2025-03-31-accounts

?_ Ambulance Charity Annual Report & Accounts 2024125

London Ambulance Charity - Annual Report 2024/25

1. Background to the London Ambulance Charity

London Ambulance Charity (LAC) is the working title of the London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund . Its corporate trustee, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS), is the only NHS provider Trust to serve the whole of London.

LAC is the official NHS Charity dedicated solely to supporting the people and patients of LAS over and above what is possible through core government funding.

London Ambulance Charity was registered with the Charity Commission on 7 March 1997 under the Registered Number 1061191, and is referred to as the General Fund with the charitable purpose:

To apply the income, at its discretion, for any charitable purpose or purposes relating to the National Health Service wholly or mainly for the services provided by the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

About our Service

We are proud to be the capital’s emergency and urgent care responders. The past year was exceptionally demanding, and our dedicated staff worked tirelessly to provide care to the people of London whenever they needed us most.

This year, we received more than two million emergency 999 calls and two million urgent 111 calls. We provided care to a million patients face-to-face at the scene and treated 273,139 people over the phone.

LAS works closely with its NHS partners including NHS England, commissioners, hospitals, specialist trusts and Integrated Care Systems (ICS). LAS plays a leading role in integrating access to emergency and urgent care in the capital.

Collaboration with the Metropolitan Police Service, London Fire Brigade, London’s Air Ambulance and London’s Resilience Forums means LAS are ready and prepared to respond to major incidents and help ensure we keep Londoners safe.

The charity is an active fundraiser and produces its annual report as a dual-purpose document to meet the requirements of the SORP FRS 102 but also to be used as part of the fundraising strategy. This means that the trustee’s annual report can be distributed with the accounts or as a free-standing document.

2. Foreword by the Chairman of charitable funds committee

Welcome to our Annual Report for 2024/25. I am proud to be the Chair of the Charitable Funds Committee.

In the last financial year, we saw an impressive increase in the amount of income raised and secured by the charity, we expanded our calendar of fundraising events and created compelling new campaigns that the people of London could truly get behind and support.

The purpose of the charity could not be more important – it works solely for the specific benefit of the London Ambulance Service, its dedicated staff and its patients. And as the Service gets

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busier every year, the work the charity does to help protect the health and wellbeing of staff in difficult times, and raising money for life-saving equipment across London, has ever increasing impact.

Throughout the year, the Service continued to experience high levels of operational pressures. To help support our staff and volunteers in these demanding times, the Charity has worked to grow its support for colleagues’ health and wellbeing, through funding grant requests requested to improve wellbeing and the environment of our busy ambulance stations. This includes our investment in Wellbeing Support Vehicles and Cafes, which deliver wellbeing checks, refreshments, and – where needed – referrals to mental health services, to frontline paramedics and call handlers who regularly experience trauma as part of their day-to-day roles.

Key highlights of our year include:

• Launching our first-ever, large-scale fundraising campaign to help save lives in London. The London Heart Starters campaign aims to raise £400,000 over two years to fund 200 additional defibrillators in neighbourhoods where they are most needed.

• Launching our flagship event – The London Life Hike. This family-friendly sponsored walk around the landmarks of London attracted more than 200 participants in its first year and raised £24,000.

• Expanding our events portfolio with our first ever Dragon Boat Race, which was a fun team-building day in the sun, that helped raise just under £19,000, and the Big Stadium Abseil at Tottenham football stadium, raising a record £28,500 for our cause.

• Training 16,134 people in life-saving CPR skills and the use of public access defibrillators through pop-up events, outreach initiatives, and our Year 8 Pupil initiative in schools – our highest annual total to date.

On behalf of the Corporate Trustee Board, I would like to thank everyone who has kindly donated gifts or money for the benefit of our staff and volunteers who have continued to work so hard over the last year.

We are the Charity of the UK’s busiest ambulance service and are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our staff and volunteers and increasing community resilience throughout the capital. This supports the LAS in its objective to ensure patients across London receive the right response, in the right place, at the right time. Your donations made this work possible, and your future donations are the key to our future success.

Thank you for your continued support as this has been crucial in our progress to date. I hope you’ll continue your commitment to helping save even more lives in the capital for the year ahead. If you or your organisation would like to get involved, please contact [e-mail].

Robert Alexander Chair of the Charitable Funds Committee

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3. Who we are: our objectives and activities

London Ambulance Charity (LAC) is a registered charity (Number 1061191). We exist to raise funds and receive donations for the benefit of the NHS, and more specifically the London Ambulance Service, our key partner in fulfilling our charitable aims.

By securing donations, legacies, and sponsorship, LAC can support projects beyond the scope of NHS statutory funding to improve the wellbeing of the 10,000 people who work or volunteer for LAS, and improve access to life-saving care to the nine million people who live in, work in or visit London.

We also work directly with London communities, improving resilience and health education by teaching the life-saving skills of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use a defibrillator. These skills are critically important in helping before an ambulance arrives if someone is unconscious and not breathing normally. And we have expanded our outreach by funding and installing public-access defibrillators in neighbourhoods where they are most needed, often areas of deprivation.

LAC also has a linked charity also administered by the corporate trustee, as follows:

Voluntary Responders Group (Registered Number 1061191-1)

It was registered on 22 December 2011. The charitable objects are:

To apply the income, and at its discretion, so far as may be permissible, the capital to advance health, save lives and to promote the efficiency of ambulance services, and in particular, but without limitation by the promotion of volunteering within London Ambulance Services’ geographical area of responsibility and in relation to its services.

Donations received by the General Fund in the past and currently are specifically given to thank ambulance personnel. The Charitable Funds Committee have agreed that the main purpose of the General Fund is to fund projects for the benefit of the staff and volunteers of the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, such as grants towards improved facilities for crews at ambulance stations which are outside the scope of NHS funding.

The London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund is defined as a Public Benefit Entity. The Trustees confirm that they have given due consideration to the Charity Commission’s published guidance on the Public Benefit requirements under the Charities Act 2022.

4. Our mission

Using innovative fundraising methods, campaigns and compelling story telling to raise our profile, we will raise new money and ensure careful management of our existing funds. LAC provides a public benefit by making grants to London Ambulance Service in line with its vision and missions:

Our current vision

Saving more lives in London – Caring for the people and patients of the London Ambulance Service

Our updated enduring missions are:

1. Improving the healthcare and resilience of the communities we serve.

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1. Enhancing the health and wellbeing of the people working and volunteering for the London Ambulance Service.

