2024-03-31-accounts - Listen To Act

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31[st] March 2024

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Reference & Administrative details

Contents

Reference & administrative details

Report of the Board of Trustees

Structure & Governance Management

Report of the Board of Trustees

Achievements and Performance Youth Engagement Healthwatch Enfield

Financial Review

Independent Examiner’s Report Statement of financial activities Statement of cash flows Notes to the financial statements

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Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2024

Trustees, Executive, Advisors & Bankers

Chair Christine Vigars

Vice-Chair Joanna Mark-Richards

Treasurer Layo Yusuf Trustee Abdul Towolawi Trustee Chris Doherty Trustee Civan Terbas (appointed January 29[th] 2024) Trustee Fene Osakwe (appointed January 29[th] 2024)

Trustee Patience Wilson

Trustee Christos Mylonas (appointed January 29[th] 2024.)

CEO Albie Stadtmiller

Registered Office

Community House c/o Healthwatch Enfield 311 Fore Street Enfield, London, N9 0PZ

Principal Bankers

Metro Bank 160 – 166 Kensington High Street Kensington, London, W8 7RG

Solicitors

Russell-Cooke 2 Putney Hill Putney, London, SW15 6AB

Independent Examiner

1st Class Accounts 320 City Road London, EC1V 2NZ

Company number: 08548208

A charitable company approved by the Charity Commissioners . Registered number: 1154777

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Report of the Trustees

for the year ended 31 March 2024

The Trustees presented the report and the independent examined financial statements for the year to 31 March 2024.

Structure, Governance & Management

Governing Document

Listen to Act (“The Charity”) is a registered charity and is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee and its governing document is its Memorandum and Articles of Association.

Recruitment and Appointment of the Board of Management

A Board of Trustees provides strategic direction, governance and oversight. The Board of Trustees are appointed following external recruitment. The Chair of the Charity has led the charity to independence and increasing its profile across London. Trustees bring a wide range of experience to the Board, from the public, private and charitable sectors, including social work, healthcare management, public sector commissioning, human resources, finance and fundraising. The Charity has a Local Committee which collates and represents the views and needs of any Borough in which the charity holds a Healthwatch contract. There are places on the Board of Trustees for representatives from this Borough. The day to day running of the Charity is undertaken by a staff team.

Trustee Induction and Training

New Trustees are recruited based on an evaluation of the balance of diverse skills and experience needed to govern the Listen to Act. Newly appointed Trustees receive induction packs containing information about the Listen to Act, its structure and operations, Board structures, Trustee duties and responsibilities, and our key policies. Training opportunities are shared as are conferences, webinars and seminars to provide context and ensure Trustees can remain current in the rapidly changing context of health and social care. Trustees are encouraged to participate in operational activities wherever feasible to obtain a better appreciation of the Charity’s operations. Training is provided to the Board as a need is identified.

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Public Benefit

We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities.

Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities

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

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law, the trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law).

Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and the profit or loss of the company for that year. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles of the Charities SORP (FRS 102);
make judgments and accounting 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 charitable company will continue in business.

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The Trustees are responsible for; keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity; and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with Companies Act 2006. They’re also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and 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 audit information of which the charity’s independent examiner is unaware; and
The trustees have taken all steps they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the independent examiner is aware of that information.

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

Objectives and activities

The Charity aims to promote public good and the improvement of health and social care services across greater London, by promoting the voice and views of the local community in health and wellbeing matters. The Charity also seeks to advance the education of the public in health and social care.

Our aim is to reach out to everyone in our communities by:

Operating as a charity open to everyone who lives in, or uses health and social care services, in greater London and the Borough of Enfield;
Collecting the views of local people about their needs for, and experience of, local Health & Social Care services;
Making these views and experiences known to decision makers, local stakeholders, Healthwatch England and the Care Quality Commission (CQC);
Writing reports and making recommendations about how those services could be improved;
Promoting and supporting the involvement of local people in the monitoring, commissioning and provision of local services; and

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Providing information to help people access and make informed choices about services.

