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2023-03-31-accounts

Registered charity number 1105384 Registered Company number 05173595 (England & Wales)

Annual Report & Financial Statements 2022–2023

Annual Review 2022–2023

Contents

31 Financial Review

Cover images: Lisa Bretherick / lisaimages.com

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Introduction from our Chief Executive Officer and Chair

The 2022–23 Financial Year marks the first full year of tenure of our new leadership team, and we have spent recent months embedding new structure within the organisation.

As we have continued to prepare for the imminent inspection from Age UK National’s ‘Charity Quality Standard’, this newly founded Senior Management Team have taken a deep dive into Age UK Merton’s Internal Governance process – to ensure it is robust and fit for purpose in our current environment, and we have made great strides towards improving both our internal and external communications.

drafted with input from our workforce of staff and volunteers, and in co-production with our service users, drawing on direct feedback from our clients to inform our future direction.

We have embarked upon a period of meaningful workforce development, with the implementation of a new suite of mandatory training, strategic opportunities for internal development and enlisting the expertise of others to deliver external training.

We continue to be in a sound financial position, and are well placed to be able to respond to and meet the changing needs of local older adults.

We have prioritised staff wellbeing and support, investing in a programme of health benefits for staff, which includes an Employee Assistance Programme, a whole host of savings and cash back on medical treatments. Our Board were also proactive in recognising cost of living pressures on staff.

In tandem with ongoing service review, we have engaged in new and innovative projects in partnership and collaboration with our local health and care partners, and the wider voluntary sector, to facilitate more personalised support, improving health and wellbeing outcomes and doing our bit to reduce the health inequalities experienced by many in the borough.

Funding developments have enabled us to bring a new structure of Community Support into fruition; galvanising the resources we have in our accredited Information and Advice service and our Health and Wellbeing Living Well Support team, effectively triaging clients’ needs and getting the right people around the client quicker, reducing duplication and improving outcomes. We continue to work on its implementation.

This past year has involved thorough strategic planning as we look forward to our next chapter. April 2023 saw the publication of our new 2023-2025 Three-year Strategic Plan,

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We have seen our workforce grow; to accommodate this, we have taken on additional premises alongside our voluntary sector partners in Vestry Hall, Mitcham, to support this growing, flexible cohort of staff. We continue to appraise opportunities to build upon our solid foundations to widen access to our services and to make progress towards reaching all parts of our richly diverse population.

Now the stage is set for the next three years, we look forward to seeing our strategy come to life; living and breathing our values and continuing to align ourselves as an effective system partner within our community. Whilst we have outlined Age UK Merton’s trajectory, we know that the environment we operate in continues to be volatile and unpredictable, so we will continue to be agile and proactive in our approach to best place ourselves to respond to both positive opportunities and negative external variables that come our way.

Tobin Byers Chair of Trustees

Sarah Goad Chief Executive Officer

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Delivering our strategy

Age UK Merton (AUKM) is an independent Charity operating within the national Age UK network to provide services for older adults in the London Borough of Merton. Our role is to ensure that older adults can easily access the advice, support and care they need as they get older.

Our values

We want to be known for:

Accessibility

The go-to place for people to ask us anything about later life

Collaboration

Our Mission

To make Merton a great place to grow old

Our Vision

A Borough where everyone can love later life

Working with partners across sectors to get the best outcomes for Merton’s older adults

Dynamism

An organisation prepared to innovate, take risks and provide solutions

Impact

Our priorities

We are passionate about making a difference to the lives of older people in Merton. Our Strategic Plan 2019–22 outlined our three key priorities to improve health and wellbeing by:

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Providing high-quality Building social advice and practical connection support

Creating opportunities for lifelong active ageing

Empowering people and organisations to make a positive, tangible difference

Integrity

Robust privacy and confidentiality procedures — trusted staff and volunteers

Kindness

A supportive, empathic place to work, volunteer or receive support

Quality

Providing accredited, person-centred services, respected throughout the Borough

Sustainability

Able to attract funding, generate income from diverse sources and maximise resources efficiently

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Building blocks

Influence

Sustainability

People

Processes

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Our impact

As we continued to rebuild services and presence following the pandemic, our strategic priorities did not waiver and much of the year was spent reviewing our internal governance, process and policies, to ensure we had the robust internal mechanisms in place to be able to deliver upon these strategic priorities.

We saw our programme of activities develop Key Objective 1 Providing high-quality and numbers have consistently improved over advice and practical support the year. It has been so rewarding to see more and more clients visiting the Activity Centre, having rebuilt client confidence to re-engage Our Information and Advice service provides in activities. high quality, accredited advice for older adults

Our Information and Advice service provides high quality, accredited advice for older adults on issues such as money and benefits, health, housing and care. For the majority of the year, our team consisted of two individuals, supported by volunteers. Nationwide and sector-wide issues with adviser recruitment impacted greatly on capacity and this necessitated an agile and responsive change in approach over the year, to best serve our clients with the limited resource and capacity available.

Our services have continued to develop, and we have added in further activities to address the specific needs of older people. This report serves as a synopsis of the

fantastic work delivered over the past year and demonstrates the positive impact we have had supporting older adults across the borough.

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ADVICE
825
people accessing advice 14.3% clients £386,251
receiving longer-term
casework benefits
6.5 contacts per client uptake
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At the end of the financial year, we said goodbye to our long-standing Information & Advice Manager, Jo Hulton, who had been instrumental in building the Information and Advice Service over the past five years. We wish her all the very best and thank her for her dedication to older adults in Merton. In her tenure across six financial years at AUKM, Jo oversaw an impressive uptake of £2,129,498 in total of unclaimed benefits for clients.

With interim measures in place to support vacancies in the team, we consistently sought the advice of Age UK National, to ensure we were best placed to continue to deliver our service, and to limit our exposure to risk with respect to our accreditation standard for the Age UK Information & Advice Quality Programme (IAQP), which passports to the Advice Quality Standard. Their support has been very valuable, and we have also positively since recruited a new Information and Advice Manager and have received external consultancy support from The Welfare Benefits Unit.

Access to advice

Over the year 825 clients accessed our advice services, a decrease of 24% on 2021/22, reflective of the impacted capacity of the team during the year. Provision of Information and Advice for individuals is Borough wide, however provision reflects the East/ West split in the Borough, with the majority of clients residing in more deprived wards in the East. The service continues to see a diverse client group with 33.6% clients accessing the service from ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities), reflective of Merton’s diversity.

Money and benefits remained the highest individual issue (49.3%) for clients accessing the service within the year. The team also successfully continued their work around income maximisation with £386,251 of previously unclaimed benefits successfully

claimed throughout the year, an increase of £26,326k over 2021/22 despite impacted capacity.

Demand is only anticipated to continue to increase for Information & Advice with a noticeable rise in drop-in clients as the costof-living issues continue to impact the public.

Practical support

Our At Home service provides practical support for older adults, in their homes, to help them maintain their independence. We have a team of 20-25 Support Workers at any time who are matched with clients to provide regular, domestic and other practical support, helping them to maintain their homes and access essential supplies.

Along with the support workers, the At Home team continue to help clients who are experiencing anxiety, and loss of confidence from the pandemic.

Our At Home team continue to conduct structured assessments; both assessing clients’ support needs but also identifying any other concerns clients may have and then effectively and appropriately signposting them to our other services. The Support Workers’ holistic approach means that they truly get to know their clients as individuals and are able to build trust and confidence over time to help make informed suggestions to enhance their lives.

During 2022-2023, the At Home team have noticed an increase in referrals for clients needing more help with social connection and companionship, working closely with other internal services, including the Befriending and Living Well services.

With the At Home team in their new portacabin being more office based again following the recovery from the pandemic, this gave the Support Workers a ‘work base’

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again and a feeling of being more connected and engaged with the organisation.

We also continued to adhere to best practice by following government guidance, adopting key infection control procedures, to both protect our clients and staff and to reassure clients of our professionalism and commitment to a vigorous approach to infection control.

The At Home service often supports getting our clients ‘out and about’, by facilitating walks, or by accompanying them to local shops. Some clients may be reluctant to go out alone, but support from our team can empower an individual to feel a lot safer in this regard. They also actively encourage clients to consider joining in our wide range of activities and exercise classes offered at the centre itself, building their social connection and providing opportunities to stay active and healthy.

Financially, we continued to recover from the impact of previous years and continued to work hard to get back to pre-pandemic figures and improve projections for growth by more targeted marketing of the service.

Due to a robust recovery plan, the service has had a steady but slow increase in client numbers during 2022/23.

