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2025-09-30-accounts

4

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

From

Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year 1 October 2024 30 September 2025

To

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name Link for Life Project

Other names charity is known by Link 4 Life Project Registered charity number (if any) 1136831

Charity's principal address St Anne’s Church, Chasetown, Burntwood,

Postcode WS7 3QL

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

----- Start of picture text -----
Name of person (or body)
Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole year entitled to appoint trustee (if
any)
1 Richard Westwood Chair
2 Andrew Evans
3 Stacy Knight
4 Elizabeth Hobbis
5 Lynn Kearsey Treasurer
6 Molly May Jones
7 Olivia Newman
8 Daisy Scarlett
9 Yasmine Morson Mills
10 Sophie Cook
11 Kerry Holt
----- End of picture text -----

Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of adviser Name Address

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

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Link for Life Project 1136831 TAR 2024-2025 - amended for approval 02 May 2026

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Type of governing document

Trust Deed

How the charity is constituted

Trust

(e.g. trust, association, company)

Trustee selection methods

Appointed by existing trustees

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

The Link for Life Project was started by members of local Christian churches in the Ecclesiastical Parish of Great Wyrley (Registered Charity no.1134022). It is now based in Chasetown and has strong links with St Anne’s Church Chasetown (Registered Charity no.1160765). The Trustees are pleased to have enabled the widening of the geographical area of benefit of the charity to include the Ecclesiastical Diocese of Lichfield

The Charity is grateful to the Trustees of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Chasetown (Registered Charity 1160765) (St Anne’s Church) who have kindly agreed to allow Link for Life Project to use their church building for meetings and to allow Link for Life Project to use the church address as Link for Life Project’s registered address from April 2026.

Section C Objectives and activities

The Link 4 Life Project Charitable Trust exists to…

  1. Support the relief of poverty and the promotion and preservation of good health in southern Africa through various means, including financial support, through charitable organisations working in Africa

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

  1. To advance the Christian religion, for public benefit, by support to individual churches in the UK and abroad, especially to Christian churches of all denominations in the Church of England Ecclesiastical Diocese of Lichfield, England

  2. To advance in life and help young people (aged 25 and under) in particular but not exclusively those who live, work or are educated in the Church of England Ecclesiastical Diocese of Lichfield, England through support, advice and guidance so as to develop their capabilities so that they may grow to full maturity as responsible individuals and members of society. In furtherance of this aim, the charity may also support the provision of education visits to overseas projects, supporting the work of

Link for Life Project 1136831 TAR 2024-2025 - amended for approval 02 May 2026 2

the charity under its first and second objects (above)

The Trustees were very pleased that we were, once again, able to facilitate a visit to our partner charities in Africa for students at Wolgarston High School. This visit took place in February 2025 and involved 7 students from the school and with 1 member of staff. This year the team also included a teacher from Chasetown Community School, which has expressed a wish to work in partnership with Link for Life Project. In addition to these school-based team members, there were three adult leaders from Link for Life Project, (Tony Guest, Molly Jones and Richard Westwood) making up a total of 12 in the team. The team were able to take part in several day visits to Mafambisa, the community with which The Charity has links, is in the Mpumalanga region of South Africa.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)

The visit followed a similar pattern to previous visits to Africa, with students taking part in Home Based Care visits and assisting volunteer care workers in the support and care they give to orphaned and vulnerable children in their local community. On their return, all involved have been encouraged to raise awareness and funds for the work of the charitable groups they visited. The students were able to do this within their school context and there were feedback events for local community members too. The charity also used its social media channels to tell the story of the visit and the courageous people we met. Below are some photos of the visit…

A well led group game.

Making friends

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Link for Life Project 1136831 TAR 2024-2025 - amended for approval 02 May 2026

Songs and prayers of thanks before food

Incredible Hands at Work care volunteers at the Care Point in Mafambisa

Walking to a home-based care visit

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Link for Life Project 1136831 TAR 2024-2025 - amended for approval 02 May 2026

Good fun in any culture

In our advocacy for our charity partners we encourage people to give funds directly to our charity partners and so these donations are not shown within our accounts, but we are assured by our partners that the work of advocacy and fundraising by those who visit Africa does bear fruit and benefits the people we seek to help. The beneficiaries of these donations live in communities which The Project has visited and so our team members are able to give a first-hand account of the work that is being done for those in need.

