CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Company limited by guarantee

Company Registration Number:
14503331 (England and Wales)

Unaudited statutory accounts for the year ended 30 November 2023

Period of accounts

Start date: 24 November 2022

End date: 30 November 2023

CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Contents of the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 November 2023

Directors report
Profit and loss
Balance sheet
Additional notes
Balance sheet notes
Community Interest Report

CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Directors' report period ended 30 November 2023

The directors present their report with the financial statements of the company for the period ended 30 November 2023

Principal activities of the company

What a year that was! With the first three months after our incorporation being spent planning, raising funds, and networking our delivery did not start until the beginning of 2023. Having originally set up to work with children and young people, our first session in February was working with the Involve Kent Connect group, working with children and young people with ASC. Little did we know, at the time, that this session would reshape the work that we carried out over the year with Involve Kent approaching us to discuss whether our sessions could be delivered to adults aged 55+ and those with long term health conditions, or who were at risk of social isolation – and so our Fish and Chat programme was born.In February, also, we submitted a tender to Essex County Council to be considered as a Wellbeing provider delivering their Holiday, Activity and Food programme, during the school holidays, for children receiving Free School Meals, at Little Easton Manor. Little Easton Manor was also to be the venue for our, Essex, Angling Trust Get Fishing programme. These sessions ran monthly, between March and October, and became more of a family social event, with both parents and children fishing side by side, whilst other parents sat and chatted together sharing food and drink, whilst the children fished. In March we were awarded a contract to deliver our adult Fish and Chat sessions, as part of the Shaw Trust’s Live Well Kent and Medway offer, in West Kent and Medway. With Angling Trust being awarded lots in West Kent and Swale, they requested that these been reassigned to Cast A Thought and our contract doubled overnight. In April, following a successful HAF bid, our school holiday programme started with two, three-day programmes running over the Easter Holidays. These sessions brought ten, 8–11-year-olds, each week, together to not only learn how to fish, but also, to learn how to cook their own lunches on gas cookers at the side of the lake. May saw the start of our Fish and Chat sessions. The first programme was run in partnership with Involve Kent and Live Well Kent and Medway. This programme was held at Claygate Lakes, Marden and saw five adults come together to learn about fishing, but also to make new friendships. The programme was a success with the group continuing to fish together with regular updates and photos being sent to us from them. Involve Kent’s Connect group also booked in a further session over the half term with twelve young people, some new and others returning, attending to develop their angling skills. With the angling population being one of an aging population, Maidstone Victory Angling Society, approached Cast A Thought to help them deliver their Get Fishing sessions, in a bid to encourage more young people to join the club, in a bid to extend the longevity of the society. In June we held the first of six, monthly sessions. In July we continued to expand our Fish and Chat programme, with sessions at Hadlow being added to the programme. August was a remarkably busy month due to it being the school holidays. Our second HAF programme started at the beginning of the summer school holidays, in July, and ran for three weeks. Many of those who had attended the Easter programme returned and we also welcomed new participants. In addition, we delivered two sessions for Haven House Hospice, one for the siblings of the children accessing the hospice and the second for the dads. We were in awe of these participants with the challenges that day-to-day life brings them and how we take it all in their stride. Two more Connect groups and a session for Young Lives Foundation also took place during the month. Our directors, staff and volunteers did manage to take some time out from this busy schedule to themselves take part in a 3-day festival at Monkhall, which was co-sponsored by Cast A Thought. In September we were approached by Kent Police for help with a group of young people that were causing anti-social behaviour in their community. Following discussions with them and Kent Youth Service the Fish Fest (Fishing Engagement Supporting Teenagers) started to evolve with centred based, skills sessions being run on a Friday evening to get to know the group and gauge their understanding of fishing.New Fish and Chat programmes in Medway and Sheppey commenced, along with a second programme in Hadlow. Additional funding from Social Enterprise Kent also meant that we could start these programmes in Hythe, on the Royal Military Canal, also. Due to the popularity of the Involve Connect sessions, a further two sessions were booked in during October, in addition to Young Lives Foundation returning for a second session. Initially our plan had only been to deliver HAF during the Easter and Summer holidays, however, due to requests from the young people and their parents, two days of