## Visionary
## Linking local sight loss charities
Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements
## For the year ended 31 March 2024
Visionary is the working name of Visionary - Linking Local Sight Loss Charities, a CIO registered in England and Wales as a charity (1135360), registered in Scotland as a charity (SC044163)
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## Contents
- Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and Advisors, page 3
- The Trustees’ Annual Report, page 5
- Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Visionary – Linking local sight loss charities, page 22
- Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2024, page 24
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## Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and Advisors
**Registered charity name** Visionary – linking local sight loss charities **Registered charity no.** 1135360 **OSCR charity no.** SC044163 **Principal Address** First Floor 3 Queen Square London WC1N 3AR **President** Lord Low of Dalston, CBE (retired 6 August 2023) **Visionary Trustee Board** Mark Upton (Chair – appointed February 2024) Tom Harte (Vice Chair) Philip Mills (Chair of Finance Committee) Owen Williams (Chair until February 2024) Shahina Pardhan Craig Spalding (appointed May 2023) Keith Eales (appointed May 2023) Sarah French (appointed November 2023) Arash Andalibi-Abadan (retired May 2023) Michael Conroy (retired November 2023) Susan Hoath (retired February 2024)
**Trustees Annual Report (incorporating the Directors’ Report) For the year ended 31 March 2024**
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## **Finance Committee**
Philip Mills (Chair) Mark Upton Owen Williams Tom Harte Fiona Sandford
**Senior Management Team** Chief Executive Officer Fiona Sandford Business and Events Lead Amy Pearman
**Bankers**
National Westminster Cathedral Square Peterborough PE1 1XH
## **Independent Examiner**
Paul Windmill
Myers Clark Chartered Accountants, Egale 1, 80 St Albans Road, Watford WD17 1DL
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## The Trustees’ Annual Report
The trustees present their annual report and the financial statements of the Charitable Incorporated Organisation for the year ended 31 March 2024.
## **Objectives and activities**
Visionary’s charitable objects are “to promote the relief of persons who are blind or visually impaired”. The trustees have paid due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit. The trustees are confident that Visionary’s aims and activities are in accordance with the regulations on public benefit.
Visionary’s ambition is that by working with key partners, we inspire change and create opportunities to make a better world for everyone affected by sight loss.
Visionary’s long-term goals and the change we want to see are:
- blind and partially sighted people have greater choice and the independence to realise their aspirations.
- Visionary members have the knowledge and support to be the best they can be.
- Visionary is the trusted leader and expert connector for local members.
- Visionary harnesses the voice of members to inspire and influence national change.
- Visionary partners, collaborates and seeks sponsors to promote eye health and accessibility for all.
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## **Visionary’s four strategic priorities**
- Connect - connecting individuals from organisations together and organisations to each other.
- Share - sharing knowledge and expertise to help members be all they can be.
- Develop - developing platforms for collaboration and joint initiatives with local and national partners.
- Inspire - amplifying member voice to inspire innovation and create change.
## **Visionary principles**
- We are a trusted organisation known for integrity, bravery, innovation, and creativity.
- We are a proactive team.
- We are clear about our member offer.
- We are led by our members.
## **The Visionary promise**
The Visionary Promise sets out how we work and how we expect our partners to work with us and each other. Visionary promises our members that we will:
- strive to empower our members to provide the best possible services with and for the visual impairment community.
- provide professional, expert support, guidance and skills.
- be honest and transparent.
- engage with you in an efficient, timely and courteous manner.
- communicate with a unified voice ensuring members receive consistent messages in their preferred format.
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- ask for and acknowledge feedback.
## **Visionary values:**
- integrity
- trust
- creativity
- bravery
## **How we achieve our objectives**
Visionary achieves its objectives by supporting local sight loss charities that deliver direct support to people with sight loss and enabling those charities to deliver their services more effectively by connecting, developing, sharing, and inspiring.
Visionary also works closely with our partners (sight loss organisations with a UK wide remit) to connect local and national organisations, develop opportunities, collaborate, and share information.
Part of the commitment to being the voice of a UK wide movement of local charities is to play a lead role in national networks such as the Visual Impairment Charity Sector Partnership. Visionary is the voice of local organisations and is a key influencer in delivering the shared sector workstreams.
Local sight loss charities are members of Visionary, and their nominated representatives attend and vote at Annual General Meetings.
## **Achievement and performance**
## **Achievements**
Visionary are so proud of what we have achieved over the last 12 months with our core team of 5 people.
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Our success is due to listening and responding to our member organisations and understanding what they are experiencing, look for innovations that are happening and sharing changes that are emerging.
Together with our members and national partners, we have developed an informed approach to our work that constantly evolves as the external environment changes.
During 2023/24 Visionary:
- delivered 145 online sessions and forums.
- attracted 1069 attendances at Visionary online sessions and forums – some of which have become in person events.