2. Sharing and celebrating the proud history of London’s emergency healthcare services.

Grants are made in accordance with charity law, our constitution and the wishes and directions of donors. In making grants, we endeavour to reflect the wishes of patients, staff and volunteers by directing funds towards areas they tell us are most in need. During the year 2024/25, £143,000 went to funding our London Lifesavers campaign, and £98,000 was gifted to use on staff education and wellbeing. Staff grants totalling £3,000 were also made. When considering where to focus our attention our corporate trustee’s board and, particularly, the members of the charitable funds committee have regard to the Charity Commission for England and Wales’s guidance on public benefit and what this means for LAC.

As we support the busiest NHS ambulance Trust in the UK it is our ambition to be the leading NHS ambulance charity in size, income and impact to support our partner Trust. With the leadership of our Head of Charity, we have expanded our charity team to increase our proactive fundraising activities and income, continuing our 5 Year Charity Strategy trajectory to grow unrestricted income to help save even more lives in London.

5. What we have achieved: activities undertaken in the year

• In July, we launched our first-ever large-scale fundraising campaign – London Heart Starters. The London Heart Starters campaign will fundraise to ensure there are an additional 200 public-access defibrillators in unlocked cabinets where they are needed most. Our campaign uses a data-driven approach to identify ‘defib deserts’, small communities across the capital that have very few or no defibrillators available to help save the life of someone having a cardiac arrest. The launch included a presentation of this data and free London Lifesaver CPR/defibrillation training, and the campaign has been featured in media stories and on the Service’s social media channels throughout the year.

• On Sunday 8th September, we were thrilled to be joined by over 200 supporters who took on the London Life Hike and fundraised for our London Heart Starters campaign. London Life Hikers and members of the public passing by the Battersea Park Bandstand had the opportunity to learn CPR and defibrillation at our London Lifesavers Tent in the event village. Other stalls included the Historic Collection Team of old ambulances and motorbikes, a children’s activity stall, and one of the charity-funded LAS Wellbeing Support Vehicles. It was a great day, celebrating the incredible people working for LAS and working together, as a community, to help save lives in London.

• Our community fundraising was given a boost with 17 runners taking part in the 13-mile London Landmarks Half Marathon through the City of London and Westminster. The team collectively raised £10,482 for the London Ambulance Charity.

• Additionally, 10 runners conquered the iconic London Marathon for the charity, raising an incredible £9,200 for the Charity. Tim Rouen finished with a new personal best time of 3 hours 24 minutes. He said , “The support and cheers got me a personal best time! I loved the big cheer when I came past the crowds towards the end – it gave me a boost to get me over the finish line.”

• Our community fundraising portfolio expanded with the inclusion of the London to Brighton Cycle Ride. On 15th September 2024 our team of 19 cyclists flew the flag for the London Ambulance Service at the 55-mile London to Brighton Cycle Event and raised over £6,800 for the Charity.

• The London Lifesavers Initiative continued to thrive, teaching 8,526 Year 8 pupils from 69 London Secondary Schools the life-saving skills of CPR and defibrillation. They

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additionally hosted pop-up trainings in high footfall locations such as Kings Cross railway station, the London Eye, and even the London Science Museum!

• Our events portfolio was further developed beyond the London Life Hike and included charity-hosted events, including the Dragon Boat Race and Big Stadium Abseil. Descriptions and funds raised from these events are outlined in section 7.

• We further developed our relationships with local businesses and the offer for our individual donors by providing a Summer and Winter Prize Draw. These draws included thousands of pounds of donated items including a 55” 4K TV, a Kindle, meal vouchers, tickets to live shows and cinema, and days out in London.

• The London Ambulance Charity Shop was launched in the spring and provides supporters the opportunities to purchase useful and fun merchandise that celebrates the London Ambulance Service and Charity including baby grows, tote bag, hats, hoodies, gym bags, journals and stationery, cooler bags, t-shirts, and more.

• We maintained a substantive charity team of three full-time staff members. The roles include a Charity Development Administrator, Community & Events Fundraiser and Head of Charity. The Charity Development Administrator is responsible for documenting and acknowledging income, administration of our Charity Operational Group meetings, and communications with internal and external supporters. The Community & Events Fundraiser is responsible for supporting the efforts of community and challenge fundraisers such as London Marathon runners, as well as developing and implementing a regular LAC-hosted events schedule.

• We received two legacies in 2024/25, totalling £7,000. These generous gifts-in-wills have supported our grant making potential and helped us support staff and volunteer wellbeing initiatives.

6. NHS Charities Together grants

Ambulance Grant

In 2021/22 we received an Ambulance Grant of £896,000 for our London Lifesaver project to train volunteers with life-saving skills and increase public access defibrillators across London. After a slight delay due to the high demand on ambulance services in 2021/22 and 2022/23, the initiative was re-launched on Restart a Heart Day in 2023 and has been proceeding steadily ever since.

The restructured programme is currently delivered through three event types: schools, corporates, and pop-ups. Specifically, emphasis has been placed on training thousands of school children how to save a life, kick starting in London boroughs where data suggests the impact would be greatest. The training is delivered by qualified clinicians and has had excellent results this year including training 16,134 people in CPR and the use of public access defibrillators – our highest annual total to date!

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Key achievements in 2024/25 include:

London Lifesavers training events

Development Grants

In 2022/23 we received a £30,000 Development Grant to support needs that align with a development assessment. Our needs were assessed as follows:

• Part-Time Charity Development Administrator (£25,000)

• Awareness and Collateral (£3,000)

• Infrastructure (£2,000)

During 2023/24, the funding was used in part to provide infrastructure, awareness and collateral, and the first year of the Charity Development Administrator salary. During 2024/25 the funding has been used in its entirety and has further supported the position of the Charity Development Administrator, which has highlighted the importance and significance of this role.

Stage 3 of our Recovery Grant

To help London Ambulance Service recover from the traumatic impact of how stretched services were during the Covid-19 pandemic, we applied for, and were granted, a Recovery Grant to help bolster and improve the support that our dedicated volunteers can provide. The grant has been distributed in two rounds, totalling £132,000. The recovery projects aim to:

• Train 15 Emergency Responders to gain C1 license

• Train 15 Emergency Responders to gain C1 license (Blue Light Driver Training)

• Provide 104 iPads so that First Responders have the technology they require to assist and support LAS during an emergency.

• Retro fitting of 4 response vehicles for volunteers.

