled her daughter to her instead, and then filled the bath with cold water and got into it with Grace.

Fortunately, Grace has been left with very little scarring and is now completely back to her usual, happy self.

She is also enjoying being a big sister as the family celebrated the safe arrival of baby John, born on 12th November - and completely unaware that he had been in a helicopter before he was even born!

Meanwhile, Jim had run to the owners of their accommodation to raise the alarm. Soon after, the room filled with emergency service personnel; a land ambulance crew, first responders and an aircrew from Devon Air Ambulance.

Devon Air Ambulance’s critical care paramedics administered morphine and covered Grace’s scalded skin in a film wrap designed to relieve the sensitivity and pain. Rebecca was relieved to learn that she could go in the helicopter with her daughter

26% 26%

of missions the nearest of missions the hospital wasbypass bypassed nearest hospital to access to access specialist care specialist care

s ute n i m 27

s 2h rs 10 minute DAAT.ORG

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

19

Communications and Marketing Website

In April 2018 our new website was launched, which was funded by a grant from the Transform Foundation.

A term of the grant was to work with their nominated provider Raising IT. We continue to work with Raising IT on further improving engagement and traffic.

Visitors to the website have fallen slightly, however the bounce rate has also fallen and the time visitors spend on our website has increased substantially.

Reporting

At the end of 2018...

We report monthly on the website, social media and online engagement to the PR and Fundraising Sub Committee of the main board of Trustees.

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10,590 likes 17,598 followers 2,306 followers 3,900 views

Staffing

Having taken on a temporary digital content officer to help us put together the new website, it was obvious after a relatively short period that there was great value in making this a permanent post, with the post holder now working four days a week. The post also includes the day to day operation of the Charity’s pay per click and google grant account.

Staying in touch with our supporters Leading on from looking at the digital impact of the service, after the completion of the website, new e-marketing software was used.

E-newsletters are now going out on a monthly basis to our supporters. This also adheres to GDPR with an easy way to unsubscribe.

Online communications continue to grow, with further integration of social media with all fundraising

and communications team members. We are continuing to grow the Charity’s Instagram account, which wasn’t being widely used.

Recruitment

Social media still plays an essential part in the recruitment of new staff; as it is a very costeffective way to raise awareness. Facebook is useful as using the boost tools means we can target the right audience and area.

Support

There are many local publications and organisations who continue to support us including Torbay Times, The Property Press, Molton News and Fernbank Advertising. Additional support for the Royal Marines Commando Challenge has come from DAA charity supporters namely Signs Express and Silver Foxes Publishing. Other organisations have offered free spaces in their programmes including Dunkeswell Karting Club and Heathcoat Cricket Club.

Helipad magazine

Our Helipad magazine continues to be published three times a year, with a print run of at least 40,000 copies. While it is of course a great promotional magazine for Devon Air Ambulance, it has proved so much more. Not only does it generate donations, it brings in new Lottery members and of course revenue from our advertisers. It also gives us the opportunity to engage with these advertisers who may be new businesses to us. Helipad enables us to say thank you to those who have supported us and promote our forthcoming events, encouraging attendance and entry to events such as our Motorcycle RideOut, Dragon Boat Festival and the Royal Marines

Commando Challenge. Some of the benefits of Helipad are unquantifiable, for example someone who regularly reads Helipad may choose to leave us a gift in their Will or join our Lottery.

Helipad enables us to say thank you to those who have supported us and promote our forthcoming events, encouraging attendance and entry to events such as our Motorcycle Ride-Out, Dragon Boat Festival and the Royal Marines Commando Challenge

For the first time, the Winter 2018 issue of Helipad also contained a small selection of national advertising inserts. The decision to include this type of advertising was driven by lower than anticipated printed advertisement sales within the magazine. At zero cost to the Charity, advertising inserts provide an important additional source of revenue to offset magazine production.

Armchair Twitcher

Birdwatching in your garden

DAA Aviators

Meet our newest pilots

Patient liaison and visits to the airbases

In 2018 123 patients contacted us. This equates to approximately 11%. We held six airbase visits (three at each base) throughout the year where patients, as well as other guests were invited to come along. We also held a personal visit for one patient. Personal visits are sometimes more appropriate and will enable the patient to be reunited with members of their aircrew for a more in-depth discussion about their incident.

Jerry Collins

Barnstaple All Black

The Voice of Devon ...chat with Gordon Sparks

the official magazine of DEVON AIR AMBULANCE

spring 2019 | www.daat.org

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Amazing feats of support

the official magazine of DEVON AIR AMBULANCE

winter 2018 | www.daat.org

DISCOVER Independent

TAVISTOCK

The Devon

CHIEFS

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Meeting rugby’s local boys

Tudor Exeter

Inspiring stories of patient survival

NORTH TAWTON

the small town with a big personality

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RHS Rosemoor reflects on the gardening year

Inspiring stories of patient survival

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Andy, happily back on his bike

Devon Air Ambulance’s very own Community Magazine

Devon Air Ambulance’s very own Community Magazine

Looking ahead

Looking ahead, we will continue to build our digital presence and look for other initiatives where we can raise the Charity and service’s profile further.

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

21

Retail Our retail operations continue to be extremely important to Devon Air Ambulance. Not only do our shops generate income, but also play a vital role in meeting our commitment to our local communities and ensuring that the Charity remains visible across a geographically large county.

Unlike many charity shops on the High Street, Devon Air Ambulance shops predominantly sell good quality stock donated by our supporters and local people with only a very small amount of purchased goods sold on.

Our retail shops fulfil a number of other functions, in that they give the Charity a vital platform in terms of maintaining our brand recognition, helping us to disseminate important communications to the widest possible audience, help us engage locally with volunteers and being available within our communities to support local people with their fundraising activities.

There were no major changes to existing shops in terms of relocation in 2018. However, starting in 2017 and throughout 2018, the Charity undertook a planned programme of refurbishments, refits and updating (such as changes to utility suppliers and the installation of low energy lighting) to ensure all of our shop premises were fit for purpose. The last of these planned updates was carried out at our Honiton shop which was closed for 2 months and reopened for business in May 2018.

Given that it is anticipated that each of the shop refurbishments will pay back the initial investment over a 3-year period, this continues to be reflected in the overall financial contribution for 2018.

While the Charity’s strategic plan forecast an increase in the number of shops by two per year (with an initial target total of 28 by 2021) this has proved challenging,

largely due to the lack of suitable charity retail premises in those locations identified as the most appropriate for further expansion of the retail shop portfolio.

Despite this, it is anticipated DAA will open at least one new shop in 2019 although a suitable site has not yet been identified.

In 2018, the Charity opened a new shop in Dartmouth which, given the location and anticipated customer profile, and following on from the success of the specialist format in Topsham, became the second ‘Vintage and Variety’ shop in DAA’s retail portfolio. The new Dartmouth shop focuses on selling a range of upmarket and vintage clothing, toys, jewellery, homewares and bric-abrac sourced locally and from our 18 other shops, and features a distinctive brand, shop fit and layout.

As with all retail operations, Devon Air Ambulance’s shops have not been immune from the negative impact of adverse weather, and particularly the enforced temporary shutting of our shops during the period of extreme snow in March known as ‘The Beast from the East’. Following ‘Red Warnings’ from the Met Office, the decision was taken to close all Devon Air Ambulance shops for that period, which had an impact on sales and anticipated contribution for the quarter. Other unexpected weather-related events, such as the water damage to Topsham due to impacted drains caused by excessive rain in November, continue to create unforeseen challenges. It is anticipated that Topsham will be closed for 8 weeks in order for the shop to be refurbished, and discussions with the insurers are

ongoing in terms of recompense for this refurbishment cost as well as loss of stock and earnings.

2019 will see the five-yearly replacement of the shop tills, and a project to achieve this was initiated in 2017, with an anticipated implementation in early 2019. This involved putting the work out to tender and the short-listing of suitable providers, before the preferred supplier was identified. Nysist are a specialist provider of EPoS (Electronic Point of Sale) and Gift Aid solutions for the charity sector and, ahead of delivery, further planning and scoping work is well underway between Nysist and the senior retail team.

One of the key benefits of the new till system is the inclusion of software which ensures Gift Aid revenue is maximised and tracked effectively.

continued. The sales income from September 2018 onwards was extremely healthy, and the year ended strongly with an overall annual contribution of £167,000.