activities were put on during the half term holiday. The final weekend in October was Fish Fest weekend with participants taking part in a practice match on the Saturday and the Fish Fest competition match being run on the Sunday, both at Monk Lake, Staplehurst.Our plan for the year had been for sessions to stop at the beginning of November, to enable us to monitor and evaluate the year, plan for 2024 and to submit grant applications to finance the work. However, following requests from the Hadlow and Hythe participants that the sessions continue, we continued on the bank until the end of the month.During 2023 Cast A Thought worked with 176 young people and twenty adults. Feedback from the participants has been favourable and includes:Parent of children attending HAF: My Children attended a holiday programme for 3 days. They had an amazing time and have spoken highly of the experience. The instructors were very friendly and accommodating of the children, their thoughts and feelings and were always giving them a confidence boost. Thank you.Parent of children attending HAF: Thank you so much for the support, kindness, and friendship you have shown my two boys. They have honestly had the best 3 days after such a challenging time of late. It means more than you know. And they will certainly be back to break their PB.Would highly recommend Cast a Thought for a great activity.LWK Link Worker working with female, aged 55+ re Fish and Chat: L's fish and chat sessions ended on Tuesday, and she found it absolutely brilliant. She felt it was a huge achievement that she was able to sit and fish without walking about (she normally cannot sit still for any time at all). She said the people that run it are lovely and she would highly recommend it. She has been going to a private lake to fish and thanks to the intervention feels very safe there and is really enjoying it as a hobby. She is going to keep it up and will go with her brother. She is also looking at overnight stays that include fishing as something different to do. Meeting new people has really brought her out of her shell. She could not sing their praises (and ours) enough and said our involvement has massively improved her life. This is why we do what we do.”B, aged 26 – Fish and Chat attendee - I have been trying to get a handle on life, not isolating indoors and looking for something new to learn. This has provided me with new skills and a hobby I can take forward. I thoroughly enjoyed the sessions not only sitting and soaking up my own environment but also sitting down with the others at the end of the session talking about the fishing and other things. It has helped my mental health.B’s mum who attended with him for support stated that: It has been good. His confidence had been low, he had stopped driving, and he was generally down andmiserable at home. Since coming to the sessions, he has his bounce back, is smiling more and is back driving.Parent of children attending HAF - Thank you to you and your volunteers for everything! My two really enjoy your programme and the relationships they’ve build over their time with you all. Thank you so much for all your support.Parent of young person attending HAF: Thank you so much for all your time and effort you put into the fishing lessons that F attended. He loved every minute of it, even staying over one night with his grandad to continue fishing. He cannot wait to join future events.S aged 53 – Fish and Chat attendee - Cast A Thought has really changed the way I look at things. I finally have a new hobby that I love and enjoy. I get to sit in nature, talk to people around me and catch a fish. The staff are amazing people and what they are doing is changing lives like mine. Thank you so much for the opportunity.Twelve months ago, we would not have dared to anticipate that we would be where we are now. None of our work would have been possible without our lead angling coach, his team of volunteers and the support we received from our funding mentors, Funding for All, and our grant funders – Kent Community Foundation; Angling Trust; Sport England; Colyer Ferguson; Social Enterprise Kent; Find Your Active Essex; Maidstone Borough Council; Tesco Community Grants (Spadework); Kent County Council and Spacehive Crowdfunding. Through the year we have also received support from 23 Red media company who have helped raise our profile via interviews on Radio Kent and ITV News at Ten. This TV appearance led to contacts from individuals across the UK asking what support we offered in their area. For those areas we are unable to cover we signposted enquiries to the Angling Trust’s Approved Wellbeing Provider list. We have held talks with organisations in some of these areas about developing further programmes and hope to develop these in 2024.Our contract with Live Well Kent and Medway will continue into 2024 with Fish and Chat sessions in West Kent, Medway, and Swale. In the next couple of days, we hope to hear whether we have been successful in retaining our contract with Essex County Council for HAF 24.Discussions are underway to roll out another four Fish Fest programmes to tackle youth crime and anti-social behaviour and we have received an approach from the Salvation Army in Southampton to develop a programme with them. Thank you to everyone who has supported us in whatever way they can. Whether it is in the form of equipment donations, which play an important part in ensuring that our work remains sustainable; or monetary donations via Easyfundraising and the Co-op membership scheme; to those purchasing branded merchandise; to those who simply spread the word.December 2023