At the end of the financial year, 104 iPads were purchased for the volunteer programme. Three Emergency Responder volunteers have been trained to gain C1 license. A further two

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Emergency Responders volunteers have completed a Blue Light Driver Training course. Finally, three First Responder cars were refitted with medical supplies which included equipment such as Laerdal suction units, defibrillators and cases, primary response needs and diagnostic equipment.

No further courses were scheduled in 2024/25 due to the Emergency Responder volunteer scheme review. This review is now complete and a plan to build and grow this programme will be announced in 2025/26.

Community Resilience Grant

In 2023/24, the Charity actively participated and supported a partnership between NHS Charities Together and OMAZE which has raised £2.85 million to specifically fund community resilience initiatives of NHS Ambulance Charities. NHS Charities Together have allocated ‘round figure’ grants of £142,000 to member charities as part of this grants fund which has left £1,004,000 to contribute to their wider work on Community Resilience, which will be multifaceted and multi-year in nature.

We applied for and received a grant of £142,000 to support our London Heart Starters Campaign. The grant from NHS Charities Together will fund a Charity Public Access Defibrillator Coordinator, 57 Public Access Defibrillators in unlocked, heated cabinets and prep kits, as well as campaign marketing materials and translation services for CPR and defibrillator trainings within our priority neighbourhoods where English is a second language.

Future grants

We will continue to monitor grant opportunities from Trusts and foundations, and will apply for funding where applicable for 2025/26, such as the NHS Charities Together Workforce Wellbeing Grant, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and Garfield Weston.

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Case Study: “Mummy, I’m a Lifesaver”: paramedics teach life-saving skills to children at London Zoo

Paramedics from London Ambulance Service taught children and families at London Zoo what to do if someone’s heart stops beating.

Matea pledges to be a London Lifesaver.

At a pop-up event at the world’s oldest scientific zoo, families were given a demonstration in how to perform chest compressions and use a defibrillator from the Service’s London Lifesavers team.

The London Lifesavers campaign, which is funded by the London Ambulance Charity, provides free training for communities, organisations and schools in the life-saving skills you need to help when someone goes into cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is a life-threatening emergency where a person’s heart stops pumping blood and oxygen around the body.

Matea, aged 9, her dad Keith and her younger brother Manolo pledged to help save a life by learning these simple skills and the key things to look out for – danger, response, shout for help, airway, breathing, circulation and defibrillation (which makes the acronym DRs ABCD).

The family, originally from Sheffield but live in Malaga, Spain, were visiting London for a holiday.

Matea said: “I’m really proud to be a London Lifesaver. I’ve learnt about DRs ABCD and when I should call for help if I see anyone seriously hurt.

“I’ve found the training really good and I would encourage other children to take part.”

Mum Nadia added: “Matea and Manolo are incredibly proud to complete the training and they ran over to me and said ‘mummy, I’m a Lifesaver!’ They have carried on wearing their badges.

“It was a great opportunity for them!”

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7. How we funded our work, our achievements and performance

In 2024/25, the Charity’s fundraising activities expanded our focus on individual gifts and community fundraising to include an extensive events calendar and additional initiatives such as the Summer and Winter Prize Draws and Golf Auction. This year we received more income than expenditure (£272,000), mainly due to additional income in the restricted fund related to Community First Responders and the Community Resilience Grant from NHS Charities Together.

Incorporating previous years’ fundraising data with industry trends allows us to diversify our income streams which is critically important to plan sustainable income generation activities that will allow us to continue to deliver our mission for the foreseeable future.

In this section we firstly explain how we raised the money and then how we spent it. If more details are required, please refer to the full accounts.

Money received: sources of funds

Below is an outline of our diversified income streams. Our largest source of income in the financial year 2024-25 has been the corporate donation from the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust for the Community First Responders (as shown in the related parties note in the financial statements) followed by a grant from NHS Charities Together. The next sources are gifts in wills and donations from the public, mainly through platforms such as JustGiving.

Donations from individuals : We are grateful for the support of individuals donating to thank LAS staff for their service, and to honour the memories of those who were helped by our teams.

London Ambulance Charity Events : building on the strengths from previous years and with the expertise of our Events & Community Fundraising Manager, we were able to significantly increase our event portfolio, providing a variety of events that attract a diverse group of new and committed supporters. The events not only raise money, but through fundraising, expand our community of supporters to include friends and family members of event participants who sign up to our newsletter.

Dragon Boat Race (£21,000) – Our inaugural Dragon Boat Race competition took place on Thursday 18 July at Surrey Quays Docks. Eleven teams consisting of LAS staff and corporate partners and friends took to the water and completed a series of 200 metre races, with the winning team raising the trophy and celebrating with a bottle of champagne!

London Life Hike (£24,000) - On Sunday, 8th September, we were thrilled to be joined by over 200 supporters who took on the London Life Hike and fundraised for our London Heart Starters Campaign. (see feature box below)

Big Stadium Abseil (£29,000) - Our brave #TeamLAS Charity abseilers took on this daring challenge on Friday 14 March at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They first scaled the famous stadium, completed “The Dare Skywalk” and stepped out onto a glass walkway a whopping 46.8 metres above the Spurs pitch to see the iconic golden cockerel close up. They could then admire the scenic view before stepping off “The Edge” whilst hanging by ropes for descent to complete the thrilling 42 metre abseil.

Community Fundraising (£43,000) – participation in community and challenge events continues to grow, with support in this fundraising activity coming from sponsorships for our London Marathon, Landmarks Half Marathon runners and our additional London to Brighton Cycle Ride participants.

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Trust & Foundation (£114,00) – This is the first installation of the £142,000 Community Resilience Grant from NHS Charities Together. The second installation will be provided upon completion of an interim report updating the funder on campaign progress at the mid-way point.

Corporate (£35,000) – the result of corporate partner gifts, and the generous in-kind donations of businesses such as Hampton by Hilton, Starbucks, LUSH, Rosewood Hotel, and several others for our Summer and Winter Prize Draws as well as our Tee-Time with Friends Golf Auction.

Gift (£280,000) - We also received a gift as a restricted donation from LAS NHS Trust for the CFR programme.

Legacy Fundraising (£7,000) - we received two legacies this year.

We anticipate our event and individual income to continue to increase as the Charity team works to develop relationships with supporters, expand our charity places in London challenge events, and raise awareness of the charity locally. With a Community & Events Fundraising Manager in post, it is planned for the Charity to host one event each quarter in the year ahead and explore other opportunities for community fundraising.

The Head of Charity continues to establish a diverse portfolio of fundraising income streams to maintain income above pre-pandemic levels and to ensure sustainable growth. We expect income from all income streams to increase as the charity raises its profile and demonstrates its public benefit.

