## **THE LIVING WELL ANNUAL REPORT 2025 Reference and Administrative Details**
**Patron:** Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin
## **Board of Trustees:**
Mr George White (Chair) Revd Canon Lorraine Apps-Huggins (retired July 2025) Revd Peter Ingrams Mr Paul Willett Rev Canon Estella Last Mrs Sally Lees
**Charity Registration No:** 1123792 **Principal Officers:** Revd Canon Lorraine Apps-Huggins – Lead Chaplain (until June 2025) **Assistant Chaplains:** Mrs Hilary Hills, Mr Ray Horton, Helen Jones **Administrator:** Dr Annelise Matharu **Registered Office:** The Living Well, The Vicarage, Vicarage Lane, Nonington, Kent CT15 4JT **Hon Treasurer:** Mr Julian Hills **Independent Examiner:** Mr Kevin Funnell **Bankers:** Lloyds, 49 High Street, Canterbury Kent CT1 2SE
## **Structure, governance and management**
The Living Well was formed as a charitable trust in 2008 as a resource for the ministry of healing and wholeness within the Diocese of Canterbury. It is based at Nonington, near Canterbury, in a large, detached house, a former Vicarage, within peaceful grounds.
There is an elected Board of Trustees which is the executive body with responsibility for setting the strategic direction and policies required to achieve The Living Well’s founding aims and objectives. The day-to-day operations are carried out under the oversight of the Trustees by the Chaplain who has complete responsibility for the spiritual programmes and ministry as well as managing the administrative function.
1
In terms of its Board of Trustees, The Living Well is independent of the diocese in its management and is principally funded by individual donations through the wonderful support and generosity of our members friends and clients. It has also received grant support from a number of trusts and local authorities. The former vicarage however is owned by the diocese with The Living Well holding an agreed equity share in the property. The external upkeep of the property is the diocesan responsibility whilst the interior is the responsibility of The Living Well.
The Living Well works closely with the Bishop of Dover and the Local Church Development Framework of the Diocese so as to be a fresh expression of the ministry of healing and wholeness and the chaplain serves as the Bishop’s Adviser on Healing and Wholeness and this includes being a member of the Diocesan Deliverance Ministry Team. As a result, the Chaplain holds a Bishop’s licence to act as a priest throughout the Canterbury Diocese whilst our assistant chaplains work under a Bishop's License to The Living Well.
## **Objectives and activities**
The Living Well provides a safe, welcoming and inclusive place for personal retreat, for receiving the healing ministry of Christ, for themed quiet days and offers teaching within the diocese for local parishes in Healing and Wholeness Ministry.
The Living Well is a resource for prayer and development for both laity and clergy, both from within the Diocese and outside it. It offers a range of one-off sessions including ‘Deeper Healing Days’ and short courses for personal spiritual growth and development as well as more specific teaching for involvement with the healing ministry. Guests value and enjoy the peaceful surroundings at Nonington to draw closer to God and to seek His refreshment. This is particularly valuable for those who have busy and stressful ministries or jobs to fulfil, and those who have suffered from abuse, trauma or loss of any kind.
## **Activities and performance**
The Living Well’s ministry has been led by our lead chaplain Rev Canon Lorraine Apps Huggins, assisted by our 3 voluntary Assistant Chaplains Ray Horton, Helen Jones and Hilary Hills. Monthly Supervision, weekly prayer time, and monthly Core Lunches give opportunity for relationship building, ministry development & problem solving. Each chaplain also receives individual Supervision at a level appropriate to the voluntary hours that they serve.
At the end of June 2025 Lorraine retired and we bade a fond farewell to her in gratitude for all that she had given under God throughout her ministry here. Whilst the search for a replacement has been ongoing the chaplaincy team have ensured that the planned programmes of events has continued and the availability of someone for those in great need has not diminished. They have been assisted in their ministry by our Administrator Annelise Matharu and our Resident Warden
2
Martin Hall, whom we also sadly said goodbye to at the end of December. We are grateful for the dedication with which Martin looked after the property and grounds.
The chaplaincy team are well supported by a team of volunteers of about 25 who listen and pray, provide hospitality and undertake practical tasks to assist with the smooth running of The Living Well. We are enormously grateful for their dedication and commitment to all that we do.
Throughout the year Trustees have served in a variety of ways, finalising the MOU, actively undertaking practical tasks and electrical PAT Testing (Paul Willett) and working on the recruitment of a new lead chaplain. The post had to be advertised twice, in April and October, but no appointment was made. The position was readvertised in January 2026 and Revd Stefan Thomas was appointed.