- attracted 242 annual conference attendees.
- carried out 640 one to one support interactions with local and national organisations.
- welcomed 44 external experts to share their expertise with our members and partners.
## **2023/24 Performance**
Visionary captures information about the difference we make to the sector through engaging with our members and partners, gaining qualitative feedback and gathering deeper insights. We use our CRM system to gather data which reinforces the feedback and observations we gather. This is analysed alongside statistical data generated from surveys and session polls to shape what we do.
The work that we do directly impacts on our 111 members and 30 national partners and therefore, positively impacts on the approximately 244,923 blind and partially sighted people these organisations support across the UK.
## **Annual Conference**
Visionary’s flagship event is our annual conference which is developed throughout the year to respond to emerging themes and trends. Colleagues
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from across the Visionary network joined us at the Visionary Annual Conference on 27 and 28 September 2023. Once again, the atmosphere throughout the event was supportive, welcoming, and engaging. We were joined by over 242 delegates and exhibitors from 137 organisations, representing local members, national partners, exhibitors, and corporate sponsors.
The conference opened with an outstanding panel session featuring Marsha de Cordova MP, Sam Latif, Procter & Gamble’s first company accessibility leader and England’s National Clinical Director for Eye Care, Louisa Wickham.
The remainder of the programme was designed to connect, develop, and inspire delegates through workshops, panel sessions and networking opportunities, with the Annual Awards Dinner recognising the brilliant work taking place in local communities.
We refined the award process for this year’s annual awards, making it easier for organisations to submit nominations. This resulted in the highest number of submissions ever received. The awards celebrate the essential role which Visionary members and partners have in supporting blind and partially sighted people.
We were delighted that the success of the conference was shared in several trade media outlets:
- Fife sight loss charity scoops national award for innovative support for – –
- community Charity Today, 26 October3 November 2023
- –
- Visionary Conference connects sight loss organisations Optician, 3 November 2023 Online
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- Vision loss organisations come together at flagship conference Primary Health Net, 6 November 2023
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## **Joint Campaigning and Awareness Raising**
Visionary remains an active member of the Joint Campaigning and Awareness Raising workstream of the Visual Impairment Charity Sector Partnership. This work has been further enhanced, after the reporting period, due to the recruitment of a Projects and Campaigns Co-ordinator, appointed April 2024. A key highlight of this period was the collaborative panel discussion held at the Visionary Conference. Visionary led the development of this interactive discussion aimed at enhancing collaborative campaigning and influencing across the sector.
The panel, comprising workstream partners and Visionary members, hosted discussions on how the sector can benefit from working together to campaign and influence, support each other, identify shared goals and engage with local communities to make a difference to the lives of blind and partially sighted people.
This led to the establishment of Visionary's Campaigns Task and Finish Group, which aims to further build collaboration across the sector. This was launched in January 2024. Through this group, an effective communication line between local and national campaigns and priorities has been established. Additionally, national partner organisations have committed to including frequent updates on existing and planned campaigns in our monthly newsletter and we are exploring the feasibility of a joint online calendar of upcoming campaigns, allowing local organisations to actively participate in campaigns that are a priority in their respective communities. This is a considerable step forward in achieving the aspiration that local and national organisations collaborate, support each other’s work and increase the twoway flow of campaign information to ensure a unified voice.
We have continued to participate in the cost-of-living crisis campaign **#SupportCantWait** . During this accounting period, we joined with other sight loss organisations on the successful campaign which resulted in the planned rail station ticket office closures not going ahead.
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## **Low Vision Framework**
Visionary has been proud to inform and influence the newly developed Low Vision Framework. The framework was initially developed in collaboration with over 20 key stakeholders from across the sector. In 2023, RNIB approached Visionary for support in engaging with local sight loss charities to provide input into the new Low Vision Framework. It was an exciting opportunity for Visionary members to influence a framework to ensure that it reflects the needs of local people.
Utilising the information and data we gathered during membership renewal, we identified member organisations which deliver Low Vision Services across the UK. With this information, we invited all organisations delivering low vision services to provide feedback on the proposed framework. We were delighted that four Visionary members actively contributed to the development of the framework, with several significantly contributing through process testing.
We are delighted that the framework has now been successfully launched and is endorsed by key sector organisations such as the College of Optometrists, Association of Optometrists (AOP), Local Optical Committee Support Unit **(** LOCSU), British and Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS), Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO), and The Association of Eye Care Providers (FODO). It will be showcased at the Visionary Annual Conference 2024.
Our **online offering** of peer support forums continues to respond to the needs of our member organisations.