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London Life Hikers paint the capital yellow

On Sunday, 8 September 2024, we were thrilled to be joined by over 200 supporters who took on the London Life Hike and fundraised for our London Heart Starters Campaign. This campaign helps save even more lives in the capital by funding more public-access defibrillators in neighbourhoods where they are most needed.

We weren't sure about the weather when our team headed to start setting up the Battersea Band Stand at 7:00 am, but the rain held (mostly) and we enjoyed sunshine and warmth for most of the route. Despite a brief downpour, our 5km finishers still wore smiles underneath their umbrellas.

Olivia Peters, Community & Events Fundraiser, successfully planned the inaugural flagship event. Of the day, she said,

"I am incredibly touched by the wonderful community of people who gathered together to support this great cause. Thanks to everyone's incredible fundraising, the event raised an astounding £24,000 - enough to fund 15 defibrillators!"

It was a great day, celebrating the incredible people working for LAS and working together to help save lives in London.

8. Money spent: what we spent our money on

We spent £50,000 on Wellbeing Initiatives for the people of LAS including:

• Wellbeing Support Vehicles and Cafes (£40,000) – healthy snacks and hot beverages were provided, offering road and office based colleagues respite during busy shifts. Whilst visiting the WSVs or Cafes, staff are offered a wellbeing checkin and have the opportunity to debrief and receive support and signposted to support services. We also use WSVs and café’s to celebrate our international

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colleagues by providing holiday-related snacks and treats throughout the year such as EID, Diwali and Shrove Tuesday.

• Holiday-themed hampers (£10,000) were individually curated and sent according to dietary requirements, to every ambulance station to celebrate and appreciate the staff that were serving their community for Christmas and Boxing Day. Crews were able to take their goodies out on the road to enjoy between patients, whilst contact centre colleague enjoyed this offering during their break times. We truly appreciate their dedication to responding to emergency calls in the capital during the holiday season and recognise that they are missed by their families on these special days.

Our wellbeing initiatives continue to be well-received by the people of LAS, as evidenced by the feedback we received:

“I just wanted to thank you for the Health Plan Conversation! It was really the 'pick me up' that I needed and has further ingrained my belief that representation matters. It was nice to be able to speak to someone at the wellbeing café that I felt could understand me without having to over explain. Thanks to you and your whole team! “

“Just wanted to say thank you very much for everything you all do to support our colleagues; it really is appreciated by us all. Thank you for highlighting Mental Health Well Being, especially the different ways our colleagues can get support. Please take care of yourselves and thank you once again.”

“Fantastic resource with very friendly staff who really are an asset to the ambulance service. Thank you for the lovely catch up! Mandy is great!”

“Mandy was lovely today at Kingston, sweet treat was exactly what I needed after coming to the end of a long shift “

“I was overjoyed by the welfare truck turning up at hospital. Really made a difference after a sad job.”

“It’s good to see the wellbeing truck and be offered a drink and snack, plus chill music and a chat. Makes the organisation seem more human”

“Hot and sweaty after a blue call with difficult extrication. Nothing could have picked me up more than a friendly colleague with an ice pop! Really appreciated and was great to have a laugh with them.”

Grants for Staff Amenities and Welfare

During the year the Charity supported 8 staff projects through charity grants including:

• Equipment for staff (£3,000) - TVs, refurbished pool tables, indoor plants, calm lighting, recreational activities and kitchen appliances to improve mess room facilities at ambulance stations.

Furniture and Gardens (£1,000) – to create relaxing outdoor spaces for our staff and volunteers to take their breaks. Volunteers London Life Savers

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• Volunteers London Life Savers, a proportion of the London Lifesavers grant was spent in accordance with the grant spending plan; to fund the overtime work of dedicated London Lifesaver Trainers.

Other Expenditure

This consists of the JustGiving subscription and fees on donations for both general and Volunteer Responder Group funds, software and licence costs and other costs.

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Charity runner races in full ambulance uniform and response bag

An emergency responder at London Ambulance Service ran a half marathon wearing his full uniform and heavy response bag to raise money for charity.

Christopher Newman ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon on Sunday but to make it even more challenging he wore green uniform, bulky work boots and carried his 13kg response bag. He finished the race in a time of two hours fifty-one minutes.

Christopher was one of 17 #TeamLAS runners who took part in the 13 mile race through the City of London and Westminster. The team collectively raised £10,482 for the London Ambulance Charity. Christopher, 60, said:

“Just wearing the uniform trousers alone makes running very difficult, then adding the boots and the rucksack is such a weight.

“But I did it to raise money for the London Ambulance Charity, which supports the wellbeing and welfare of our ambulance crews.”

Christopher has been an emergency responder for 10 years which means he is a trained volunteer who attends 999 calls in full uniform and in a blue-light response car.

He regularly volunteers for shifts at London Ambulance Service despite having a busy full-time job in Monaco. He said:

“It is incredibly rewarding to volunteer and we make a difference every shift. Sometimes that difference can be helping to save someone’s life; sometimes it will be making a patient smile.

“But I see first-hand how hard LAS crews work. It can be a tough and demanding job and we definitely need to support their welfare – and the charity can make a real difference to their lives.”

London Ambulance Service has more than 100 ERs from a diverse range of professions and logged more than 12,000 volunteer hours last year.

All the money raised by Christopher will fund wellbeing initiatives for fellow staff and volunteers.

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9. Performance against objectives

We aimed to develop and promote in 2024/25 as the third year of the approved charity strategy. We launched our own 2-year fundraising campaign, London Heart Starters. We stabilised our team to improve efficiencies and expand our fundraising events portfolio with our Community & Events Fundraiser and Charity Development Administrator. These roles have helped to create procedures and processes that streamline our services and diversify the charity’s income streams beyond grants from NHS Charities Together.

We have grown our events activity further with the hosting of three events, a winter and summer prize draw, and supported three community fundraising events. We developed our trading opportunities with the launch of our Charity Shop.

We continued to support our NHS Charities Together grants through required reporting.

10. Our fundraising practices

The Charity abides by the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Code of Conduct, Fundraising Promise, and Rogare’s Fundraising Manifestos.

Charity staff organise fundraising events and co-ordinate, recognise and celebrate the activities of our supporters both internally and externally. The Charity uses professional fundraisers and involve commercial participators solely to help with recruiting lottery sign-ups.

There have been no complaints about fundraising this year.

The Charity additionally registered with the independent Fundraising Regulator to ensure donor confidence and fundraising best practice.