In addition to donations which are our supporters give directly to our partner charities, Link for Life Project trustees were pleased to be able to donate a total of £3,600 to our partner charity Hands at Work in Africa UK which supports the work of poverty relief in needy communities in southern Africa. (In 2023/24 the Trustees did not feel that the charity had sufficient funds to make a donation like this, so they are pleased that they are once again able to make a donation like this)

The Trustees are pleased that once again the budget planning for this visit included the a donation of £489 to the World Land Trust towards the cost of offsetting the carbon footprint involved in the air travel associated with the visit. This will be a part of our financial planning for future visits too.

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Link for Life Project 1136831 TAR 2024-2025 - amended for approval 02 May 2026

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

The Trustees wish to record their thanks to the many people who have donated time, energy, good will and money in support of its work. In particular, the management and staff of Wolgarston High School in Penkridge for their continued support and partnership in allowing and encouraging their students and staff to participate in this project. In particular, the trustees warmly thank Mr Michael Leonard, who has been the main leader for recent school-based visits and continues to be a key partner for Link for Life in his school, advocating and raising awareness for the needs of our partner communities. In addition, this You may choose to include year, our thanks go to Ms Paula Kerr from Chasetown Community School further statements, where who took part in the 2025 visit on behalf of her school and has advocated relevant, about: for the work of Link for Life Project and Hands at Work in Africa. Thanks are also offered to Ms Molly Jones and Mr Tony Guest who joined the  policy on grant making. visit team and played a wonderful role in supporting the students  throughout the visit. policy programme related investment. Much of the work of the Link for Life Project is on a small scale…  contribution made by individual people giving time, energy and money in small but significant volunteers. ways and The Trustees wish to thank all who have given generously in this manner during the course of the last year. Once again, the Trustees wish to thank the congregations of the local churches and also individuals who have given support to the work of the Link for Life Project this year.

The trustees hope that the work of The Project will grow and allow more young people in our area and in southern Africa to benefit through meaningful partnerships with each other through our charity partners.

Section D Achievements and performance The partnership between Wolgarston High School and local churches in Summary of the main Penkridge has continued to raise funds and link with the community of achievements of the charity Mafambisa in South Africa, once again through Hands at Work in Africa. during the year It is hoped that the relatively new partnership with Chasetown Community School will also be beneficial to all involved. Hands at Work in Africa UK provide detailed updates on the people they serve and work they do in partnership with them. This effective and detailed communication helps to ensure that UK based donors can have high levels of confidence that the funds they give are going to the people who need it most. This kind of linking is exactly the sort of outcome which The Trustees hope for, so that local people in our community here in the UK are able to be in a meaningful partnership with needy people in communities in southern Africa. There are still more children in cities, towns and villages who need us to speak up for them, so we hope our work of advocacy can continue and grow. The trustees of the Link for Life Project met on 6 occasions during this reporting period and thanks are due to them for their continuing commitment & hard work.

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Link for Life Project 1136831 TAR 2024-2025 - amended for approval 02 May 2026

Section D Achievements and performance The Trustees thank the two people who have overseen the charity’s finances in this reporting period. Ms Yasmine Morson- Mills and Ms Lynn Kearsey (treasurer from April 2017). They have both worked hard, handling faithfully the finances of The Project and preparing the accounts for Independent Examination. The trustees also wish to offer their grateful thanks to all who have supported or encouraged the work of the Link for life Project in 2024/2025 and to God for the way in which Churches, schools and the wider community have come together in partnership with those in need in southern Africa.

Section E Financial review

As has been the case in previous years, the Link for Life Project Brief statement of the Charitable Trust does not seek to hold a large sum in reserves on a charity’s policy on reserves year-to-year basis. Those reserves which are kept are needed to cover the running costs of the charity (administration, publicity, insurance). Other funds are used for donations to partner charitable organisations & to subsidise visits to our partner charitable organisations. In the accounting period 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025, the Link for Life Project Charitable Trust received £29,294 (2023/24 was £747) and made payments of £25,231 (2023/24 was £5,094) resulting in a surplus of expenditure over income of £4,062 (2023/24 was a deficit of £4,347). The modest surplus was due to the trustees deciding once again to donate some funds to our partner charities. On 30 September Details of any funds materially 2025 Link for Life Project had a current account balance of £10,148 in deficit (2024 was £6,086) The large difference between the amounts involved in this year’s accounts compared to the previous year (2024/5) is due to the fact that there was a visit to our partner charity in South Africa this year, whilst there was not a visit in the previous year (2023/4).