Achievements & Performance

Listen to Act

Listen to Act's mission is to hear the experience of young people, patients, residents, and carers and bring about meaningful change in service provision for the communities we serve. Our engagement methodology is geared towards cultivating genuine and open dialogue that leads to realistic and lasting change.

Under the former name of Healthwatch Central West London we spent over nine years championing what matters to residents, patients, and carers living in Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster and we now deliver a successful Healthwatch contract in Enfield.

We are an organisation that is changing, adapting, and seeking to have a greater impact for more people across a wider geographical area. We are moving to a more commercial approach, diversifying our income, reducing our reliance on public sector procurement, and growing our range of patient and public engagement services. We recently secured contracts from local health services focusing on physical and mental health needs. This will culminate in a cooperative reflection and implementation process with clinicians to provide better health outcomes and an improved experience for those using health services.

The charity has developed its work with young people, especially around their physical and mental health. We involve young people within our work and have projects entirely focused on them. We have a young person who has been involved with our Young Healthwatch for several years and has recently been appointed to our Board of Trustees. We have other young people who are currently volunteering and supporting our youth projects. Our newest Enfield staff members have experience in creating digital content and amplifying the impact of the work that we do. Our Youth Engagement Manager uses online platforms to host meetings

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and further the youth-focused work. We facilitate groups, offer support and advice, and encourage network collaboration and a peer support element.

Listen to Act Youth Engagement

During the period of 01/04/2023 to 31/03/2024, Listen to Act has been leading, or co-leading on, a series of engagement projects – these are summarised below:

North West London Schools Research Network

In partnership with the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network North West London, Imperial College London and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Northwest London, Listen to Act has a key strategic and operational role in creating, managing, and growing a network of schools across Northwest London.

During this period, Listen to Act has been instrumental in recruiting five new schools to the network and assisted in supporting the schools to accommodate research studies on their premises. Listen to Act also held one-to-one meetings with school staff to build an understanding of the challenges faced and how the network could support them e.g. by sharing digital resources signposting to services and arranging assemblies with a healthcare professional.

Listen to Act ran a stall at a Freshers Fair at a large higher education institution to promote the network and Listen to Act, and to engage with students to provide the network with steer on their mental health priorities. These insights were fed into informing and shaping research studies of the future to be offered to schools across the region.

Listen to Act planned and ran a steering group meeting for the network with attendees including staff from schools within the network, students, and stakeholders working within local authority to offer a route for feedback on what would make the network run more efficiently, how to overcome barriers to research to schools and to continue to build a sense of community across the network.

Act's contract with the Schools Research Network ended in March 2024 after three years as a community partner.

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Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Outreach Alliance: young people’s open minds in North West London

In partnership with the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Northwest London, NIHR Clinical Research Network Northwest London ~~,~~ and Imperial College London, Listen to Act has established and consolidated a strong advisory group of young people (YPAG) representing all eight North West London boroughs. The primary aims of the advisory group is to inform and advise on research that is being conducted, to plug gaps in knowledge of young people’s mental health in the region, and to gather the priorities of young people in relation to health and wellbeing.

During this period, Listen to Act held 6 workshops with an average of 7 young people attending. These included a branding masterclass workshop and several shorter working group and drop-in sessions to create a short promotional film for the project. This film was planned, written, filmed and edited by the young volunteers. The volunteers also created a social media strategy with the Communications team of NIHR Applied Research Collaboration and Listen to Act. The film has been watched over 200 times.

In recognition of Listen to Act’s achievements on this project, we won a Patient and Public involvement and Engagement award from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Listen to Act accepted this award at a BRC event with a young volunteer from the project and presented on why the approach we took has generated positive results.

The young volunteers continue to be a crucial part in shaping research within the programme and have worked more closely with the research team helping to interpret data across three pieces of research that have now been published with the young volunteers listed as contributors, and in some cases, coauthors.

