Dear Parents/Carers

Dear Parent/Carer 

For the last 9 years, although difficult, we have managed to obtain funds to cover activity costs and as you are aware we have never charged for accessing our weekly programme. However, obtaining funding now is incredibly difficult to achieve for current activities- many funders want to fund new projects, goods or buildings. 

A group of parents who are great supporters of CA came forward to offer to pay towards the activities to ease the funding pressures and secure the future and success of what we have developed which we know is a lifeline for many of our members. 

Following a meeting in August with our Parent/Carer Committee with the CA team to explain our current position followed by a trustee meeting, it has been decided that we will put the following into place: 

Our Annual Membership Fee will increase from £10 to £20 and we will be charging a nominal fee of £4 for each activity which will support the costs of the activities themselves without having to go down the commissioning route with the council (at a higher cost of £75 per day or £35 per half day, not available to all members and controlled by the council) therefore remaining in control of our ethos and our values- providing activities that our guys love within a safe environment and with people who care for them dearly.  

We feel very strongly that we have the best team of activity leaders who get the best out of our members, but because they are freelance, we pay for this experience, expertise and quality we wouldn’t have it any other way! We also pay £450 per month to hire the rooms at Orford to deliver our programme. Introducing this fee will help immensely to continue our programme and help us to develop more quality activities and programmes to support our community through creativity, confidence and developing skills for independence. 

I have spoken with a handful of local funding bodies, trusts and foundations to hear their thoughts on introducing fees. They felt very positive about this decision and said that they look favourably on charities who introduce nominal costs to develop a guaranteed income stream to help sustain our work so this decision will also hopefully help with future funding applications. 

This has also been on our Board of Trustees agenda for the past 8 months to have some guaranteed income each month to secure the current programme and develop future opportunities. Our board feel that this is a positive move in line with our strategy and vision. 

My vision is to develop CA further for the development and interests of our members, to continue with our current activities but also embark on new activities that appeal to them. We will continue to fundraise for running costs of which nothing would happen without these, new activities, a minibus and would still love to have a place of our own so this is high on our agenda. 

We are however aware that due to the current economic climate that this may deter some members due to their financial expenditure. If this is of any concern to any of our current members, I invite you to please contact me. This will be treated as highly confidential as we endeavour to support as much as we can. 

For admin and accounting purposes we would be grateful if you could pay by BACS (Bank transfer) a month in advance starting 1st October 2025 and at the beginning of each month thereafter. We are aware of holidays so will take this into account and give a 4-week holiday break for payments.  

Currently we have members not turning up for activities, but we still have to pay for the activity leader and the room hire hence the reason we are asking for a monthly payment in advance. If you have any issues with this, please don’t hesitate to contact me. 

Payments for example: 

1 activity each week = £4 

2 activities each week = £8 

3 activities each week = £12 

4 activities each week = £16 

You are all aware of our passion and dedication to continue to develop the charity for our members to support their wellbeing.  I hope you all understand why we have taken this route to continue our good work. 

I truly appreciate your support with this and encourage you to contact me if you have any concerns or questions.