Any slight concern about costs, such as the impact of shop rate increases, was offset by a stronger than budgeted gift aid contribution and other peripheral income such as utility bill rebates.

Gift aid contribution in 2018 was £118,000, an increase of £3,000 on 2017 figures.

In 2018, a decision was also taken to relocate to a new warehouse facility in Exeter. The existing premises were no longer suitable, primarily due to lack of storage capacity. The logistics team will be looking to use the new, bigger premises to build up more out of season stock which will ensure greater resilience and availability of appropriate items in the correct season. A proactive approach to encouraging donations out of season will also be taken in order to bolster stock levels. The move to the newer, larger premises, will take place in April 2019.

In terms of overall contribution, a positive return of approximately £1,000 was made which was after contributing £646,000 to overhead costs.

This was below budget but was a strong result following the challenging conditions during the time period, such as the snow at the start of the year.

In terms of financial contribution, and despite the challenges experienced at the beginning of 2018, the positive upward trend predicted in 2017 has

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

23

Supporting Our People Our People

Like all successful organisations, Devon Air Ambulance relies on well trained and experienced staff working across a broad range of diverse roles within DAA, from pilots to retail managers, office and administrative staff to specialists in fundraising and communications. DAA has a clear and strong Vision, Mission and Values statement which encapsulates what DAA stands for and how it plans to achieve its aims and objectives.

DAA is also committed to treating everyone with respect, to creating a safe and healthy workplace and ensuring a ‘just’ culture for all. In 2018, Charity leaders’ network ACEVO and the Institute of Fundraising asked members, charity sector leaders and wider civil society organisations to sign up to their eight diversity principles. Devon Air Ambulance was one of the first charities to sign-up to these principles, designed to encourage the charity sector to be more inclusive and engage with the broadest range of available talent in the workplace.

Inductions and 1:1s

All new members of staff (and existing staff on a rotational basis) attend a half-day ‘Culture Induction’ at Head Office in Exeter. This provides important information about DAA’s history, brand, culture and expected behaviours as well as giving an oversight of our aims and objectives as detailed in the Strategic Plan. The session also looks at the role of volunteers and the Supporter Promise within the organisation, as well the importance of relationships with key stakeholders and partners, and DAA’s focus on a ‘Just Culture’ and ‘Digital First’ approach. The morning ends with a practical session, delivered by one of our clinicians, on basic life-support techniques.

Line managers also conduct monthly 1:1 meetings with each member of their team. A standardised template facilitates a number of discussion items such as wellbeing, workload and stress, with objectives around Learning and Development and KPIs looked at in more detail. Employees also have an opportunity to discuss their understanding of our four key values: Exemplary Patient Care, Safe and Just Culture, Excellence and Community Engagement.

DAA is also committed to treating everyone with respect, to creating a safe and healthy workplace and ensuring a ‘just’ culture for all

Volunteers

As well as paid staff, at the end of 2018 we had 619 volunteers providing invaluable support across a wide range of functions, including helping at Head Office, representing DAA at events and attending cheque presentations, giving talks on our operations and servicing our collection boxes.

A dedicated Volunteer Manager is responsible for ensuring all our volunteers are well informed, valued and supported with regular training. Ensuring regular communication with volunteers is also vital, so the Volunteer Manager produces and distributes a bi-weekly e-publication called V-News which provides all our volunteers with news, information and important updates.

Training and Development

In order to ensure our staff

have the most appropriate skills to undertake their jobs, DAA is committed to identifying skills gaps and training needs, and to ensure staff receive the most appropriate training.

Engaging with Our Staff

The value and benefit of ensuring staff are aware of what is happening across DAA is very important in helping to foster a ‘one-team’ ethos with shared values, goals and objectives, regardless of what part of the organisation, business area or team a member of staff works in. This proactive approach to engagement across the whole organisation is achieved in several ways:

Annual Staff Survey

DAA conduct a comprehensive staff survey on an annual basis. This has previously been conducted in-house through an online survey tool (Survey Monkey) but, in 2018, a decision was taken to facilitate the survey through an independent company called Best Companies.

Whilst we have previously only benchmarked the results against ourselves, year on year (and will continue to do so), the Best Companies employee survey enables DAA to be benchmarked

Away Day... against other not-for-profit organisations nationally and other organisations in the South West.

The survey is completely anonymous to enable staff to feel confident that their responses can be honest and candid. The trends and outcomes are collated and analysed by Best Companies.

Results are then provided to the DAA HR Manager who presents them to SLT, and the final observations and analysis are then shared with all staff.

The results of the survey conducted in 2018 were extremely positive. We were ranked as Best Companies 1 Star Accredited which is a significant achievement that shows our organisation is taking workplace engagement seriously. Awarded to organisations with a BCI score of at least 659.5, the 1 Star accreditation signifies ‘very good’ levels of workplace engagement.

As well as this, we ranked 51 in the Top 100 Not for Profit Companies to Work For and 38 in the Top 75 Companies to Work For South West.

Bi-monthly Staff Meetings

Every other month, a staff meeting is held involving Head Office staff and Retail Managers/ Assistant Managers (on a rotational basis). Each meeting commences with a focus session where a member of the senior team (Senior Leadership Team/ Office Management Team) provides an update on a current or ongoing area of interest, and each departmental lead then gives a brief update on their business area. The meeting's aim is to ensure as many staff as possible are appraised of any ongoing issues and to get an

appreciation of what is happening in other parts of the organisation.

Office Management Team

A newsletter is emailed to all staff each week, and includes the latest news on finance, operations, retail, HR, fundraising and communications, as well as updates from SLT/OMT. The newsletter also includes a ‘Thumbs Up’ section where members of staff can publicly recognise and thank their colleagues or members of their team for any help or support they have received, or to highlight a particularly outstanding contribution.

In 2017, the Office Management Team was created in order to strengthen the middle tier of management. The team can make recommendations for business improvement, review policies and procedures, provide decision-making resilience in the absence of SLT, deal with office- related infrastructure issues and act as an intermediary level of liaison between SLT and staff. Under the guidance of SLT, the newly created team has continued to develop and adapt through 2018 in order to ensure they add value to the wider managerial structure.

Annual Away Day

Pay and Performance

e-News

In April 2018, the Charity held its Annual Away Day at Crealy Park, which was attended by all staff (office, retail and pilots) as well as a number of paramedics, doctors, dispatchers and trustees. This was a full day of team building activities, demonstrations and training and was designed to give all members of staff the opportunity to learn what their colleagues do, share ideas, reinforce our Mission, Vision and Values and also includes time for social interaction. The day culminates with the annual Awards ceremony, where individuals and teams are nominated by their managers and peers, and which recognises significant achievements and outstanding contributions in a number of specific categories such as ‘Employee of the Year’, ‘Manager of the Year’, ‘Above and Beyond’, ‘Bright Spark’ and ‘Innovation of the Year’. We also take the opportunity at the Away Day to recognise commitment to the Charity in the form of Long Service Awards for 5, 10, 15 and 20+ years’ service.

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The recommendations from the independently chaired Remuneration Committee presented to the Board in March 2017 following a full pay review continued to be implemented in 2018. This has ensured greater clarity and consistency of pay scales across the organisation. A Remuneration Committee remains in place with an emphasis on reviewing senior management pay, while the People and Culture Committee continues to review the pay structure in relation to changing market conditions and the growth of the Charity.

In addition, the Committee has commenced work to review the Gender Pay Gap and DAA is proud to have signed up to the ACEVO Diversity Principles, strengthening its commitment to improving inclusivity in the charity sector.

A new Appraisal and 1:1 process was implemented in 2018 following a detailed review to ensure that the system is simple and most effective in meeting the needs of the individuals as well as DAA.

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

25

Planning to Succeed Improving Efficiency

Investing in the IT infrastructure in an environment where cyber-crime is increasingly targeted at charities while Digital becomes further enshrined into our society remains a focus in 2019, as does ensuring that we have enough resource to support our broad facilities requirement in a growing organisation. As with all costs, administration and support costs remain under constant review to ensure that they are proportionate and required.

Systems and processes remain under continued review, with an enhanced version of the cloudbased accounting system due to be adopted in 2019 which will allow better integration with the electronic purchasing system and the new EPoS till system.