AT-HOME SUPPORT

120 approximate number ofclients receiving 9,362 hours At Home support at any given point in the year of support provided Improved navigation across the organisation and throughout Merton

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Age UK Merton Home from Hospital pilot

During the last quarter of 2022/23, At Home supported the rapid mobilisation of a ‘Home from Hospital’ pilot. The aim of the pilot was to provide practical and emotional support for older adults within ‘lower need’ hospital discharge pathways within two weeks of being discharged. This pilot was based on defined needs identified by the London Borough of Merton (LBM) and other place-based partners. The pilot also aimed to improve patient outcomes following discharge by reducing the risk of readmission and improving recovery, independence and health and wellbeing outcomes for individuals.

The pilot’s intended outcomes are outlined below:

Initially the pilot was funded from January 2023 to March 2023, this was then extended until the end of June 2023 due to positive feedback. The pilot was promoted through a variety of routes and enabled greater partnership working particularly between the council’s reablement team and St George’s hospital discharge team.

The pilot had 22 referrals in total: 15 successful clients who received support, and seven clients who didn’t eventually need Home from

Age UK Merton

Hospital help. Three clients transitioned to Age UK Merton’s chargeable At Home service for continued help. Qualitative feedback in general from most clients was positive and aligned with the desired outcomes described in the case study. For example, clients fed back the following about the pilot:

The pilot model is very simple to implement again as it uses our At Home model, and we are keen to source future funding to implement the service given the positive feedback and good outcomes for those who were referred and used the service.

Home from Hospital – Case Study

Miriam aged 76, lives in a town house in Mitcham, she is a very sociable person who enjoyed going to her local church regularly, meeting with friends for a coffee and going on walks. Sadly, Miriam was suffering with cramps and pain in her legs which led her staying in hospital for three weeks.

Miriam needed to have a knee replacement in Epson hospital. She came out of hospital after surgery on the 10th January; she was bed bound and unable to walk. Miriam’s bathroom was on the third floor of her home, but she needed to put a bathroom next to her bedroom on the second floor. An occupational therapist came and assessed her for adaptations in the home and supplied her with a rollator to move around with.

On discharge, Miriam, received carers for four visits a day which were then cut down to three visits. Once Miriam became more mobile, she didn’t receive further visits from carers.

Miriam said during this time she felt very low, very nervous and felt alone. She also didn’t feel very confident anymore.

On the 19th January, the Reablement Team referred Miriam to the Age UK Merton, Home from Hospital Service, which is a free service for six weeks up to three hours per week. We arranged to send Ann, our support worker, to start on the 25th January to support Miriam with any general domestic housework, shopping and companionship. The same day Miriam called Age UK and wanted to say thank you to Ann for the help she provided and to thank everyone involved. She was overwhelmed with the helped she received from Age UK, especially from Ann, and was extremely appreciative.

Age UK Merton

On the fifth week we visited Miriam to see how she had been getting on and if she needed any further support. We talked about her confidence now; with the support from Ann and she said “she felt much more positive and confident about her recovery.” Miriam was interested in coming to Age UK to build on her social life again.

Miriam quoted “The service is very important, I was asked what help I needed and Ann has done just that — helping me with cleaning, shopping, changing my bed. We have built a lovely relationship and I look forward every week to see Ann and have a good chat and a laugh.”

Miriam went onto say “having a good manager is why people like Ann are so kind. If I described Ann in three words I would say she is my Anna, Miriam went onto confident and an angel.” thanking everyone who has helped her at Age UK.

Miriam’s six weeks are now over but she is now getting regular support from Age UK’S At Home Service with her Anna.

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Living Well

Our Living Well service provides a holistic, person-centred home assessment for clients, seeking to identify their needs and co-produce an action plan to improve their wellbeing.

Living Well begins with a home visit in order to complete a wide range of assessment of the client’s needs; this also extends to home riskchecking for working smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, trip hazards and general safety and security around the home.

From their assessments the team had made many internal referrals to our other services in-house. This has included new clients attending AUKM’s activity centre. The team have also supported many clients to access transport such as Dial-A-Ride and Taxicard to enable them to get out and about and attend social activities. Due to limited staff capacity within our Information & Advice service, the Living Well team have adapted and upskilled with certain elements of provision such as completing these transport forms for example to enable co-ordinators to continue to give our clients the support they need.

The Living Well team are more embedded in health services now through Integrated Locality Teams; with the Team of Living Well Co-ordinators attending regular GP surgery multi-disciplinary meetings across the Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in Merton. This helps to identify the most vulnerable clients in need of support and those clients who may not engage well with their GP team but may agree to a visit from Living Well. This has led to an increased number of referrals from GP surgeries and social prescribing.

Other services the team have signposted to have been the Welfare Benefits Service at Merton council, Citizen’s Advice Merton & Lambeth (CAML), Clarion Housing tenancy sustainment service, South West London Law Centre (SWLLC) and Merton Centre for Independent Living (MCIL) among others. The team have a fantastic knowledge of what exists in the borough to ensure our clients receive the best support possible. During this year Living Well have formed good links with the Alzheimer’s Society and have regular multi-disciplinary team meetings to discuss shared clients, using electronic Microsoft Teams chat functionality to dynamically query any issues that may arise.

Our ongoing relationships with social prescribing and Wimbledon Guild ensure we can offer the best services for our clients. In this last year the team have also been able to resume visits to Merton council to be able to liaise with our partners in Adult Social Care. This includes the First Response team and Long-Term team social workers, Occupational Health, Reablement and our colleagues in CLCH.

Many of Living Well’s clients need support with low-level hoarding issues, decluttering and cleaning. This work was managed up until the end of the 2022–23 financial year by the organisation’s ‘Fresh Start’ co-ordinator. However, following her retirement in March 2023, the broader team have taken on these more complex cases known now as requiring ‘Living Well Plus’ support. Most clients are unable to fund the work that is needed, so the team have been accessing grants for clients. Due to the cost-of-living crisis, grant funding has also been required to support clients who are on a very low income with no savings and need items like washing machines, flooring and curtains.

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In the year 2022–2023 Living Well had 624 new referrals, with a total of 802 clients accessing support. There were 8,291 contacts made from the team to our clients.

1,442 onward referrals were made in the period with the following percentages:

Outcome %
Feelingconnected 13.25
Feeling positive 4.02
FeelingSafe and Independent 51.18
ManagingMoney 12.62
Stayingactive and healthy 18.93

We follow up with clients their outcomes on the Age UK Merton Older Person Assessment three months after initial assessment.

The five outcome areas (Feeling positive, Feeling connected, Staying active and healthy, Feeling safe and independent, and Managing Money) are monitored on a scale from 1–10 with the following scores for Q1–Q4 combined:

Q1 – Q4 cumulative scores

Feeling connected

63% improved

34% maintained

Feeling positive

49% improved

45% maintained

Staying active & healthy

62% improved

32% maintained

Feeling safe & independent

65% improved

31% maintained

Managing money

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The Living Well ‘Frailty’ Pilot

45% improved

LIVING WELL

624 new referrals

49% maintained

802 8,291 clients accessing contacts made from the support team to our clients

The Living Well Team were successful in securing funding to become part of a pilot programme to reach out to frail clients , identified as being those potentially in need of support with health and social care issues. The pilot partners consist of Age UK Merton, GP surgeries across several PCNs, St Helier Hospital and Central London Community Healthcare (CLCH) who provide community health services.

Weekly multi-disciplinary meetings are held to discuss those clients identified as the most frail to arrange the most suitable support for them at home to assess their needs and provide the best person-centred care for each client.

The partners involved ensure that holistic care plans and assessments are made and this has also increased our referrals and helped to forge good links between all services taking part.

The pilot was originally for four months, starting in January 2023 but has gained more funding and is currently still running given positive outcomes.

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Key Objective 2 Building social connection

Influencing community cohesion

In the past year we have continued to build upon the strong relationships with partners across health, care and voluntary sectors in Merton. Whilst keeping the best interests of older people forefront in our minds, we have continued to engage with these partners tackling issues being faced such as the increase cost of living and identifying systemwide efficiencies in the delivery of services.

Age UK Merton was a founding partner of the Merton Community Hub. In partnership with the Wimbledon Guild and Merton Connected during 2022-23, we continued to staff and provide support to local residents through enquiries coming in via the Community Hub telephone line. Although the Hub was set up in response to Covid-19, this year the Hub has continued to be a lifeline to people across Merton in crisis, taking 2,076 calls in 2022–23 which is which is circa 40 per week.

Support with emergency food provision and help with finances and benefits now collectively constitute almost half the enquiries coming into the Hub, and the Hub continues to ensure all residents in Merton have information and guidance about both the practical, financial and emotional support available in the Borough.

Age UK Merton staff are proud to be able to continue to support provision of the Hub, providing a flexible response in partnership and supporting residents with their increasing queries related to the cost of living impact.

