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2023-03-31-accounts

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023

Charity Commission Number 1087167

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

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Foreword

The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington (the Charity) was founded in 1424 under the will of Richard Whittington (1354-1423) who was Lord Mayor of London four times and Master of the Mercers' Company three times.

The Mercers’ Company was entrusted with the care of the Charity of Sir Richard Whittington in 1424 and remains the sole trustee today.

This year, 2023, is the 600[th] anniversary of Whittington’s death and the Trustee is marking the occasion with a programme of celebratory events.

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CONTENTS

Foreword 2
Trustee’s Annual Report for theyear ended 31 March 2023 5
Objects and activities for public benefit 5
Provision of Housing Overview 6
Whittington Donations 7
Grants Overview 8
Church & Communities Programme 9
Older People & Housing Programme 10
Young People & Education Programme 11
Grants Impact 11
Evaluations 13
Impact Indicators 15
Funding Approach 15
Financial Review 17
Funding Sources 17
Investments 17
Results for the year 18
Risk management 19
Reserves policy 19
Structure, Governance and Management 20
Our volunteers 21
Related parties 21
Future Plans 21
Trustee’s responsibilities in relation to the financial statements 22
Independent Auditor’s Report 24
Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2023 29

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Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2022 30
Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2023 31
Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2023 32
Notes to the Financial Statements 33
1 Accounting Policies 33
2 Income from Investments 35
3 Almshouse Income and Expenditure 36
4 Expenditure 37
5 Tangible Assets 39
6 Investment Properties 39
7 Quoted Investments 40
8 Debtors 41
9 Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year 41
10 Analysis of Funds 41
11 Grant Commitments 43
12 Reconciliation of Net Expenditure To Net Cash Used In Operating Activities 46
13 Related Parties and Connected Charities 47
14 Grants 48
Legal and Administrative Information 52

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Trustee’s Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2023

The Trustee presents the Charity’s Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2023. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the Charity’s Governing Document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

Objects and activities for public benefit

The objects of the Charity are:

The Trustee confirms that it has complied with its duty under Section 17 Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity’s aims and objectives, in planning future activities and in setting the Charity’s grant making policy.

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Provision of Housing Overview

The Charity is one of three charities whose housing provision is managed by the Trustee and the Charity has two almshouse sites:

Whittington College, East Grinstead

Lady Mico’s, Tower Hamlets

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65 units 18 units
86 residents 16 residents
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The housing provision is accredited by EROSH and is regularly reviewed against the Code of Practice. The most recent review took place in September 2022 and accreditation was maintained and showed that the Housing Team continues to provide excellent standard of housing. The assessor commented that that the actions from the previous review (in 2021) had been satisfactorily addressed and the introduction of the Residents’ Consultation Forum was a significant improvement in communication and transparency. Building on this, the residents also now receive a half yearly news update informing them of joint activities with the other schemes managed by the Mercers’ Company and also information on planned works, achievements and promote the Wellbeing Plan. The next EROSH review will take place in October 2023.

The Trustee through its Housing Team has been reintroducing activities and events across the sites, which are now being extremely well attended and are back to pre-covid levels.

In November 2022, the Trustee approved the release of £75,000 from reserves to progress with a feasibility study for the development of additional units at Whittington College. A Working Group has been created to take forward this work and it will report over the coming year and present final recommendations to the Trustee.

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Whittington Donations

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Direct financial
support of
£1,300 per
annum per
person
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Who? Elderly individuals aged over 60

Where? Priority is given to applications from almshouse residents in London.

Whittington Donations are intended to support those with ongoing financial hardship rather than those in need of one-off financial support (such as capital costs, furnishings, loan repayments). Most applicants are in receipt of state benefits such as pension credit and many are residents of one of three charities whose housing provision is managed by the Trustee. The beneficiary continues to receive the donation until their circumstances change and the donation is no longer required.

This year the overall number of beneficiaries was 150 at a total of £195,000.

“You don’t know how much this means to me, I can now use it towards furnishing my flat” Anonymous beneficiary

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Grants Overview

The Charity is one of several charities that contributes to the people-based Philanthropy Framework co-ordinated by the Trustee with three major grant-making programmes . This framework reflects the intentions of the participating charities’ benefactors. The programmes aim to tackle disadvantage by focusing on individuals, families, and communities and supporting organisations that help people to reach their potential in several ways including: by inspiring a love of learning; strengthening self-belief and wellbeing; and creating opportunities to live a balanced, rewarding and varied life.

Through the three major grant-making programmes, Young People & Education, Church & Communities and Older People & Housing in 2022/23 we awarded:

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42 NEW GRANTS
totalling
£2,891,916
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of this amount…..
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£1.3m went to £721,988 went to £500,504 went to
Better Outcomes tackling loneliness
building stronger
and isolation
for families
communities
£149,616 went to £105,000 went to £72,547 went
young people’s transitions from to young people’s
mental health & secondary literacy
wellbeing education
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The Charity makes, unrestricted, core and projects grants for charitable work in London, Norfolk and the North East.

At the time of application, grantees submit a plan for how they will evaluate the success of their work. Each of the grants awarded are monitored through annual progress reports (which include an update on how they are progressing towards achieving the outcomes set at the time of application) as well as other material supplied by grantees such as videos and external impact reports. These formal reports are supplemented by informal conversations with grantees throughout the year.

As part of our continuing support to charities through the cost of living crisis, this year a decision was taken to provide additional funding to our grantees in the Church & Communities and Older People & Housing programmes by awarding an 8% uplift on grant commitments that are due to be released in 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Church & Communities Programme

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Stronger
Communities
- Disadvantaged
communities
- Refugees
- Homelessness
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Better Outcomes
for Families
- Families facing
poverty & other
challenges
- Unpaid carers &
their families
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Where? London, the North East and Norfolk. Who? A range of church and other faith and secular based charities and social enterprises.

Our contribution means that 30 new grants were awarded to 30 recipients totalling £2,064,249 . Of these, 21 were in London, 6 in the North East and 3 in Norfolk.

Spotlight grantee in 2022/23

All People All Places (APAP) was awarded a grant of £42,000 over two years in October 2022. The Christian charity supports people facing homelessness in the London boroughs of Haringey and Enfield. The Charity works with single homeless people at risk of, or already sleeping rough, to address the multiple disadvantages they face. APAP’s day centre offers housing advice, support and advocacy for rough sleepers and those at risk of homelessness and is open to anyone on a drop-in or referral basis. Both Enfield and Haringey have high levels of homelessness and APAP has been transitioning its approach to supporting rough sleepers and delivering preventative services to fit with local need. Our funding will contribute to APA evolving policy environment. Our funding will contribute towards APAP’s running costs and the delivery of the day centre in Enfield.

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Since securing funding from us, APAP went on to successfully secure funding from the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities to support the expansion of the day centre and to develop and provide single room accommodation for the street homeless in partnership with the London Boroughs of Haringey and Enfield.