This year saw the development of our new Visionary **LGBTQI+ Meet Up** , jointly chaired by Guide Dogs UK and Sight Scotland. One attendee said: “It’s really nice to have a space to connect with other LGBTQ+ folk in similar organisations. Just making that connection and holding a space, without specific agenda to objectives has been beneficial. Conversations have ranged from what’s going on in your organisation to really what’s happening in the world around us and how it impacts our community. Overall, it’s been a really positive space and had resulted in a number of new connections.”
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Our **Blind and Partially Sighted (BPS) Leaders and BPS Peer Support Forums** are continuing to grow and flourish, with a growing attendance for both.
In January, we reconvened our **Children and Young People’s** discussion panel from the annual conference to continue the discussion about developing sustainable children and young people’s services. The Powell Family Foundation chaired the session which discussed resilience, support for parent and carers, income generation and delivering activities with national partners.
Our **Volunteers Forum** has moved to bi-monthly and now has expert guest speakers in the first part of the forum, with guest speakers sharing their experience on awards, corporate volunteering and new safeguarding regulations.
**Menopause** proved to be an area of interest with members. As a result, Visionary will facilitate regular support sessions, sharing best practice for employers and providing support for employees.
We are well underway with planning for our new **racially diverse group** with two chairs being appointed from member organisations. There are some great plans in place to support the network of employees from racially and culturally diverse backgrounds.
The **Fundraising Forum** began the year with a great session on AI and how this can support with grant and funding applications. We have had speakers on grant and legacy fundraising in addition to supporting members to develop corporate relationships.
Our **Physical Activity Forum** supports and encourages members to develop and deliver sporting and physical activities. The forum is chaired by Thomas Pocklington Trust with support from Blind Veterans UK, British Blind Sport, RNIB - See Sport Differently and Sight Support West of England.
## **How do we communicate with our members?**
One of the key achievements of Visionary is the information we share between members and partners. In this financial year, we shared 733 useful articles and resources with our members and partners. Doing this saves
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charities time, money and effort, meaning that increasingly scarce resources are deployed to the front-line service delivery.
Our website received 45,000 visits during the year and the Knowledge Hub located within the members area of the website had 1098 visits. Our
newsletter has 797 subscribers and we have further increased our X (Twitter) presence with a total of 4,101 followers, including a high number of blind and partially sighted followers. During this reporting period, we have also increased our presence and activity on LinkedIn. The activity across our social media platforms had a reach of approximately 383,000. All of this data clearly demonstrating the relevance of Visionary news and updates.
## **Visionary Member and Partner Forums**
During this accounting period we introduced a new format for the Members Representatives Forum as well as the Members and Partners Representative Forum (MRF and MPRF). Both forums now take place on the same day, which has proven to be a highly effective approach to enhancing communication and collaboration among our members and partners.
Firstly, it facilitates more direct and open communication between members and partners, enabling them to share insights, concerns, and ideas more efficiently. This open dialogue fosters a deeper understanding of each other's perspectives and allows for timely responses to common themes or issues that arise during the discussions.
Secondly, the new format enables regions and countries to align their meetings with the MRF/MPRF meetings. This strategic alignment promotes the two-way flow of information, ensuring that the discussions and decisions made at the local level are effectively communicated to the regional and country wide levels, and vice versa. This bi-directional flow of information ensures that the concerns and priorities of all stakeholders are wellrepresented and addressed in a coordinated manner.
Overall, the new format for the MRF and MPRF meetings has proven to be a catalyst for enhanced collaboration, communication, and alignment within our organisation. It has fostered a more inclusive and responsive decision-making
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process, enabling us to better serve the needs of Visionary members, partners and the communities we support.
## **How do we know what we do is worthwhile?**
Visionary undertakes a poll survey at the end of our ‘learn and develop’ online sessions. This promotes a high response rate and gives a good indication of how valuable our members find the sessions. Over the course of the last 12 months the results showed that 90% of respondents learned something new from our sessions and 97% of respondents found the sessions were either very good or good.
100% of annual conference evaluation respondents shared that they would transfer their learning from the Visionary Annual Conference into their organisations.
## **Visionary’s Strategic Influence**
As a key member of the Visual Impairment Charity Sector Partnership, Visionary continues to extend its reach across the UK. The partnership enables Visionary and our member organisations to influence and shape workstreams that will make a difference to local sight loss organisations and blind and partially sighted people in local communities. Visionary and our members, actively participate in the following UK wide workstreams:
- Mental Health and Well-Being
- Post Clinical Support
- Sector Wide Insight Hub
- Access to Technology
- Talent Development and Lived Experience Leadership
- Employment
- Sight Loss Pathway
- Joint awareness raising and campaigning
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**The Pathways Project** is a collaborative venture between Visionary and RNIB. The project, started in July 2023 with six member organisations from across England taking part. The project is gathering valuable and insightful information which will be used to influence Integrated Care Boards in their development of sight loss pathways in England to ensure that patients receive an effective and person-centred service.