The Living Well has benefited for the last three years from a large grant offered by the Dorothy Kerin Trust, a trust committed to the Christian ministry of healing and wholeness carrying on from the work of Burrswood Hospital on the Kent/Sussex border. However, The Living Well is no longer eligible for further grants as these are only payable for up to 3 years. With the third year of grant money from the Dorothy Kerin Trust, we were able to replace our oldest garden cabin with a brand new one, ‘Shalom’. It was equipped with furniture commensurate with its intended usage. Together now with ‘Kairos’, ‘Trinity’ and ‘Julian’ these cabins are foundational in helping those who come to The Living Well to experience its special setting and the sense of being closer to God. They also provide this resource for people who come for our Thursday Services, Quiet Days, Deeper Healing Days, Group Days or Individual Retreat Days.
We are extremely grateful to the diocese for bearing the cost of replacing the roof of the main house at the beginning of the year.
The Living Well has a structural deficit of just less than £20k per year although they are cushioned by reserves which originated from the demise of the Cautley Trust – a former residential centre for wellbeing in Folkestone. The Trustees are looking to move forward in faith that the work and ministry of The Living Well will grow and the income needed to meet our commitments grow with it. To do this the trustees are looking for new partnerships, new grant opportunities and potential new donors to help our work be more sustainable, all under the leadership of a new Lead Chaplain in 2026.
Over the year various Outreach events took place. Parish invitations to lead a ‘quiet day’ offering healing prayer, invitations to equip and train pastoral prayer teams, to preach on a Sunday and to lead the St Lukestide Service at the Cathedral – all of these are led by the chaplaincy and members of The Wider Team of volunteers according to their location and suitability. These Outreach events help to get the ministry of The Living Well known in the diocese and reach those who are unable to travel to Nonington. They also encourage the ministry of healing & wholeness in the parishes to grow and flourish – our background support is valued by numerous ministers & churches.
3
The number of people attending individual day retreats at The Living Well continue to increase (141 individuals - clergy and lay). The monthly Deeper Healing Days take a small number of people each month but continue to be an important aspect of what we offer. Themed Days led by outside facilitators have a life of their own, bringing spirituality, art, music, saints and more to our programme. Our weekly worship continues to be well attended with an average attendance of 16. The guests value the liturgy, preaching, space, inspiring worship (music supported by Stella Banks monthly and Ray Horton regularly) and healing prayer offered. Our hospitality team who serves on the days when groups of guests are in the house are paramount to what we offer – in addition to their culinary skills they also find themselves welcoming guests and bringing the presence of Christ in the kitchen.
Our Wider Team and Hospitality Team have some newcomers but have also said goodbye to some of our longer serving team members in the past year. We miss their input and pray for more newcomers for these teams, who are vital to what we can offer.
Our Assistant Chaplain Hilary Hills has worked faithfully and weekly distributing the confidential prayer chain – this carries sometimes 15-20 prayer requests per week. They are distributed by email to about 20 pray-ers. Again, this aspect of our ministry though hidden is vital. Hilary holds a pastoral link with the Diocesan Board of Education and the church schools in the diocese. Senior staff in schools are able to access listening and support when trauma or safeguarding matters arise in the school communities.
Two courses, ‘Navigating Trauma’ (led by Hilary and Helen) and ‘Christ’s Healing Ministry’ (led by Lorraine) ran successfully. Lorraine supported as chaplain the Canterbury Leadership Programme and continued to offer Spiritual Accompaniment and Clergy Supervision alongside her chaplaincy role. Her honorary Canon role led her to be in the cathedral on a few occasions and encouraged that link.
In 2025 for the first time, we offered our facilities to the Parkinson’s Centre for Integrated Therapy based at the University of Kent. The Living Well team provided listening and care as appropriate and PCIT organised the activities. The day was so popular it had to be run twice, and we met with 35 clients and their carers who all enjoyed a day of rest and refreshment. Feedback was hugely positive, and we hope to run similar events again.
We offer Clergy Oasis and Readers days for rest and refreshment recognising that these leaders are hard pressed in their parish ministries. We are working with the diocese to facilitate more attending. Similar days for Anna Chaplains are resuming in 2026.
We ran 2 outreach hub days at Greatstone on Romney Marsh.
We ran the St Lukestide service at Canterbury Cathedral last October and attendance was 68, with 24 being prayed for.
The Living Well was a presence within the local community, joining the Nonington Open Garden Scheme in June (welcoming over 100 visitors) and the Nonington
4
Christmas Tree Festival in St Mary’s Church in December. Both events were a good way to promote The Living Well locally.