During this period, we have seen an exponential rise in the number of submissions from the young volunteers in the programme’s quarterly newsletter, partly due to

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one of the young volunteers taking on a central role within the newsletters editorial team with support from Listen to Act.

Five new young volunteers have joined the YPAG during this period off the back of a concerted effort to form alliances with similar groups (notably youth ambassadors within CNWL and West London NHS Trust).

Creating a peer support group for young people with Type 1 Diabetes at St. Mary’s Hospital

Listen to Act was commissioned to support the Children and Young People’s Diabetes Care Team at St. Mary’s Hospital to establish and maintain contact with ten of the 150 young people who are within the hospital’s care but proving to be hard to reach.

During this period, Listen to Act planned and delivered two workshops with a total of 15 young people in attendance, not including friends and family. The first workshop focused on the young people planning a final event to showcase all their work throughout the lifespan of the project to an audience of friends, family and clinical staff. The final event – and second event during this period - had 9 young people in attendance and up to 10 family members and friends and three members of clinical staff. The young people sold t-shirts at the event that they had created in the previous meeting and discussed what changes they would like to see to the service. This was all recorded in a visual Minute.

Following the final event, Listen to Act created a report outlining our approach, conclusions and recommendations for the service and what role the young people could play in this which was shared with clinical staff and the young people. Our fruitful partnership with St. Mary’s hospital led to an opportunity with the hospital’s charitable arm, Imperial Health Charity, to plan and codeliver three creative workshops in the Summer of 2024 for young people who currently access services at any of the five Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust hospitals.

Research Engagement Network (REN)

The REN programme of work is supported by the Research Engagement Network (REN 3), NHS England and is delivered in partnership between Association for

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Young People's Health, Imperial College London and local community partners in NW London.

As a partner in the programme, Listen to Act hosted a workshop with four young people in collaboration with the Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH) and Imperial College London to understand better the barriers health researchers face in engaging children and young people in research, and the potential solutions. The workshop was co-designed with young Listen to Act volunteers.

The workshop’s findings were captured in a ‘visual Minute’ and fed into the project’s overall findings.

Enfield Youth Advocate Programme

During this period, Listen to Act was awarded funds to work with young people in Enfield. The project will focus on how housing quality impacts the health and wellbeing of young residents aged 16-30 primarily in Enfield housing estates. It concentrates on community development within the borough and explores how marginalised groups are affected. This community development will come in the form of identifying candidates to become community advocates.

Thanks to collaboration with Healthwatch Enfield, Listen to Act has begun building contacts within the VCS, local authority, education and housing sector in the borough. Through this engagement, Listen to Act will begin to identify, recruit and train up to 12 young residents in the coming months to become community youth advocates via a nationally recognised training course on ‘Introduction to Community Organising’ which is quality-assured.

Listen to Act will create a project summary upon completion of the project highlighting its impact and community-led approach as leverage to apply for further funding in influencing housing policy in the borough and the newly-trained youth advocates will be encouraged to play a central role in future initiatives to utilise their new skills.

Maternity Project

During this period, Listen to Act partnered with PhD student from Imperial College London in partnership with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to understand how the NHS, local councils, voluntary sector, and families from Black, African, Caribbean, and mixed-Black heritage backgrounds can work effectively together,

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to co-produce service improvements in maternity care in Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster, and Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

Listen to Act has started to plan and recruit participants for three workshops that will take place in the Summer of 2024. The first two will be prioritisation workshops with experts by experience and the third will also include senior managers from the NHS and the boroughs, voluntary sector leads. In the final workshop the prioritised ideas and discuss what can be taken forward as part of the research study using a collaborative co-production process. We will also train experts by experience in trauma-informed facilitation to assist facilitating workshops.

Website and promotion

During this period, Listen to Act have been working with site developers to create three new youth engagement pages for the website, this includes a youth engagement landing page, a ‘Get involved’ page and ‘Why become a young volunteer’ page. This is being done to boost our profile, number of volunteers and stakeholders connecting with us and to increase traffic to the website.