Further financial review details (Optional information)

Youmay chooseto include
additional information, where
relevant about:

the charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising).

how expenditure has
supported the key objectives
of the charity.

investment policy and
objectives including any
ethical investment policy
adopted.		 The majority of the income handled by the Link for Life Project is
normally associated with payments involved with the organisation or
visits to our charitable partners in southern Africa (e.g. air fares, car
hire, accommodation, food, insurance etc).
The Trustees are grateful to the people who continued to give to Link
for Life in this period, and before during the pandemic. Their generosity
has enable the visit which took place in this reporting period.
The trustees are pleased to note that some donations in 2024/25 have
been made via Stewardship (Registered Charity No. 234714) so that
tax has been able to be reclaimed by them for the Trust on these
donations.
The Link for Life Project Trust has sought to encourage those who have
visited its partner charitable organisations, to donate to these
organisations, either directly, or via the Link for Life Project Trust. It is
pleasing to note that many members of the visit teams have returned
and donated or taken part in fundraising work to raise monies for the
partner organisations.

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Link for Life Project 1136831 TAR 2024-2025 - amended for approval 02 May 2026

Section F Other optional information

Thoughts about the future and sustainability

The Trustees are aware that there is a need to review the sustainability of the charity. Only one mainstream school is partnering with the charity and able to send pupils on visits. This leaves the charity’s main mode of operation quite fragile. Many of the active volunteers for the charity who are able to lead visits for the charity are growing older and may not be able to fulfil these specialist roles in the medium to long term. There are relatively few people who have time available to do the advocacy work which is at the heart of what Link for Life seeks to do. In the year ahead, the Trustees will look at this issue of sustainability and endeavour to take steps to address it in the most constructive way and so enable the charitable purposes of Link for Life Project to be fulfilled in the best way in the future.

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s)
Full name(s)
Position (e.g. Secretary,
Chair, etc)

Date
Richard Andrew Westwood
Lynn Kearsey

Chair
Treasurer
30 April 2026
30 April 2026

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Link for Life Project 1136831 TAR 2024-2025 - amended for approval 02 May 2026

LINK FOR LIFE PROJECT CHARITY No 1136832 Receipts and payments accounts For the period To from 1st October 2024 30th September 2025

LINK FOR LIFE PROJECT

CC16a

Section A Receipts and payments

A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest
£		 Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest
£		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest
£		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest
£		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest
£		 Total funds
to the nearest £		 Total funds
to the nearest £		 Last year
to the
nearest £
Grants,Fundraising& Donations 545


-


- 545


447
Received for South African Visits 28,749 - - 28,749 300
Other Receipts - - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total(Gross income)
29,294		 - - 29,294 747
-
-		 -
-		 -
-
A2 Asset and investment
sales, (see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total
-		 - - - -
Total receipts
A3 Payments
29,294 - - 29,294 747

Travel, accommodation and other
costs-South Africa		 20,399



-



- 20,399



4,420
FundraisingCosts - - - - -
Insurance, preparation meetings
and othercosts		 743 - - 743 674
CharityDonations 4,089 - - 4,089
- - - - -
Sub total 25,231 - - 25,231 5,094
-
-		 -
-		 -
-
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total payments
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end
Cash funds this year end
25,231 - - 25,231 5,094
4,062 - - 4,062 -4,347
-
-
- -
-
6,086 - - 6,086 10,433
10,148 - - 10,148 6,086

Page 1

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories
Signed by one or two trustees
on behalf of all the trustees
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B3 Investment assets
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
B5 Liabilities		 Details Details Unrestricted
funds
to nearest £		 Restricted funds
to nearest £		 Restricted funds
to nearest £		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
Bank Balance 10,148
-		 -
- -
Details

Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Details
Details
Details
Signature		 10,148 -
OK
Unrestricted
funds
to nearest £
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
liability
relates		 OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
When due
(optional)

Signature		 Print Name Date of
approval

Page 2

Link For Life Project 30[th] September 2025 1136831 1 to 3

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30/09/2025.

As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

25[th] April 2026 Lucy Brown

179 Queen Street Burntwood Staffordshire WS7 4TN

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