Older People & Housing Programme

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Combatting
Loneliness in older
people
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Housing
to enable people
to live longer in
their own homes
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Where? London and Norfolk. Who? Disadvantaged older people (55 and over)

Our contribution means that in 2022/23 7 new grants were awarded to 7 recipients totalling £500,504 . All 7 were in London .

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Spotlight grantee in 2022/23
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Highgate Newtown Community Partners (HNCP) is a well-established and well-respected organisation in the heart of an area of high deprivation. A grant of £48,373 was awarded to HNCP over three years in May 2022 towards its Wellness Cafes and activities for older people. The Wellness Cafes are an all day event offering a number of free activities such as sewing, creative writing, arts and craft, cake baking, games and singing. Beneficiaries can also buy a healthy three course lunch for £2.50. All of HNCP’s services are provided for those in areas of disadvantage, in particular economic disadvantage and loneliness.

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Young People & Education Programme

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Special
Initiatives
Early Years
Literacy
Transition from
Secondary
Education
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Mental Health
and Wellbeing
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Where? London Who? Young people aged 3 to 21 years

Our contribution means that 5 new grants were awarded to 5 organisations totalling £327,163 .

Spotlight grantee in 2022/23

The Royal National Theatre (TRNT) in partnership with the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE)was awarded a single year grant of £72,547 in July 2022 towards a pilot project exploring the impact of integrating drama into different stages of the primary curriculum to support children’s literacy, oracy and social development. The pilot experienced some initial delays and challenges, but the National Theatre have, over the last two academic terms, reported excellent feedback from participating schools. This includes; teachers using the activities and resources across the whole school curriculum, an increase in morale, and a new excitement about literacy from pupils, particular those who struggle to engage. Following the success of the pilot, the Young People & Education Committee has invited TRNT and CLPE to apply to extend the project for at least a further two years to ensure that it is embedded within the six schools, and enable a more robust impact evaluation by following the progress of the case study children, and teachers.

Grants Impact

The collaborative Philanthropy Framework places a heavy emphasis on developing relationships with and between charities. This, alongside the longer-term approach of the Framework means that it is starting to bring real change. All three of the grant making programmes aim to do three things: Improving people’s lives, strengthening organisations and contributing to societal change.

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Improving people’s lives

Absolute Return for Kids (Ark Start) was awarded £338,000 in 2020 through the Young People & Education programme towards the development and delivery of an integrated early years education programme aimed at improving early years provision in disadvantaged communities and closing the attainment gap. Within this, Ark Start deliver a suite of parental support programmes including the Parent Power group at Ark John Archer. The programme is run in partnership with Citizens UK and provides space for parents to take action on issues affecting them in the community. One parent (Leyla) reported that through her involvement with the Parent Power group, she was supported to engage with her local council around her housing needs resulting in the family (parents and three children) moving from a one room studio flat to a three bedroom flat with a garden.

‘Before we moved, I was telling them they will have their own bed now, their own room. If you see your children smiling like that. They didn’t believe it until we stepped in the house. They ran everywhere, up and down the stairs. Even now the kids can’t stop running around the house. They can’t believe it.’

Strengthening organisations

In 2021/22 a grant of £125,000 over two years through the Older People & Housing programme was awarded to Ubele Initiative , a social enterprise to deliver The Alagba Project, which means ‘Elders’ in Yoruba. Ubele received it’s final instalment in 2022/23. The grant is specifically aimed at improving the infrastructure and capability of organisations working with older black and minoritised communities in London, a group of people who are generally at a higher risk of chronic loneliness. Ubele is using a social lab approach and bringing organisations together to explore solutions to complex social challenges, in this instance "supporting the black community to age with dignity in care homes" using an iterative approach. The next stage of The Alagba Project is to test interventions by inviting stakeholders with their communities. The Ubele Initiative will use the insight gathered and share it with other stakeholders, social care providers, local authorities and others to create lasting change.

Contributing to societal change

The Church & Communities programme places a heavy emphasis on developing relationships with and between charities. This, alongside the longer-term approach of the programme means that it is starting to bring real societal change in specific geographic locations, for example East Marsh in Grimsby, which is within the 1% most disadvantaged wards in the country.

Our funding, in conjunction with two other funders (Earl of Northampton’s Charity and the Mercers’ Charitable Foundation) has supported three charities, CARE Ltd, Foresight and East

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Marsh United with five large grants and two smaller grants totalling over £400,000 . The funding has supported hundreds of local people in a whole range of ways, through bringing together organisations in the local area to:

“Support from the Mercers' has been invaluable in the growth of Foresight as a charity and it has ensured we can provide high class facilities and an excellent quality of service to the local community. The Mercers' Company have been integral in bringing together local East Marsh organisations providing a vehicle for joint working to improve opportunities for one of the most deprived areas in the country.” Paul Silvester, CEO, Foresight

Evaluations

In May 2022 the external evaluation, undertaken by Frost, Swaine and Weir, on Better Outcomes for Families and Carers was published. 37 projects formed part of the evaluation of which 27 projects were funded by the Charity, totalling £1,628,623. The evaluation found that “All projects are delivering work which is making a difference to the lives of children, young people, and their families and carers” and that “The work is both valued and valuable – it is appreciated by beneficiaries and has impacts that address important needs, including deep-seated social problems such as poverty” . The report also has a series of recommendations about what to keep doing and what to build on.

Watch the short film created by Frost, Swaine and Weir highlighting how our funding is enabling valuable work to be undertaken.

In November 2022, the final evaluation report, carried out by external expert in loneliness in older people, Kate Jopling, was published on the priority, Combatting Loneliness. Our funding in conjunction with two other funders (Earl of Northampton’s Charity and the Mercers’ Charitable Foundation) enabled 51 grantees based in London and Norfolk to address loneliness in older

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people by: Working in areas with a high risk of chronic loneliness – defined as areas with high levels of deprivation, a high proportion of minoritised communities, or a high percentage of older adults living alone; Providing opportunities for older adults to foster new connections; Providing opportunities to support and maintain existing relationships. The report found that the funding is helping organisations to “reach more people”, “get better at what they do” and to create and support volunteering roles “which will impact individual and community wellbeing”. In response to the report's recommendations, the Older People & Housing programme is now: Supporting organisations to provide more consistent data around participant numbers and profiles through the new Impact Framework; Collecting new data about how our funding is helping organisations to develop and grow, also through the new Impact Framework; and building on the strong relationships between grant holders and grant programme managers.

Our funding has enabled the appointment of the Education Policy Institute (EPI) as the learning/research partner for Phase 1 of the Early Years Special Initiative (SI) - working with each of the 10 grantees to provide an overall view of the work and facilitate collaboration between grant holders. EPI’s annual reports have provided an insight to the progress of each programme as well as drawing out common challenges, recommendations for the future work of grantees and the wider early years sector. In early 2023 EPI submitted its third year report which identified a number of common challenges, particularly deriving from the Covid 19 pandemic, which

impacted programmes across four areas: staffing issues; measuring impact; engaging parents and the home environment; and a lack of face to face interventions. The SI is at the half way stage and EPI will continue to support the programmes, facilitate networking and collaboration between the individual grantees, track progress and draw out common issues and learnings. A final report will be published in 2024 covering the full six years of Phase 1 of the SI with an event where the findings can be shared with individuals and organisations in the early years sector.