Listen to Act has also created a short film that is housed on the landing page with young volunteers and a strategic partner from the ARC Outreach Alliance to highlight the value of our model of community engagement, why it is valuable and the outcomes it has generated to date.

Healthwatch Enfield

Listen to Act is the hosting charity for Healthwatch Enfield. There is a full complement of staff to support the valuable work within the borough of Enfield. For 12 months they’ve been listening to local people, patients, and carers about their experience of using Health & Social Care services. It remains our mission to work to ensure that Health & Social Care services work for everyone across Enfield.

We’ve spent the year expanding our reach, building relationships, and recruiting volunteers to ensure that as many Enfield residents as possible benefit from our service. We’ve played a key role in keeping local people up to date with reliable information, linking them to sources of help and support, countering misinformation and supporting the continued post-Covid recovery.

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We remain committed to ensuring that we hear from as many different people and communities as possible. Much of our work continues to involve connecting with groups we haven’t spoken to before and ensuring that everyone can help shape local services for the better. The Health & Social Care sector in which we operate continues to face many challenges, not least around funding and the increasing demands for services. We’ve continued to strengthen our working relationships with those who design, purchase, and deliver Health & Social Care services, the Voluntary & Community Sector and the wider public, through a range of programmes and events.

A key component of delivering the service is our work with volunteers. Our volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds and bring a diverse range of skills and knowledge. They add considerably to the breadth and depth of our work, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their contributions. To support our volunteers, we provide induction training and mentoring, combined with a wide range of volunteering opportunities.

Our local committee works on a voluntary basis to provide direction, oversight, and scrutiny to our activities. Our committee ensures that decisions about priority areas of work reflect the concerns and interests of our diverse local community. This was another exceptionally busy year for Healthwatch Enfield. We met the challenge to ensure local patient voices were heard throughout the recent period of rising costs, strikes, and increased pressure on health services.

We responded to urgent issues and initiated and delivered exciting new projects. We’re confident that we can build on this experience to develop our work as we move into the year ahead. We believe that Healthwatch Enfield is seen as a valued, respected, critical friend within the Health & Social Care arena.

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Projects arising from Member concerns & Commissioner priorities:

Improving Community Hypertension Awareness

Building on our commitment to address health inequalities within Enfield, Healthwatch Enfield was contracted for the Core20Plus5 in 2023/24. The initiative addressed health inequalities by expanding outreach and information sharing to diverse communities.

We actively engaged the community of Enfield in measuring blood pressure and educating them about hypertension. We measured and educated 353 residents on blood pressure, attended 28 events, partnered with community groups and trained 6 connectors. This initiative aligns with the national NHS England and NHS Improvement approach to reduce community health disparities.

What are the Digital Barriers in providing feedback?

Last year, we published findings on the experiences shared with us by both the general public and seldom-heard groups in Enfield. Our report highlighted an array of digital barriers in providing feedback to health and social care services, ranging from language, sensory challenges to mistrust, and costs.

In April 2023, Healthwatch Enfield collaborated with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to understand the reasons behind digital exclusion with specific community groups by exploring how individuals share their feedback about health and social care services.

We conducted surveys and focus groups to explore the reasons behind digital exclusion. Between April and August 2023, we connected with:

• 116 people who participated in our survey on digital exclusion, service feedback, and CQC.

What difference did this make?

Identified specific challenges faced by people with disabilities, those with English as a second language, mental health support group participants, and refugees.

• The engagement has empowered seldom-heard groups by validating their experiences and ensuring their voices are considered in decision-making processes.

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• Recognising that only 57% of survey respondents were aware of the CQC, steps have been taken to improve awareness campaigns. These campaigns aim to inform the public about the CQC's role and how their feedback can influence health and social care services.

• Listed recommendations to the CQC and emphasised participants preference for personal interaction methods (phone calls, face-to-face meetings) for feedback collection.

How will service changes to Eye Surgeries affect you?