Visionary continues to have an important and influential role in ensuring that the voice of lived experience is valued and respected as an asset. It is widely accepted that representation of people with lived experience of sight loss at leadership level in the sight loss sector is inadequate. Our **Making Lived Experience Matter** (MLEM) project initiated an important conversation, but tangible change requires time, patience, determination, and courageous leadership from individuals who can effect changes within their organisations. The project recorded and produced five podcasts designed to explore what MLEM means in practice. The podcast guests were chosen to reflect a variety of backgrounds and experiences to provide as much breadth as possible to the series. The completed podcast series is now available on several . platforms, including Spotify Podcasts
Our **Travel Matters project** launched in April 2023. The project looked at how Visionary members can improve the experience of public transport for people with a visual impairment. With funding from the Motability Foundation, Visionary and member organisations (Beacon Centre for the Blind, North East Sensory Services, Sight Concern Bedfordshire and Vision Support) worked with researchers from Revealing Reality to develop a toolkit. The toolkit can be utilised by all Visionary members to influence change to improve access to transport. The toolkit can also be used to provide effective training and support to organisations, blind and partially people and stakeholders.
A link to the videos and resources can be found in the article ”Visionary and ” – Revealing Reality launch travel matters research finding Visionary.
## **Financial Review**
Overall, the charity generated a surplus of £49,460 in the financial year ending 31 March 2024 with income of £487,271 and expenditure of
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(£437,811).
## **Reserves policy**
Our policy is to hold reserves at a level between three to six months **.** committed running costs. For the coming year, this equates to £75,929 Thomas Pocklington Trust donated £60,000 to supplement our funds in January 2020 and this is held in our restricted funds. Unrestricted funds held in March 2024 were £141,872 equivalent to just under 6 months of running costs.
## **Plans for the future and achieving our priorities**
Looking to 2024/25 we are developing a number of activity strands which complement our existing offering.
As a membership organisation, securing funding for Visionary's work is an ongoing challenge. However, our trusted partnership with the Thomas Pocklington Trust serves as a meaningful validation of our efforts, demonstrating our credibility and effectiveness to external funders and partners. This is a valuable endorsement to our mission, opening doors to new funding opportunities, which has been evident during this accounting period as demonstrated in this report.
Further to this, we have also developed our **Creating Cohesion Project** , which is a three-year project (starting August 2024), fully funded from a private legacy. This project aims to increase opportunities for Visionary members to actively participate in national workstreams, influence change and develop a series of leadership events to complement our existing events programme. A proportion of this funding will also be allocated to enabling member organisations to participate.
The core elements of this funding are:
**Representation:** We aim to enhance the opportunity for Visionary members to engage in national workstreams and gather local data relevant to the active workstreams of the Visual Impairment Charity Sector Partnership. This
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ensures we accurately represent the needs of blind and partially sighted people from communities across the UK.
**Strengthening Relationships:** This element aims to strengthen relationships and increase understanding between local and national organisations. The facilitated hybrid events will identify common themes that can be collectively addressed. This information will:
- form the basis for sector-wide campaigns, benefiting blind and partially sighted people,
- identify opportunities to generate collective income, and increase funding into the sector,
- increase opportunities for local and national organisations to collaborate and improve support and services.
**Leadership Events:** Building on our successful monthly online CEO and trustee sessions, we will develop in-person leadership events. Here, CEOs, emerging leaders, and trustees of local sight loss organisations can come together to develop their leadership skills. Leadership development,
particularly for those with lived experience, is a frequent topic and high priority across the sector. We aim to encourage emerging leaders with lived experience and allies to inspire each other, develop confidence and build knowledge to create future leaders. We will work alongside the Visual Impairment Charity Sector Partnership workstream to develop this work.
In January 2024, Visionary launched a project in collaboration with **Specsavers** to promote **Eye Health and Prevention** initiatives. Visionary members were invited to share their work in this area by delivering a workshop at the Visionary Annual Conference 2024. To support the development and delivery of the workshop, members had the opportunity to apply for funding for pilot projects aimed at increasing awareness and promoting eye health within their local communities.
Three Visionary members were selected, each receiving £1,500 to support their eye health and prevention projects. The quality and diversity of the projects were excellent, allowing for a combined showcase of how
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organisations can educate and support people in their local communities. The projects included prevention lessons in schools, awareness-raising in local communities and living well with sight loss and visual impairment. The selected members will deliver a workshop titled "Awareness, Prevention and Improving Lives" at the Visionary Annual Conference 2024.
## **Structure, governance and management**
The legal and administrative information set out on pages 3 and 4 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the constitution and the Charities SORP (FRS 102).
Full membership of Visionary is open to voluntary organisations that operate at a local level and comply with the criteria of membership. In addition, there is a partnership category for UK wide sight loss organisations that form part of the network.