The Office 365 rollout has also continued across the organisation

For each £1 we spend on fundraising and income generation (including support costs) in 2018 we raised £2.70 (2017: £3.35). This has again reduced as a result of the unusually high level of legacies in 2017.

DAA has adopted a ‘Digital First’ approach, recognising the importance of Digital within its processes internally and relationships externally, as well as being fully integrated in the modern environment. A Digital Strategy has been developed and DAA provied input into the Charity Digital Code of Practice which was published in the latter part of the year.

The Digital focus has continued in 2019, with Digital Leadership training being completed in April and further plans to progress and enhance the Digital Strategy.

Administration and Support Costs

Good administration is key to efficiency with a direct impact on the Charity’s effectiveness and so remains a key area under constant review. Efficient administration drives informed decision making and continual improvements while mitigating risks, potentially saving further costs by safeguarding the Charity’s assets for the ultimate beneficiaries.

Both our accounting system and database need to capture the thousands of transactions that are processed accurately, ensuring that our regulatory responsibilities such as GDPR are met while supporting our operations for example ensuring that we thank our supporters.

The combination of increasing legislation in the charity sector and the expanding coverage of the organisation as it has become clinically independent means that we need to continue to invest in our support and administrative costs. These costs need to fund not just our current operations but the plans in our Strategic Plan and beyond.

The balance between cost and benefit is under constant review by the SLT, with Support costs as a percentage of income being a key Performance measure. As forecast in 2017, this has increased from 5.3% to 7.2%. This was due to an increase in support and administrative costs by £98,000 while income fell due to the unusually high level of legacy income in 2017. This made the percentage unusually low in 2017, and the future percentage is expected to remain more in line with the current level.

The Digital focus has continued in 2019, with Digital Leadership training being completed in April and further plans to progress and enhance the Digital Strategy.

Review of Financial Performance Performance Review

A surplus of £477,000 was made in the year, which was below the prior year level of £3,216,000 but ahead of the budgeted £301,000. Both variances are best explained by the expected variable nature of legacy income – in 2017 this was unusually high (£4,238,000) compared to a still higher than expected £2,817,000 generated in 2018 (against a budgeted £2 million).

This was offset by accounting losses of £306,000 of which approximately half were unrealised on the investment portfolio following two years of investment gains. The investments are expected to fluctuate in the short term, and some of the period accounting loss has been reversed in the first quarter of 2019. There were also high maintenance repair costs which will always fluctuate from year to year and were the principal factor in costs exceeding budget by over £400,000.

The surplus generated has further extended already significant reserves. This has put DAA in a position to extend its financial commitments with the transition to clincial independence taking place post year-end. In the short term losses are expected to be generated drawing down on these reserves until the more gradual increase in income meets the new expenditure levels.

Income

After allowing for the fall in legacy income by £1.4m to a still above expectations level of £2.8m and the small exchange gains created by holding Euros to offset the exchange risk for our commitment to the new aircraft, income has increased slightly by £47,000.

Retail income continued to increase in line with the Strategic Plan despite the impact of bad weather, increasing by £179,000

(10%) to £1,929,000. Lottery income remained flat during the transition to a direct debit method of sign-up and is expected to increase in 2019 with the new process being fully integrated and more canvassers being used to drive growth.

Event income fell by £27,000 or almost a third following the cessation of the annual Summer Draw which had generated £34,000 in the prior year due to GDPR considerations.

Donation income was strong, increasing by £131,000 to £589,000 but this increase was largely offset by a fall in community group income (by £99,000 to £671,000) and Charitable Trust donations (down £33,000 to £75,000). These movements can be cyclical and the movements aren’t seen as concerning.

Expenditure

Additional expenditure was budgeted for an incurred although the increase in operating expenditure by £856,000 was above budget.

Operating costs are expected to fluctuate due to irregular maintenance costs, which is why funds are designated for helicopter maintenance to ensure cash is available to pay for maintenance costs as they arise. Approximately half of this years operating costs increase was due to maintenance costs near the end of the year. The

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operating cost increase formed the majority of the £1,048,000 increase in costs, while retail costs also increased by £169,000 to support the additional sales.

As lottery sign-ups began to pick up at the end of the year, the costs also increased by £35,000 with the benefit of increasing lottery members expected to be felt in 2019 and beyond.

Investment costs increased by £32,000 or 64%, which was a result in increasing the investment portfolio from a base investment of £4m to £7m at the end of 2017.

A small part of these increases were offset by a £40,000 fall in events cost due to the Summer Draw not being held and (£26,000 of direct costs) and a continuing fall in the costs of the Commando Challenge as the event settles in having been purchased by the two Charities three years ago.

Other Movements

The £306,000 accounting loss on investments was in line with market conditions and expectations following two years of gains. The investments are held over the medium to long term and short term fluctuations are expected. There had been an increase in the first nine months which were reversed due to more significant falls in the final quarter, some of which have themselves been reversed in the first quarter of 2019.

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

27

2,002

Net assets have increased by the surplus of £477,000 to £22.4 million with £6.7m tied up in fixed assets and £6.6m in long term investments.

64

Investment income and interest

2%

Events

1%

Funds Raised by Community Groups

8%

General Donations

11%

Retail

22%

Total Income

£8.589m

Lottery

23%

190

671

Income

£'000

e om nc ti en t m es st er ve nt In d i an ts by ups en Ev ed ro ais ty G s R ni nd mu Fu om C

il ta Re

ry tte Lo es ci ns ga io at Le on lD ra ne Ge

The Trustees remain mindful of the importance of generating and monitoring significant financial resources to continue operations, particularly with the uncertainty of and fluctuations inherent within specific income streams such as legacy income.

916

This leaves £9.1m of net assets to fund ongoing operations, short term maintenance and repair costs, maintaining and improving the infratructure and the continuing enhancement of the service.

1,929

2,817

Financial Position at the Year End

Legacies

33%

4,616

£8.399m

1,928

£3.108m Cost of Fundraising, Retail & Lottery

477

82

78

432

670

£'000

Expenditure

Income from Fundraising (including retail and lottery)

e ic rv se e ur ut rf fo ed s ain nt et e ts s r em os nd nc tc Fu nha en e ons m ti ge a ra an pe e O tm m en co In m st ts ve en In e Ev m g o tin nc ra il I ne ta e m Re Ge g co In es tin ci ry ra ga ne tte Le Lo Ge & g ns tin ra tio ne na Ge Do g tin ra ne Ge

Generating Donations and Legacies

Funds Retained for Future Service Enhancements

8%

6%

Generating Lottery Income

5%

Operations

56%

Generating Retail Income

23%

Total Expenditure

£8.283m

Generating Events Income

1%

Investment Management Costs

1%

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

29

Reserves Reserves Policy

The Reserves policy and the designations made within the reserves are key tools in monitoring and maintaining sufficient cash flows. In line with Charity Commission guidelines, the Trustees monitor the level of reserves to ensure that they are sufficient for the Charity to achieve its objectives. The Trustees deem it necessary to have the security of reserves to enhance and develop the service with confidence, particularly where there may be a timing delay between implementing more costly operational activities and obtaining the necessary funding.

The Trustees review the allocation of the Charity’s reserves and make specific designations where applicable. The Trustees aim to hold sufficient free reserves to cover 12 months of expenses following a 33% decrease in revenue. Due to the diverse income streams in the Charity it is deemed highly unlikely that income will drop beyond this level in the short term. Free reserves are considered to equal the General Reserve (i.e.

total reserves, less restricted and designated funds) less attributed tangible fixed assets.

The Trustees are not looking to set an upper limit on the level of reserves at this stage, as substantial resources will be required to enhance the provision of the service, and the designations which form part of the charity’s total reserves will continue to be regularly reviewed by the Trustees.

At the year end total reserves were £22,377,000 and free reserves of £8,591,000 comfortably exceeded the £2,082,000 representing 12 months costs following a 33% decrease in revenue. This level of reserves is considered reasonable by the Trustees with costs expected to increase in 2019 and

beyond. Forecasts over the 5 year Strategic plan predict that this gap between the target and actual free reserves will start to close and the figures converge.

Designations & Restricted Income

The free reserves discussed above are calculated after deduction of restricted and designated funds, which are explained in detail in note 19 of the accounts.