We were saddened to hear the death of the previous lead chaplain of The Living Well, Rev Canon Sarah Chapman in September, and held a day at The Living Well for people to come and remember Sarah and be prayed with. A booklet of messages was collected and sent to Sarah’s husband, Giles.
## **Reserves policy & Investment Policy**
The Trust has adopted a policy of keeping around 6 weeks expenditure in immediately available funds and investing surplus funds in short term investments. These are currently held in CCLA Investment and Deposit Funds.
## **Financial performance**
We thank Kevin Funnel for continuing to be our auditor.
In 2025 general unrestricted income fell by £3.7k against an increase of £8.5k in 2024. However, in 2024 The Living Well was in receipt of one-off donations of £6k not repeated in 2025. Leaving aside these donations the underlying level of donations would have increased by £2.9k and the total unrestricted income by £2.3k.
||2025|2024|
|---|---|---|
|Donations (regular)|£+2.9k|£+0.6k|
|Ministries|£-0.1k|£+2.5k|
|Sales|£+0.1k|£+0.2k|
|Investments|£-0.6k|£-0.8k|
|**Total underlying income**|**£+2.3k**|**£+2.5k**|
|One-off donations|£ -6.0k|£+6.0k|
|**Total all income**|**£-3.7k**|**£+8.5k**|
It is encouraging to see this underlying trend continue to increase and that the level of ministry income remained the same when The Living Well was without its lead chaplain for half the year. The volunteer chaplain team was able to maintain a similar level of ministry throughout the latter part of the year. The decline in investment Income continues to be caused by the use of reserves to fund the ongoing deficit.
During the year we were able to fully utilise the grants we had previously received from the Dorothy Kerin (Burrswood) Trust. With this money we have been able to finance particular aspects of our ministry and replace one of the garden pods, and it has proved to be a significant blessing.
5
Normal expenditure reduced as we were without an ordained paid lead chaplain for the final 6 months of the year.
Operational results can be summarised as follows:
|Operational income (exc Inv Income)
Operational costs
Gross Operational|**2025**
2024
£ 32.2k
£ 35.3k
£ 57.0k
£ 61.4k
Loss £(24.8k)
£(26.1k)
£ 6.5k
£ 7.1k
**£(18.3k)**
**£(19.0k)**
**£16.5k**
**£(2.7k)**
£ NIL
£29.3k
£16.5k
£10.1k
**£ NIL**
**£16.5k**|
|---|---|
|
Investment Income
**Net Operational Loss**||
|
**Restricted Funds B/F**||
|Restricted Funds: Trust Income
Restricted Funds: Costs
**Restricted Funds In Hand**||
Assets of The Living Well have decreased by £40.4k in 2025 (decrease of £2.1k in 2024) and this can be attributed to the following:
|Net Operational Loss
Net (decrease) in Restricted Funds
Realised gain/(loss) on investments
sold during year
Unrealised gain/(loss) on investments
**Total Reduction in Assets**|**2025**
2024
£(18.3k)
£(19.0k)
£(16.5k)
£(19.2k)
£ NIL
£ (1.2k)
£ (5.6k)
£ 3.1k
**£(40.4k)**
**£ (2.1k)**|
|---|---|
The losses on investments reflect the poor investment performance of our investment managers CCLA at a time when financial markets although highly volatile due to the threat of import tariffs in the USA, have more broadly improved. It is hoped that there performance will improve in 2026 after being taken over by Jupiter.
The Living Well is now in its 18th year and it is hoped that its reach will continue to grow throughout Canterbury Diocese and beyond. We pray that we will be a blessing to all who seek us out.
**Payment to Trustees:** During the year the following payments were made to trustees for reimbursement of expenses:
6
Rev Canon Lorraine Apps Huggins (Chaplain) £147.59 (2024 - £408)
Mr George White (Chair) £230.20 (2024 – £NIL)
In addition, Revd Canon Lorraine Huggins was paid a stipend commensurate with the Canterbury Diocesan standard levels and the part time nature of her role. This figure is included in the financial statement.