Visionary’s trustee board (the board) is responsible for strategic leadership and oversight as outlined in the constitution.
Visionary trustees are recruited from Visionary members and external sources where a distinct skill benefit will be gained by trusteeship. Elections are held annually with full members voting in person at the AGM or by proxy. The board deals with trustee recruitment and interviews for new board members in between AGMs. In this case, trustees must stand down at the next AGM and submit themselves for election by members. Trustees are appointed for periods of three years and rotated in accordance with the terms of the constitution. After a three-year period, trustees may stand for a further term. The Chair and Vice-Chair are elected each year by the board.
Visionary is managed by not less than three trustees who form the board. They meet no less than quarterly. As of 31 March 2024, there are 8 trustees, 4 of whom bring their personal experience of sight loss to the board, in addition to their other skills. Business planning and risk management processes are undertaken at board level.
The Finance Committee reports to the Board. This committee provides
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independent advice and assurance on risk, control, and finance matters. The Finance Committee is made up of no less than two trustees (including the Chair) and the CEO.
Trustees undergo full induction regarding the Visionary objectives and local charity environment. They are encouraged to take an interest in a particular aspect of the work of the charity. Trustees give of their time freely and do not receive any remuneration in relation to their roles (other than reimbursement of their expenses).
The CEO is responsible for Visionary's day-to-day operations and the leadership of the organisation and is supported by members of the Visionary team. The CEO is further supported by the trustees and the Members Consultative Group which is made up of regional representatives from local sight loss charities who regularly meet with the Visionary team, informing them of the needs, aspirations, and views of members in their regions.
The trustees have established systems of internal controls with the CEO which are designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance against material misstatement or loss. They include:
- a strategic plan and an annual budget set by the trustees.
- regular consideration by the Finance Committee and trustees of financial results, variances from budgets, cashflow forecasts and nonfinancial performance indicators.
- identification and management of risks.
## **Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities**
The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The laws applicable to charities in England and Wales and Scotland require the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the charity and of the incoming resources and
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application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the CIO for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP (FRS102).
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the CIO and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with Charities Act 2011, The Charities (Accounts and Reporting) Regulations 2008,, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the CIO and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the trustees are aware:
- there is no relevant information of which the charity's independent examiner is unaware; and
- the trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken, in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the independent examiners are aware of that information.
This report was approved by the trustees on 21 August 2024.
Mark Upton – Chairperson
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Principal Address: First Floor 3 Queen Square London WC1N 3AR
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## Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Visionary – Linking local sight loss charities
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Visionary (Charity Number: 1135360, OSCR Registration Number: SC044163 for the year ended 31 March 2024 which are set out on pages 22-39.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
I report in respect of my examination of the charitable incorporated organisation's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
Since the charitable incorporated organisation’s gross income exceeded £250,000, your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination and I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the charitable incorporated organisation as required by section 130 of the Act; or
2. The accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
## **Independent Examiner`s Report to the Trustees of Visionarylinking local sight loss charities**
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## **Paul Windmill FCA**
## **Date: 17 September 2024**
Myers Clark Statutory Auditor and Chartered Accountants Egale 1, 80 St Albans Road Watford Hertfordshire WD17 1DL
**Independent Examiner`s Report to the Trustees of Visionarylinking local sight loss charities**
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||||**2024**||
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Note**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**|
|||**Funds**|**Funds**|**Funds**|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Income and**|||||
|**endowments**|||||
|Donations and legacies|2|267,625|87,852|355,477|
|Income from charitable|||||
|activities|3|44,988|43,210|88,198|
|Other Trading Activities|4|43,596|-|43,596|
|**Total Income**||**356,209**|**131,062**|**487,271**|
|**Expenditure**|||||
|Charitable Activities|5|(310,386)|(127,425) (437,811)|(127,425) (437,811)|
|**Total Expenditure**||**(310,386)**|**(127,425) (437,811)**|**(127,425) (437,811)**|
|**Net income/expenditure for the**|**Net income/expenditure for the**||||
|**year**||**45,823**|**3,637**|**49,460**|
|**Reconciliation of funds**|||||
|Funds brought forward||96,049|60,452|156,501|
|**Funds carried forward**||**141,872**|**64,089**|**205,961**|
**Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2024**
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**Statement of Financial Activities (Incorporating the Income and Expenditure Account) – prior year**
||||**2023**||
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Note**|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**
**Total**|
|||**Funds**|**Funds**|**Funds**|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Income and endowments**|**Income and endowments**||||
|Donations and legacies|2|318,305|32,752|351,057|
|Income from charitable|||||
|activities|3|51,588|31,003|82,591|
|Other Trading Activities|4|39,739|-|39,739|
|**Total Income**||**409,632**|**63,755**|**473,387**|
|**Expenditure**|||||
|Charitable Activities|5|(357,319)|(65,285) (422,604)|(65,285) (422,604)|
|**Total Expenditure**||**(357,319)**|**(65,285) (422,604)**|**(65,285) (422,604)**|
|**Net income/expenditure for**|||||
|**the year**||**52,313**|**(1,530)**|**50,783**|
|**Reconciliation of**|||||
|**funds**|||||
|Funds brought forward||43,736|61,982|105,718|
|**Funds carried forward**||**96,049**|**60,452**|**156,501**|
**Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2024**
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## **Balance Sheet**
||**Note**|**2024**|**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|**£**|
|**Current Assets**||||
|Debtors|10|12,506|14,135|
|Cash at bank||208,947|155,957|
|**Total current assets**
||**221,453**|**170,092**|
|**Creditors:**Amounts due within one year|11|(15,492)|(13,591)|
|||**(15,492)**|**(13,591)**|
|Net Current Assets/ Net Assets||**205,961**|**156,501**|
|**Funds of Charity**|12|||
|Restricted income funds||64,089|60,452|
|Unrestricted funds||141,872|96,049|
|||**205,961**|**156,501**|
The trustees approved these accounts on 21 August 2024.