The main restricted fund relates to the £556,000 which remains from the £1,000,000 awarded from the LIBOR funds in 2016, of which £253,000 was paid out in the year. £42,000 remains of restricted funds received in 2015 to establish Night Flying Operations were loaned to and spent on capital

Restricted - Night Flying >1% Restricted - Community Landing Sites Restricted - Grace Trust >1%

2%

Restricted - Moretonhampstead >1% Restricted - Eaton Corporation >1% Restricted - Essex Trust >1% Designated Helicopter Maintenance

>4%

Free Reserves

38%

Designated Helicopter Replacement

>24%

Total Reserves

£22.377m

General Held as Fixed Assets

30%

Designated Key Manager Cover

1%

items in the Trading Company, with the restricted reserve being reduced as the depreciation is charged back to the Trust.

the lighting at the Eaglescott Airbase was spent in the year.

The Moretonhampstead and District League of Friends donated £35,000 to enable the purchase of three ventilators in 2017 which have not begun to be utilised at the year end.

A 2017 grant of £6,000 remains from the Grace Trust, while £5,000 of the £11,000 grant provided by The Eaton Corporation to improve

In 2018 there was also a donation from the Essex Trust for £36,000.

The most significant designation is the £5,314,000 for the helicopter replacement now due in 2020, with a total of £886,000 also designated for helicopter maintenance, and £244,000 for key manager cover.

Expected Reserve Movements £10m FORECAST FREE RESERVES

£7.5m £5m VES EE RESER TARGET FR

£2.5m 2018

2019

2020

2021

Other Net Assets

Other Net Assets

12%

12%

Fixed Assets

Fixed Assets

23%

23%

£2.075m

£2.526m £4.979m

£6.667m

Assets 2017

£7.125m

Current Investments

£21.901m

Assets 2018

£7.026m

33%

£7.271m

£6.609m Investments

Current Investments

£22.377m

33%

Investments

33%

33%

2018 Reserves £'000 42 • Restricted – Night Flying 556 • Restricted – Community Landing Sites 6 • Restricted – Grace Trust 35 • Restricted – Moretonhampstead 6 • Restricted – Eaton Corporation 36 • Restricted – Essex Trust 886 • Designated – Helicopter Maintenance 5,314 •Designated – Helicopter Replacement 244 • Designated – Key Manager Cover 6,667 • General – Held as Fixed Assets 8,586 • Free Reserves

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

31

Financial Risk Management Aligning the cash resources held to the requirements of the reserves policy and future designations and investments is the key objective of managing the financial risk.

The cash balances, forecast cash flows and their relationship with restricted, designated and free reserves are monitored regularly and reviewed quarterly by the Finance Committee. The most significant exposure is to price risk relating to non current investments, which is why the Trustees have set an investment policy which does not embrace any more risk than a lowest medium risk investor and utilises Francis Clark Financial Planning to oversee the investment manager.

Investment Powers

Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charity has the power to invest in any way the Trustees wish.

Investment Policy

A strict investment mandate is in place with Kleinwort Hambros and monitored by Francis Clark Financial Planning, and is in line with a detailed Investment Policy.

This Policy has been reviewed during the year, with the objective being to achieve a total return broadly in line with inflation (as measured by CPI) so as to retain

the real value of the capital's purchasing power. The Trustees are averse to capital volatility and aim not to embrace any more risk than a low risk investor. Where this approach is not sufficient to meet the objectives, risk may be increased but only up to the level which reflects the lowest medium risk investor. A diversified geographical and asset class mix of assets is permitted, although high risk assets such as derivatives must only make up a small portion of the portfolio and be used for portfolio management rather than speculation.

Investments

Investment losses of £306,000 (of which £155,000 related to realised gains and £151,000 to unrealised losses) have contributed to the surplus in the year. The Trustees have no concerns about the performance of the portfolio since investment in 2015 which is expected to fluctuate in the short term. The movement for the first three quarter of the year was positive, but this was offset by more significant falls in the last quarter, some of which have been offset by increases in the first quarter of 2019. Part of the investment is likely to be draw into to fund the second instalment due on the new aircraft which is due

near the end of 2019.

The Trustees are confident that this investment remains aligned to the Charity’s requirements, and that the low risk investment mandate is being implemented.

Francis Clark Financial Planning monitor Kleinwort Hambros and provide independent feedback to the Board who also monitor the performance in line with their expectations and have direct contact and feedback from Kleinwort Benson.

Investment income has fallen slightly on the back of the fall in investment value, dropping from £173,000 to £142,000.

Social Investment Policy

The Trustees are mindful of ethical considerations and have carefully considered the costs and benefits of implementing a formal social investment policy.

They have decided that this would not be in the best interests of our patients to whom they have a primary duty of care as it would restrict the investment manager's performance. The Trustees have reviewed Kleinwort Hambros's approach and policies relating to social investment, and concluded that they are sufficient to meet the expectations of DAA.

Other Factors in Achievement of Objectives Devon Air Ambulance works closely with the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) who up until 31st March 2019 employed the paramedics seconded to our service. In partnership with our neighbouring air ambulance charities, Cornwall, Dorset & Somerset, Wiltshire and Great Western, we commission SWASFT to provide a specialist des-patch team who do a vital job ensuring our services are tasked to the patients who most need the enhanced and critical care we provided.

Membership of Trauma Network benefit through networking and across the region.

The LIBOR grant and also the support of councils and communities across Devon have been and continue to be significant factors in the achievement of our night operations objective.

Related Parties

the Peninsula provides great peer support, communication

Through the Association of Air Ambulances we connect with our fellow Air Ambulance Services around the country.

This provides opportunities for learning and sharing of best practice across all our activities. In addition, members of the Senior Leadership Team subscribe to relevant professional bodies.

Both helicopters are owned and operated by the Charity’s wholly owned subsidiary, Devon Air Ambulance Trading Company Limited.

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33

Structure Governance & Management Governance

Devon Air Ambulance Trust (DAAT) was formed in 1991 in order to raise and receive funds to provide an emergency response ambulance service primarily in the county of Devon. It became an incorporated company, limited by guarantee, on the 30th September 1999 and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Associated dated 29th September 1999.

The Special Resolution passed on the 8th March 2017 resulted in the Trading Company adopting updated Articles of Association to ensure that they remain up-todate, relevant and complete.

Appointment of Trustees

The Board of Trustees is made up of independent members who undertake the role on a voluntary basis and who bring a broad range of professional skills, experience and expertise to the Charity. Historically, nominations for new trustees have either been received from other trustees or members or staff, or as a result of

a direct approach by the individual concerned.

However, as part of a detailed and externally facilitated Board Review held in September 2018, it was recommended that nominees be sought through external advertising of a vacancy.

It is hoped this new approach will encourage nominations from a broader background, enable the charity to target those individuals with the required skills, experience and expertise the board requires and also result in a more diverse and representative board.

Potential nominees will meet with a selection panel of Trustees and the Chief Executive.

Trustee Induction and Training

After being formally appointed, all new trustees are provided with a Trustees’ Handbook and undertake an induction process.

This includes an orientation briefing of their legal obligations under charity and company law, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the

committee and decision-making processes of the Charity, the annual budget, the strategic plan and the most current financial information contained within the Annual Report and Accounts.

Forming part of their induction, new trustees meet with the individual members of the Senior Leadership Team and other key employees within the Charity to learn more about each business area and their roles and responsibilities. Trustees are also invited to visit the airbases to meet with aircrew and paramedics to see the operational delivery of the service at first hand.

A trustee training day, delivered by an external governance professional, is held annually, alternating between general guidance on the trustee role and responsibilities and finance for non-financial trustees. This training is provided for all new trustees and as a refresher for any existing trustee who wishes to participate.

In addition, following a Board

Trustees who served during

2018

Stephen Tyrrell

Mark Williams

Dr Anthony Hudson

Barry Cole

Rachel Short

Tony Noon

Margaret Davies

Richard Plunkett

Deborah Fraser

The Board of Trustee is made up of independent members who undertake the role on a voluntary basis and who bring a broad range of professional skills, experience and expertise to the Charity Review in 2018, the Trustees, the Senior Leadership Team and Directors of the Trading Company will be holding an annual board awayday covering a range of themes including digital development, roles and relationships.

Charity Governance Code

Good governance in any charity is fundamental to its effectiveness and success. Devon Air Ambulance promotes the principles of the Charity Governance Code which represents a standard of good governance practice that all

Structure of the Organisation

The Board of Trustees administers the Charity.