Increased reach to Merton’s most isolated older adults

The Merton Befriending service is provided in partnership with Wimbledon Guild and the service matches volunteers with the most

isolated older adults, who are house-bound and living with multiple long-term conditions, and may not have strong support networks. Overall, we have seen an increase in referrals compared to previous years, with a definitive increase in complex clients being referred into our service, with mental health issues being a leading reason for referral. We continue with a hybrid service offering, with both telephone and face-to-face contact as options for clients based on preference.

We had 101 individual referrals into befriending during 2022–23 and the service currently has 110 volunteer led befriending matches. Each match has a volunteer supporting the client for between 1–3 hours per week depending on the project that they are involved with. This is for the purpose of social contact and the time is spent chatting or doing an activity the client finds interesting such as reading, doing puzzles or going for a short walk.

AUKM and Wimbledon Guild worked hard in year to manage demand, ensuring those who needed a befriending service received one, and also transitioning and referring clients to wider service provision in the community where appropriate. We currently have a waiting list of 43 clients for our befriending service.

We have seen an increase in referrals from clients with complex needs, including mental health, dementia diagnosis and difficult living conditions to host volunteer visitors. Observations include: the cost of living crisis impacting referrals, and referrers having needs in excess of the limitations of the service provision. We have had lots of requests for escorting, sitting services and cleaning for free, and many requests for care-related services beyond the remit of the befriending model.

Social activity programme

support our clients, many of whom are older, at higher risk of isolation and more vulnerable.

Our Love Later Life Activity Programme continued throughout the year to provide a range of social and physical activities both at our Activity Centre and in the community.

We kept clients up to date with our quarterly ‘What’s On’ leaflet promoting our offer of new activities, a varied social calendar and healthy lunch club. This is now reaching further across the borough; we print 3000 copies, with 600 posted out to clients and the rest delivered to GP practices, Libraries, Community Centre, Health Centres/Gyms, Care Homes and Places of Worship.

Clients habitually attend lunch, social events or physical activity clubs at the Activity Centre.

Like our other services, the activities programme saw some reluctance from clients to re-engage. The Activity Centre team continued to be flexible in their approach to

BEFRIENDING

100 % 39 % felt their volunteer BAME referrals was the right match

110

active befriending matches

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Connect and Befriend pilot

We were fortunate to secure pilot funding through the south west London Health Inequalities Fund to facilitate joint working with Wimbledon Guild to deliver complex mental health befriending, supporting mental health five clients with long-term diagnoses to receive befriending plus services of three hours a week; and going into the community together to build confidence and encourage ongoing engagement in the community.

We offered volunteers elevated support to motivate change and work towards the client’s goals. This pilot will run until March 2024.

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Key Objective 3 Creating opportunities for lifelong active ageing

Increased the number of clients accessing regular physical activity programmes We continue to support older adults to participate in exercise-based activities and to get out and about.

In October 2022, we hosted our first Health & Wellbeing Event, with stalls from our Health and Care partners across the borough including: Merton Uplift, Dementia Hub, Healthwatch Merton, Merton Vision, Carers Support Merton, CCG, One You Merton & a GP. This event was well attended by 50 of our clients, many of them new to us.

We continue to also run free ‘Tea and Talk’ sessions with a focus on providing information on a wide range of topics, including physical and emotional wellbeing; we delivered 12 of these sessions during the period April 2022— March 2023. These are always interesting and informative on a wide range of subjects; including Merton Heritage, Merton Uplift, Fire Safety delivered by local firemen, Safer Neighbourhood, Thinking Works, Trading Standards, Westminster Drug Project and Tim on Trees & Leaves .

We also continue to seek grant funding and other opportunities to widen our programme of activities. We also base our future offer on feedback from taster sessions we trial (e.g. Tai Chi and lawn bowls) to ensure we are developing opportunities for active ageing that are of interest to our valued clients.

Our ‘Out and About’ programme of activities also continues to be well attended, with a wide range of activities available, including trips travelling near and far; a trip to the Globe Theatre, Imperial War Museum, Highgate Cemetery, Mayfield Lavender Farm & the House of Commons to name just a few!

We offer supported opportunities for older adults to remain active and exploring the borough and this remains very positive with good levels of attendance. We also have had opportunities to visit religious places of worship, including the Baitul Futuh Mosque, a Sikh Temple and a Synagogue.

We are thankful for our good relationship with Merton Community Transport, who provide transport for clients who wouldn’t normally be able to join our out and about trips due to mobility issues.

With funding from Everyone Health, we had the opportunity to buy new equipment: Indoor Golf, Indoor Kurling, Bocce & Boules to ensure we continue to provide an interactive and engaging programme of activities to promote active ageing, particularly aligning to the London Borough of Merton’s Actively Merton programme and sharing the vision to make Merton a ‘Borough of Sport’.

Our popular supper Clubs have seen an increase in attendance since the pandemic; we now have an average of 15/20 clients booked for each supper club, which is over double our pre-Covid numbers. Additional funding from London Borough of Merton allowed us to provide free soups to clients every Thursday for three months (January to March 2023).

Activities

Many of our classes remain very popular and oversubscribed, and we are moving both Zumba and Line Dancing to Vestry Hall to accommodate increased numbers postApril 2023.

In order to encourage more male clients to engage in activities, we further expanded our program with a trip to AFC Wimbledon in July 2022, a Football Friday in August 2022 and a visit and tour of Wimbledon Brewery.

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People

Increased the number of volunteers and improved volunteering experience

Age UK Merton is grateful to all its volunteers, without whom many of our services for older adults across the Borough would not exist. They play a key role in ensuring the quality, sustainability and reach of our services. We offer volunteering opportunities to people of all ages from student placements to volunteering at our centre in the community. Our oldest Volunteer is 95.

Our volunteers are supported and overseen by our experienced volunteering team and are managed in accordance with our Volunteering policy. Volunteers, in their diversity of age, experience, cultural background and their involvement within communities, bring to our work a value that adds to our understanding of and response to older people’s needs. Our range of volunteers have a variety of interests and reasons for wanting to support the organisation, from gaining experience at the start of their careers to using their wealth of experience and knowledge to meeting the needs of our communities.

Over the year, our volunteers have provided remarkable support in every aspect of our activities, from working one to one with our clients to providing administrative support for our staff. We provide a range of volunteering opportunities, each with clear role descriptions to enable volunteers to contribute effectively according to their skills and interests. Volunteers are recruited on a rolling basis, within a well-defined journey. We have a clear recruitment and selection process; all volunteers are interviewed, references taken up and for certain placements Disclosure and Barring Service checks are carried out. All volunteers are then matched to distinct roles,

with appropriate induction, ongoing support and training.

Unfortunately, we have seen a reduced interest in volunteering and this volunteering fatigue is echoed across the Age UK and wider charity network, as times are increasingly tough for many. We have seen a return to in person engagement from volunteers and the team have worked hard, creating relationships with volunteers to encourage longer term engagement and volunteering. This has seen an increased numbers of volunteers attending social events and keeping in contact with the team. Also we have seen an increased numbers of volunteers entering their second year of volunteering with us, last year we saw more short term volunteers who would only be involved for under six months before exiting. We have also had volunteers who have been recommended by other volunteers after they had a good experience volunteering with us.

We have also had volunteers contact us who would like to share their corporate volunteering options from their employment with us. This is something we hope to develop next year alongside offering more opportunities for volunteers to be involved in events and fundraising opportunities.

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We currently have 208 active volunteers, over the financial year we have had contact with 340 individual volunteers or students.

Ongoing issues remain with volunteer recruitment and volunteers offering shorter term commitments, looking for micro volunteering or looking at evening and weekend availability. The Team has been flexible offering support outside of traditional working hours. Previous volunteers have had to return to work due to cost of living so some long-term volunteers have had to end volunteering this year.

Time pressures with the team continuing to support higher than the recommended number of befriending matches remain. We have had an increase again on clients being referred with more complex support needs which often results in the match needing extra support and guidance to stay safe and successful. We have also had an increase in request for student placements this year – these students have been placed in the Activity centre but we do have further requests for other departments that it would be great to explore further.

Influence

Increased representation of

older adults on strategic boards

Within the year Age UK Merton’s role as an influencer within the wider health and care system has increased. Our CEO continues to have membership on the statutory Health and Wellbeing Board. She also represents both our AUKM voice and is a wider voluntary sector representative on the Merton Health and Care Together Committee at Place level, and also sits on the Merton Health and Care Together Partnership. These forums focus on opportunities for effective cross-sector

collaboration, system-wide efficiencies in the delivery of service and aligning strategies to put in place person-centred support to improve Health and Care outcomes across the borough.

Delivering more services in partnership

Age UK Merton is committed to working collaboratively with partners across the health and care system to improve outcomes for older adults. We continued our collaborative work to deliver the Merton Befriending Service in partnership with Wimbledon Guild and continued to lead the hugely successful Merton Community Hub in partnership with Merton Connected and Wimbledon Guild which has been extended. Living Well service is now embedded in the Primary Care Networks to work more closely with General Practice, Social Prescribers, Adult Social Care and Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust. As we embrace the challenges ahead, this commitment to partnership working will be essential in achieving outcomes for the older people we serve.