Mark Upton – Chairperson
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
26
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## **General Information**
The charity is a public benefit entity and CIO registered in England and Wales (1135360) and in Scotland (OSCR Registration Number: SC044163). The principal address is First Floor, 3 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR.
## **Statement of Compliance**
These financial statements have been prepared in compliance with FRS 102, ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland’, the 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) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)) and the Charities Act 2011 and the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, as well as applicable charity law.
## **1. Accounting Policies**
## **Basis of accounting**
The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis, as modified by the revaluation of certain financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value through income or expenditure.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the entity.
## **Going concern**
The accounts have been prepared on the going concern basis as, after making enquiries, the trustees have reasonable assurance that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. As explained in note 14 the charity is heavily reliant on the continued support of Thomas Pocklington Trust. A funding agreement is in place for two years from April 2023.
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
27
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## **Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty**
The preparation of the financial statements may require management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported.
The estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. No material estimates or judgements were made during the year.
## **Financial instruments**
A financial asset or a financial liability is recognised only when the entity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at the amount receivable or payable including any related transaction costs, unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where it is recognised at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument.
Current assets and current liabilities are subsequently measured at the cash or other consideration expected to be paid or received and not discounted.
## **Income**
Voluntary income including donations, gifts and grants that provide core funding or are of a general nature are recognised where there is entitlement, certainty of receipt and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability. Such income is only deferred when the donor specifies it must be used in future accounting periods or the donor has imposed conditions which must be met before the charity has unconditional entitlement. This includes capital grants.
Incoming resources from charitable activities includes income received under contract or where entitlement to grant funding is subject to specific performance conditions. This income is recognised as the related services are provided and there is entitlement, certainty of receipt and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability. Income is deferred when the amounts
## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
28
## Sg
received are in advance of the performance of the service or event to which they relate.
Donations received in kind and not in cash are brought into the statement of financial activities at a value which the trustees consider would represent the cost to the charity if these items were purchased. The income is accounted for under donations and the appropriate expenditure under resources expended.
## **Expenditure**
Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered and is classified under headings of the statement of financial activities to which it relates.
Expenditure on charitable activities includes all costs incurred by a charity in undertaking activities that further its charitable aims for the benefit of its beneficiaries, including those support costs and costs relating to the governance of the charity apportioned to charitable activities.
Other expenditure includes all expenditure that is neither related to raising funds nor part of its expenditure on charitable activities.
All costs are allocated to expenditure categories reflecting the use of the resource. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs are apportioned between the activities they contribute to on a reasonable, justifiable and consistent basis.
## **Netting off of income and expenditure**
It is not the policy of the charity to show incoming resources net of expenditure.
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
29
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## **Fund accounting**
Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.
Restricted funds can only be used for restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for restricted purposes.
Transfers from restricted to unrestricted funds are made when the expending of the funds has fulfilled the terms of the restriction. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.