In August 2023, Healthwatch Enfield worked with the NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board to collect feedback on their proposal in making changes to how eye surgery services are delivered in North Central London.

The proposal has the potential to facilitate an additional 3,000 eye surgery procedures annually and significantly reduce waiting times for certain sight-saving surgeries by up to four weeks. In an effort to understand and address the needs and concerns of those affected by the proposed service changes at the new specialist site in Edgware.

What difference did this make?

• Our outreach had raised awareness of the new services changes to eye surgeries in North Central London as well as identifying the concerns that service-users have on the changes.

We published our research, emphasised the importance of patient choice, that service-users can choose the hospital or clinic that provides the service, where they want to be treated.

• We also recommended enhancing patient accessibility and communication to help service users who are visually impaired and vulnerable to navigate the current systems in place.

Who took part?

From 4 September – 16 October 2023, we sent out surveys and held focus groups to collect insights on the planned service changes.

Engaged with 107 people, of which 85 people took part in the survey.
7.421 people were reached through social media and Healthwatch Enfield Website.

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• Reached out to 14,770 people, through community newsletters.

Expanding community’s Health Literacy

Healthwatch Enfield is taking a vital step forward with the introduction of community connectors. Community Connectors are Enfield residents, making a significant difference by bridging the gap between their community and health resources.

Community connectors are at the heart of our project's outreach efforts. They have been trained to raise awareness about hypertension within their communities, support residents, and ensure equitable access to blood pressure screenings and health education. Through their cultural understanding and local connections, community connectors have empowered residents to take charge of their health and wellbeing.

Getting services to involve the public

Services need to understand the benefits of involving local people to help improve care for everyone. Healthwatch Enfield and Enfield Council have worked together to collect feedback from service users who use adult social care to identify the gaps in services. As a result, the Integrated Hospital Discharge Team and Integrated Community Equipment Services (ICES) has agreed to improve communications with service users by creating a leaflet with contact details as well as specifying the role of departments.

Giving the local community the voice to drive change

Empowering residents to speak up about their experiences in front of decision makers can help them feedback their experiences. In Enfield, many residents experience difficulties in securing timely appointments with their local General Practice (GPs), a concern that not only affects individual health but also places a strain on our healthcare system as a whole.

Our annual conference, ‘GP Access Made Simple’ was an opportunity for residents and community organisations to learn about alternative pathways to traditional GP services and their rights to accessing GP care. North Central London Integrated Care Board and General Practitioners found the Q&A useful and will use the feedback to update their policy and strategy to improve GP Access.

In sum, all of the projects we’ve undertaken and other services we provide in the borough are to inform, improve and influence better health and care services for local residents in Enfield

All reports mentioned can be found on the Healthwatch Enfield website: - - https://www.healthwatchenfield.co.uk/news and reports

Financial Review

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The results for the year ended 31 March 2024 are set out in the Statement of Financial Activities on page 22. The assets and liabilities of the charity as of 31 March 2024 are given in the Balance Sheet. The financial statements should be read in conjunction with their related notes.

Principal Funding Sources

The main source of funding for the Charity is the contract with the borough of Enfield to deliver the local Healthwatch service. In 2023 - 2024 the total contract sum was £144,973 (2022 – 2023: £144,973). In addition, the Charity provided further services to other funders in the Health & Social Care sector and income from this source in 2023 - 2024 was £172,829 (2022 - 2023: £288,091).

Reserves

The Charity has reserves of £314,492 (31 March 2023: £431,496) of which unrestricted reserves were £314,492 (31 March 2023: £431,496). Restricted reserves were £0 (31 March 2023: 0). These reserves are expected to be utilised to support charitable activities.