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Impact Indicators

The grants we’ve awarded have contributed to the collaborative Philanthropy Framework and during 2022/23 the combined grants (with the Earl of Northampton’s Charity and the Mercers’ Charitable Foundation) have meant that:

72 grants have helped 92 grants have people feel better helped improve connected and less people’s wellbeing isolated 59 grants have 17 grants have helped people helped people find develop their skills employment

Funding Approach

The Philanthropy Framework coordinated by the Trustee goes beyond supporting our grant holders financially, we also support organisations in a number of ways to strengthen and improve their resilience by providing access to training and support provided by expert organisations such as the Cranfield Trust and Media Trust. This approach is known as high engagement funding or Funder Plus.

As well as being a living wage employer, the Trustee is committed that the charities of which it is trustee should be a Living Wage Funder, helping to encourage organisations to pay their staff the real living wage. In 2022 the Trustee signed up to the Institute of Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) eight principles of open and trusting grant making and the Trustee’s approach is set out on the IVAR website. There is regular review by IVAR as to whether funders are meeting their aims. The Trustee is pleased to join a community of committed and flexible grant makers to the organisations we support.

The Charity’s grants are published on 360 Giving, which aims to promote transparency in grantmaking and provide useful data to grantees about which funders fund what.

This partnership approach is increasingly recognised as good practice and has been commented upon by grantees as welcome.

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Case Study

Together with the Mercers’ Charitable Foundation we supported grantees to work with the Media Trust , enabling a total of 10 organisations the opportunity to create a short film to raise awareness of their projects. The Media Trust also provided training, mentoring and partnership opportunities with Meta. This has enabled the organisations to enhance their fundraising approaches and saved them money whilst raising awareness and their profile. Speech & Language UK were one of the ten organisations, who produced a short film highlighting Developmental Language Disorder. The film won an award and was picked up by organisations worldwide – Disabled Children’s Partnership UK to Language Disorder Australia. It has seen 8,100 YouTube views, 66,671 Twitter impressions and 239,682 Facebook/Instagram interactions.

“Working with Media Trust will not just give you a great experience – it will also give you the ability to use your talent to change the world.”

Samir Afhim, Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications at Speech & Language UK

Watch the short film created by Media Trust and Speech & Language UK – Developmental Language Disorder Awareness

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Financial Review

Funding Sources

The Charity generates income primarily from its own sources through:

The Charity generates income primarily from its own sources through:
2023
£’000		 2022
£’000
Propertyinvestments 666 508
Stock market investments 2,394 2,071
Interest on deposits & cash balances 122 7

Income from maintenance charges receivable from almshouse residents increased to £971,000 from £911,000 in 2022.

Investments

Investment property

There were no gains on property investments during the year (2022: nil).

Listed investments

Total losses of £4,001,000 on stock market investments were experienced during the year (2022: £3,604,000 gains). The losses experienced during the year were due to a continuation of the Ukrainian conflict, the energy crisis, global contraction in growth, and high UK inflation. The primary comparator for investment performance is linked to inflation. With inflation increasing, the portfolios both performed below the primary comparator during the year. The Trustee continues to monitor the performance of the portfolios and the market.

Investment Fund 1year 3years 5years
Endowment Fund -2.2% 40.0% 30.6%
PrimaryComparator: CPI + 4% 14.8% 32.4% 48.3%
SecondaryComparator: Composite Index -0.8% 34.5% 31.0%
Cyclical Maintenance Fund -2.7% 36.2% -
General Investment Fund -3.4% 33.5% -
PrimaryComparator: CPI + 3.5% 14.3% 30.5% 44.8%
SecondaryComparator: Composite Index -1.1% 28.2% 25.9%

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Results for the year

Total income for the year was £4,153,000 (2022: £3,497,000); total expenditure for the year was £7,022,000 (2022: £7,141,000) and net losses on investments were £4,001,000 (2022: £3,604,000 gains) resulting in net expenditure for the year of £6,870,000 (2022: £40,000).

Financial position

Net assets at the end of the year were £116,581,000 (2022: £123,451,000). These were represented by endowment funds of £94,654,000 (2022: £98,174,000), restricted funds of £2,104,000 (2022: £2,187,000) and unrestricted funds of £19,823,000 (2022: £23,090,000).

Fundraising

The Charity does not conduct any fundraising activity.

Investment policy

In accordance with the Scheme, the Trustee has the power to invest in such stocks, shares, and property as needed to meet the objectives of the Charity. The Trustee reviewed the investment policy during the year and a revised policy was implemented from 1 July 2023. The investment objective is for a rising level of income together with preserving the long-term real value of the investments. The investment performance of stock market investments is compared against relevant benchmarks.

The Charity has a policy of responsible investment, positively screening to ensure that it invests in companies that can demonstrate socially responsible values and sustainable growth, and negatively screening companies or sectors that are not in line with the charitable objects of the Charity to relieve those in poverty. The following areas are excluded from our investments:

From July 2023, the investment policy includes objectives to move towards net zero investments and actively engage and encourage organisations in climate change adaptation.

The Trustee is satisfied that its policy and objective is being met.

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Risk management

The Trustee acknowledges its responsibility for the management of risks faced by the Charity. A review is undertaken regularly by the Trustee to identify, assess and mitigate those risks.

The Trustee, in considering the governance, management, operational, financial, and environmental risks, is satisfied, that there is no material exposure and that there are procedures in place to mitigate such risks.

The Trustee has agreed clear lines of delegation and authority and the Trustee and its staff are involved in the recognition of risk in all their activities.

The principal risks faced by the Charity are:

The principal risks faced by the Charity are:
Risk Mitigation
Financial Risk - loss of asset value and
investment income		 Regular review of valuation by Executive and
Committees; reforecasting of budgets
Operational Risk in connection with
almshouses (eg fire, flood etc or injury to
residents)		 EROSH certification. Complaints procedures.
Benchmarking against other providers (EROSH
and Acuity). Local Authority inspection of 50%
of schemes. Establishment of Residents’
Communication Forum.

Reserves policy

The free reserves of the Charity comprise the unrestricted funds excluding properties and amounted to £15,457,000 in 2023 (2022: £18,619,000). Reserves are carried forward with the intention of:

As per the policy, the reserve required amounts to £6,424,000, compared to actual free reserves of £15,457,000, exceeding the target by £9,033,000. The Trustee plans to use these reserves to further increase the Charity’s grant making in the next four years in line with the Charity's strategy, and for its housing provision.

The Trustee reviews the policy annually.