11. Our fundraising performance

Since growing our Charity team to a team of three FTE and increasing our efficiency and capacity, we have been able to successfully grow our income through planned activities and relationships. For example, since hiring a Community & Events Fundraiser, income from those activities have increased from £12,000 per year to an incredible £119,000 in 2024/25. For the current year, our total fundraising target was set at £350,000, and we are thrilled to report that total charitable income was £627,000 at year end.

We continued to proactively fundraise and develop new relationships with key corporate organisations. The implementation of the charity CRM database has allowed the charity to create engaging campaigns and events, build strong connections with our supporters, analyse income data to plan and adapt our fundraising initiatives, and develop a donor stewardship programme to increase income and broaden our supporter base.

12. What we plan to do with your donations: our future plans

As the Charity develops and creates a consistent and sustainable level of income we expect the Charity to support a larger range of projects and with a greater level of spend. In line with the public benefit of the charity we have identified the following areas that meet the charity’s objects:

• Support Service staff and volunteer’s physical and mental wellbeing

• Carry on and expand the London Lifesavers Project.

• Encourage better health in the communities the Trust serves.

• Promote innovation, transformation and efficient new ways of working.

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• Support the Trust’s Green agenda with a focus on sustainability

• Help staff deliver front line patient care more effectively.

• Recruit and support Community First Responder volunteers and Emergency Responder volunteers.

• Recognise and celebrate our staff and volunteers.

• Invest in projects that enhance patient care.

Our 5 Year Charity Strategy focuses on Promote and Mature operational priorities in Year 4 2025/26 to ensure a strong foundation for growth and sustainability into the future:

• Complete London Ambulance Charity’s own 2-year campaign (London Heart Starters)

• Deliver London Lifesavers initiative in final year of grant-funding and begin fundraising to maintain this service

• Recruit high-profile patrons for the campaign

• Work with Charity Ambassadors to demonstrate impact of London Heart Starters through case studies

• Host a donor stewardship event

• Review supporter retention

• Begin prioritising projects for consideration of next 2-year fundraising campaign

13. How we manage the money

Our grant making policy – Grant requests are submitted to the Charity throughout the year for discussion and approval. They are invited from any member of the London Ambulance Service. Based on their knowledge of the Service, the Charitable Funds Committee, agrees funding priorities and the CFC or their delegated representative reviews the applications for quality, public benefit and value for money. A Grants Guidance document has been published and is available for all staff on the Trust intranet.

14. Our reserves policy

The charitable funds committee has established a reserves policy as part of its plans to provide long term support to London Ambulance Charity.

The charitable funds committee calculate the reserves as part of the charity’s unrestricted income funds that is freely available after taking account of designated funds that have been earmarked for specific projects.

The Trustees have agreed that the level of the reserves should cover the next 12 months committed operating expenditure. The level will be reviewed by the Charity Committee on an annual basis.

15. Trustee arrangements

The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the sole corporate trustee of the charity. The corporate trustee’s responsibilities are therefore carried out by London Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s board of directors. The board is appointed in accordance with the NHS Trust’s constitution. Details of London Ambulance Service NHS Trust board membership can be found in its annual report and accounts and on its website.

As the charity has a corporate trustee it is, in accounting terms, controlled by London Ambulance Service NHS Trust and is therefore its subsidiary. Financially, the charity is not

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material to London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, so it is not consolidated into the Trust’s accounts.

London Ambulance Service NHS Trust board meet annually as corporate trustee to:

• review and approve the charity’s strategic plan

• re-appoint or appoint members of the charitable funds committee and

• approve the trustee’s annual report and accounts for the year.

The board of directors of London Ambulance Service NHS Trust delegate responsibility for the day-to-day management of the charity to the charitable funds committee and the trust fund director in accordance with the scheme of delegation and standing financial instructions. Together, they are responsible for fulfilling the corporate trustee’s strategic plan and for working with the professional advisors and with the representatives of London Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

The charitable funds committee comprises two executive members of the board and two nonexecutive members. Other members of London Ambulance Service NHS Trust staff are invited to attend committee meetings but do not have a vote at those meetings. During the year, the committee members were:

o	Robert Alexander	Non-Executive Director (in the Chair)
o	Rommel Pereira	Non-Executive Director
o	Daniel Elkeles	Chief Executive
o	Rakesh Patel	Chief Finance Officer
o	Roger Davidson	Director of Strategy
o	Jessica Burgess	Head of Charity
o	Mark Easton	Director Corporate Affairs
o	Kevin Ind	Chief Financial Accountant
o	Sam Palfreyman-Jones	Head of First Responders
o	Eddie Brand	UNISON representative

16. Our staff and advisors

The Charitable Funds Committee is assisted by a number of professional advisors, as detailed below:

External auditors:

KPMG LLP 15 Canada Square Canary Wharf London E14 5GL

Internal auditors:

BDO LLP 55 Baker Street London W1U 7EU

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Fraud advisor:

RSM UK Risk Assurance Services LLP The Pinnacle, 170 Midsummer Boulevard Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire MK9 1BP

How to contact us

The charity office and principle address of London Ambulance Charity is:

London Ambulance Charity London Ambulance Service 220 Waterloo Road London SE1 8SD

For fundraising queries please contact:

Jessica Burgess – Head of Charity Development [e-mail] 07385 347446

17. Key management personnel remuneration

The board of the corporate trustee and the trust fund director comprise the key management personnel of the charity as they are in charge of:

• Directing and controlling the charity

• Running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis.

London Ambulance Service (LAS) NHS Trust’s board members are either executive members who are employees of LAS NHST or non-executive members who are remunerated in accordance with the LAS NHST constitution. None of the board members are specifically paid in relation to LAS Charity. They give of their time freely. Since September 2021 the Trust has paid for a Head of Charity Development post to oversee the development, management, governance and coordination of charitable activities. During this fiscal year, the Trust has also paid for a Corporate Fundraising Manager to help develop our corporate fundraising activities.

The Charity’s paid staff include a Charity Development Administrator and a Community & Events Fundraiser.

18. Risk analysis

As part of the business planning exercise carried out during the year, the charitable funds committee has considered the major risks to which LAS Charity is exposed and manage them through a risk register to identify steps to mitigate those risks.

o Future levels of income

The charity is reliant on donations to allow it to make grants to the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust. If income falls, then the charity would not be able to make as many grants or enter into longer term commitments with the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust it supports.

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As set out in the 5 Year Charity Strategy, the financial plan aims to increase unrestricted income to build the Charity’s reserves to support long term sustainable growth.