Processes

Improved safety on site

Throughout the year, we have focused on making improvements to our surroundings, which has included upgrades to the electrical wiring, fire alarms, and a full security alarm and CCTV installation.

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Future plans

Age UK Merton has now been supporting local older people for nearly seventy years through the delivery of a wide range of services in the home and community.

supporting older people in Merton. All of the team here at Age UK Merton will support the development of annual implementation plans with the actions required to enable the successful delivery of this exciting new threeyear strategic plan.

Over the 2022-2023 period, we have collaborated internally with staff, trustees and volunteers, and externally with our clients and key stakeholders in the drafting of our new three-year strategic plan. This comes at a crucial point within the history of the charity and has enabled us over the past year to refresh our vision, mission and values as part of our ongoing development within our wider Merton landscape, and the new Integrated Care System, and with a focus on working in an integrated, collaborative way, to enable us to widen access to our services and extend our reach to clients.

Reflecting upon the current position of the organisation, the local context of Merton, and the challenges older people in Merton face, we have been developing our new threeyear strategic plan since August 2022. We have taken an engagement approach which included:

Our previous three-year strategic plan (running from 2019 to 2022) served the charity well during a period of operational challenges. The current increased demand for services, the financial impact of the ongoing cost of living crisis, changes in health and social care and an increasingly older population have all helped to shape four key areas, developing our ‘building blocks’ for the future of Age UK Merton. This new strategic plan offers some foresight of what success in each of these four areas would mean to our clients, their carers, friends, families, our organisation, and our wider community in Merton.

Building upon our achievements from the previous strategic plan and placing older people at the core of our thinking, we hope to continue to build upon our reputation as an organisation positively and effectively

These engagement activities have led us to identify our four building blocks for future success. We know we need to continue improving the full range of holistic health,

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wellbeing and social outcomes for older adults, whilst increasing our outreach and engagement with under-represented groups and carers, and building pathways of support e.g., with local specialist dementia services. We need to continue to develop and support our workforce, whilst working on longer term sustainability to ensure continued delivery in an environment that is fit for purpose, with more secure funding.

Increasing Outreach and Engagement

What we want to do and why

We want to find people in Merton who we haven’t interacted with who have a real need for our support, particularly in underrepresented groups, in order to listen to them and support them. We will reach out across the borough beyond our base of operations in the East of Merton where there is greater socioeconomic need. We know that West Merton has an older population with the potential need for our services. We will continue to develop our relationships with our partner organisations in Merton both building upon pathways for our clients (e.g., dementia) and links with other valued support organisations e.g., Carers Support Merton.

Increasing our outreach and engagement is crucial to help reduce health inequalities in the borough for our client group, in particular targeting under-represented groups. This will ensure a greater collective impact with both our statutory and non-statutory colleagues and our communities across the borough, efficiently and effectively finding people needing our help, care and support. We will continue to engage with and feedback on programmes of work around anticipatory care, frailty, population health, and Actively Merton ensuring the wider voice of older adults is fed into system-based programmes designed to

reduce inequalities and prevent poor mental and physical health.

Improving health, wellbeing and social outcomes

What we want to do and why

We know there are key challenges for older adults in Merton including the impact of loneliness, frailty, and dementia amongst others. We want to continue to provide person-centred services, improving clients’ physical and mental health and wellbeing whilst meeting other practical needs. It is also important to think about the outcomes for younger older adults and what might be important to them earlier on their journey, ensuring we both support digital inclusion for our younger cohorts but equally that we campaign against digital exclusion. Broadly we want to increase referrals and provide equity in access to services, supporting an open equality, diversity and inclusion approach. We also want to further support improved outcomes around improving independence and autonomy, empowering people to be more socially connected, and financially stable with maximised income which is crucially important in the current economic climate. Finally, we want our improved outcomes to be holistic and will work closely with health and care colleagues to ensure safe and efficient care around our clients and effective transition from one provider/sector to another as we look to influence and drive new approaches to service delivery. Overall if we can also demonstrate good outcomes this develops our reputation and enables us to secure further grant funding which in the long run benefits clients, staff and the organisation.

Developing our workforce

Sustainability

What we want to do and why

What we want to do and why

We want to secure a highly functioning workforce. As our services grow and develop, we must build capacity and flexibility in our team, and provide a positive and supportive working environment that attracts and retains the best people.

We want to build upon existing strong relationships with current/ local grant funders and target new sources of grant, contract and fundraising income. We want to move away from a disproportionate reliance on year-to-year funding pots, whilst continuing to maximise our income. We also want to make sure our Activity Centre is fit for purpose and future-proofed for the needs of the organisation, whilst keeping environmental sustainability at the forefront.

This will enable us to deliver high quality, client-focused services that are responsive to increases in demand and the changing needs of our community. This will be within an organisation that values diversity, ensures development and recognition of staff, and makes best use of resources from a structure that is fit for purpose.

This will ensure we are making the most efficient use of resources for the charity and stimulating a greater return on our investments to enable continued re-investment in ongoing service development. It will also ensure we have an effective base for a flexible and growing workforce, and an inviting and functional

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centre for a growing portfolio of activities and outreach across the borough.

Implementing London Borough of Merton’s Civic Pride Fund – from Q2 2023/24 onwards

Our vision for a new Community Support Service will ensure:

This also links well with the work the Age UK National service development team are proposing to support us with looking at our pathways, given we have asked them for support with Information and Advice.

A vision for an outreach model

Many of you will recall plans outlined to redevelop the centre at the Elmwood site. The last 12 months have seen us shift focus towards becoming more outward looking in our approach to service delivery and development. When you look at the building blocks identified in our new strategy as being the key drivers to the success of our ambitions and priorities, you can clearly see how a fullscale capital build has now become at odds with AUKM’s priorities for the next three years.

Our perspective towards community engagement and outreach has widened to ambitions that span the whole borough; whilst Mitcham remains the ‘hub’ or HQ of operations, we know there is client need across Merton, and widening access to our services and pro-actively reaching marginalised communities borough-wide is a top priority. Our strategy sets out operations that will have hub and spoke frameworks, with satellite activity being delivered in existing community assets across Merton, improving health and wellbeing outcomes for new and existing clients and making our services readily available and accessible to communities in other locations, rather than being wholly reliant on clients coming to us in Mitcham. In this regard, we have already trialled Tai Chi off-site and are currently working collaboratively with the Baitul Futuh Mosque; delivering sessions on site and building relationships for effective future collaborative work.

We have seen a huge amount of service development in the last year; our workforce is growing and is working in increasingly flexible ways, including hybrid working. We have already taken on additional workspace; this is working very well and has meant we are visible and present alongside other voluntary sector organisations also housed at Vestry Hall, which directly facilitates cross-sector working and integration.

In terms of sustainability, we now feel that entering into a capital build would be wholly disproportionate to the benefit it would generate for AUKM. We feel that our clients would be better served delivering the priorities and building blocks of our strategy; priorities that we are already making great strides towards achieving.

Requirements for redevelopment of Elmwood Centre

We do acknowledge that the building needs some cosmetic and more minor scale building improvements to make it fit for purpose and to create a more pleasant working environment. We have identified essential improvements over the next three years and we would expect these to be funded by grant making bodies in discrete projects to limit the impact on business continuity.

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Financial Review

Over the past year Age UK Merton has continued to build on the income growth seen over the past few years with overall income increasing by 26% to £1,284,750 (2022 £1,016,968) with unrestricted income increasing slightly to £410,141 (2022 £265,801).

Headline activity for the 2022-2023 Financial Year

Reserves Policy

The Finance Committee conducts a threemonthly review of the level of unrestricted reserves by considering risks associated with various income streams, expenditure plans and balance sheet items. Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the Charity. Restricted funds are grants or donations which the donor has specified are to be used solely for specific activities or projects undertaken by the Charity. Reserves are needed to bridge the funding gap between spending on providing services and receiving resources through fundraising.

The review enables the Committee to determine whether the level of reserves is sufficient to:

The Trustees recognise that the economic climate may continue to deteriorate with the ongoing cost of living crisis in the forefront of our minds, and with limited funding opportunities, which are often short-term. Despite this caution, Age UK Merton has a stable and sound financial position and the increase in unrestricted reserves provides some comfort as the Charity navigates a challenging period ahead.

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Financial review
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INCOME SOURCES
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OTHER
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£3,624 < 1%
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GRANTS

£865,472 67%

DONATIONS & LEGACIES

109,658 9%

PAID-FOR SERVICES

£228,682 18%

CONTRACTS

£61,093 5%

The Committee has considered the Charity Commission’s guidance Charity Reserves: Building Resilience (January 2016) in undertaking this review.