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Structure, Governance and Management

The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Mercers of the City of London (more commonly known as The Mercers' Company), which is a body corporate formed by Royal Charter in 1394, is the Trustee of the Charity and is the controlling party. The Mercers' Company’s governing body is the Court of Assistants. The Master Mercer was CJ Vermont until July 2022, NAH Fenwick until July 2023, and PLR Lane from July 2023. The Clerk to the Mercers’ Company is RM Abernethy.

The Mercers’ Company acts as trustee for several charities and has established a governance committee for each charity. The members of the Charity’s Governance Committee are:

Dr DGM Powell (Chairman)

Mr CHD Vermont

Mr CE Whittington

The Charity Governance Committee reviewed the Charity’s grant making strategy, investment policy and reserves policy during the year. The Charity’s Governance Committee also delegated certain matters to a number of the Trustee’s specialist committees:

Function Delegated Body
Grant making Young People & Education Committee
Older People & Housing Committee
Church & Communities Committee
Oversight of housing operations Older People & Housing Committee
Philanthropy Committee
Property Committee
Management of investment property Property Committee
Oversight of investment management Investment Committee
Overview of risks and financial management Audit Committee

The Charity is supported by the staff of the Mercers’ Company, who are appropriately trained and qualified. These administrative services are provided under a service agreement.

The following members of the Mercers’ Company’s senior management are involved in the provision of services:

Mr RM Abernethy (Clerk to the Mercers’ Company)

Ms SMA Hedley-Dent (Deputy Clerk to The Mercers’ Company)

Mr JRA Christie (Finance Director)

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The Standards & Appointments Committee meets on a regular basis to keep the skills and composition of the committees and succession planning under review and, where needed, to recruit new members for their experience, empathy and knowledge in charity matters.

The Trustee applies the principles of the Charity Governance Code so far as is possible given that it is sole corporate trustee. The Trustee undertook a self-assessment against the Charity Governance Code in 2021/22 and identified areas in which it can further improve its practice to reflect the Governance Code principles, the next review is due in 2023/24. In addition, the Trustee has completed the checklist for a charity working with a non-charity in 2022/23 and has concluded that the relationship between the Charity and the Trustee is in the Charity’s best interests.

Our volunteers

The Charity relies on members of The Mercers' Company volunteering their time to sit on committees, review grant requests, visit applicants and grantees, and attend events involving beneficiaries. In keeping with recommended practice, an estimate of the numbers of hours that Committee members give to the Charity free of charge during the year has been undertaken resulting in approximately 872 hours of voluntary time.

Related parties

The Charity works closely with the Trustee and the other charities with which the Trustee is involved. In particular, the Charity harmonises its almshouse operations with those of The Earl of Northampton Charity, of which the Company isalso Trustee and the Mercers’ Company Housing Association. Details of related parties and connected charities are given in note 13 of the financial statements.

Future Plans

During 2022/23 a review of the collaborative Philanthropy Framework was undertaken. A refreshed five-year Framework was agreed by the Trustee in November 2022 and will be in place from 1 April 2023 and run until 31 March 2028.

Measuring the impact of the collaborative framework and impact made by the contributing charities is of utmost importance to the Trustee. The Trustee has developed an Impact Framework to run alongside the refreshed collaborative Philanthropy Framework from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2028. Over the next five years, data and evidence will be collated to enable us to report on three common impact measures: Improving people’s lives; Stronger Communities; Contributing to societal change . This year, we have highlighted in our report examples of where our grants meet these three measures under each programme area.

The Trustee agreed that our funding would continue to contribute to the three main giving programmes, their focus will be:

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The Church & Communities programme will focus on Stronger communities – supporting disadvantaged communities, refugees and people who are homeless, and, Better outcomes for families – supporting families and carers facing poverty and other challenges.

The Older People & Housing programme will focus on Combatting loneliness for older people – building on work to date and a recent evaluation, and, Combatting poverty experienced by older people – a new priority, incorporating the cost of living crisis and housing.

The Young People & Education programme will focus on Helping young people to improve their life chances through the three special initiatives : Early Years, Literacy and Transitions from Secondary Education; Supporting the Mental Health & Wellbeing of young people via strategic work with the Associated Schools & Colleges (ASCs), research partners, and community

organisations which work with young people experiencing severe disadvantage; Strengthening the organisations supporting young people , through capacity building and research partners and the School Leadership programme

To celebrate the 600th anniversary of the establishment of the Charity of Sir Richard Whittington a collaborative place-based approach is in development. Funding will be directed to a geographical area and will require understanding of the different inter dependencies within a place, the relationships, the needs, and investments flowing into and out of the place and a joint identification of what could be done to best support the area. The feasibility of a place-based initiative will be progressed during 2023/24 to improve the life chances for people of all ages (in a very small geographic area of London experiencing multiple deprivation with which the Trustee has connections) ensuring that it also complements the existing three grants programmes. Such an initiative would be an opportunity for the three giving programmes to collaborate, pool knowledge and deliver a shared funding programme.

Trustee’s responsibilities in relation to the financial statements

The Trustee is responsible for preparing the Trustee’s Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of the income and expenditure of the Charity for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustee is required to:

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with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102);

The Trustee is responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the applicable Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations. The Trustee is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustee is responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Charity’s and financial information included on the Trustee’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Mr PLR Lane

Mr RM Abernethy

Master

Clerk to the Mercers’ Company

16 November 2023

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Independent Auditor’s Report

TO THE TRUSTEE OF THE CHARITY OF SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON

We have audited the financial statements of The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington (the ‘Charity’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows, and the notes to the financial statements which include the principal accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustee’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

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Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustee with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The Trustee is responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Trustee’s Annual Report and Financial Statements other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities Act 2011 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustee

As explained more fully in the Trustee’s responsibilities statement, the Trustee is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustee determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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In preparing the financial statements, the Trustee is responsible for 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 the Trustee either intends to liquidate the Charity or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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 an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a 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 the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud.

Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

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We assessed the susceptibility of the Charity’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the Trustee and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

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Use of our report

This report is made solely to the Charity’s Trustee, as a body, in accordance with section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and with 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 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 the Charity’s Trustee as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

17 November 2023

Buzzacott LLP Statutory Auditor 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL

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

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Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2023

31 March 2023 31 March 2022
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total		 Total
Funds Funds Funds
Funds		 Funds
Note
£’000		 £’000 £’000
£’000		 £’000
Income
Investment income 2 3,126 56 -
3,182		 2,586
Charitable activities 3 971 - -
971		 911
Total income 4,097 56 -
4,153		 3,497
Expenditure
Raising funds:
Investment management
costs		 4 (67) (5) (203)
(275)		 (313)
Charitable activities:
Housing for the elderly 4 (740) (380) (43)
(1,163)		 (912)
Relief ofpoverty 4 (5,584) - -
(5,584)		 (5,916)
Total expenditure (6,391) (385) (246)
(7,022)		 (7,141)
(Losses)/gains on
investments		 7 (628) (99) (3,274)
(4,001)		 3,604
Net expenditure (2,922) (428) (3,520)
(6,870)		 (40)
Transfers between funds 10 (345) 345 -
-		 -
Net movement in funds (3,267) (83) (3,520)
(6,870)		 (40)
Fund balances brought
forward at 1 April		 23,090 2,187 98,174
123,451		 123,491
Fund balances carried
forward at 31 March 19,823 2,104 94,654
116,581		 123,451

All of the Charity's activities are derived from continuing operations. There are no recognised gains or losses other than those disclosed above.

