Issuu

Annual

General

2023 - 2024

WE PROVIDE A COMMUNITY OF SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

AND THEIR FAMILIES TO THRIVE

Welcome

10.00am AGM Opens

10.05am Presentation

10.40am Testimonials

10.55am Questions

11.00am AGM ﬁnishes

11.05am Network online

The Charity's Story

Beginning Community Fresh Name

Founded & registered as a charity by volunteer parents to support families of children with additional needs.

Organically grew our community, providing one off trips, and activities.

The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.

Rebranded as Skylarks. Skylarks expanded its offering to all year round, providing vital support when families need it most.

Support

Skylarks stepped up during the pandemic to best support its families, providing a lifeline to the most vulnerable in society.

Development

Skylarks launched its ﬁrst career development programme, expanding its programming for older children.

Growth

The charity is building for the future, helping to support a strong, more diverse community than ever before.

Skylarks supports…

• Young people with disabilities and additional needs aged 0-25

• Parents, carers and family members

• Sibling carers

Enabling them to…

• Build conﬁdence and self-esteem

• Receive emotional support

• Experience less isolation and loneliness

• Increase knowledge and skills

OVER 5,800

YOUNG PEOPLE REGISTERED WITH US

Our Community

45% of families based in Richmond.

More families than ever from Richmond are joining our community.

Nearly half of young people on SEN register or with EHCP in Richmond are part of Skylarks.

FAMILIES REGISTERED

Our Beneﬁciaries

Over 20% of our families are located in the Hounslow. The largest area of growth over the last two years.

Some areas of Hounslow are in the 10% most deprived areas of the UK.

With a growing need for SEND support in the borough, Skylarks is expanding its reach over the next year.

WE DELIVERED OVER 9050 SESSIONS THIS YEAR

Our Top Achievements

1. Meeting the needs of our community during what is currently being called a ‘National SEND Crisis’, growing our services by 14%.

3. Achieved the Charity’s target of securing a future site to reduce risk and develop new communities.

Development of our ‘Spread Your Wings’ Programme. Empowering futures with Employability and Life skills.

4. Awards: Winner of the Non-Proﬁt Organisation Awards 2024. Finalists for The National Children & Young People Awards & Shortlisted for The National Diversity Awards.

“It’s lovely to be amongst parents experiencing similar issues, and we recognise together that we need to think outside the box for our respective children’s future.” Skylarks Parent

Growing Services

Skylarks expanded its FREE offering during holiday periods to support our families.

These services were accessed by over 600 children and families across the year.

Providing inclusive opportunities for the entire family to enjoy outings, sports and holiday activities

Our offering included partnership opportunities with local organisations such as;

Park Lane Stables, Holly Lodge, RISE, St Mary’s University, English Heritage and Magical Quests.

Early Career Development

Our SEND Careers Programme, 'Spread Your Wings' delivers inspirational early career development advice and coaching to young people with disabilities.

The aim and purpose of the programme is to give young people with additional needs an accelerated start to their career development so they feel inspired, supported and enabled to embark on their work/life journey with conﬁdence and aspiration.

There are three core areas of focus; Career Exploration, Personal & Social Development, Parental Advice.

Skills for the future

Career

Planning

Life Skills

Money Skills

Digital Skills and Technology

Parent Workshops and Support

Welcome to Skylarks Hounslow

Building a new community

Skylarks Hounslow will be a new additional centre in parallel to Richmond. Our services at The Crossway Centre will continue to be open as usual.

With the opening of Hounslow, families from Richmond will benefit from more available spaces in Twickenham, additional five day a week services within a five minute drive. We expect many families from all over SW London to access both sites.

Skylarks Hounslow has been designed to ﬁt both the ethos and welcoming nature of the charity, along with being inspired by the surrounding park and gardens.

Skylarks Hounslow will become a ﬂexible space where families can build relations, enjoy activities, and receive the support they need to thrive.

Flexibility was a key factor in the design process, to ensure maximum use of the building for all our services, along with future prooﬁng for years to come.

Each room has been meticulously constructed so that equipment can be moved to open up the space and that it is accessible throughout.

The building is just 15 MINUTES from Twickenham

*15 minutes by public transport

Location

Located in Inwood Park, between Hounslow, Isleworth and Whitton.

Walking distance from Hounslow town centre, 20 bus routes, two train stations.

Six car park spaces

On street parking available

Pounds and Pence

Income

Income £546,173

Skylarks generated income of over £546,173k during the ﬁnancial year 2023/24. This is a 9.5% increase on the previous year.

We do not apply for or receive any statutory contract funding from government or local authorities.

Grants continue to fund the majority of core costs, allowing individual donations to directly support children and families.

Expenditure

Skylarks increased its expenditure by over 13.2% during the ﬁnancial year 2023/24. This increase came particularly from our activities and investment into our team to continue to secure the charity’s future.

In order to continue supporting the increased demand for our services, we expect our expenditure to continue increasing over the coming year as we further support our growing community.

Outgoing £532,502

Volunteering

We want to thank all of the wonderful volunteers who devote so much time effort to creating and providing our services.

Last year, volunteers provided over 1,767 hours of volunteering. This is an increase of 40% compared with volunteering levels the previous year..

The value of this incredible support provided over the last twelve months was £92,700 to the charity.

Thank You to our Supporters..

Funding the service

Skylarks is independent from local government contract funding. We rely solely on donations from trusts and foundations, corporates and individuals, as well as fundraising.

We wish to thank all our dedicated fundraisers who cycled, ran, climbed, and swam all over the country and beyond!