Directors

The director shown below has held office during the period of
24 April 2023 to 30 November 2023

Ian Groom


The directors shown below have held office during the whole of the period from
24 November 2022 to 30 November 2023

Helen Elstone
Nicholas Baggott


The director shown below has held office during the period of
24 November 2022 to 15 March 2023

Mandy Hales


The above report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions in part 15 of the Companies Act 2006

This report was approved by the board of directors on
15 May 2024

And signed on behalf of the board by:
Name: Nicholas Baggott
Status: Director

CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Profit And Loss Account

for the Period Ended 30 November 2023

2023


£
Turnover: 61,186
Cost of sales: 0
Gross profit(or loss): 61,186
Distribution costs: ( 46,607 )
Administrative expenses: ( 4,611 )
Operating profit(or loss): 9,968
Profit(or loss) before tax: 9,968
Profit(or loss) for the financial year: 9,968

CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Balance sheet

As at 30 November 2023

Notes 2023


£
Fixed assets
Intangible assets:   0
Tangible assets:   0
Investments:   0
Total fixed assets: 0
Current assets
Cash at bank and in hand: 10,218
Total current assets: 10,218
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year: 3 ( 2,144 )
Net current assets (liabilities): 8,074
Total assets less current liabilities: 8,074
Total net assets (liabilities): 8,074
Members' funds
Profit and loss account: 8,074
Total members' funds: 8,074

The notes form part of these financial statements

CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Balance sheet statements

For the year ending 30 November 2023 the company was entitled to exemption under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

These accounts have been prepared and delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

This report was approved by the board of directors on 15 May 2024
and signed on behalf of the board by:

Name: Helen Elstone
Status: Director

The notes form part of these financial statements

CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 November 2023

  • 1. Accounting policies

    Basis of measurement and preparation

    These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions of Section 1A (Small Entities) of Financial Reporting Standard 102

CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 November 2023

  • 2. Employees

    2023
    Average number of employees during the period 1

CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Notes to the Financial Statements

for the Period Ended 30 November 2023

3. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year note

2023
£
Accruals and deferred income 2,144
Total 2,144

COMMUNITY INTEREST ANNUAL REPORT

CAST A THOUGHT CIC

Company Number: 14503331 (England and Wales)

Year Ending: 30 November 2023

Company activities and impact

Cast A Thought delivers fishing activities to support the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and adults along with those suffering from long term health conditions or who are at risk of social isolation. Our first session was run in February 2023 working with a group of autistic young people, a group that have attended numerous sessions during the year due to the holistic benefits of fishing on the condition.During the financial year 2022-2023 the organisations activities have benefited the community in the following ways:Our 22 Get Fishing sessions acted as an introduction to fishing for both children and adults. With all equipment, bait and licences provided these sessions are accessible to all and have been run in a number of locations across Kent and Essex. These sessions have been delivered in partnership with local organisations and also on a ‘come along and see’ basis for the community as a whole.Our 41 Fish and Chat sessions, aimed at adults from the age of 18+, provided an opportunity to learn new skills, in addition to building positive relationships. These groups have resulted in participants joining together once the sessions have finished and fishing independently as a group to maintain connections and skills. Thanks to donations from members of the angling community we have been able to provide, those who do not have the financial means to purchase their own equipment with, equipment to enable them to continue to fish.17 HAF (Holiday Activities and Food) sessions were delivered in partnership with Activate Essex to ensure that those young people receiving free school meals thus helping to alleviate holiday hunger. The organisation has provided part time employment for two workers and volunteering opportunities for 9 members of the community.In total, during this our first year, we have worked with 194 members of the community

Consultation with stakeholders

Partner organisations and the community as a whole have all been consulted in relation to the work that we deliver. At each session participants are asked to complete a brief feedback form. In addition all volunteers are asked for their feedback on the session. This feedback is recorded and used within the planning process to help develop the activities that we offer. For example Involve Kent came to us, following our work with their autistic young people group, and questioned whether we would consider working with adults at risk of social isolation or who had a long term health condition. As a result of this feedback our Fish and Chat sessions came about.

Directors' remuneration

No remuneration was received

Transfer of assets

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration

This report was approved by the board of directors on
15 May 2024

And signed on behalf of the board by:
Name: Helen Elstone
Status: Director