There are four committees - Finance, PR & Fundraising, People and Culture (formerly HR, now incorporating the Remuneration Committee) and Trading Company/Operations which report in to the main board. The committees and main board meet four times a year. Additional meetings can be held as and when required and ad hoc working parties can also be formed to address a specific and/or time-critical strategic issues.

Trustees are appointed for an initial term of three years with the option for this to be extended by a further term of three years. The maximum consecutive term a trustee may service, therefore,

charities should aspire to achieve.

The Code is a practical tool which helps charities and their trustees develop high standards, develops an appropriate culture, encourages diversity and ensures trustees are compliant with relevant legislation and regulations.

is six years. Trustees may be reappointed for one further term of three years after a three year break from holding office. Trustee roles and responsibilities and, in particular, the roles of the honorary officers, are clearly defined within the Scheme of Delegation.

The Chief Executive is appointed by the trustees to manage the day-to-day operations of the Charity. To facilitate efficient management of the organisation, the Chief Executive has delegated authority, with limits set by the trustees for matters including finance, fundraising, public relations, marketing and employment. The parameters of the Chief Executive’s authority are clearly defined within the Scheme of Delegation referred to above.

DAAT.ORG

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

35

Principal Risks and Uncertainties Risk Management

The trustees have put in place a formal risk management process to assess any risks to the charity and implement risk management strategies.

This involves identifying the types of risks the charity faces, prioritising them in terms of potential impact and likelihood of occurrence, and identifying means of mitigating risk.

The trustees are able to report that, in their opinion, the charity’s internal financial controls conform to Charity Commission guidelines

The trustees review the adequacy of the charity’s current financial controls on a regular basis and each of the identified risks on a rotational basis. The Senior Leadership Team also review individual elements of the risk register as part of their internal weekly briefing.

The trustees are able to report that, in their opinion, the charity’s internal financial controls conform to Charity Commission guidelines.

Currently, the most significant risks defined by the trustees are: a. risk of not meeting the Charity Commission’s safeguarding requirements and the financial and reputational impact of any breach b. the impact of the departure of senior staff creating a skills gap; c. the impact of potential fraud, specifically cyber fraud; and d. a gap in the broad knowledge base of the Trustees which could create a potential governance issue.

The risk of strike action or the breakdown of relationships with the medical authorities who are relied on to provide the service was seen as a significant risk at the year-end, but as of 1st April 2019 this is no longer seen as a significant risk as we now directly employ our clinicians.

5 To mitigate these risks, staff training on cyber fraud has increased significantly in recent years and a Digital First approach has been adopted. The Remuneration Committee is in place to ensure Senior Management pay is under regular review while safeguarding controls have been significantly strengthened ahead of the move to clinical independence. Trustee recruitment is curently taking place for a perceived knowledge gap in relation to investments following two Trustees completing their three year terms in early 2019.

3

LIKELIHOOD

4

a. b. c. d.

2

1 IMPACT

1

2

3

4

5

These risks, as well as other risks identified by the board, continue to be monitored and mitigated against, both in terms of the likelihood of these situations occurring and the impact on the charity if they were to happen.

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities The Trustees (who are also directors of Devon Air Ambulance Trust for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report (incorporating the Strategic Report) and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Insofar as the Trustees are aware:

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charitable company and the group and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure of the charitable group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• There is no relevant audit information of which

• Select suitable accounting policies and then

A resolution to appoint PKF Francis Clark as auditors for the ensuing year was proposed at the June 2019 Board Meeting in accordance with section 485 of the Companies Act 2006.

•

•

•

•

apply them consistently; Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; Make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent; State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statement, and Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

the charitable company’s auditors are unaware, and • The Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

Auditors

The Trustees’ Report incorporating the Strategic Report was approved by the Board and signed on its behalf by:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that

Margaret Davies, Trustee 27 June 2019

DAAT.ORG

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

37

Independent Auditor’s Report to Trustees Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Devon Air Ambulance Trust (the “Charity”) for the year ended 31 December 2018 which comprise the Group Statement of Financial Activities, Group and Parent Company Balance Sheets, Statement of Consolidated Cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

In our opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the

Group’s and Charity’s affairs as at 31 December 2018 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance

with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice;

• have been prepared in accordance with the

requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Use of our Report

This report is made solely to the Charity’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charity’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Charity’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Conclusions relating to going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

• the trustees’ use of the going concern basis

of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate; or

• the trustees have not disclosed in the financial

statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the Charity’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• the information given in the Trustees’ Report,

(which includes the Strategic Report and Directors’ Report prepared for the purposes of company law) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the Directors’ Report included within the

when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Trustees’ Report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Report.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/ auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been

kept or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

STEPHANIE HENSHAW FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of PKF FRANCIS CLARK Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditor Centenary House Peninsula Park Rydon Lane Exeter EX2 7XE

• the financial statements are not in agreement

with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration

specified by law are not made; or

• we have not obtained all the information and

explanations necessary for the purposes of our audit.

Responsibilities of the Trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities set out on page 37, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charity for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the Charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement

DAAT.ORG

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

39

Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities (including income & expenditure account) for the year ended 31 December 2018

Notes

Unrestricted Funds £’000

Restricted Funds £’000

Total Funds 2018 £’000

Total Funds 2017 £’000

Income Donations and legacies

3

4,368

36

4,404

5,827

Trading activities: Retail operations DAAT Lottery

4 4

1,929 2,002

-

1,929 2,002

1,750 2,009

DAAT Events

4

64

-

64

91

Investment income

5

142

-

142

173

Income from charitable activities

6

1

-

1

25

47

-

47

-

8,553

36

8,589

9,875

648

22

670

674

Gains on foreign exchange Total income Expenditure Donations and legacies Trading activities: Retail operations DAAT Lottery

4 4

1,928 432

-

1,928 432

1,759 397

DAAT Events

4

78

-

78

118

82

-

82

50

4,283

333

4,616

3,760

Total expenditure

7,451

355

7,806

6,758

Net (loss)/gain on investments

(306)

-

(306)

99

796

(319)

477

3,216

-

-

-

-

796

(319)

477

3,216

Total funds brought forward

20,901

1,000

21,901

18,685

Total funds carried forward

21,697

681

22,378

21,901

Investment management costs Expenditure on charitable activities

Net income for the year

7

8

Transfers between funds Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds

The notes on pages 43 to 55 form part of these accounts.

Consolidated Balance Sheet 31 December 2018

Notes

Group 2018 £’000

Group 2017 £’000

Company 2018 £’000

Company 2017 £’000

Tangible assets

13

6,667

4,979

689

704

Investments

14

6,609

7,271

6,609

7,271

13,276

12,250

7,298

7,975

Fixed Assets

Total Fixed Assets Current Assets Stocks

15

43

20

36

11

Debtors

16

2,104

2,942

8,207

7,172

Investments

14

7,026

7,125

7,026

7,125

Cash at bank and in hand

17

1,413

788

690

280

10,586

10,875

15,959

14,588

(1,484)

(1,224)

(915)

(852)

Current assets less current liabilities

9,102

9,651

15,044

13,736

Net assets

22,378

21,901

22,342

21,711

19

681

1,000

681

1,000

19 19

15,253 6,443

14,186 6,715

15,218 6,443

13,996 6,715

Total unrestricted income funds

21,697

20,901

21,661

20,711

Total Charity funds

22,378

21,901

22,342

21,711

Total Current Assets Liabilities Creditors falling due within one year

18

THE FUNDS OF THE CHARITY Restricted income funds Unrestricted income funds General Designated

Approved by the Trustees of Devon Air Ambulance Trust on 27 June 2019 and signed on its behalf

Margaret Davies Trustee Company registered number 3855746

The notes on pages 43 to 55 form part of these accounts.