## **2. Donations and Legacies**
||**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**2022/23**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Funds**|**Funds**|**Total**|**Total**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Donations**|||||
|Donations|20|-|20|459|
|Pocklington Trust|26,605|-|26,605|25,346|
|**Grants Receivables**|||||
|Pocklington Trust|240,000|-|240,000|292,500|
|LWWSL||-|-|-|
|Vision Foundation|-|7,926|7,926|11,889|
|Specsavers|1,000|17,002|18,002|20,863|
|Motability||38,000|38,000|-|
|RNIB Pathways||24,924|24,924|-|
|**Total**|**267,625**|**87,852**|**355,477**|**351,057**|
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
30
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## **3. Income from charitable activities**
||**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**2022/23**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Funds**|**Funds**|**Total**|**Total**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Conference income|43,315|43,210|86,525|80,928|
|Shared Purchasing|1,673|-|1,673|1,664|
|**Total**|**44,988**|**43,210**|**88,198**|**82,592**|
## **4. Other trading activities**
||**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**Unrestricted Restricted 2023/24**|**2022/23**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**Funds**|**Funds**|**Funds**
**Total**|**Total**|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**
**£**|**£**|
|National membership||||||
|fees||25,527|-|-
25,527|23,725|
|Other membership||||||
|fees||16,198|-|-
16,198|16,014|
|Bank Interest||1,871|-|-
1,871||
|**Total**||**43,596**|**-**|**-**
**43,596**|**39,739**|
|**5.**
**Cost of charitable activities by fund**||||||
|||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**|**Total**|
||||**Funds**|**Funds**||
||||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Year ended 31 March 2024**|**Year ended 31 March 2024**|||||
|Information and co-ordination|||268,835|127,425|396,260|
|Support costs|||41,551||41,551|
|**Total**|||**310,386**|**127,425**|**437,811**|
|**Year ended 31 March 2023**|**Year ended 31 March 2023**|||||
|Information and co-ordination|||315,763|65,285|381,048|
|Support costs|||41,556|-|41,556|
|**Total**|||**357,319**|**65,285**|**422,604**|
|**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March**||||||
|**2024**||||||
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## **6. Costs of charitable activities by activity type**
||**Direct**|**Projects**|**Support**|**Support**
**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Costs**||**Costs**|**Costs**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**
**£**|
|**Year ended 31 March 2024**|||||
|Information and co-|||||
|ordination|321,958|74,302|41,551|41,551
437,811|
|**Total**|**321,958**|**74,302**|**41,551**|**41,551**
**437,811**|
|**Year ended 31 March 2023**|||||
|Information and co-|||||
|ordination|346,662|34,386|41,556|41,556
422,604|
|**Total**|**346,662**|**34,386**|**41,556**|**41,556**
**422,604**|
|**7.**
**Analysis of Support Costs**|**Analysis of Support Costs**||||
|||**2023/24**||**2022/23**|
||||**£**|**£**|
|General office costs||10,034||10,922|
|Governance costs||4,912||5,288|
|Management Charge||26,605||25,346|
|**Total**||**41,551**||**41,556**|
## **7. Analysis of Support Costs**
The Donation in Kind from Pocklington Trust includes administrative and overhead services to Visionary, such as finance and office costs. These have been valued and the in-kind expenditure included as support costs.
## **8. Governance costs**
|**8. Governance costs**|||
|---|---|---|
||**2023/24**|**2022/23**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Independent Examination|3,900|3,720|
|Trustees expenses|561|1,119|
|Other|451|450|
|**Total**|**4,912**|**5,289**|
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
32
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## **9. Staff Costs**
|**9.**
**Staff Costs**|||
|---|---|---|
||**2023/24**|**2022/23**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Gross salaries|227,981|226,507|
|Employers National Insurance|19,349|20,951|
|Employer's Pension Contribution|10,531|10,946|
|Health Insurance|932|977|
|**Total Staff Costs**|**258,793**|**259,381**|
||**Headcount**
**Headcount**||
|The average number of staff during the|5.7|5.3|
|year was:|||
The number of employees whose annual remuneration (excluding pension and NI) was £60,000 or more were:
|**Band**|**2023/24**|**2022/23**|
|---|---|---|
|£70,000 to £79,999|0|0|
|£80,000 to £89,999|1|1|
|£90,000 to £99,999|0|0|
Included within staff cost is remuneration (including NI & pension) to key management personnel amounting to:
Total remuneration £99,580 £95,334
## **Disclosure on redundancy and termination payments**
There were no redundancy and termination payments in the year (2023 £Nil).