The risks and issues considered include:

Going Concern

The Board of Trustees is of the view that forecast expenditure to 31 March 2024 will be fully funded from currently approved grants and contracts and from reasonably expected future funding from the same and similar sources. The Board also notes the increased cover available from Age UK Merton’s reserves.

Going concern is assessed quarterly as a standing item on the agenda at Finance Committee.

Investment Policy and Objectives

Aside from retaining a prudent amount in reserves each year, the Trustees conduct a review of the investment policy for Age UK Merton on an annual basis. The Charity’s investment policy is to keep sufficient cash levels in a current Bank account to meet the short-term needs of the organisation. Amounts above those required for these needs are invested with specialist charity investment managers where a low overall risk and above average rate of interest is received on the deposit. Currently these excess funds are deposited with Charity Offices Investment Fund under their Charities Deposit Fund scheme. COIF is regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is an ethical investor.

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400K

300K

200K

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£1,284,750
1.2M 1.2M
FIVE-YEAR REVIEW 2018—2022
£1,896,540
1M 1M
800K 800K
INCOME
700K 700K
EXPENDITURE
600K 600K
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500K
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500K

£406,541

400K

UNRESTRICTED RESERVES

300K

Financial Statements

The financial statements, including the notes, have been prepared in compliance with the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ 2015 (FRS 102). The analysis of income and expenditure reflects the classification of activities, together with costs relating to administration.

Risk Management

The Trustees have overall responsibility for ensuring the Charity has the most appropriate and effective control systems to safeguard the organisation and any of its assets. These controls protect the organisation against fraud and other irregularities.

This role and the associated practices offer reassurance that:

The Charity maintained a risk register within the year to allow Trustees to assess risk, existing controls and mitigations and residual risk, which allows them to identify further actions to reduce risk further. Risks are categorised by the following headings; Compliance, Governance, Finance, Operations and External.

The Trustees view the risks faced by Age UK Merton to be fairly typical for a local charity delivering services for older adults. However, the risk register is updated frequently with

emerging risks discussed by the Trustees to ensure that the overall risk profile of the Charity is kept within reasonable limits.

The organisation’s policies and procedures continue to be reviewed on a regular basis. The Board works closely with the senior staff to address risk within the organisation. This is in addition to support around financial controls from our Auditor.

Operational and Compliance risks are minimised by the implementation of appropriate policies and procedures, as well as, softer mitigations such as staff welfare and emotional support. Insurance policies are in place to cover public liability, premises and contents, professional indemnity, and volunteers. As is the case with many other charities in the sector, one of the principle risks identified by the Trustees relates to Finances, including competition for funding in an environment where our clients’ needs are increasing and resources are decreasing.

To mitigate this, Trustees and senior management team are working to ensure we offer excellent services and value for money. We are seeking to demonstrate the quality and impact of our services to reassure funders and partners that resources are used efficiently for the best impact on our beneficiaries.

Board Structure and Governance

The Trustees (who are also directors of the charitable company for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006) are pleased to present their annual Trustees Report, together with the financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2023, which are also prepared to meet the requirements for a directors’ report and accounts for Companies Act purposes.

200K

100K

100K

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The Trustees determine staff pay scales and review them on annual basis along as part of the annual budgeting process. This includes the review of the remuneration of key management personnel within the annual review process.

The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

Principal Activity

The charitable company’s principal activity for the year, which is ultimately the objects set out in the Articles of Association was to promote the relief of elderly people in any manner which now or hereafter may be deemed by law to be charitable in and around the London Borough of Merton.

Governing Document

Age UK Merton is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Articles of Association, which were adopted in 2004, revised in 2012 with further revision in November 2015 to amend Section 21 regarding the composition of the Board of Trustees and further amendment in November 2021 to allow for General Meetings to take place electronically. The geographical scope of the organisation’s work encompasses the entire London Borough of Merton.

The Charity was originally founded in 1961 and was registered as an unincorporated charity with the Charity Commission 30 August 1961. The Charity incorporated 7 July 2004.

Age UK Merton is an independent Charity, responsible for its own policy, direction and funding. Age UK Merton is also a member of Age England Association.

Public Benefit

The Trustees have given due consideration to the Charity Commission’s published guidance on the Public Benefit requirement under the Charities Act 2011. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. We believe that we have complied with the guidance; and seek to demonstrate this within this report. Our objects and funding limit the services we provide to those detailed in our charitable objectives.

The Aims of the Charity are to promote the relief of elderly people in any manner, which now and hereafter may be deemed by law to be charitable in and around the London Borough of Merton.

Trustees

All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the Charity apart from reimbursed expenses set out in the accounts. The Board of Trustees meets every two months and is responsible for governing the affairs of Age UK Merton. The Board agrees the strategic direction to ensure the organisation fulfils its objectives. It takes overall responsibility for ensuring that the financial, legal and contractual obligations

of the Charity are met and that there are satisfactory systems and controls in place. The Board of Trustees receive regular reports from the Finance Committee who oversee the finances of the organisation. The Board has reserved the right to establish working groups from within its members to discuss and make recommendations on specific areas of governance, such as Policies and Procedures.

The Chief Executive Officer attends all Board meetings and sub-committee meetings.

The Trustees serving during the year and to the date of this report were as follows:

Tobin Byers , Chair

Brian Dillon , Treasurer

Eileen Nutting , Company Secretary

Clare Gummett (resigned 23 November 2022)

Dr Hannah Behrendt (resigned 23 November 2022)

Altaf Moledina

Shuile Syeda (resigned 5 July 2022)

Gerald Willabus (resigned 23 May 2022)

Katherine Murray

Richard Batson

Peter Southgate

Appointment of new Trustees

As set out in the Articles of Association, Trustees are elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and may serve a term of three years after which they may be re-elected for a further three years. There must be at least three Charity Trustees. If the number falls below this minimum, the remaining Trustee or Trustees may act only to call a meeting of the Charity Trustees, or appoint a new

Trustee. The person elected Chair may serve for six consecutive years. The Board can co-opt members during the year to ensure that the Board has a broad range of skills and experience and to facilitate Trustee succession.

Trustee recruitment and induction

Trustees are recruited through advertisement, professional, personal and member contacts. We aim to recruit local people or people whose skills the Board have identified as needed. The Trustees endeavour to ensure there is a balance of skills, gender, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, culture, politics or religious belief which reflects the diversity of our community and best represents older adults in Merton. New Trustees are given an induction pack and training to brief them on their legal obligations under charity and company law, the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and inform them of the content of the Articles of Association. Further training is offered on a regular basis to all Board members and Trustees are encouraged to attend appropriate external training events where these will facilitate the undertaking of their role.

Related parties and co-operation with other organisations

None of our Trustees receive remuneration or other benefit from their work with the Charity. Any connection between a Trustee or Senior Manager of the Charity with service user, external contractor, staff member or supplier of services must be disclosed to the full board of Trustees in the same way as any other contractual relationship with a related party. All related party transactions are managed in accordance with the Charity’s conflicts of interest policy. Any related party transactions were reported in note 14 of the accounts.

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Statement of

Management

Day-to-day management and decision making of the Charity is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer who works closely with senior management team and other management staff to deliver the Charity’s strategic objectives. The Chief Executive Officer reports to the Chair and the Board.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Sarah Goad , CEO

Jen Goddard , Head of Services

Rebecca Williams , Head of Finance (appointed December 2022)

Recruitment

The Charity is committed to recruiting talented, dedicated people who share our values and represent the diversity of both Merton and its older adult population. We are actively seeking to recruit candidates who will increase the diversity of our team. All candidates are assessed and recruited following our Recruitment Policy.

Training

Training for our staff and volunteers is a critical aspect of our Strategic Plan. The new Senior Management Team have implemented a full suite of accessible online Mandatory Training to facilitate both individual and team development. Training is a separate budgetary heading allowing the Board and Chief Executive to align the training plan and financial resources required in the financial planning cycle. The Charity offers core online training for all new starters, which enables all staff to hold a Care Certificate. In addition, role specific training based on individual’s development needs is offered throughout the year and following appraisal.

Trustees’ Responsibilities

reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees (who are also the directors of Age UK Merton for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to

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

Statement as to Disclosure of Information to Auditors

Small Company

On behalf of the Board:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records, which disclose with

Tobin Byers (Chair), Trustee 14th November 2023

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Reference and

Our supporters

Administrative Information

Financial review

Registered Charity number: 1105384

Company Number: 05153595

Registered office: Elmwood Centre, 277 London Road, Mitcham, Surrey CR43NT

Auditors Details

Myrus Smith

Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors 8 Burnell Road, Sutton, Surrey SM1 4BW

Bankers

Barclays Bank Plc. Barclays House, 8 Alexandra Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 7JZ

Unity Trust Bank Plc. Nine Brindley Place, Birmingham B1 2HB

Investment managers

CCLA Fund Managers Limited

COIF Funds, Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4ET

Age UK Merton wishes to thank all of our supporters for their generosity over the last year. No matter how large or small, each contribution makes a difference.