**Political and Charitable donations:** No such donations were made in the financial year.
7
## The Living Well
## **Receipts and Payments for the period 1st January to 31st December 2025**
|**RECEIPTS**
**_Voluntary Income_**
Donations
Church donations
Gift Aided Donations
Service collections (GASDS)
Gift Aid tax reclaim
_Sub Total Voluntary Income_
**_Ministries_**
Readers Refreshing Days
Clergy Oasis Days
Quiet days
Deeper Healing Days
Courses
School Work
House use for individuals & groups
Outside events
_Sub Total Ministries_
**_Trading Income_**
Sales -cards,books,food
**_Investments_**
Income
**_Grants_**
Grant from Dover DC
Grant from Dororthy Kerin
_Sub Total_
**_Total receipts_**
**PAYMENTS**
**_Premises_**
Premises costs
Improvements-house and garden
Insurances
_Sub Total Premises_
**_Resources_**
Printing, stationery, telephone & postage
Photocopier and IT equipment
Fees, subscriptions, website
Event costs and hospitality
Service materials, books & flowers
_Sub Total Resources_
**_Staff_**
Chaplain's Stipends, Pension & NI
Assist Chaplain's Stipend,Pension & NI
Assistant Chaplain's travel expenses
Administrator's salary, tax, NI and pension
Wardens' Wages & Pension
Team expenses
Chaplain's supervision & training
Retreats / Sabbatical
Honorariums / Gifts
_Sub Total Staff_
**_Total payments_**
Surplus/(Loss)
**Funds B/F**
**Surplus/(Loss)**
**Realised Gains/(Losses) on Investments**
**Unrealised Gains/(Losses) on Investments**
**Funds C/F**
**STATEMENT OF ASSETS**
**Cash**
**Lloyds Bank**Current Account
**CBF Deposit Fund**
**Total Cash Funds**
**INVESTMENT ASSETS:**
**CCLA - CBF Church of England Funds:**
_Cautley Fund_
Investment Fund:
Property Fund:
**TOTAL ASSETS as at period end**
**_NOTE:_**
**2025**
**_Share Valuations_**
_Number_
_Church of England Investment Income Share_
_6071.72_
_Church of England Property Shares_
Equipment|**Unrestricted**
2025|**Restricted**
2025|**Restricted**
2025|**Total**
**2025**|**_Unrestricted_**
**_2024_**|**_Unrestricted_**
**_2024_**|**_Restricted_**
**_2024_**|**_Total_**
**_2024_**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**3,376.10**
**1,250.00**
**8,277.40**
**3,469.47**
**3,651.05**
**20,024.02**
**545.00**
**196.00**
**1,516.88**
**730.00**
**760.00**
**180.00**
**7,113.61**
**280.00**
**11,321.49**
**888.24**
**6,458.66**
**-**
**-**
**-**|-
-
-
-
-
**-**
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
**-**
**-**
-
-
-
**-**||**3,376.10**
**1,250.00**
**8,277.40**
**3,469.47**
**3,651.05**
**20,024.02**
**545.00**
**196.00**
**1,516.88**
**730.00**
**760.00**
**180.00**
**7,113.61**
**280.00**
**11,321.49**
**888.24**
6,458.66
-
-
**-**|_8,804_
_1,104_
_5,805_
_4,212_
_3,184_
**_23,109_**
_275_
_299_
_1,740_
_985_
_690_
_-_
_6,172_
_1,221_
**_11,381_**
**_787_**
_7,090_
_-_
_-_
**-**||_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
**_-_**
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
**_-_**
**_-_**
_-_
_1,500_
_27,822_
**_29,322_**|_8,804_
_1,104_
_5,805_
_4,212_
_3,184_
**_23,109_**
_275_
_299_
_1,740_
_985_
_690_
_-_
_6,172_
_1,221_
**_11,381_**
**_787_**
_7,090_
_1,500_
_27,822_
**_29,322_**|
||**38,692.41**|**-**||**38,692.41**|**_42,367_**||**_29,322_**|**_71,690_**|
||**3,425.67**
**1,103.67**
**1,274.96**
**5,804.30**
**47.98**
**894.50**
**718.76**
**4,679.69**
**3,360.46**
**807.83**
**10,509.22**
**11,501.08**
**-**
**2,764.20**
**18,586.24**
**4,749.56**
**1,165.20**
**10.00**
**39.00**
**1,910.13**
**40,725.41**|-
12,193.16
-
12,193.16
1,414.00
-
-
-
-
-
1,414.00
1,010.42
-
-
946.73
-
64.40
824.90
-
-
2,846.45||3,425.67
13,296.83
1,274.96
17,997.46
1,461.98
894.50
718.76
4,679.69
3,360.46
807.83
11,923.22
12,511.50
-
2,764.20
19,532.97
4,749.56
1,229.60
834.90
39.00
1,910.13
43,571.86|_4,222_
_58_
_1,070_
_5,350_
_136_
_953_
_716_
_2,184_
_3,674_
_963_
_8,626_
_24,934_