DAAT.ORG

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

41

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 31 December 2018 2018 £’000

2017 £’000

£’000

2,500

Net cash inflow from operating activities (note below)

£’000 4,228

Cash flows from investing activities: Income from current investments Dividends & interest from non-current investments Proceeds from sales of investments Purchase of investments Purchase of property, plant & equipment

124 18 8,019 (7,663) (2,473) (1,974)

Net cash used in investing activities Increase in cash and cash equivalents in the year

139 34 4,920 (8,055) (32) (2,994)

526

1234

Cash and cash equivalents 1/1/18

7,913

6,679

Cash and cash equivalents 31/12/18

8,439

7,913

Note Reconciliation of net cash inflow from operating activities Net income for the year

477

3,216

Depreciation charges

784

783

Loss/(Gains) on invest-ments

306

(99)

Income from investments

(142)

(173)

(increase)/Decrease in stocks

(22)

1

Increase in creditors

261

673

Decrease/(Increase) in debtors

838

(173)

Net cash inflow from operating activities

2,500

4,228

1 Jan 2018

Cash Flows

31 Dec 2018

£’000

£’000

£’000

Cash in hand and at bank

788

625

1,413

Current investments

7,125

(99)

7,026

Total cash and cash equivalents

7,913

526

8,439

Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

Notes To The Accounts 1. Accounting Policies

Basis of Preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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 (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historic cost convention as modified by fair value where appropriate. The Trustees have considered and concluded that it is appropriate to complete the accounts on a going concern basis . The Charity is a public benefit entity and is registered in the United Kingdom. The registered address is included on page 57. The functional currency used in these accounts is Sterling, which is also the transactional currency.

The Group financial statements consolidate the results of the charity and its wholly owned trading subsidiary. A separate Statement of Financial Activities and income and expenditure accounts for the charity has not been presented as the Trust has taken advantage of the exemption afforded by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees have concluded that the only significant management judgement and key area of estimate or uncertainty is the recognition of legacy income as detailed below.

Income Recognition Policies

Voluntary income including donations, legacies, and lottery sales that provide core funding or are of a general nature are recognised where there is entitlement, certainty of receipt and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability.

For legacy income, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date: when the charity becomes aware that probate has been granted; when the estate has been finalised and notification made by the executors that a distribution will be made; or when the distribution is received.

Income from commercial trading activities is recognised as earned as the related goods and services are provided.

Investment income interest is recognised on a receivable basis.

Volunteers and Donated Services

The value of services provided by volunteers is not incorporated into these financial statements. Further details can be found in the Trustees’ Annual Report on pages 3 to 36.

Donated services are recognised as income when control is obtained over the item, the receipt of economic benefit is probable and it can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised when there is legal or constructive obligation to make a payment, settlement to a third party is probable and the amount can be measured reliably. Contractual arrangements are recognised as goods or services are supplied.

Costs of raising funds are those costs incurred in attracting voluntary income and those incurred in trading activities that raise funds.

Charitable activities include expenditure associated with the operation of the two helicopters, airbase facilities and medical equipment.

SWASFT have historically paid 4/5th of the salaries of ambulance staff aircrew and for drugs and medical consumables with all other costs are met by the Charity. This changed during 2017 with the Charity now funding 2/3rds of the staffing costs and half of the medical consumables and drugs.

Support costs include central functions and have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources e.g. staff costs by time spent and other costs by their usage.

DAAT.ORG

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

43

Irrecoverable VAT

Irrecoverable VAT is charged against the category of resources expended on the basis of overall inputs applicable to that category.

Operating Leases

The Charity classifies the lease of vehicles and office equipment as operating leases; the title to these items remains with the lessor. Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

Tangible Fixed Assets

Individual fixed assets costing £1,000 or more are capitalised at cost.

Tangible fixed assets are depreciated on a straight line basis over their estimated useful lives as follows: Asset Category Annual rate EC135 Helicopters ` 7.00 -7.25% Helicopter factory fitted role equipment 10% Helicopter medical equipment 33% Long leasehold buildings 2% - 6.67% Short leasehold improvements 20% Office equipment & furniture 25% IT equipment 33% Assets in the course of construction 0%

Investments

Investments are carried at fair value. Where there is a quoted market value they are valued at the bid price ruling at the Balance Sheet date. Other investments are valued at their realisable market value.

Short Term Investments

Short term investments are included within Current Assets and relate to deposit and notice accounts which mature or can be called on within twelve months.

Stock

Stock of new merchandise is included at the lower of cost or net realisable value.

Stocks of second hand donated goods for resale are not valued in these financial statements as the Trustees believe that the cost of valuing second hand goods exceeds the benefits.

Funds Structure

The Trust has seven restricted income funds to account for situations where a donor requires that a donation must be spent on a particular purpose.

All other funds are unrestricted income funds.

Pensions

The Charity makes a contribution of 6% of salary for each employee to a personal pension scheme which is compliant with the auto enrolment regulations which became applicable to the Charity from October 2015.

Employees pay a minimum of 2% of salary into this scheme unless they have opted out of the scheme.

Financial Instruments Classification

The company holds the following financial instruments: • Short term other debtors, legacies receivable and amounts due from subsidiary undertakings; • Cash and bank balances; and • Short term trade creditors and other creditors; All financial instruments are classified as basic.

Recognition and Measurement

The company has chosen to apply the recognition and measurement principles in FRS102.

Financial instruments are recognised when the company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument and derecognised when in the case of assets, the contractual rights to cash flows from the asset expire or substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership are transferred to another party, or in the case of the liabilities, when the company’s obligations are discharged, expire or are cancelled.

Such instruments are initially measured at transaction price, including transaction costs, and are subsequently carried at the undiscounted amount of the cash or other consideration expected to be paid or received, after taking account of impairment adjustments.

2. Legal status of the Trust The Trust is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £10.

3. Donations & Legacies

Unrestricted Funds £’000

Restricted Funds £’000

Total Funds 2018 £’000

Total Funds 2017 £’000

2,817

-

2,817

4,238

589

-

589

458

Regular giving schemes

59

-

59

56

Charitable Trust donations

39

36

75

108

671

-

671

770

9

-

9

14

184

-

184

183

4,368

36

4,404

5,827

Donations including legacies Legacies Donations incl. ‘in memory’ and anniversaries

Funds raised by community groups Schools and youth organisations Box and street collections Total donations and legacies

In 2017, £134,000 of income from donations was restricted

DAAT.ORG

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

45

4. Trading Activities

Unrestricted Funds £’000

Restricted Funds £’000

Total Funds 2018 £’000

Total Funds 2017 £’000

1,929

-

1,929

1,750

12

-

12

7

1,750

-

1,750

1,653

166

-

166

99

1,928

-

1,928

1,759

1

(9)

Shops & Merchandise Trading Sales Cost of goods sold Overheads and expenses Support costs

Contribution to the Charity’s funds

1

Lottery Sales

2,002

-

2,002

2,009

Prizes

111

-

111

111

264

-

264

239

57

-

57

47

432

-

432

397

Contribution to the Charity’s funds

1,571

-

1,570

1,612

Total trading income

3,931

-

3,931

3,759

Total trading expenditure

2,360

-

2,360

2,156

Total trading contribution

1,571

-

1,571

1,603

Overheads and expenses Support costs

DAAT events are not included within trading activities as the primary purpose of some events is to promote the Charity and its activities rather than to generate income. DAAT events have cost £14,000 in the year (2017: £27,000 cost).

5. Investment Income

Bank deposit accounts Income from investments

Unrestricted Funds £’000

Restricted Funds £’000

Total Funds 2018 £’000

Total Funds 2017 £’000

18

-

18

34

124

-

124

139

142

-

142

173

6. Income from Charitable Activities In 2018 income from charitable activities related to £1,000 received for carrying out Crew Resource Management training. In 2017 it represented a payment received to fund staff time to release a Specialist Paramedic in Critical Care to deliver simulation training internally and also to external hospital teams.