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
33
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## **10. Debtors**
|**10. Debtors**|||
|---|---|---|
||**2023/24**|**2022/23**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Debtors|6|800|
|Prepayments and accrued income|12,500|13,335|
|**Total debtors**|**12,506**|**14,135**|
|**11. Creditors**|||
||**2023/24**|**2022/23**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Creditors|9,359|7,183|
|Accruals and deferred income|6,133|6,408|
|**Total creditors**|**15,492**|**13,591**|
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
34
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## **12.1a Funds of the Charity - Current year**
||**At 1 April**|**Income**|**Expenditure**|**At 31**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**2023**|||**March**|
|||||**2024**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Restricted funds**|||||
|**Conference Sponsorship**|||||
|Bayer|-|15,000|(15,000)|-|
|RNIB|-|1,826|(1,826)|-|
|Guide Dogs|-|1,442|(1,442)|-|
|Specsavers|-|3,980|(3,980)|-|
|Sight Scotland|-|655|(655)|-|
|Macular Society|-|1,783|(1,783)|-|
|Fight for Sight|-|2,400|(2,400)|-|
|The Powell Family|-|2,195|(2,195)|-|
|Associated Optical|-|550|(550)|-|
|Together.ly|-|1,500|(1,500)|-|
|Utility Aid|-|1,200|(1,200)|-|
|Roche Products|-|10,000|(10,000)|-|
|Blind Veterans|-|679|(679)|-|
|**Other Restricted**|||||
|Thomas Pocklington Trust|60,000|-|-|60,000|
|Living Well with Sight Loss|2|-|(2)|-|
|Specsavers Eye Health|450|17,002|(15,952)|1,500|
|VF Making Lived Exp Matter|-|7,926|(7,926)|-|
|RNIB Pathways|-|24,924|(24,924)|-|
|Motability|-|38,000|(35,411)|2,589|
||**60,452**|**131,062**|**(127,425)**|**64,089**|
|**Unrestricted Funds**|96,049|356,209|(310,386) 141,872|(310,386) 141,872|
|**Total**|**96,049**|**356,209**|**(310,386) 141,872**|**(310,386) 141,872**|
|**Total Funds**|**156,501**|**487,271**|**(437,811) 205,961**|**(437,811) 205,961**|
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
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## **12.1b Analysis of net Assets by Fund – Current year**
||**Restricted Unrestricted**|**Restricted Unrestricted**|**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Cash at bank|64,214|144,733|208,947|
|Debtors|1,500|11,006|12,506|
|**Creditors:**Amounts due within|(1,625)|(13,867)|(15,492)|
|one year||||
|**Net assets**|**64,089**|**141,872**|**205,961**|
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
36
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## **12.2a Funds of the Charity - Prior year**
||**At 1 April**|**Income**|**Expenditure**|**At 31**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**2024**|||**March**|
|||||**2023**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Restricted funds**|||||
|Bayer Conference|-|15,000|(15,000)|-|
|Sponsorship|||||
|RNIB Conference Sponsorship|-|1,384|(1,384)|-|
|Guide Dogs Conference|-|1,300|(1,300)|-|
|Sponsorship|||||
|Wilberforce|-|250|(250)|-|
|Thomas Pocklington Trust|-|500|(500)|-|
|Conference Sponsorship|||||
|Pocklington Trust|60,000|-|-|60,000|
|Living Well with Sight Loss|1,982|-|(1,980)|2|
|Macular Society|-|800|(800)|-|
|Specsavers Conference||3,000|(3,000)|-|
|Vision Foundation Conference||800|(800)|-|
|Sight Scotland Conference||969|(969)|-|
|VISTA Conference||1,200|(1,200)|-|
|MeetUp Call Conference||800|(800)|-|
|Novartis Conference||5,000|(5,000)|-|
|Specsavers Eye Health||20,863|(20,413)|450|
|VF Making Lived Exp Matter||11,889|(11,889)|-|
||**61,982**|**63,755**|**(65,285)**|**60,452**|
|**Unrestricted Funds**|43,736|409,632|(357,319)|96,049|
|**Total**
|**43,736**|**409,632**|**(357,319)**|**96,049**|
|**Total Funds**|**105,718**|**473,387**|**(422,604) 156,501**|**(422,604) 156,501**|
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
37
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## **12.2b Analysis of net Assets by Fund - Prior year**
||**Restricted**|**Unrestricted**|**Total**|
|---|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Cash at bank|60,452|95,505|155,957|
|Debtors|-|14,135|14,135|
|**Creditors:**Amounts due within|-|(13,591)|(13,591)|
|one year||||
|**Total**|**60,452**|**96,049**|**156,501**|
## **13. Trustee remuneration and expenses**
No trustee received any remuneration from the charity in the year (2023: none).
Three trustees received reimbursement for travel expenses, £331 (2023: £955 (six) to attend Board meetings.
## **14. Related Party Transactions**
The following related party transactions took place in the year (2023: none).
Mark Upton is the CEO of MyVision Oxfordshire and also the Chair of Visionary. MyVision Oxfordshire received project participation payments of £2,000 from Visionary’s Making Lived Experience Matter Project.
Philip Mills is Corporate Services Director for Beacon Centre for the Blind and is also a trustee of Visionary. Beacon Centre for the Blind received project participation incentive payments of £3,000 from Visionary’s Motability Travel Matters Project.
Tom Harte is a director for Henshaws and also a trustee of Visionary. Henshaws received project participation incentive payments of £1,500 from Visionary’s Pathways Project.
Sarah French is the CEO of Vision & Hearing Support Gateshead & South Tyneside and is also a trustee of Visionary. Vision & Hearing Support
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024**
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Gateshead & South Tyneside received project participation and incentive payments of £1,000 from Visionary’s Pathways Project.
End of document
**Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March**
**2024**
39