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Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2022

31 March 2022
Unrestricted
Restricted		 Endowment
Total
Funds
Funds		 Funds
Funds
Note
£’000
£’000		 £’000
£’000
Income
Donations and legacies -
-		 -
-
Investment income 2 2,536
50		 -
2,586
Charitable activities 3 911
-		 -
911
Total income 3,447
50		 -
3,497
Expenditure
Raising funds:
Investment management costs
4		 (83)
(6)		 (224)
(313)
Charitable activities:
Housing for the elderly 4 (648)
(221)		 (43)
(912)
Relief ofpoverty 4 (5,916)
-		 -
(5,916)
Total expenditure (6,647)
(227)		 (267)
(7,141)
Gains on investments 7 687
111		 2,806
3,604
Net (expenditure)/income (2,513)
(66)		 2,539
(40)
Transfers between funds 10 (365)
365		 -
-
Net movement in funds (2,878)
299		 2,539
(40)
Fund balances brought forward
at 1 April		 25,968
1,888		 95,635
123,491
Fund balances carried forward
at 31 March 23,090
2,187		 98,174
123,451

All of the Charity's activities are derived from continuing operations. There are no recognised gains or losses other than those disclosed above.

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Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2023

31 March 2023 31 March 2023 31 March 2022 31 March 2022
Note £’000
£’000		 £’000
£’000
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 5 5,609 5,756
Investment property 6 24,815 24,815
Quoted investments 7 80,285 84,145
Total fixed assets 110,709 114,716
Current assets
Debtors 8 198 156
Cash at bank and in hand 6,213 8,972
Total current assets 6,411 9,128
Creditors: amounts falling due within one 9 (539) (393)
year
Net current assets 5,872 8,735
Total net assets 116,581 123,451
The funds of the Charity:
Endowment funds 10 94,654 98,174
Restricted income funds 10 2,104 2,187
Unrestricted income funds 10 19,823 23,090
Total charity funds 116,581 123,451

The attached notes on pages 33 to 52 form an integral part of these financial statements. The financial statements on pages 29 to 52 were approved by the Trustee on 17 November 2022 and signed on its behalf by:

____ Mr PLR Lane Master 16 November 2023

_____ Mr RM Abernethy Clerk to the Mercers’ Company

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Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 March 2023

2023 2022
Note £’000 £’000
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash used in operating activities 12 (5,070) (5,650)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Interest received 104 7
Dividends received 2,348 2,218
Purchase of quoted investments (13,836) (18,980)
Decrease/(increase) in cash held by investment managers 2,199 (1,220)
Proceeds from the sale of quoted investments 11,496 23,044
Net cash provided by investing activities 2,311 5,069
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the financial year (2,759) (581)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the
financial year		 8,972 9,553
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the financial year 12 6,213 8,972

No separate statement of changes In net debt has been prepared as there Is no difference between the movements In cash and cash equivalents and movements In net cash (debt).

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Notes to the Financial Statements

1 Accounting Policies

ACCOUNTING BASIS

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant notes to these financial statements.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice for charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (‘SORP (FRS 102)’) and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (‘FRS 102’) and the Charities Act 2011.

The 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’. This departure has involved following the SORP (FRS 102) rather than the previous withdrawn version which it replaced.

The Charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

GOING CONCERN

The Trustee considers that there are no material uncertainties about the Charity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING JUDGEMENTS AND ESTIMATION UNCERTAINTY

Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances prevailing. The main estimates and judgements relate to the investment property valuations and the estimated useful lives of tangible fixed assets.

INCOME

All income, comprising maintenance charges generated from Almshouse properties, rents and service charges generated from investment properties, interest on bank accounts and dividends from investment funds, is reported on an accruals basis when the charity has entitlement, receipt is probable and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability. Income relating to a subsequent financial period is carried forward as a creditor in the balance sheet and shown as deferred income.

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EXPENDITURE

All expenditure is included on an accruals basis and is recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the Charity to it, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Irrecoverable VAT is included with the underlying expense and charged to the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) as incurred. Support costs relate to staff time and facility costs incurred by the Mercers' Company on behalf of the Charity and are allocated to the Charity on an accruals basis. Support costs have been allocated between activities based on estimated breakdowns of staff time and grant making activity. This includes time spent on the governance arrangements relating to the general running of the Charity.

GRANTS

Grants payable are charged in the period when the offer is conveyed to the recipient except in cases where the offer is conditional, such grants being recognised as expenditure when the conditions attaching are fulfilled. Grants offered subject to conditions which have not been met at the period end are noted as a commitment, but not accrued as expenditure.

INVESTMENT GAINS AND LOSSES

Unrealised gains and losses for the period reflect the movement in market values. Realised gains and losses represent the difference between proceeds on disposal and the market value brought forward (or cost if acquired in the year). Unrealised and realised investment gains or losses are shown net on the SOFA.

INVESTMENTS

Investments are stated at their fair value at the balance sheet date. Investment properties are revalued externally every five years and internally by the Trustee in intervening years. The Trustee is of the opinion that this valuation is appropriate for the purpose of these financial statements. Cash held by investment managers is recognised as part of investments.

TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

All assets costing more than £10,000 are capitalised at cost and depreciated over their useful economic lives. Subsequent expenditure on a capitalised asset will also be capitalised where it is regarded that there has been an enhancement to the asset or a depreciated asset has been replaced.

DEPRECIATION

The Trustee considers the useful life of the almshouse properties to be not less than 50 years. Accordingly, a depreciation rate of 2% has been applied to the historical cost of the properties after adjusting for the cost of the land. Land is not depreciated. Depreciation of 10% is provided on the tractor and lift included in other assets. Depreciation of 4% is provided on the roofs

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included in other assets. Depreciation is not provided on investment properties that are held as freeholds or on leases having more than 20 years unexpired.

TAXATION

The Charity is a registered charity and as such is entitled to certain tax exemptions on income and profits from investments and surpluses on any trading activities carried on in furtherance of the Charity's primary objectives, if these profits and surpluses are applied solely for charitable purposes. Accordingly, no provision is made for current or deferred taxation.

FUNDS

The Charity has three types of fund:

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The Charity only has financial assets and liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value, except for investments which are measured at fair value.