The Board keeps the level of reserves under regular review to ensure that it is adequate and appropriate to meet the requirements of the organisation. The Trustees have agreed a reserves policy, the focus of which is to ensure that the Charity could meet all its commitments in the event that the core contract from the local authority were cancelled and the Charity were to be wound up. The Trustees have estimated that this would be £65,000. The remaining reserves have been used as per the Reserves Policy, to support the development of charitable activities across the Boroughs where work is commissioned. This includes a focus on our offer to support the voice of young people up to 25 years and sustaining the Charity through the process of re-tendering of the Enfield Healthwatch contract and in developing a fundraising strategy with an emphasis on youth engagement. In line with this reserves policy, in July 2022, following the establishment of the Listen to Act, the Board agreed to draw on reserves in the short-term to support the staffing needed for current charitable activities, and develop a sustainable offer for the future. In the current financial year it has been

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necessary to draw on the reserves to retain the expertise of key members of staff and thus increase the likelihood of securing funding in a competitive market place. We’re pleased to report that this approach has had some notable success. Nevertheless, towards the end of the financial year the Board decided to undertake a restructuring exercise in order to bring the projected budget nearer to a break-even position .

Planning for future years

Listen to Act continues to focus on our core priorities of signposting, capturing the views and experiences of service users and patients, and feeding back to our local communities, service providers and commissioners.

During 2023 – 2024, we continued our investment in operational systems, procedures, and staff to support our development as an independent organisation and provide the framework for future programmes. The Board has agreed on a strategic plan to diversify income streams and concentrate resources on key deliverables which reflect the priorities of our members and funders. We also have monitoring procedures in place, so that the Board has increased oversight over our delivery activities and is able to chart impact. As the charity was the victim of cyber fraud in May 2023 the trustees have instituted a thorough review of cyber security and financial controls.

We recognise the financial pressures that the commissioners of our services face and will work closely with them to address their requirements and maximise efficiency whilst continuing to provide the high-quality services that we have become recognised for.

We recognise our reliance on the core local Healthwatch contract in Enfield. The development of a more commercial approach, identifying key products and services we can provide that are in line with our charitable objectives and generating unrestricted income from is a core part of our future planning. In addition, retention and the securing of contracts remains a key part of our strategy for 2024 - 2025 onwards. Listen to Act has successfully provided Healthwatch

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Services for the London Borough of Enfield since June 2021, and this contract was recently extended.

The Charity was successful at securing additional income through the financial year which has enabled us to invest in further product/service development, including a three-year grant from City Bridge to support the participation of young people in Patient Participation Groups in Westminster and Enfield. However we recognise that in the current funding environment it may be difficult to increase this sufficiently to meet the fundraising target and that it may be necessary to draw further on reserves. In the short-term, the Listen to Act is concentrating on the key priorities of work with young people and capturing the voice of mental health service users and amplifying the voice of patients in primary care through patient participation groups.

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Listen to Act

I report on the accounts of the company charity for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The trustees, who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under s. 144 (2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I’m qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of ACCA.

Having satisfied myself that the company charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it’s my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under s. 144 of the 2011 Act;
follow the procedures laid down in the Directions given by the Charity Commission under s. 152 (5) of the 2011 Act; and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the company charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and explanations sought from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently, no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

keep accounting records in accordance with s. 386, Companies Act 2006; and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records, comply with the accounting requirements of s. 396 of the Companies Act 2006 and with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charitieshave not been met; or
(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: ………………………………………………… Date: 15-10-2024 Benjamin Ajala FCCA

Relevant Professional Body: Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)

Listen to Act, with Healthwatch Enfield

Statement of financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2024 (including an Income and Expenditure Account)

All amounts relate to continuing activities of the Listen to Act.

Listen to Act has no recognised gains or losses other than those dealt with above.

The following pages form part of these financial statements.

Listen to Act

Statement of Financial Position as at 31 March 2024

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions for small companies under part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on XX October 2024 and signed on its behalf by: 11/20/2024

Christine Vigars: ____ Wale) c V GU § 4 [Mr eeN ( Chair of the Board of Trustees Company Number: 08548208

The notes on pages 26 to 34 form part of these financial statements.

Listen to Act

Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2024

The following pages form part of these financial statements.