Over the year, the Charity has benefited from support from a number of new partners, in addition to help from long-term supporters. We rely on funding from a variety of sources, including our clients, who pay for our highquality services. We thank them for choosing the Charity as a service provider and aspire to continue to provide the highest quality support to help them love later life. In addition, we thank our local partners, Merton Giving , London Borough of Merton Council , Wimbledon Foundation and Wimbledon District Nurses and Midwives Benevolent Society for their support.

We are privileged to enjoy such strong partnerships with local partners, who share our passion for the health and wellbeing of Merton’s older adults. We also thank partners from further afield who have chosen to invest in Merton. In particular, we are grateful to the National Lottery Community Fund , Age UK , Henry Smith Charitable Foundation , Versus Arthritis , Sport England , Vernon Ely , City Bridge Trust , Age UK national and John Horseman Charitable Trust .

This support from national funders is testament to the needs of older adults in Merton and our unique position to help everyone love later life.

Finally, we pay our sincere thanks to all those individuals who have made donations or attended our fundraising events over the last year. Every penny donated is put to good use in our efforts to make Merton a great place to grow old.

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Independent

Auditor’s Report

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Age UK Merton (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant 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 charitable company 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 trustees’ 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 charitable company’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.

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

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’

annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

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 course of our audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial

statements themselves. 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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied

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Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’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 trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

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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. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as

we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

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.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members 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 charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Kevin Fisher FCA Senior Statutory Auditor For and on behalf of Myrus Smith Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors

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Financial Statements

Statement of Financial Activities (Incorporating an income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2023

Unrestricted Restricted 2023 total 2022 total
Funds Funds Funds Funds
INCOME FROM Notes £ £ £ £
Donations and legacies 2 109,658 — 109,658 61,364
Income from charitable 4
activities
At Home with Age UK Merton 197,017 — 197,017 170,151
Grants to Individuals 16 429 445 380
Health Programmes 399 249,309 249,708 247,792
Information and Advice — 363,946 363,946 397,683
Love Later Life 39,636 27,897 67,533 56,389
Overheads 13,135 — 13,135 17,742
Volunteers and Befriending — 139,780 139,780 50,000
Activities income 7,754 36,028 43,782 14,070
Direct service income 150 52,220 52,370 177
Outreach Worker payments 36,006 5,000 41,006 187
Other trading activities
Fundraising 3,414 — 3,414 190
Investments 3 2,956 — 2,956 843
Total Income 410,141 874,609 1,284,750 1,016,968
EXPENDITURE ON Notes
Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
2023 total
Funds
£
2022 total
Funds
£		 Notes
Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
2023 total
Funds
£
2022 total
Funds
£
Raising funds
Charitable activities:
At Home with Age UK Merton
Grants to Individuals
Health Programmes
Information and Advice
Love Later Life
Overheads
Volunteers and Befriending
Activities Expenses
Total Expenditure
Operating Surplus
Net Unrealised Gains /
(Losses) On Investments
NET INCOME (EXPENDITURE)
Transfers Between Funds
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
TOTAL FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD		 5
6
20
20
20		 1,519
—
1,519
3,210
207,776
24,063
231,839
172,117
16
429
445
310
220
265,997
266,217
248,115
38
297,086
297,124
411,379
47,306
24,214
71,520
57,032
102,134
5,000
107,134
67,164
—
160,601
160,601
51,348
23,284
29,857
53,141
16,254
382,293
807,247
1,189,540
1,026,929
27,848
67,362
95,210
(9,961)
(1,151)
—
(1,151)
2,506
26,697
67,362
94,059
(7,455)
2,156
(2,156)
—
—
28,853
65,206
94,059
(7,455)
377,688
76,807
454,495
461,950
20 406,541
142,013
548,554
454,495

Continuing operations

All income and expenditure is derived from continuing activities. The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

The notes on pages 51 to 68 form part of the financial statements

The notes on pages 51 to 68 form part of the financial statements

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Balance Sheet at 31 March 2022

Notes 2023
£		 2022
£
Fixed Assets
Tangible Assets
15
Investments
16
Current Assets
Debtors: amounts falling due within one year
17
Cash at bank
Current Liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
18
NET CURRENT ASSETS
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES
18
NET ASSETS
19
TOTAL FUNDS OF THE CHARITY
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
TOTAL FUNDS		 2,297
30,839		 556
31,990
33,136
99,042
572,877		 32,546
45,095
547,307
671,919
(156,501)		 592,402
(170,453)
515,418 421,949
548,554 454,495
548,554 454,495
406,541
142,013		 377,688
76,807
406,541 377,688

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

Tobin Byers (Chair), Trustee

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 14th November 2023 and were signed on its behalf by:

Brian Dillon (Treasurer), Trustee

Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2023

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Notes		 2023
£
2022
£
Net cash provided by operating activities
Cash provided from investing activities
Interest from investments
Net cash used in investing activities
Changes in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the year
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year
All amounts relate to continuing activities
RECONCILIATION OF NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net income for the reporting period
(as per the statement of fnancial activities)
Adjustments for:
Unrealised (gains) / losses on investments
Interest from investments
3
Payments to acquire tangible fxed assets
15
Decrease / (increase) in debtors
Increase / (decrease) in creditors
Net cash used in operating activities
ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Bank and cash in hand
Total cash and cash equivalents		 22,614
76,805
2,956
435
2,956
435
25,570
77,240
547,307
470,067
572,877
547,307
94,059
(7,455)
1,151
(2,506)
(2,956)
(435)
(1,741)
(556)
(53,947)
7,186
(13,952)
80,571
22,614
76,805
572,877
547,307
572,877
547,307

The notes on pages 51 to 68 form part of the financial statements

The notes on pages 51 to 68 form part of the financial statements

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Notes to the

Financial Statements

1. Accounting Policies

items at fair value, and having considered future plans and forecasts, including a review of financial reserves as detailed in the Trustees’ report, the Trustees believe it appropriate to continue to do so.

Age UK Merton is a private company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is given in the Reference and Administrative Information page.

Income recognition

Items of income are recognised in the financial statements when all of the following criteria are met:

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006 and UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention.

Contract income is recognised as the Charity earns the right to consideration through the performance of its services.

Income received in advance of a specific activity or provision of other specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

Age UK Merton meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.

Expenditure recognition

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis modified to include certain

The notes on pages 51 to 68 form part of the financial statements

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Expenditure includes those costs of a direct nature, which can be allocated to a specific activity. It also includes indirect costs including governance costs that do not relate to a specific activity but are necessary to support them. Support costs are apportioned to each activity on the basis of staff time.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted general funds are those funds which are freely available for use in furtherance of the objects of the Charity and which have not been designated for specific purposes.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the Charity, which the Trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose.

Restricted funds are funds which can only be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by the donor or which have been raised for a particular purpose.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Donated services and facilities

Donated services or facilities are recognised as income if material when the Charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the Charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably.

On receipt, donated services and facilities are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the Charity which is the amount the Charity

would have been willing to pay to obtain services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

Voluntary help

A significant amount of time is expended on the Charity’s activities, which is donated free of charge. It is not possible to quantify the value of time given and accordingly it is neither recorded as donated income nor as an expense in the financial statements.

Pension costs & other post-retirement benefits Employees are able to join the money purchase scheme, which has been established in compliance with the regulations on work – place pensions under the Pensions Act 2008.

Employees were automatically enrolled into the money purchase scheme unless they have exercised their right to opt out of scheme membership.

Tangible fixed assets

Individual fixed assets costing £1,000 or more are capitalised at cost and are depreciated over their estimated useful economic lives on a straight line basis as follows:

a straight line basis as follows:
Asset Category Annual Rate
Motor vehicles 33% on cost
Other assets 33% on cost

Corporation Taxation

The Charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.

Investments

Unlisted investments have been included in the Balance Sheet at bid market value as at

31 March 2023 with changes in bid market value recognised as net gains/(losses) on investments on the statement of Financial Activities.

Government grants

The charitable company received government support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which are accounted for on the accrual model.

Grant making to individuals

Grant applications are considered by the Finance Sub Committee on a frequent basis and the average grant is £250.

Debtors and creditors

Debtors and creditors with no stated interest rate and receivable or payable within one year are recorded at transaction price. Any losses arising from impairment are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities.

2. Income from Donations and Legacies

2.
Income from Donations and Legacies
2023
£		 2022
£
Donations
43,058		 43,364
Notional rent
18,000		 18,000
Legacies
48,600		 —
109,658 61,364

All of the £109,658 recognised in 2023 (2022: £61,364) is related to unrestricted funds.