2 Income from Investments

Investment income was generated as follows:

Investment income was generated as follows:
2023 2022
£’000 £’000
Rents from investment properties 666 508
Dividend income from endowment fund 2,002 1,647
Dividend income from cyclical maintenance fund (restricted) 56 50
Dividend income from general investment fund 336 374
Interest on deposit account 122 7
3,182 2,586

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3 Almshouse Income and Expenditure

Maintenance charges received from residents at the almshouses amounted to £971,000 in 2023 (2022: £911,000).

Almshouse income and expenditure is analysed as follows:

2023 2022
Lady Lady
Whittington Mico’s Whittington Mico’s
College Almshouse College Almshouse
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Income from maintenance charges 656 315 626 285
Property operating costs (355) (144) (319) (97)
Major repairs and projects (302) (78) (166) (55)
Administration and entertainment (90) (30) (88) (30)
Depreciation (134) (6) (134) (6)
Total almshouse expenditure (881) (258) (707) (188)
Net (expenditure) income (225) 57 (81) 97

Major repairs and projects are funded by the Cyclical Maintenance Fund.

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4 Expenditure

a) Analysis of total expenditure:

a) Analysis of total expenditure:
Governance Other
Grant-
& support		 direct Total
Total
Further making costs costs 2023
2022
Notes £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
£’000
Raising funds
Investment management costs - 6
237
243
274
Investment property costs - 6
26
32
39
- 12
263		 275
313
Charitable activities
Housing for the elderly - 13
1,150
1,163
912
Relief of poverty 14 5,135 398
51
5,584
5,916
5,135 423
1,464
7,022
7,141
Governance Other
Grant-
& support		 direct Total
making costs costs 2022
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Raising funds
Investment management costs - 6 268
274
Investment property costs - 6 33
39
- 12 301
313
Charitable activities
Housing for the elderly - 9 903
912
Relief of poverty 5,490 389 37
5,916
5,490 410 1,241
7,141

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b) Analysis of governance and support costs:

Raising
Housing for		 Relief of Total Total
Basis of funds
the elderly		 poverty 2023 2022
apportionment £’000
£’000		 £’000 £’000 £’000
Staff costs Staff time 12
8
322		 342
355
Office -
-
57
57
32
Staff time
administration
Audit fees Expenditure -
3
12		 15
14
Insurance Expenditure -
2		 7
9
9
12
13		 398
423
410
Raising Housing for Relief of Total
Basis of funds the elderly poverty 2022
apportionment £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Staff costs Staff time 12 6 337
355
Office -
-
32
32
Staff time
administration
Audit fees Expenditure -
2		 12 14
Insurance Expenditure -
1		 8
9
12 9
389
410

The Charity has no employees (2022: nil). The Mercers’ Company, by way of a services agreement, provides staff to the Charity, the cost of which is reflected above. The Trustee has not received any emoluments or reimbursements during the year for services as a Trustee (2022: nil). No Trustee indemnity insurance costs have been paid by the Charity (2022: nil). Please see note 3 for detailed analysis of almshouse running costs. £12,500 (excluding irrecoverable VAT) (2022: £11,500) was charged to the SOFA for audit fees.

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5 Tangible Assets

Whittington
College
Lady
Mico’s
Almshouse
Day
Centre
Other
assets
Total
£’000
£’000
£’000
£’000
£’000
Cost
Balance brought forward at 1
April 2022 and balance carried
forward at 31 March 2023
6,365
286
522
458
7,631
Accumulated depreciation
Balance brought forward at 1
April 2022
(1,182)
(131)
(195)
(367)
(1,875)
Charge for theyear
(126)
(5)
(8)
(8)
(147)
Balance carried forward at 31
March 2023
(1,308)
(136)
(203)
(375)
(2,002)
Net book value at 31 March 2023
5,057
150
319
83
5,609
Net book value at 31 March 2022
5,183
155
327
91
5,756

The net book values shown do not represent current open market valuations.

6 Investment Properties

The Charity's investment properties are as follows:

At 1 April 2022 and
31 March 2023
Freehold property £’000
Market value 24,815
Historical cost 1,030

A full external valuation was done on 31 March 2021 by CBRE Limited, which is an independent firm of qualified surveyors. There was no revaluation gain in 2021/22 or 2022/23. No external valuation was undertaken this year; the Trustee undertook and internal valuation and considers that these values to be fair and reasonable.

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7 Quoted Investments

The changes during the year analysed by fund are as follows:

1 April Movement Revaluation 31 March
2022 Purchases Sales in cash Losses 2023
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
General Investment
Fund		 10,188 1,647 (1,588) 23 (413) 9,857
Cyclical
Maintenance Fund		 1,835 364 (305) (27) (81) 1,786
General Endowed
Fund		 72,122 11,825 (11,090) (2,195) (2,020) 68,642
84,145 13,836 (12,983) (2,199) (2,514) 80,285
Historical cost 64,855 65,380

The investment allocation at the year end was as follows:

2023 2023
£’000 %
UK Equities 35,427 44.2
Overseas Equities 30,863 38.4
Fixed Interest 6,500 8.1
Alternatives 6,291 7.8
Cash 1,204 1.5
Total 80,285 100.0

No individual holding in each of the investment classes above was more than 5% of total investments.

Net investment losses on quoted investments during the year totalled £4,001,000 (2022: £3,604,000 gains).

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8 Debtors

Debtors are made up as follows:

Debtors are made up as follows:
2023 2022
£’000 £’000
Rent and service charges receivable 36 62
Dividends receivable 97 51
Prepayments and accrued income 65 43
198 156

9 Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year

Creditors are amounts falling due within one year and are made up as follows:

2023 2022
£’000 £’000
Rent received in advance 148 147
The Mercers’ Company 163 14
Other creditors 228 232
539 393

10 Analysis of Funds

Restricted Funds

The Restricted Funds comprise the Cyclical Maintenance Fund which includes the Extraordinary Repair Fund. This fund is a requirement of the Charity Commission's Scheme of Management. £365,000 (2022: £365,000) was transferred into the fund from Unrestricted Funds during the year to provide for future repairs and maintenance of the almshouse properties. £380,000 (2022: £221,000) was used during the year for repairs at the almshouses.

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Endowment Funds

The endowment funds were established at the time the Charity was created. The investments are held to generate income and are applied in furtherance of the Charity's objects.