Donations

Community Fundraising

DAAT Events

Shops

Lottery

Heli Costs

Invest Costs

2018

2017

7. Total Resources Expended

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

Charitable activities

-

-

-

-

-

4,462

-

4,462

3,680

Direct fundraising

3

6

-

-

-

-

-

9

16

Events

-

19

21

-

-

-

-

40

53

Retail dept selling & premises

-

-

-

807

-

-

-

807

761

Retail dept staff related

-

-

-

955

-

-

-

955

862

DAAT lottery prizes

-

-

-

-

111

-

-

111

111

DAAT lottery selling & admin

-

-

-

-

238

238

209

Volunteer support and expenses

2

22

1

13

-

-

-

38

30

Fundraising deptartment

8

26

1

-

1

-

-

36

25

Fundraising dept staff related

67

117

15

4

10

4

-

217

231

Legacy costs

16

-

-

-

-

-

-

16

6

PR & marketing dept

40

31

5

15

13

4

-

108

152

PR & marketing dept staff related

27

16

11

10

2

13

-

79

58

-

-

-

-

-

-

70

70

42

Staff related

80

94

18

88

26

97

10

413

356

HQ premises

11

12

1

10

2

21

1

58

51

Stationery & mailing

4

6

1

1

-

1

-

13

15

13

14

2

12

3

-

1

45

51

Insurances

3

2

-

-

4

-

-

9

6

Finance

1

9

1

6

-

-

-

17

6

Non-recoverable VAT

1

5

-

-

20

-

-

26

24

Legal & professional fees

7

8

1

7

2

14

-

39

13

283

387

78

1,928

432

4,616

82

7,806

6,758

Costs directly allocated to activities

Investment management costs Support costs allocated to activities

IT, communications & equipment

Total expenditure

A fixed asset write-off took place in 2015 of the remaining £142,000 book value of expenditure relating to the Exeter Airport lease agreement. This initial expenditure was made in return for a rent free period up to June 2023 which remains in place. £336,000 of the expenditure on charitable activities in 2017 related to restricted expenditure.

DAAT.ORG

ANNUAL REPORT 2018

47

8. Net Income for the Year

2018 £’000

2017 £’000

Operating leases – vehicles

30

30

Operating Leases - property

365

287

Depreciation

784

783

7 5

6 6

a) Net income for the year is stated after charging:

Auditor’s remuneration – audit services Auditor’s remuneration – Non-audit services

9. Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the Cost of Key Management Personnel

a) Staff Costs

2018 £’000

2017 £’000

Wages and salaries

2,172

2,010

Social security costs

200

189

Pension costs

136

120

2,508

2,319

Total staff costs

During the year ten employees were paid £60,000 or more (2017: eight, one in the Trust and seven in the Trading Company), three in the Trust and seven in the Trading Company.

The numbers of staff receiving emoluments, which include pension contributions, in the following bands are as follows: 2018

2017

£60,001 - £70,000

6

6

£70,001 - £80,000

2

2

£80,001 - £90,000

2

-

A pension scheme compliant with the auto-enrolment legislation was set up when it became applicable to the Trust in October 2015. The Trust pays a 6% contribution and the employee a minimum 1% contribution which increased to 2% in October 2016, unless the individual has opted out of the scheme. The Group Personal Pension provider is Royal London, and during the year a total of £120,000 was paid into the Scheme by the Trust and £35,000 by the employ-ees. A balance of £12,000 was due to the Scheme at the end of the year.

b) Trustee Remuneration and Expenses During the year the Charity Trustees received no (2017: £nil) remuneration or expenses from the Trust or its subsidiary.

During the year the charity paid indemnity insurance totalling £888 (2018 - £888).

c) Cost of Key Management Personnel The key managetment personnel of the parent Trust comprise the trustees and the Senior Leadership Team.

The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the Trust were £381,982 (2017: £276,210).

The key management personnel of the Group comprise the key management personnel of the Trust, the Safety Manager and the Licensed Engineer. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the Group were £492,991 (2017: £460,173).

Nigel Hare, the Operations Director, is employed by SWASFT and a cost is recharged to the Trust, which is not included in the above analysis.

10. Staff numbers The average monthly head count was 74 staff (2017: 75 staff) and the average monthly number of full-time equivalent employees during the year were as follows: 2018 Number

2017 Number

Administration

13

11

Charity shops

40

37

Fundraising and other charitable work

11

7

Operational staff employed in Trading Company

10

9

74

64

By the end of 2018 we had 620 (2017:621) registered volunteers.

11. Related Party Transactions There were no related party transactions in the year.

12. Taxation The company is a registered Charity and is not subject to corporation tax.

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49

13. a) Tangible Fixed Assets - Group

Helicopter £’000

Equipment £’000

Fictures & Fittings £’000

Leasehold Property £’000

Total £’000

COST At 1 January 2018

8,262

81

314

1,068

9,725

Additions

2,431

29

4

8

2,472

10,693

110

318

1,076

12,197

3,986

78

305

377

4,746

727

2

9

46

784

4,713

80

314

423

5,530

At 31 December 2018

5,980

30

4

653

6,667

At 31 December 2017

4,276

3

9

691

4,979

At 31 December 2018 DEPRECIATION At 1 January 2018 Charge for the year At 31 December 2018 NET BOOK VALUE

The Helicopter additions balance above of £2,431,000 relates to the initial payment o the new Aircraft which is due to be delivered in May 2020; this represents an asset in the course of construction. No depreciation has been charged on this during the year.

£’000

Fictures & Fittings £’000

Leasehold Property £’000

£’000

At 1 January 2018

81

314

1,063

1,458

Additions

29

4

8

41

At 31 December 2018

110

318

1,071

1,499

78

303

373

754

Charge for the year

2

9

45

56

On disposals

-

-

-

-

80

312

418

810

At 31 December 2018

30

6

653

689

At 31 December 2017

3

11

690

704

13. b) Tangible Fixed Assets - Company

Equipment

Total

COST

DEPRECIATION At 1 January 2018

At 31 December 2018 NET BOOK VALUE

14. Investments - Group & Company

2018 £’000

2017 £’000

At 1 January

7,271

4,037

Additions

7,663

8,055

Disposals

(8,019)

(4,920)

Unrealised loss

(151)

(126)

Realised (loss)/gain

(155)

225

6,609

7,271

HSBC Deposit Account

1,948

2,105

Kleinwort Hambros 92 day notice account

4,056

4,009

Santander 95 day notice account

1,022

1,011

7,026

7,125

Fixed asset investments Investments at market value

At 31 December Current asset investments

The charity owns the entire issued share capital of 2 ordinary shares of £1 each of Devon Air Ambulance Trading Company Limited, incorporated in England & Wales (Company number 3876276, Registered office Unit 5 Sandpiper Court, Harrington Lane, Exeter, EX4 8NS). Devon Air Ambulance Trading Company Limited provides helicopter services to the charity. The assets and liabilities of the subsidiary were:

2018 £’000

2017 £’000

Fixed assets

5,979

4,276

Current assets

1,324

1,046

Current liabilities

(2,009)

(1,549)

Long term loan

(5,259)

(3,585)

35

188

4,706

3,871

(4,276)

(3,506)

Amount gift aided to Charity

(583)

(177)

(Loss)/Profit for the year

(153)

188

Aggregate share capital and reserves A summary of its results is as follows: Turnover Expenditure

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

51

Group 2018 £’000

Group 2017 £’0000

Company 2018 £’000

Company 2017 £’000

43

20

36

11

Group 2018 £’000

Group 2017 £’0000

Company 2018 £’000

Company 2017 £’000

871

1,273

871

1,273

Other debtors

38

96

27

44

Prepayments

552

573

354

463

LIBOR income

643

1,000

643

1,000

DAA Trading Co Ltd (due within one year)

-

-

1,053

808

DAA Trading Co Ltd (due after more than one year)

-

-

5,259

3,584

2,104

2,942

8,207

7,172

Group 2018 £’000

Group 2017 £’0000

Company 2018 £’000

Company 2017 £’000

HSBC bank accounts

775

560

52

52

National Westminster

70

70

70

70

568

158

568

158

1,413

788

690

280

Group 2018 £’000

Group 2017 £’0000

Company 2018 £’000

Company 2017 £’000

Trade creditors

953

750

428

417

Lottery entry monies received in advance

214

215

214

215

52

68

34

32

Other creditors

215

152

212

164

Accruals

50

39

27

24

1,484

1,224

915

852

15. Stock

Stock

16. Debtors - current

Legacies receivable

17. Cash at Bank & In Hand

Investment Manager account

18. Creditors: Amounts Falling due Within 1 Year

Taxation and Social Security

19. Analysis of Funds - Group

Balance at 1 January 2018

Incoming Resources

Resources Expended & Losses

Transfers

Balance at 31 December 2018

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

Helicopter Replacement

5,607

-

-

(294)

5,313

Helicopter Maintenance

873

-

-

13

886

Key Manager Cover

235

-

-

9

244

6,715

-

-

(272)

6,443

General funds

14,186

8,553

(7,757)

272

15,254

Total unrestricted funds

20,901

8,553

(7,757)

-

21,697

122

-

(80)

-

42

809

-

(253)

-

556

Grace Trust

6

-

-

-

6

Gawthorn Cardiac Trust

17

-

(17)

-

-

Moretonhampstead

35

-

-

-

35

Eaton Corporation

11

-

(5)

-

6

-

36

-

-

36

1,000

36

(355)

-

681

21,901

8,589

(8,112)

-

22,378

Unrestricted income funds Designated funds † :

Restricted income funds ‡ : Night Flying Community Landing Sites

Essex Trust

† Description,

nature and purpose of designated funds

Helicopter Replacement Estimated cost of replacing the Exeter based EC135 Helicopter, G-DVAA, in 2020

when it will have been in service for 12 years. This designation is being

increased as we move towards 2020.