3. Investment Income

3.
Investment Income
2022
£		 2021
£
Bank interest
2,955		 408
Investment income
1		 435
2,956 843

All of the £2,956 recognised in 2023 (2022: £843) related to unrestricted funds.

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4. Incoming Resources from Charitable Activities

4.
Incoming Resources from Charitable Activities
GRANTS 2023
£		 2022
£
Grants to individuals 445 380
Health Programmes 238,572 247,792
Information and Advice 362,904 387,661
Love Later Life 27,868 34,788
Overheads — 6,829
Volunteers and Befriending 90,864 —
Activities 36,219 4,987
Direct Services 52,220 —
Partner & Community Outreach workerpayments 42,506 —
CONTRACT INCOME
Information and Advice 1,042 5,022
Love Later Life 48,916 50,000
Volunteers and Befriending 11,135 —
CLIENT INCOME
At Home with Age UK Merton 197,017 170,151
Love Later Life 39,665 21,601
ROOM HIRE INCOME
Overheads 10,000 9,988
SUNDRY INCOME
Overheads 1,635 925
Information and Advice — 5,000
Activities income 7,564 9,083
Direct Services Income 150 177
Others — 187
TOTAL 1,168,722 954,571

Of the £1,168,722 received (2022: £954,571) £294,113 is unrestricted and £874,609 restricted (2022: £223,404 unrestricted and £731,167 restricted.)

4.1 Grant details

Grants received, included in the above, are as follows:

UNRESTRICTED 2023
£		 2022
£
Age UK London — 6,478
Age UK Overheads 36,006 —
Everyone Health Activities 191 —
Merton Voluntary Service Council Overheads 1,500 —
Other smallgrants Love Later Life (29) —
Wimbledon District Nursing &
Midwifery Benevolent Society		 Health Programme 249 —
Wimbledon Guild Welfare Grant Grants for individuals 16 —
Wimbledon Guild Welfare Grant Health Programme 150 —
38,083 6,478
RESTRICTED 2023
£		 2022
£
Age UK Love Later Life 6,508 2,535
City Bridge Trust Information and Advice 54,199 48,350
Emanuel Hospice Overheads 5,000 —
ESC Lottery Fund (Sport England
Lottery)		 Love Later Life 4,100 —
Everyone Health Love Later Life 3,414 —
London Borough of Merton Direct Services 52,220 —
London Borough of Merton Health Programme 236,405 247,792
London Borough of Merton Information and Advice 289,740 282,881
London Borough of Merton Love Later Life — 11,500
Masonic Charitable Foundation Love Later Life — 3,224
Mercers Company Love Later Life 9,625
Merton Voluntary Service Council Love Later Life — 1,029
**Merton Voluntary Service Council ** Volunteering and Befriending 2,500 —
**National Lottery Community Fund ** Activities 10,000 —
**National Lottery Community Fund ** Information and Advice 62,829 34,431
NHS South West London ICB Activities 11,067 —

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RESTRICTED 2023
£		 2022
£
NHS South West London ICB Health Programme 1,769 —
Postcode Society Trust Activities 14,962 4,987
The Charity of Sir Richard
Whittington		 Love Later Life — 16,500
The Henry Smith Charity Information and Advice 44,500 22,000
The Home Instead Charities Love Later Life 1,500 —
Wimbledon District Nursing &
Midwifery Benevolent Society		 Grants for individuals — 380
Wimbledon District Nursing &
Midwifery Benevolent Society		 Overheads — 350
Wimbledon Foundation Love Later Life 2,750 —
Wimbledon Guild Welfare Grant Grants for individuals 428 —
813,516 675,959
Total unrestricted and restrictedgrants 851,599 682,437

5. Fundraising costs

5.
Fundraising costs
2023
£		 2022
£
Direct fundraising costs 1,519 3,210

All the above costs of £1,519 are all unrestricted costs (2022: £3,210 all unrestricted costs fundraising).

6. Charitable activities costs

6.
Charitable activities costs
Direct costs
£		 Support costs
£
2023
£		 2022
£
At Home with Age UK Merton 181,398 26,378 207,776 172,117
Grants to Individuals 445 — 445 310
Health Programmes 185,470 80,746 266,216 248,115
Information & Advice 247,454 49,671 297,125 411,379
Love Later Life 51,142 20,378 71,520 57,032
Overheads 84,769 22,365 107,134 67,164
Volunteers and Befriending 127,334 33,267 160,601 51,348
Activities 45,364 7,777 53,141 16,254
Direct Services 24,063 — 24,063 —
947,439 240,582 1,188,021 1,023,719

7. Analysis of direct costs

7.
Analysis of direct costs
Unrestricted
£		 Restricted
£		 2022
£		 2021
£
Staff salary and staff costs, and
other Agency temp costs		 145,224 458,414 603,638 658,348
Volunteer expenses 51 2,540 2,591 1,938
Project costs 33,805 152,685 186,490 178,765
Premises costs 27,132 5,734 32,866 23,011
Offce costs 4,785 13,274 18,059 19,153
Helping Hands salary costs 103,127 568 103,695 —
Vehicle costs 100 — 100 —
314,224 633,215 947,439 881,215

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8. Analysis of support costs

8.
Analysis of support costs
Unrestricted
£		 Restricted
£		 2023
£		 2022
£
Staff salary and staff costs
and other Agency temp costs		 23,545 95,020 118,565 50,821
Premises costs 6,784 27,097 33,881 15,307
Offce costs 4,848 19,579 24,427 20,859
Governance costs (note 9) 20,197 — 20,197 32,078
Consultancy 11,175 32,337 43,512 23,439
66,549 174,033 240,582 142,504

9. Governance costs

9.
Governance costs
2023
£		 2022
£
Accountancy — 740
Bank charges and fees 2,294 1,894
Consultancy fees — 22,050
Auditor’s fee (2021: Independent Examiner’s fee) 3,360 3,540
Legal fees 13 13
Professional fees 9,894 —
Payroll costs 2,600 2,085
Other fees and licences 2,036 1,756
Payroll costs 2,085 1,990
Other fees and licences 1,756 1,044
20,197 32,078

10. Net incoming/(outgoing) resources

Net resources are stated after charging / (crediting):

Net resources are stated after charging / (crediting): Net resources are stated after charging / (crediting): Net resources are stated after charging / (crediting):
2023
£
2022
£
Auditor’s fee 3,360 3,540

11. Staff Costs

11. Staff Costs
2023
£		 2022
£
Wages and salaries 718,592 622,667
Social security costs 56,359 45,875
Pension costs 20,114 17,522
795,065 686,064

One employee (2022: Nil) had employee benefits in excess of £60,000 (2022: Nil) within the range of £60,001–£70,000. Pension costs are allocated to activities in proportion to the related staffing costs incurred and are wholly charged to unrestricted funds. The Charity Trustees were not paid nor received any other benefits from employment with the Charity in the year (2022: £Nil) neither were they reimbursed expenses during the year (2022: £Nil). No Charity Trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the Charity (2022: £Nil).

The Senior Management Team of the Charity comprises of the Trustees and those detailed on pages 20 of the Trustees’ report. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the Charity were £69,719 (2022: £50,455).

Under FRS 102 employee benefits include gross pay, benefits in kind, employer’s national insurance and employer’s pension costs.

Of the costs £20,197 costs (2022: £32,078) £20,197 is unrestricted costs and £Nil is restricted costs (2022: £22,156 is unrestricted costs and £9,922 restricted costs).

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12. Staff numbers

The average monthly number of employees (including casual and part time staff) during the year was as follows:


year was as follows:
2023
Numbers		 2022
Numbers
Senior management team 8 8
Other direct charitable staff 15 13
At Home with Age UK Merton 17 16
40 37

13. Pension costs

The company has a defined contribution pension scheme, which all employees are entitled to join. The company contributes 4% and the employees contributed 4% and

employees may make further additional voluntary contributions.

During the year ended 31 March 2023, the company’s total contributions amounted to £20,114 (2022: £17,522)

14. Transactions and related parties

The trustees neither received nor waived any remuneration during the year (2022: £Nil).

There were no other related party transactions during the year other than those stated on note 11 and above.

The trustees did not have any expenses reimbursed during the year (2022: £Nil).

15. Tangible fixed assets

COST Other Assets
£		 Totals
£
At 1 April 2022 9,946 9,946
Additions 1,741 1,741
Disposals — —
As at 31 March 2023 11,687 11,687
DEPRECIATION Other Assets
£		 Totals
£
At 1 April 2022 9,390 9,390
Charge for year — —
Eliminated on disposal — —
As at 31 March 2023
NET BOOK VALUE		 9,390 9,390
At 31 March 2023 2,297 2,297
At 31 March 2022 556 556

16. Fixed asset investments

16. Fixed asset investments
Market Value Unlisted
Investments
£		 Totals
£
At 1 April 2022 31,990 31,990
Additions — —
Disposals — —
Revaluation (1,151) (1,151)
At 31 March 2023 30,839 30,839

There were no investment assets outside the UK.