The net assets by funds are as follows:

Unrestricted Restricted Endowment 2023
funds funds funds Total funds
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Tangible fixed assets 4,366 - 1,243 5,609
Quoted investments 9,857 1,786
68,642		 80,285
Property investments - - 24,815 24,815
Net current assets / (liabilities) 5,600 318
(46)		 5,872
Total 19,823 2,104
94,654		 116,581
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment 2022
funds funds funds Total funds
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Tangible fixed assets 4,471 - 1,285 5,756
Quoted investments 10,188 1,835
72,122		 84,145
Property investments - - 24,815 24,815
Net current assets / (liabilities) 8,431 352
(48)		 8,735
Total 23,090 2,187
98,174		 123,451

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11 Grant Commitments

The Charity had the following commitments in respect of charitable grants, subject to various conditions, at the end of the year (2023: £4,725,228; 2022: £6,671,420):

2024 2025 2026
Programme & Beneficiary £ £ £
Older People & Housing Programme
Whittington Donations to individuals 191,024 191,024 191,024
Abbey Community Centre 26,100 22,500 -
Age UK Barnet 22,680 21,000 -
Age UK Ealing 21,600 - -
Age UK Hammersmith and Fulham 32,182 - -
Age UK Hillingdon, Harrow and Brent 37,836 - -
Age UK London 21,600 - -
Age UK Sutton 27,000 - -
Age UK Westminster 27,000 - -
Ashford Place 27,000 - -
BEfriend 36,180 - -
Bexley Churches Care Trust 38,666 33,334 -
Bonny Downs Community Association 40,311 - -
Bromley by Bow Centre 21,600 - -
Carers First 27,000 - -
Carers Trust Hillingdon 30,912 - -
Castlehaven Community Centre 38,280 33,000 -
Change Foundation 30,763 26,520 -
Claremont Project 21,600 - -
ClearCommunityWeb CIC 31,932 27,528 -
Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust 32,400 - -
Create Arts 17,000 10,000 -
Dutch Pot Lunch and Social Club 24,652 21,252 -
Ekota Care Trust 21,600 - -
Hackney Caribbean Elderly Organisation (HCEO) 35,640 - -
Harmony House Dagenham 25,650 - -
Havering Asian Social Welfare Association 35,831 31,464 -
Highgate Newtown Community Partners 18,738 16,603 -
Iraqi Community Association 22,394 - -
IROKO Theatre Company 21,600 - -
Islington Giving aka Cripplegate Foundation 40,716 - -
Kilburn Older Voices Exchange 12,960 - -
Kinship 35,640 - -
Magic Me 54,000 - -
Middlesex Association for the Blind 32,400 - -

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Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 |44

2024 2025 2026
Programme & Beneficiary £ £ £
National Brain Appeal 35,640 - -
Open Age 17,000 10,000 -
Opening Doors London 35,640 - -
Place at my Table 15,120 - -
Queen's Crescent Community Association 39,659 - -
St Peters Community Wellbeing Projects 17,400 15,000 -
Subco Trust 37,417 32,856 -
Third Age Project 32,400 - -
Tower Hamlets Parents Centre 19,054 - -
Waltham Forest Community Hub Ltd 35,640 - -
Church & Communities Programme
700 Club 21,600 - -
A Way Out 28,123 24,683 -
AF&V Launchpad Ltd 34,646 - -
All People All Places 23,760 - -
Bridge Plus+ 27,000 - -
Cardinal Hume Centre 29,000 25,000 -
Carers First 27,435 28,298 29,195
Chalkhill Community Centre 16,875 - -
Community Resources for Change 28,305 - -
Developmentplus 33,444 - -
Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle 25,000 - -
Durham Diocesan Board of Finance 32,400 - -
East Marsh United 40,200 30,000 -
EDAN Lincs 34,636 - -
EFA London 34,800 30,000 -
Foresight (North East Lincolnshire) Limited 34,800 30,000 -
Groundswell Network Support UK 29,000 25,000 -
Hackney Playbus 16,200 - -
Haringey Migrant Resource Centre 37,800 - -
Harrow Carers 25,920 - -
Jigsaw4U 29,000 25,000 -
King's Lynn Night Shelter 30,000 30,000 -
LEAP Ltd 28,451 25,358 -
Lewisham Refugee & Migrant Network 30,240 - -
MAP Middlesborough 29,000 25,000 -
Margaret Clitherow Trust 16,000 - -
Markfield Project 22,672 - -
Nafsiyat 11,600 10,000 -
Nehemiah 29,000 25,000 -
New Hope North East 27,000 - -

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 |45

2024 2025 2026
Programme & Beneficiary £ £ £
New Horizons 21,048 - -
Oasis Community Housing 33,333 33,333 33,333
PCC of Catford & Downham - St Luke's Church Downham 23,200 20,000 -
PCC of St John the Evangelist Brownswood Park 10,800 - -
Project Seventeen 29,000 25,000 -
Resources for Autism 82,000 - -
Shelter from the Storm 29,000 25,000 -
St Clement St James Community Development Project 29,000 25,000 -
St Lukes Mission 7,800 7,800 -
St Mary's N16 19,246 - -
Sunderland International Bangladesh Centre 27,000 - -
The Baytree Centre 40,200 30,000 -
The Bike Project 27,000 - -
The Family Mediation Trust 21,600 - -
The Great Yarmouth Pathway 21,600 - -
The Junction Foundation 32,400 - -
The Magdalane Group 32,400 - -
Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese 30,240 - -
Willington Open Door Methodist Church 28,490 - -
Your Voice Counts 37,616 32,428 -
Young People & Education Programme
Blueprint for All 116,400 - -
Book Club in Schools 18,500 18,500 -
Education Policies Institute 17,048 29,086 -
In2ScienceUK 35,000 35,000 -
Street League 103,803 - -
XLP 110,000 - -
Other
Bounce Back Foundation 50,000 - -
University of the Arts London 30,020 - -
Total 3,365,109 1,106,567 253,552

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 |46

12 Reconciliation of Net Expenditure To Net Cash Used In Operating Activities

2023 2022
£’000 £’000
Net expenditure for the reporting year (as per statement of activities) (6,870) (40)
Adjustments for:
Depreciation 147
149
Losses/(gains) on investments 4,001 (3,604)
Interest receivable (122) (7)
Dividends receivable (2,394) (2,071)
Decrease in debtors 22 80
Increase/(decrease) in creditors 146 (157)
Net cash used in operating activities (5,070) (5,650)
ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
2023 2022
£’000 £’000
Cash at bank and in hand 6,213 8,972
Total cash and cash equivalents 6,213 8,972

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 |47

13 Related Parties and Connected Charities

The following related parties and charities have common management and are therefore regarded as connected:

Becket House Limited (dormant) Charter 600 Charity Longacre Estates Limited (dormant) Longmartin Properties Limited Maiden Trading Limited (dormant) Mercers’ Company Housing Association Mercers’ School Memorial Trust (incorporating The Merrett Bequest) St Paul’s Schools Foundation The Earl of Northampton’s Charity The Mercers' Charitable Foundation The Mercers' Company

The principal address of the above entities is:

6 Frederick’s Place London EC2R 8AB

The Mercers' Company allocated overhead services to the Charity amounting to £675,000 (2022: £650,000). £161,000 was due to the Company at the balance sheet date (2022: £14,000). Transactions with related parties where The Mercers’ Company nominates governors, appoints governors to the entity or there is common management and so are considered connected were as follows:

2023 2022
Entity £ £
Grants to Thomas Telford School - 50,000

There were no other related party transactions requiring disclosure (2022: none).