Helicopter Maintenance The 2016 balance was calculated as the estimated costs of a severe but realistic

repair scenario, and up to date figures have been obtained for the 2017 calculation.

Key Manager Cover

As no key person insurance is in place, this Fund provides for potential additional costs that could be incurred should a key manager be absent from work long term due to illness or accident. As in 2016 this has been based on 35% of the annual salaries of staff identified as key management.

General

The available reserves after allowing for all designations.

‡ Description, Night Flying

nature and purpose of restricted funds The LIBOR funds provided in 2015 to set up the night flying operations. This money has been used in the Trading Company and the restricted funds are reduced by the monthly depreciation charge relating to the assets as it is charged back to the Trust.

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53

Community Landing Sites

A further £1m in LIBOR funds was confirmed in 2016. Community organisations have applied for funds to assist them in setting up a community landing site for use at night, and as grants to these organisations are approved by the Charity these amounts are drawn from the £1m fund and paid on through DAA.

Eaglescott Operations

Part of a legacy was received in the year with a stipulation that it was used specifically for the benefit of the Air Ambulance based at Eaglescott.

A further balance is expected in 2018 on finalisation of the estate accounts.

The Grace Trust

This balance was one of two grants provided to fund part of three defibrillators and a Lucas 3 Chest Compression System.

Gawthorn Cardiac Trust

This was the second grants provided to fund part of three defibrillators and a Lucas 3 Chest Compression System.

Moretonhampstead

The Moretonhampstead and District League of Friends donated £35,000 to enable the purchase of three ventilators.

Eaton Corporation

The Essex Trust

A successful grant application was made by the Eaton Corporation to fund the upgrading of the lighting at the Eaglescott Airbase and four new aircrew helmets to increase staffing in support of extending operating hours.

The Essex Trust donated £36,000 in the year to purchase two stretchers.

Balance at 1 January 2017

Incoming Resources

Resources Expended & Losses

Transfers

Balance at 31 December 2017

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

Helicopter Replacement

5,183

-

-

424

5,607

Helicopter Maintenance

730

-

-

143

873

Key Manager Cover

218

-

-

17

235

6,131

-

-

584

6,715

General funds

11,352

9,840

(6,422)

(584)

14,186

Total unrestricted funds

17,483

9,840

(6,422)

-

20,901

202

-

(80)

-

122

1,000

-

(191)

-

809

Eaglescott Operations

-

65

(65)

-

-

Grace Trust

-

6

-

-

6

Gawthorn Cardiac Trust

-

17

-

-

17

Moretonhampstead

-

35

-

-

35

Eaton Corporation

-

11

-

-

11

1,202

134

(336)

-

1,000

18,685

9,974

(6,758)

-

21,901

Analysis of Funds - Group 2017

Unrestricted income funds Designated funds † :

Restricted income funds ‡ : Night Flying Community Landing Sites

General Income

Designated Funds

Restricted Funds

Total at 31 December 2018

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

Fixed Assets

6,667

-

-

6,667

Investments

-

6,443

166

6,609

Bank Fixed Term Deposit Accounts

6,511

-

515

7,026

Current Assets

3,559

-

-

3,559

Current Liabilities

(1,484)

-

-

(1,484)

-

-

-

-

15,253

6,443

681

22,377

General Income

Designated Funds

Restricted Funds

Total at 31 December 2017

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

Fixed Assets

4,979

-

-

4,979

Investments

-

6,715

556

7,271

Bank Fixed Term Deposit Accounts

7,469

-

444

7,931

Current Assets

2,962

-

-

2,962

Current Liabilities

(1,224)

-

-

(1,224)

-

-

-

-

14,186

6,715

1,000

21,901

Land & Buildings

Other Items

Land & Buildings

Other Items

£’000

£’000

£’000

£’000

within one year

320

22

313

34

within two to five years

313

16

488

23

-

-

-

-

633

38

801

57

Group 2018 £’000

Group 2017 £’0000

Company 2018 £’000

Company 2017 £’000

Financial assets measured at fair values through profit and loss

8,161

9,640

14,462

13,980

Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost

1,382

1,133

854

796

20. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS – GROUP

Liabilities due after more than 1 year

Liabilities due after more than 1 year

21. Operating Lease Commitments

Operating leases which expire:

after more than five years

22. Financial Instruments

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

55

23. Financial Commitments At the year end the Charity has committed to purchase an Airbus model H145 Aircraft for delivery by the end of May 2020. An initial payment has been made during 2018 and is included within tangible fixed assets (see Note 13). Two further payments are due – a net amount of EUR 1,712,380 is due to be paid on or before 6 months prior to delivery, with the remaining EUR 4,280,950 due on or before the end of May 2020.

Legal and Administrative Information for the year ended 31 December 2018 Patrons

Mary King MBE Lady Penny Mountbatten Jennie Bond David Fitzgerald Adam Isaac Sam Hill

Trustees who served during the year

•

Margaret DAVIES Barry COLE (completed term 19 September 2018) Deborah FRASER (appointed 28 June 2018) Dr Anthony HUDSON Tony NOON Richard PLUNKETT Rachel SHORT Stephen TYRRELL (Chair of Trustees) Mark WILLIAMS

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Senior Leadership Team Heléna HOLT Caroline CREER David HAWES Ian PAYNE Nigel HARE Martin BELL

• member of the PR & Fundraising Committee • member of Finance Committee • member of the People & Culture Committee (formerly HR Committee) • member of the Operations Committee • member of the Trading Company & Operations Committee

Chief Executive Deputy CEO /Fundraising & Communications Director Finance & Infrastructure Director Flight Operations Director Operations Director Retail & People Development Director

Principal Address & Registered Office Devon Air Ambulance Trust Unit 5 Sandpiper Court Harrington Lane Exeter EX4 8NS

Bankers

HSBC Bank plc 250 High Street Exeter EX4 3PZ

Solicitors

Foot Anstey LLP Senate Court Southernhay Gardens Exeter EX1 1NT

Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditor

PKF Francis Clark Centenary House, Peninsula Park Rydon Lane Exeter EX2 7XE

Investment Manager Kleinwort Hambros 8 St James’s Square London SW1Y 4JU

Getting In Touch Devon Air Ambulance Trust Registered office address: Unit 5 Sandpiper Court Harrington Lane Exeter EX4 8NS 01392 466666 info@daat.org DAAT.org

cdf Devon Air Ambulance Trust is the charity that funds and operates Devon’s air ambulance service Devon Air Ambulance Trust is a company limited by guarantee no. 03855746 and a registered charity no. 1077998.

Acronyms AAA AOC CLS CPR DAAT DAATCL E&CC EPOS HEMS IHT LIBOR NPAS OMT PBH RD&E RMCTF RTC SBH SLT SOP SORP SWASFT

Association of Air Ambulances Air Operator’s Certificate Community Landing Site Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Devon Air Ambulance Trust Devon Air Ambulance Trading Company Limited Enhanced and Critical Care Electronic Point Of Sale Helicopter Emergency Medical Service Inter-hospital Transfer London Interbank Offered Rate National Police Aviation Service Office Management Team Power By the Hour Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund Road Traffic Collision Service By the Hour Senior Leadership Team Standard Operating Procedure Statement of Recommended Practice South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Statutory Notice

The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice application to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).

Accreditations

Design Silver Foxes Publishing 07455 206470 Images DAAT expresses its gratitude to all supporters and photographers that have supplied free to use images to the charity and acknowledges copyright in their use. © All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced or used in any form without

prior permission of the publishers

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ANNUAL REPORT 2018

57

Devon Air Ambulance Trust is a company limited by guarantee no. 03855746 and a registered charity no. 1077998