The Charity will work to deliver a range of fundraising ‘products’ with an initial focus on lowrisk, low resource income streams whilst the Charity is small e.g. established campaigns and events, staff fundraising and shared initiatives.

The income growth will be supported by increased investment into fundraising, primarily through additional staffing within the Charity.

19. Wider networks

The Charity is an active and paying member of NHS Charities Together, which has membership of 100% of NHS charities across Great Britain and Northern Ireland. NHSCT is a membership organisation providing peer support, as well as an independent registered charity, and grant funder. We currently attend two NHSCT special interest groups; London Regional group and the Ambulance Charity group.

Our Head of Charity is the Chair of the NHS Charity Ambulance Special interest group, with members from across all the NHS Ambulance Trust charities in the UK. As Chair, she works with her Deputy Chair to arrange regular meetings, compile agendas, invite guests, update group members with news from NHS Charities Together, ensure inclusivity and participation during meetings, and track actions for the group.

20. Related parties

London Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the corporate trustee of the charity as well as its main grant beneficiary – they are therefore related parties. Grants paid by the charity to London Ambulance Service NHS Trust are detailed in note 11.

London Ambulance Service NHS Trust makes a number of clerical and transaction services available to the charity, however charges for these services are waived. The services provided by the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust are administrative and financial services.

None of the members of the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust board or parties related to them has undertaken any transactions with the charity or received any benefit from the charity in payment or kind.

21. Our relationship with the wider community

The London Ambulance Charity’s ability to continue to support staff, volunteers and patients is reliant on its ability to raise funds from the general public. By raising its profile internally the Charity is engaging colleagues to take part in its fundraising activities, and actively apply for grants to benefit their areas, their teams and patients they serve.

22. Volunteers

Volunteer Emergency Responders and Community First Responders, are activated alongside LAS employees to provide an additional response to life-threatened or seriously ill or injured patients. If they arrive before the LAS response they are able to provide emergency life support to the patient. For incidents when the volunteer arrives after an LAS solo responder, they have a vital role in providing trained support to the LAS responders, adding significant benefit to patient outcomes.

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In accordance with the SORP, due to the absence of any reliable measurement basis, the contribution of these volunteers is not recognised in the accounts.

23. Statement of trustee’s responsibilities in respect of the trustee’s annual report and accounts

Under charity law, the trustee is responsible for preparing the trustee’s annual report and accounts for each financial year which show a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, generally accepted accounting practice requires that the trustee:

• selects suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.

• makes judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.

• states whether the recommendations of the SORP FRS 102 have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.

• • states whether the financial statements comply with the trust deed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.

• prepares the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue its activities.

The trustee is required to act in accordance with the trust deed and the rules of the charity, within the framework of trust law. The trustee is responsible for keeping proper accounting records, sufficient to disclose at any time, with reasonable accuracy, the financial position of the charity at that time, and to enable the trustee to ensure that, where any statements of accounts are prepared by the trustee under section 132(1) of the Charities Act 2011, those statements of accounts comply with the requirements of regulations under that provision. The trustee has general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to the trustee to safeguard the assets of the charity and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

Signed on behalf of the trustee:

Name: Robert Alexander (Chair of the charitable funds committee)

Date: 16[th] December 2025

20

LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE CHARITABLE FUND

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 MARCH 2025

21

London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Statement of Financial Activities for the year ending 31 March 2025

	Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds
Note	2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000 2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000 2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000
Income from: Donations and Legacies 2 Investments 3 Total incoming resources Expenditure on: Raising Funds 4a Charitable Activities 4b Total expenditure Net income/ (expenditure) Reconciliation of Funds: Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward	233 141 394 1 627 142 30 16 0 0 30 16
	263 157 394 1 657 158 -98 -34 -2 -22 -100 -56 -137 -95 -148 -73 -285 -168
	-235 -129 -150 -95 -385 -224 28 28 244 -94 272 -66 402 374 583 677 985 1,051
	430 402 827 583 1,257 985

The net movement in funds for the year arises from the charity’s continuing operation. No separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has been presented as all such gains and losses have been dealt with in the statement of financial activities.

The notes at pages 25 to 29 form part of these accounts.

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London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Balance Sheet as at 31 March	London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Balance Sheet as at 31 March	London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Balance Sheet as at 31 March	London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Balance Sheet as at 31 March	London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Balance Sheet as at 31 March	London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Balance Sheet as at 31 March	London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Balance Sheet as at 31 March
			2025
Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds General Fund Note 2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000 2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000 2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000 Debtors 5 25 4 0 0 25 4 Cash at bank and in hand 6 654 459 999 738 1,653 1,197 ~~aee~~
Total current assets		679	463 999	738	1,678	1,201
Creditors due within one year	7	-249	-61 -172	-155	-421	-421 -216
Total current liabilities		-249	-61 -172	-155	-421	-421 -216
Total net assets		430	402 827	583	1,257	7 985
The funds for the charity:
Restricted income funds	10	0	0 827	583	827	827 583
Unrestricted income funds	10	430	402 0	0	430	402
Total charity funds		430	402 827	583	1,257	257 985

The accounts set out on pages 21 to 29 were approved by the Corporate Trustee on 16[th] December 2025, and signed on its behalf by

Signed:

Robert Alexander, Chair of the Charitable Funds Committee on behalf of the Corporate Trustee

Date: 16[th] December 2025

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London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Statement of Cash Flows for the year ending 31 March 2025

Note	2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000
Cash Flows from operating activities: Net Cash provided by (used in) operating activities 8 Change in cash in the reporting period Cash at the beginning of the reporting period 8 Cash at the end of the reporting period
	456 81
	456 81
	1,197 1,116
	1,653 1,197

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London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund Notes to the Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2025

1.1 Accounting Policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

The accounts (financial statements) have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued in October 2019 and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011 and UK Generally Accepted Practice as it applies from 1 January 2019.

The accounts (financial statements) have been prepared to give a ‘true and fair’ view and have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a ‘true and fair view’.

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the London Ambulance Service Charitable fund ability to continue as a going concern. In future years, the key risk to the London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund is a fall in income from donations but the trustees have arrangements in place to mitigate those risks.

Funds Structure

Where the donor has provided for the donation to be sent in furtherance of a specified charitable purpose and has therefore created a legal restriction on use of the funds the income is allocated to a restricted income fund.

The remaining funds held by the charity are classified as unrestricted income funds. The expenditure of these funds is wholly at the trustee’s unfettered discretion.

The major funds held under these categories are disclosed at note 10.

Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities as soon as the following three conditions can be met:

• entitlement - arises when a particular resource is receivable or the charity's right becomes legally enforceable;

• probable – it is more likely than not that economic benefits associated with the transaction or gift will flow to the charity; and

• measurement – when the monetary value of the incoming resources can be measured with sufficient reliability.

Where there are terms and conditions attached to incoming resources, particularly grants, then these terms or conditions must be met before income is recognised as the entitlement condition will not be satisfied until this point. Where terms or conditions have not been met or uncertainty exists as to whether they can be met then the relevant income is not recognised in the year but deferred and shown on the balance sheet as deferred income.

Incoming resources from legacies

Legacies are accounted for as incoming resources either upon receipt or where the receipt of the legacy is probable.

Receipt is probable when:

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• Confirmation has been received from the representative of the estate that the payment of the legacy will be made or property transferred and once all the conditions attached to the legacy have been fulfilled.

Material legacies which have been notified but not recognised as incoming resources in the Statement of Financial Activities are disclosed in a separate note to the accounts with an estimated amount receivable.

Resource expended

Liabilities are recognised as resources are expended as soon as there is a legal constructive obligation committing the charity to the expenditure. A liability is recognised where the charity is under a constructive obligation to make a transfer of value to a third party as a result of past transactions or events. All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category.

Role of Volunteers

In accordance with the SORP, due to the absence of any reliable measurement basis, the contribution of these volunteers are not recognised in the accounts.

Fundraising costs

The costs of generating funds are those costs attributable to generating income for the charity.

Charitable activities

Costs of charitable activities comprise all costs identified as wholly or mainly incurred in the pursuit of the charitable objectives. Grants payable which are payments, made to third parties (including NHS bodies) in the furtherance of the charity’s charitable objectives. They are accounted for on an accrual basis where the conditions for their payment have been met or where a third party has a reasonable expectation that they will receive the grant. Provisions are made where approval has been given by the trustee due to the approval representing a firm intention which is communicated to the recipient.

Allocation of support costs

Support costs are those costs that do not relate directly to a single activity. The support costs have been allocated against charitable activities.

Irrecoverable VAT

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

Debtors

Debtors are amounts owed to the charity. They are measured on the basis of their recoverable amount.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand is held to meet the day to day running costs of the charity as they fall due.

Creditors

Creditors are amounts owed by the charity. They are measured at the amount that the charity expects to pay to settle the debt.

In-kind donation

We adhere to a robust accounting policy that requires us to accurately represent the fair value of these generous contributions at the point of donation. By recognising these gifts as market value income in our Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) according to the charity SORP.

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2. Income from donations and legacies

	Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds General Fund Voluntary Responders Group Volunteers London Life Savers Other
	2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000 2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000 2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000 2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000 2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000
Donations from individuals Corporate donations Legacies Other Grants Total	172 50 0 1 0 0 0 0 172 51 2 37 280 0 0 0 0 0 282 37 7 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 3 52 51 0 0 0 0 0 0 52 51 0 0 0 0 0 0 114 0 114 0
	233 141 280 1 0 0 114 0 627 142

Donations from individuals are gifts from members of the public, relatives of patients and staff. This income is usually collected through our just giving site and donation received by post.

There were two legacies totalling £6,500 received during the year (2023/24: £3,022).

3. Investments

Investment relates to interest income due from cash on deposit.

4a. Raising Funds

	Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds General Fund Voluntary Responders Group Volunteers London Life Savers Other
	2024/25 2023/24 2024/25 2023/24 2024/25 2023/24 2024/25 2023/24 2024/25 2023/24
	£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Licence Costs Support Costs External Audit Fee Subscription Fee (Just Giving) Total	-3 -3 0 0 0 0 -2 -2 -5 -5 -81 -19 0 0 0 0 0 -20 -81 -39 -9 -9 0 0 0 0 0 0 -9 -9 -5 -3 0 0 0 0 0 0 -5 -3
	-98 -34 0 0 0 0 -2 -22 -100 -56

The audit fee was £7,450 excluding vat, for the year (2023/24: £7,450) related solely to the audit with no other work undertaken (2023/24: nil).

The charity has two employees, total cost £81,034 under support costs (2023/24: £38,200).

4b. Analysis of charitable expenditure

	Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds General Fund Voluntary Responders Group Volunteers London Life Savers Other
	2024/25 2023/24 2024/25 2023/24 2024/25 2023/24 2024/25 2023/24 2024/25 2023/24
	£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Volunteers Spend: Voluntary London Life Savers Voluntary Responders Group Staff Amenities/ Grants: Improvements to working Environment Staff Education and Welfare Others: Purchase of Equipment Others Total	0 0 0 0 -143 -71 0 0 -143 -71 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -3 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 -4 -98 -39 0 -1 0 0 0 0 -98 -40 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -39 -53 0 0 0 0 -5 0 -44 -53
	-137 -95 0 -2 -143 -71 -5 0 -285 -168

Other spend relates to donations in kind made to London Ambulance Trust and other miscellaneous charitable expenditure.

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5. Debtors

	2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000
Other debtors	25 4
Amounts falling due within one year	25 4

6. Cash at bank and in hand

	2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000
Cash in hand	1,653 1,197
Total	1,653 **1,197 **

7. Creditors falling due within one year

	2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000
Accruals	421 216
Amounts falling due within one year:	421 216

8. Reconciliation of net income/(expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities

	2024/25 £000 2023/24 £000
Net income for the reporting period as per the statement of financial activities	272 -66
Adjustment for:
Increase in debtors	-21 60
Increase in creditors	205 87
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	456 **81 **

9. Allocation of Support Costs and Overhead

Governance costs are those costs which relate to the day-to-day management of the charity. The governance costs are wholly charged against charitable activities.

10. Analysis of Charitable Funds

Restricted funds

	Balance 1 April 2024 £000 Resources Expended £000 Incoming resources £000 Balance 31 March 2025 £000
Voluntary Responders Fund	35 0 280 315 102 -7 114 209 446 -143 0 303
Hardship & Other Reserves Fund
Voluntary London Life Savers Fund
	583 -150 394 827

Name of Fund Description, nature and purpose of the fund

Voluntary Responders Fund

Other (Reserves, Hardship & Museum

Voluntary London Life Savers Fund

The objectives of the restricted fund are to advance health, save lives and to promote the efficiency of ambulance services through volunteering.

The objectives of the Hardship restricted fund is to support staff and volunteers who are facing financial difficulties. The objectives of the Museum fund are to preserve and promote the Historical Collection. The objectives of the Reserves fund is to ensure our work is protected from the risk of disruption at short notice due to a lack of funds.