_-_
_2,765_
_15,586_
_3,118_
_-_
_-_
_993_
_50_
_47,446_||_-_
_2,598_
_-_
_2,598_
_801_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_801_
_1,664_
_360_
_-_
_2,158_
_-_
_696_
_956_
_-_
_900_
6,734|_4,222_
_2,656_
_1,070_
_7,949_
_937_
_953_
_716_
_2,184_
_3,674_
_963_
_9,427_
_26,598_
_360_
_2,765_
_17,744_
_3,118_
_696_
_956_
_993_
_950_
_54,180_|
||**57,038.93**|**16,453.61**||**73,492.54**|**61,422**||**_10,133_**|**_71,556_**|
||**(18,346.52)**|**(16,453.61)**||**(34,800.13)**|**(19,055)**||**_19,189_**|**_134_**|
||||||||||
||**208,719.67**|**16,453.61**||**225,173.28**|_225,815_||_(2,735)_|_223,079_|
||**(18,346.52)**
**0.00**
**(5,612.70)**|**(16,453.61)**||**(34,800.13)**
**0.00**
**(5,612.70)**|_19,055_
_-_
_1,181_
_-_
_3,142_||_19,189_|_134_
_(1,181)_
_3,142_|
||**184,760.45**||**0.00**|**184,760.45**|_208,720_||_16,454_|_225,173_|
||**2025**
**7,061.81**
**42,916.78**
**134,781.86**
**-**
_Dec-25_
_Value/Share_
_2219.83_|**49,978.59**
**134,781.86**
**184,760.45**
_Value_
_134,781.86_
**_134,781.86_**|**49,978.59**||_2024_
_9,862_
_74,917_
_140,395_
_0_
**2024**
_Number_
_6071.72_||_84,779_
_140,395_
_225,173_
_Dec-24_
_Value/Share_
_2312.27_|_Value_
_£140,395_
**_£140,395_**|
|**Summary of Cash Movements**
**Lloyds Bank**Current Account brought forward
**CBF Deposit Fund brought forward**
**Total Cash Funds brought forward**
**Plus**Receipts
General Fund
Sale of investments
Grants Received
**Less**Payments
General Fund
Grants Expended
**TOTAL CASH FUNDS AT PERIOD END**
Made up of:
**Lloyds Bank Current Account**
**CBF Deposit Fund**||**Actual**
**2025**|**_Actual_**
_2024_|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£9,861.94**
**£74,916.78**
**£84,778.72**
**38,692.41**
**-**
**-**
**57,038.93**
**16,453.61**|_17,872_
_330_
_18,202_
_42,367_
_66,443_
_29,322_
_61,422_
_10,133_|
|||**49,978.59**|_84,779_|
|||**7,061.81**
**42,916.78**|_9,862_
_74,917_|
|||**49,978.59**|_84,779_|
## **NOTE:**
A declaration of Trust dated 13th December 2013 was made between the Canterbury Diocesan Board of Finance and the Trustees of The Living Well in consideration of money spent on the The Vicarage in order to provide a healing ministry within the Diocese. The property is held upon trust in the initial proportions **84.71% for the diocese and 15.29% for the Living Well** .
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trusteosl
member8 of
THE LIVING WELL
On accounts for the
year ended
31ST DECEMBER 2025
Charlty no
(If any)
1123792
S8t out on paga8
I report to Ihe trust8es on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity {"the Trust") for tha year ended 31 Decamber 2025.
Re8ponslbllltles and As the charlty trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation
basls of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Chanties Act
20111"the Acf).
I report In respect of my examinalion of th8 Trusfs accounts carrfed out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examlnatlon, I
have followed th8 applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145{5>lb} of the Act,
I have completed my examination. I confimi Ihal no material matters have
come lo my attentlon in connecllon wlth the examlnation whlch glves m8
cause to believe that In, 8ny material respect,.
8ccounling records were not kept in accordance wlth sectlon 130 of
the Act or
the accounts do not apxord wlth the accounting r8cords
Independenl
examln8rfs statement
I have no concerns and hav8 come across no other matters In connection
wlth the ex8mlnation to which attenllon should be drawn in order to enable a
proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Date:
Slgned:
25 August 2026
Namo:
KEVIN FUNNELL
Relevant professlonal
quallllcatlon(s) or body
{If any}:
F.M.A.A.T.
Address:
10 Nutbery Close
Teynham
Sittingbourne Kent ME9 9SP
Kevln Funnell F.MA.AT.
October 2018