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Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

1. Accounting policies

(a) Basis of preparation and assessment of going concern

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these financial statements. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2015) (Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

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

The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about Healthwatch Central West London’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

(b) Income

Contract income is credited to the Statement of Financial Activities when invoiced unless it relates to a specified future year, in which case, it is deferred.

Under other creditors we account for income collected on behalf of other organisations as part of an agreement for projects, but is later transferred to the relevant parties.

(c) Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised in the year in which it is incurred. Expenditure includes attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.

Expenditure is allocated to particular activities where costs relate directly to that activity.

Costs classified as “support” represent those costs associated with the governance and administration arrangements of the Charity which relate to the general running of the Charity. Such costs include office running costs, costs recharged for HR, finance, I.T. and facilities’ services provided by Hestia as well as external audit fees, legal costs, related Trustee costs and costs associated with compliance with statutory requirements.

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(d) Unrestricted funds

Unrestricted funds are donations and other income received or generated for charitable purposes.

(e) Restricted funds

Restricted funds are to be used for specified purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the funds.

(f) Leasing

Rentals payable under operating leases are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

2. Income from charitable activities

In 2023-2024, £317,802 of income from charitable activities was attributed to unrestricted funds and £0 to restricted funds.

3. (a) Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities

Expenditure on charitable activities was £434,806 (2022 - 2023: £485,527) of which £434,806 (2021 - 2022: £485,527) was unrestricted and £0 (2022 - 2023: £0) was restricted.

3. (b) Analysis of Support Costs for the year ended 31 March 2024

The analysis of support costs is in line with Charity Commission guidance. The allocation of support costs is a proportionate distribution based on contract size. Healthwatch CWL is consistently focused on an efficient back office supporting front line delivery.

The analysis of support costs in the table below is £83,511.

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

4. Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses. Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets, other than freehold land, at rates calculated to write off the cost, less estimated residual value, of each asset evenly over its expected useful life, as follows:

Plant and machinery over four years

5. Staff and Trustees

The Charity employs 7 staff (7.5 2022 - 2023) at a 4.8 Full Time Equivalent directly. Total staff costs of Listen to Act were £248,412 (including agency staff) and broken down as follows:

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

Moreover, to wages and salaries, £2,265 of agency staff was paid during the year (2022 - 2023: £107,664).

No employee received total emoluments in excess of £70,000 during the year.

No Trustee received any remuneration for services during the year. No Trustees claimed expenses during the year. No Trustee had any beneficial interest in any contract with either Listen to Act or Hestia Housing and Support.

Indemnity insurance was arranged on behalf of the Trustees of Listen to Act for the 12 months commencing 1 April 2024.

The key management personnel of the Charity comprises the Trustees and the Director. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel were £60,892 (2022 - 2023: £83,871).

6. Debtors amounts due within one year

7. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

8. Unrestricted Fund

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

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During the period, our reserve funding was restructured by creating a General Reserve fund which was designated by the Board for undertaking detailed contingency planning in 2022 - 2024 as we transition to the new business model. These designated funds will meet the costs of future service development provision and in addition, will be applied in the interim to sustain the organisation and ensure we remain a fully functional entity going forward.

9. Restricted Funds: After a historical review of the status of restricted reserves, they have now been redesignated to general reserve in unrestricted funds. Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024

10. Analysis of net assets between funds

	Net Current	Total
	Assets	Funds
	£	£
Unrestricted funds	314,492	314,492


	314,492	314,492

11. Operating Lease Commitments

The amounts payable by Healthwatch Central West London in respect of operating leases are shown below:

Amounts due; In less than one year Between one and five years In more than five years Total	Operating Lease 2024 2023 £ £ 30,17821,319 - - - - 30,178 21,319	Other 2024 2023 £ £ - - - - - - - - -	Other 2024 2023 £ £ - - - - - - - - -
			-

12. Capital commitments and capital grants: There were no capital

commitments outstanding at the year end, nor any capital grants receivable.

Community House c/o Healthwatch Enfield 311 Fore Street Enfield, London N9 0PZ

2024