The objectives of the restricted fund are to teach life-saving CPR and defibrillator training to volunteers across London.

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Unrestricted income funds

	Balance 1 April 2024 £000	Resources Expended £000	Incoming resources £000	Balance 31 March 2025 £000
General Fund	402	-235	263	430

Name of Fund		Description, nature and purpose of the fund
London Ambulance General Fund	Service	The objectives of the unrestricted fund are that it is available for any charitable purposes relating to the NHS at the absolute discretion of the trustees.

11. Related party transactions

The London Ambulance NHS Trust is the corporate trustee of the charity. Balances between the Charity and the corporate trustee during 2024/25 and at year end are as follows:

	Payments	Payments	Receipts	Amounts	Amounts
	to		from	owed to	due from
	Related		Related	Related	Related
	Party		Party	Party	Party
	£000s		£000s	£000s	£000s
London Ambulance Service NHS Trust		0	280	396	0

During the year, none of the members of the Trust Board, senior NHS Trust staff or parties related to them were beneficiaries of the charity. Neither the corporate trustee nor any member of the NHS Board has received honoraria, emoluments or expenses in the year and the Trustee has not purchased trustee indemnity insurance.

12. Trustees’ remuneration, benefits and expenses

The charity’s trustees give their time freely and receive no remuneration for the work that they undertake as trustees.

13. Post Balance Sheet Events

There are no post- balance sheet events that require adjustment or disclosure.

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Independent auditor’s report to the Trustee of London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of London Ambulance Service Charitable Fund (“the Charity”) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows, and related notes, including the accounting policies in note 1.1.

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the Charity’s affairs as at 31 March 2025 and of its incoming resources and application of resources for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with UK accounting standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland ; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011.

Basis for opinion

We have been appointed as auditor under section 149 of the Charities Act 2011 (or its predecessors) and report in accordance with regulations made under section 154 of that Act.

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (“ISAs (UK)”) and applicable law. Our responsibilities are described below. We have fulfilled our ethical responsibilities under, and are independent of the Charity in accordance with, UK ethical requirements including the FRC Ethical Standard. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is a sufficient and appropriate basis for our opinion.

Going concern

The Trustee has prepared the financial statements on the going concern basis as they do not intend to liquidate the Charity or to cease its operations, and as they have concluded that the Charity’s financial position means that this is realistic. They have also concluded that there are no material uncertainties that could have cast significant doubt over its ability to continue as a going concern for at least a year from the date of approval of the financial statements (“the going concern period”).

In our evaluation of the Trustee’s conclusions, we considered the inherent risks to the Charity’s business model and analysed how those risks might affect the Charity’s financial resources or ability to continue operations over the going concern period.

Our conclusions based on this work:

• we consider that the Trustee’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate; and

• we have not identified, and concur with the Trustee’s assessment that there is not, a material uncertainty related to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for the going concern period.

However, as we cannot predict all future events or conditions and as subsequent events may result in outcomes that are inconsistent with judgements that were reasonable at the time they were made, the above conclusions are not a guarantee that the Charity will continue in operation.

Fraud and breaches of laws and regulations – ability to detect

Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement due to fraud

To identify risks of material misstatement due to fraud (“fraud risks”) we assessed events or conditions that could indicate an incentive or pressure to commit fraud or provide an opportunity to commit fraud. Our risk assessment procedures included:

• Enquiring of the trustee and other management and inspection of policy documentation as to the Charity’s high-level policies and procedures to prevent and detect fraud, as well as whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud.

• Reading Charitable Fund Committee minutes.

• Using analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships.

We communicated identified fraud risks throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of fraud throughout the audit.

As required by auditing standards, we perform procedures to address the risk of management override of controls, in particular the risk that management may be in a position to make inappropriate accounting entries. On this audit we do not believe there is a fraud risk related to revenue recognition because there is minimal complexity in revenue recognition and there is minimal difference between the timing of recognition and receipt of cash.

We did not identify any additional fraud risks.

We performed procedures including identifying journal entries to test based on risk criteria and comparing the identified entries to supporting documentation. These included those posted to unusual accounts associated with revenue.

Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement related to compliance with laws and regulations

We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from our general commercial and sector experience through discussion with the trustee and other management (as required by auditing standards) and discussed with the trustee and other management the policies and procedures regarding compliance with laws and regulations.

We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.

The potential effect of these laws and regulations on the financial statements varies

considerably.

Firstly, the Charity is subject to laws and regulations that directly affect the financial statements including financial reporting legislation (including related charities legislation), and we assessed the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related financial statement items.

Secondly, the Charity is subject to many other laws and regulations where the consequences of non-compliance could have a material effect on the amounts or disclosures in the financial statements, for instance through the imposition of fines or litigation. We identified the following areas as those most likely to have such an effect: fundraising regulations and data protection. Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the trustee and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. Therefore, if a breach of operational regulations is not disclosed to us or evident from relevant correspondence, an audit will not detect that breach.

Context of the ability of the audit to detect fraud or breaches of law or regulation

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it.

In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of fraud, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. Our audit procedures are designed to detect material misstatement. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance or fraud and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

Other information

The Trustee is responsible for the other information, which comprises the Annual Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion or, except as explicitly stated below, any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether, based on our financial statements audit work, the information therein is materially misstated or inconsistent with the financial statements or our audit knowledge. We are required to report to you if:

• based solely on that work, we have identified material misstatements in the other information; or

• in our opinion, the information given in the Annual Report is inconsistent in any material respect with the financial statements.

We have nothing to report in these respects.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Under the Charities Act 2011 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:

• the Charity has not kept sufficient accounting records; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

We have nothing to report in these respects.

Trustee’s responsibilities

As explained more fully in their statement set out on page 20, the Trustee is responsible for: the preparation of financial statements which give a true and fair view; 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; 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 they either intend to liquidate the Charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities

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 our opinion in an auditor’s report. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but does not guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the financial statements.

A fuller description of our responsibilities is provided on the FRC’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities.

The purpose of our audit work and to whom we owe our responsibilities

This report is made solely to the Charity’s Trustee as a body, in accordance with section 149 of the Charities Act 2011 (or its predecessors) and regulations made under section 154 of that Act. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity’s trustee 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 and its trustee, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Dean Gibbs

for and on behalf of KPMG LLP, Statutory Auditor

Chartered Accountants

KPMG LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006

15 Canada Square London E14 5GL

20 December 2025