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Unlisted Investments 2023
£		 2022
£
COIF Charities Investment Fund Income 1002.95 units 18,769 19,450
COIF Charities Investment Fund Income 645 units 12,070 12,540
30,839 31,990

The revaluation in the year for the unlisted investments is a result of an unrealised loss of £1,151 (2022: gain of £2,506).

Unlisted investments consist of COIF Charities Investment Fund Income Units. These have been included at bid market value price.

17. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year

17. Debtors: amounts falling due within one year
2023
£		 2022
£
Trade debtors 30,913 15,688
Accrued income 42,583 4,222
Other debtors - 9,895
Prepayments 25,546 15,290
99,042 45,095

18. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

18. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
2023
£		 2022
£
Trade creditors 6,391 11,892
Taxation and Social Security 15,924 11,554
Other creditors 3,513 4,279
Accrued expenses 15,302 4,593
Deferred income 115,371 138,135
156,501 170,453

Deferred income of £115,371 (2022: £138,135) included above relates to grant income received during the year but relating to future accounting periods.


during the year but relating to future accounting periods.
Deferred income analysis 2023
£		 2022
£
As at 1 April 138,135 59,502
Additions duringtheyear 115,371 138,135
Amounts released to income (138,135) (59,502)
As at 31 March 115,371 138,135

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19. Analysis of net assets between funds

Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 Total Funds
2023
£		 Total Funds
2022
£
Fixed assets 2,297 — 2,297 556
Investments 30,839 — 30,839 31,990
Current assets 433,682 238,237 671,919 592,402
Current liabilities (60,277) (96,224) (156,501) (170,453)
406,541 142,013 548,554 454,495

Comparative year information for the net assets between funds

Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 Total Funds
2022
£		 Total Funds
2021
£
Fixed assets 556 — 556 —
Investments 31,990 — 31,990 29,484
Current assets 382,460 209,942 592,402 522,348
Current liabilities (37,318) (133,135) (170,453) (89,882)
377,688 76,807 454,495 461,950

20. Movement in funds

Current year

Current Year
Unrestricted Funds		 At 1/4/22
£		 Net
movement
in funds
£		 Transfers
between
funds
£		 At 31/3/23
£
General fund 377,688 36,592 (117,844) 296,436
Restricted Funds
At Home with Age UK Merton 1,899 — (1,899) —
Grants to individuals 4,888 — — 4,888
Healthcare Programmes 20,138 (16,688) — 3,450
Information and Advice 31,059 66,860 (8,313) 89,606
Love Later Life — 3,683 — 3,683
Overheads 70 — (70) —
Volunteers and Befriending 13,579 (20,821) 8,313 1,071
Activities 4,987 6,171 — 11,158
Direct Service — 28,157 — 28,157
Others 187 — (187) —
76,807 67,362 (2,156) 142,013
Net movements in funds for the current year are as follows:
Incoming
resources
£
Resources
expended
£
Unrestricted funds		 Gains and
losses
£		 Movement in
funds
£
36,592
(9,895)
26,697
—
—
General fund
410,141
(372,398)		 (1,151)
Designated fund
Buildings & maintenance
—
(9,895)		 —
410,141
(382,293)
Restricted funds		 (1,151)
At Home with Age UK Merton
—
—		 —
Grants to individuals
429
(429)		 —

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Incoming Resources Gains and Movement in
resources expended losses funds
£ £ £ £
Healthcare Programmes 249,309 (265,997) — (16,688)
Information and Advice 363,946 (297,086) — 66,860
Love Later Life 27,897 (24,214) — 3,683
Volunteers and Befriending 139,780 (160,601) — (20,821)
Activities 36,028 (29,857) — 6,171
Direct Service 52,220 (24,063) — 28,157
Others 5,000 (5,000) — —
874,609 (807,247) — 67,362
TOTAL FUNDS 1,284,750 (1,189,540) (1,151) 94,059

21. Movement in funds – previous year

Transfers
Net movement between
At 1/4/21 in funds funds At 31/3/22
£ £ £ £
Unrestricted Funds
General fund 367,027 10,661 — 377,688
367,027 10,661 — 377,688
Restricted Funds
At Home with Age UK Merton 2,188 (289) — 1,899
Grants to individuals 4,818 70 — 4,888
Healthcare Programmes 20,928 (342) (448) 20,138
Information and Advice 46,408 (15,643) 294 31,059
Love Later Life 5,360 (5,640) 280 —
Overheads — (98) 168 70
Volunteers and Befriending 15,221 (1,348) (294) 13,579
Activities — 4,987 — 4,987
Others — 187 — 187
94,923 (18,116) — 76,807
TOTAL FUNDS 461,950 (7,455) — 454,495

22. Restricted funds

At Home with Age UK Merton including Direct Services

This incorporates our At Home service that provides regular domestic support to help maintain independence in later life. At Home with Age UK Merton also includes our Solemates, now rebranded as Happy Feet, – Footcare Service. Within 2022-23 we received a grant from the London Borough of Merton for a pilot project providing a support service for isolated Merton residents who require enhanced support to access food and practical help in the home and assistance following hospital discharge.

Grants to Individuals

These funds provide us with a resource for making small grants to older people in particular need across Merton, the average grant being £250.

Health Care Programmes

This incorporates the Living Well and Fresh Start Services.

Living Well

This service is funded by the London Borough of Merton’s Ageing Well 2 programme and sees Age UK Merton working in partnership with other voluntary sector organisations and Adult Social Care to support older Merton residents with their social, emotional and nutritional needs. We receive referrals from Adult Social Care and provide individuals with a person-centred assessment to improve individual’s overall wellbeing, safety and social connection. The service was expanded during the year to respond to the increased demand and complexity of cases and to pilot closer partnership working with Merton’s

Integrated Locality Teams. This expansion was funded by the Better Care Fund.

Fresh Start

This pilot is funded by the London Borough of Merton through the Disabled Facility Grant. The service provides one-to-one support for older adults experiencing low-level hoarding and clutter issues. The service seeks to enable the individuals to improve home safety, address the root causes of the issue and improve health and wellbeing.

Information and Advice Service

This service is to help people in the community to claim a range of welfare benefits and assist with other issues such as housing, social care etc. We provide a drop-in service at our offices —giving advice over the phone and, increasingly, by email— provided by specialist information and advice staff. We received funding the National Lottery Community Fund and Henry Smith to help develop this service over five years with key objectives around improving access, quality, information governance and positive outcomes for clients in areas like benefits assessment.

The funding is provided by the London Borough of Merton for an adviser specialising in income maximisation, health, housing and community care advice.

During the year, Age UK Merton, along with voluntary sector partners across the borough, was funded but the London Borough of Merton to provide the Community Response Hub, which was established to support vulnerable residents to access food, practical and emotional support during the pandemic. This service was extended to June 2023, and Age UK Merton, Wimbledon Guild and

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Merton Connected were successful with a tender to provide the Merton Community Hub for this period.

Love Later Life including Activities

The service provides a programme of activity running Monday to Friday in our Centre, supporting people to stay active in body and mind. These services are largely funded through client income but we have received support to help subsidise costs and support specific activities. During the year we were forced to suspend these face-to-face services for the entire year. However, we moved to provide remote, telephone and online support for clients to enable them to stay active and connected throughout the pandemic, thanks to funding from the Masonic Charitable Foundation, Sport England, Versus Arthritis, Postcode Lottery, Wimbledon Foundation, Wimbledon District Nurses and Midwifery

23. Capital Commitments

The Trustees have agreed that the previously planned capital refurbishment of the centre is no longer a viable use of resources and therefore Age UK Merton the £65,000 received from the Neighbourhood fund has been

24. Contingent Assets

Total contingent assets as at 31 March 2023 is £443,712.

Benevolent Society and the London Borough of Merton.

Volunteering and Befriending

We have been support by Public Health Merton for the provision of the Merton Befriending Scheme since 2015, working in an innovative collaboration with the Wimbledon Guild of Social Welfare to ensure the delivery of high – quality befriending services for isolated older people. During the period the partnership was successfully recommissioned for a further 12 months. There is a particular focus on identifying and supporting those most likely to experience social isolation and related poor health outcomes, including targeted work to reach older people from BAME groups.

During the year Age UK Merton also received funding from Merton Giving to support our befriending service.

released back to the funds. Capital costs for the original project have been released into the profit and loss account and are covered by the ringfenced reserves.

68

Age UK Merton Elmwood Centre, 277 London Road, Mitcham, CR4 3NT

t. 020 8648 5792 e. info@ageukmerton.org.uk s. @ageukmerton ageukmerton.org.uk