Trustees Report

Plans for future periods

For the year ended 30 September 2022

Trustees remain confident that the strategic aims established in the Foundation’s Strategic Plan 2018-2023 still hold good. These three strategic aims are:

  • the Foundation will be a well-structured, ambitious and clear-sighted organisation, delivering meaningful impact to communities in the UK and overseas;
  • the staff of CareTech and its service users will feel proud of and be strongly engaged in the Foundation; and,
  • the Foundation will be delivering a unique contribution to the charitable marketplace, consistent with CareTech’s values and approach.

Lessons learned

As part of our annual strategic review and reflecting five years of operations, trustees have identified the following key lessons that the Foundation has learned:

  • clarity of purpose is essential to decide what to support – and similar clarity as to timelines and objectives of those supported is vital;
  • there is growing interest in our areas of focus and we have carved out a clear position – there is much scope to contribute more widely to key social debates relevant to the Foundation’s work;
  • increasingly, we have a greater understanding of opportunities to use the funds available to us to tackle key issues and can use a commissioning approach to develop new approaches;
  • increasing engagement with other sector players is powerful, recognising that the disparate nature of the social care sector in particular undermines its coherence and ability to effectively influence wider social policy;
  • the blend of company and independent trustees is really important, as is the value of seeking out expertise from outside;
  • when CareTech staff are engaged, projects can really come alive – but this can be difficult given the nature of the sector – and must remain a key priority for the Foundation; and,
  • regular and meaningful performance monitoring is key – getting the balance right between monitoring performance effectively and micro-management can be tricky but difficult discussions should not be avoided.

Plans for the year ahead
For the year ahead, trustees have identified the following key objectives:

  • To develop the Foundation’s Strategic Plan 2023/24-2027/28.
  • To continue to effectively manage a portfolio of major partnerships, ensuring that they deliver the impact expected and that there is a strong and trusting relationship between the Foundation and its partners through the effective use of the Grants Committee.
  • To review with trustees the balance between UK and overseas major partnerships, feeding any decisions in to the Grant-Making Policy and the Grants Committee.
  • To continue to grow the number of applications to the Foundation’s small grants schemes, with a spread across all areas of CareTech’s operations.
  • To implement the Championing Social Care strategy to further growth across programmes.
  • To continue to build the Foundation’s profile among its core audiences and to ensure a continued focus on efforts to build greater awareness and deeper understanding of its work amongst CareTech staff
  • To ensure rigorous reporting and effective management of all current Partnerships, with well-evidenced impact evaluation plans and reports using the Impact Assessment Framework informed by the Monitoring & Evaluation Report.
  • To publish our fourth Impact Report alongside our Annual Report.
  • To effectively manage the demand for new Partnerships, ensuring that the Foundation has a pipeline of powerful and innovative opportunities.
  • To ensure that the three small grants streams operate at full capacity, enthusing CareTech staff, in the UK and overseas, to take greater advantage of the schemes, particularly in respect of the Match-Funding grants.
  • To implement the agreed investment plan for the proceeds realised from the Foundation’s shares in CareTech plc
  • To continue to implement the agreed Income Diversification Strategy
  • To keep under close review the Foundation’s long-term financial sustainability in the light of the sale of CareTech plc and wider economic volatility.
  • To continue working with PEM on the annual audit to identify opportunities to further improve the charity’s systems and operations.
  • To ensure continued high levels of compliance with the Charity Commission’s Guidance for charities associated with non-charities and with the Code of Good Governance.
  • To implement the recommendations from the Foundations Practice framework self-assessment review.