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 |48

14 Grants

Listed below are all charitable grants made during the year for the relief of poverty:

Listed below are all charitable grants made during the year for the relief of poverty:
2023 2023
Programme Area & Beneficiary £ £
Older People & Housing
Abbey Community Centre 17,500
Age UK Bexley 45,640
Age UK Ealing 20,000
Age UK Hammersmith & Fulham 29,798
Age UK Hillingdon Harrow and Brent 34,380
Age UK London 20,000
AGE UK Sutton 25,000
Age UK Westminster 25,000
Ashford Place 30,000
BEfriend 33,500
Bexley Churches Care Trust 33,333
Bonny Downs Community Association 36,961
Bromley By Bow Centre 30,000
BuddyHub C.I.C. 10,000
Carers FIRST 35,000
Carers Trust Hillingdon 27,788
Castlehaven Community Association 34,000
Change Foundation 26,520
Claremont Project (Islington) 20,000
ClearCommunityWeb CIC 27,528
Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust 30,000
Create Arts 25,000
Cripplegate Foundation Islington Giving 37,000
Dutch Pot Lunch & Social Club 21,252
Ekota Care Trust Limited 20,000
Elimhouse Community Association Southwark 18,346
Globe Community Project 10,525
Hackney Caribbean Elderly Organisation (HCEO) 33,000
Harmony House Dagenham CIC 46,500
Havering Asian Social Welfare Association 30,241
Highgate Newtown Community Partners 15,650
Intergenerational Music Making 25,000
Iraqi Community Association 20,298
IROKO Theatre Company 20,000
Kilburn Older Voices Exchange 12,000
Kinship 33,000
Magic Me 50,000
Mobile Repair Service 20,000

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 |49

Programme Area & Beneficiary 2023
2023
£
£
Open Age
Opening Doors London
Peter Bedford Housing Association
Place At My Table
Queen's Crescent Community Association
St Pancras Community Association
St Peters Community Wellbeing Projects
Subco Trust
The Community Hub
The Middlesex Association for the Blind
The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery Development
Foundation
The Reader Organisation
The Ubele Initiative
Third Age Project
Time and Talents Association
Tower Hamlets Parents Centre
University of Greenwich On Behalf of the Caribbean Social Forum
Volunteer Centre Hackney
Waltham Forest Community Hub Ltd
Walworth Golden Oldies
154 grants to individuals
Young People & Education*
Blueprint for All
Change Foundation
Chartered College of Teaching
Doorstep Library Network
Go Forward Youth
In2scienceUK
Ministry of Stories
National Children's Bureau
National Literacy Trust
Peeple
Primary Shakespeare Company
Royal National Theatre
Spectra CIC
Speech and Language UK
Street League
Tales Toolkit Ltd
The Caxton Trust trading as Catch Up
The Education Policy Institute
The Open University		 25,000
34,000
29,318
14,000
36,331
36,598
15,000
31,580
7,352
30,000
33,000
6,432
30,000
30,000
16,667
17,642
28,850
18,337
33,000
11,500
192,946
1,707,313
103,200
50,000
69,961
35,000
49,914
35,000
40,000
121,178
75,000
136,949
30,000
72,547
49,702
125,605
101,322
16,600
45,067
64,569
10,000

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 |50

Programme Area & Beneficiary 2023
2023
£
£
The Reading Agency
World Book Day
XLP
Young Westminster Foundation
Church & Communities Programme
700 Club
A Way Out
AF&V Launchpad Limited
Afghanistan & Central Asian Association
All Hallows Church Bow
All People All Places
Barnet Community Projects
Barnet Refugee Service
Barons Court Project
Baytree Centre
Cardinal Hume Centre
Chalkhill Community Centre
Clockhouse Community Centre
Community Resources for Change
Developmentplus
Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle
Durham Diocesan Board of Finance
East Marsh United
EFA London
Ending Domestic Abuse Now Lincolnshire
Foresight (North East Lincolnshire) Limited
Groundswell Network Support UK
Hackney Playbus
Haringey Migrant Support Centre
Harrow Carers
Housing Justice
Imagine Norfolk Together
Jigsaw4u
King's Lynn Night Shelter
Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network (LRMN)
Livingway Ministries
Magdalene Group
Magpie Dance
MAP Middlesbrough
Markfield Project
Nafsiyat
Nehemiah Project		 75,000
45,000
110,000
100,000
1,561,614
20,000
25,772
40,233
39,912
23,293
20,000
15,000
30,514
30,000
35,000
25,000
31,249
35,000
26,208
30,967
25,000
30,000
30,000
30,000
32,070
30,000
25,000
15,000
35,000
27,000
28,486
19,540
25,000
30,000
28,000
24,000
30,000
20,000
25,000
20,993
10,000
25,000

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 |51

Programme Area & Beneficiary 2023
2023
£
£
New Hope North East
New Horizon Youth Centre
Norfolk & Norwich Hospitals Charity
Pembroke College Settlement
Praxis Community Projects
Project Seventeen
Quaker Social Action
Resources for Autism
Shelter From The Storm
Society of Mary and Martha
Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers
Southwark Diocesan WelCare
Spitalfields Crypt Trust
St Bartholomew Tweedmouth
St Christopher's Hospice
St Clement & St James Community Development
St Luke's Mission Initiative
St Martin-in-the-Fields Trust
St Mary's Parochial Church Council
St Vincent's Family Project
Sunderland Bangladesh International Centre
The Bike Project
The Bridge Plus+ Limited
The District Church Council (DCC) of St Luke’s Downham
The Family Mediation Trust
The Great Yarmouth Pathway
The Junction Foundation
The Parent House (TPH)
The PCC of St John the Evangelist Brownswood Park
Think2Speak CIC
Upper Room
Westminster Roman Catholic Diocese Trustee
Willington Open Door Methodist Church
Your Voice Counts
Other
Bounce Back Foundation
University of the Arts London		 25,000
19,110
25,000
27,000
10,990
25,000
20,000
18,000
25,000
10,000
25,000
30,500
34,000
12,000
42,850
25,000
8,000
2,500
20,352
21,570
25,000
25,000
25,000
20,000
20,000
20,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
37,500
30,000
28,000
25,860
35,038
1,771,507
50,000
45,424
95,424
Total(2022: £5,490,614) 5,135,858

Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

Trustee’s Annual Report & Financial Statements 2023 |52

Legal and Administrative Information

LEGAL STATUS BANKERS The Charity has registered number 1087167 and Barclays Bank PLC is regulated by a Scheme of the Charity 1 Churchill Place London E14 5HP Commissioners dated April 2001 and is the amalgamation of both The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington and Lady Mico's INVESTMENT MANAGERS Almshouse Charity. Rathbone Brothers Plc 8 Finsbury Circus PRINCIPAL ADDRESS London EC2M 7AZ 6 Frederick’s Place London EC2R 8AB PROPERTY MANAGEMENT Knight Frank Pennant House Napier Court Reading RG1 8BW INDEPENDENT AUDITOR Buzzacott LLP 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL