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2022-03-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT 2021/2022

LIving Well Bromley Registered Charity Number: 1157385

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ABOUT US

At Living Well Bromley, we provide food and support that changes lives. We are a caring community where people feel respected, valued, accepted and loved. Our mission is to ensure that people have the food, guidance and the support of an uplifting community to live life to the fullest. We work with our partners to support people with different needs, including poverty, social isolation, homelessness and mental health issues.

Our services are free to use and include a foodbank, a clothes bank, a weekly community hot meal, a free café, a community choir, counselling and mental health support, help with addictions and advice and support with benefits, debt and housing.

Living Well Bromley serves the entire community, working with a number of diverse partners to ensure we reach as many people in need as possible, with all aspects of their lives taken into account (physical, emotional and spiritual).

This approach to the whole person is at the heart of our vision and values.

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A MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR OF TRUSTEES

It is a huge privilege to be Chair of Trustees at Living Well. It has been a steep learning curve in the year since I took on the role from Nick, and I still have a long way to go.

One of the first things that struck me about LW is the amazing depth, resourcefulness, and faith of the community. That is faith in the spiritual sense, but also in the faith in each other and that LW is about building community as well as individual people – mind, body and spirit.

The resourcefulness has been very necessary, we have emerged from the pandemic but pretty much straight into a Cost of Living Crisis. The statistics you will see elsewhere in this report, are stark. But we have been able to rise to the challenge and provide food bags, advice, hot meals and all of our other services to hundreds more people.

As ever not everything has worked out smoothly – Advocacy needed more space and were kindly offered accommodation in St John’s church, which just didn’t work for guests. They have now moved to St Michael & All Angels, which is currently working well. Retaining our Advice Quality Standard accreditation, with many very positive comments from the AQS auditor, about our Advocacy service has been a positive highlight.

The hours and commitment from our volunteers remains extraordinary; as is the commitment/support in so many ways from our expanded community and social media followers – all marshalled and focused by our amazing staff team.

Our active social media presence led to some national and even international press coverage – which has continued to widen our impact.

The community of staff, volunteers, guests, Trustees, supporters and donors - has grown, stretched, and proved capable of the needed expansion.

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The Cost of Living Crisis is hitting everyone and we thought 2022 would be tough with food donations dropping and further grant funding difficult to obtain. And so it has proved. However 2022 has also been the year when our community stepped up in a miraculous way to support us. Our two Cost of Living Crowdfunding campaigns raised around £72,000 – lots of which was matched by linked grants – totaling £126,000 - wow we weren’t expecting that. But we need it – at one stage this year we were buying over £1,000 of food per week in order to keep the food bank stocked.

The number of people giving a regular monthly gift had also more than doubled to over £85,000 per year, which is invaluable as regular on-going gifts allow us to plan the future with much greater certainty.

The support from businesses – local and further afield, churches, schools, scout groups, and many other similar organisations, both in financial terms, and in pro-bono work (which has saved us tens of thousands of pounds!) has been extraordinary – we are very grateful. The look and feel of this report is just one example – the design, marketing and shortly web-site update couldn’t have been achieved without this type of support.

So a massive thank you, as Nick said last year – you are all Hope Givers – you give hope to our guests, volunteers, staff, Trustees and our whole community.

We really appreciate our partnership with Holy Trinity & St John’s church – we couldn’t do what we do without you. The pastoral care you provide and the prayer support, is really foundational.

In fact it is the prayers from all our community, and all you people – giving your, time, talent and treasures – that make Living Well work.

Andrew Cornish, Chair of Trustees

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WHAT WE DO

3 times a week, open to everyone

Warm, safe space with free hot meals, drinks & company

Advice on benefits, housing and homelessness

AND SO MUCH MORE...!

COUNSELLING

CHOIR

CLOTHES BANK

GARDEN

WORDS & NUMBERS

PRAYER

SEWING

ART

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2022 IN NUMBERS

Hot meals served 9569 Foodbank visits - adults 9769 Foodbank users - adults 794 Foodbank visits - dependents 4508 Foodbank users - dependents 382 Clothes bank sessions 24 Home deliveries 1118

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2022 IN NUMBERS

Advice sessions 2178 Counselling hours 788 Art cafe sessions 33 Free cafe hours 127 Volunteer hours 15000 Spent on food for foodbank £21k

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FOOD & SUPPORT THAT CHANGES LIVES

During 2022,we reviewed our vision, mission statement and branding. Trustees, staff, volunteers and guests were all involved in the process, and we are excited to introduce our focus for today, tomorrow and beyond. Our new look website will soon be launched too.

Our vision: food and fuller lives for all in our community

Our mission: ensuring people have food, guidance and the support of an uplifting community to live life to the fullest

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OUR VALUES

HUMANITY ABOVE ALL

We believe deeply in treating people with empathy, respect and compassion. Our work reflects our Christian beliefs. All are welcome through our doors – whether they need a helping hand or simply an ear to listen. For us, humanity is everything.

I am a single mum and recently moved to Penge. Because I am a single mum it is not easy for us. In the beginning I was looking for foodbanks around me and I found Living Well Bromley who has really helped me. Very nice people they helped me with food every week, helped me to save money and to help me get my house to normal. They also helped me... with furniture, they helped me furnish my house so my living room is all from them, so I don’t know how to say thank you for everything they have done for me. So thank you a lot guys.

Tatiana, foodbank guest, 2022 See Tatiana tell her story here

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GIVING PEOPLE A HAND UP

We don’t only give people the food they need to survive, we also strive to provide them with the support and resources needed to help them build a better life.

"It's a great joy for me to have a roof over my head. After many years of agony and depression. Thank you kindly.

Advocacy guest, 2022

HELPING THE WHOLE PERSON

We believe in tackling the whole problem, not just some of its symptoms. That’s why we offer mental health and wellbeing support, as well as spiritual guidance. Through this our guests can begin to focus on the future, rather than just making it through today.

I was referred to you by my Family Support and Parenting practitioner, Bromley Children Project. Our meetings have helped me so much, It has given me a safe place to open up where there was no one else. Without your support, I don't know where I would be if I hadn't been referred to Living Well. I hope your service will continue to support as it is so needed and continues to be needed. Thank you for all your help.

Counselling guest, 2022

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WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER

We’re an uplifting and welcoming community – one that brings together guests, staff, volunteers, donors and ultimately our community to help make life better for those who need our support. We are somewhere that people come to meet others – to talk, to laugh, to cry, to pray, to be together.

For the amazing work you continue to do every day for those in our community who need some support and a safe, loving space. Thank you

Crowdfunder donor, 2022

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PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS

Even through these exceedingly tough times, we have been overwhelmed by the support from our local community, through their gifts of food, clothes, money, time and skills.

We launched a Cost of Living Crowdfunding Appeal in May 2022, which received match funding of £20,000 from the National Emergencies Trust. This raised over £53,200. In November we launched a further Cost of Living Emergency Appeal and were successful in obtaining match funding from Aviva Community Fund and funding from Aviva Cost of Living Boost. We received £33,500 in match funding and raised over £71,000 in total.

We also benefited from support from the following organisations/individuals who offered their expertise and time for free, the value of which would have totaled many thousands of pounds.

CMS (Legal) MMX Retail (Retail) Bailey Garner (Retail) Landor and Fitch (Branding) Ryan Thomson (Marketing) Katie Matthews (Communications) Ewings Solicitors (Wills week)

Ellie Reeves, our local MP, has continued to support us professionally as well as dropping off weekly food donations collected from her neighbours.

We want to thank everyone for their support and feel very fortunate for the huge increase from individual donations made online via our website, Local Giving and through our crowdfunding.

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LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

TRUSTEES

Andrew Cornish (joined March 2022)

Treasurer: Will Skinner

Registered Office: 66 Lennard Road, Penge, London, SE20 7LX

Registered Charity Number: 1157385

Independent Examiner: Tony Catherall

Email: hello@livingwell.life

Telephone: :07864591607

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STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE & MANAGEMENT

Living Well began in 2011, in response to growing numbers of people calling at the vicarage of Holy Trinity Beckenham church in Penge asking for help. Since then, thousands of people from across Bromley and South East London have come to Living Well. We became a registered charity in June 2014 and depend entirely on the work of volunteers and the generosity of our donors to keep going. We currently have over 300 committed volunteers who keep Living Well Bromley running smoothly and safely. Each of our main areas of work is overseen by a team leader who is responsible for the activity and the volunteers who help out.

Our team leaders are:

Simon Godfrey (Advocacy) Fiona Barnes (Art café)

Sue Thomson (BLEND Choir) Mary Morinan (Clothes Bank) Tamara Cooper (Community Café) Sue Smith (Community Garden) Jacqui Boardman (Community Lunch) Shirley Anthony (Counselling) Mary Elliot (Foodbank and Collections) Rebecca Day (Operations) Rev Jessica Smith (Pastoral care)

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Our Trustees are the people responsible under the governing document of Living Well Bromley for controlling management and administration. Trustees are appointed by the Board of Trustees in a process of open competition following public advertisement. The Trustees met seven times during the year.

Risk Management

Risks are identified and assessed and controls established throughout the year. The key controls used include:

Financial Review for 1st April 2021 – 31st March 2022

See Appendix 1

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HOW YOU CAN HELP

Living Well Bromley relies on the ongoing support and involvement of lots of different people and the generosity of friends and supporters to keep going. It costs £2 per person to provide a hot lunch every Friday, while our foodbank gives out over 1200 bags of food per month.

We welcome gifts of time, skills, food, clothes and money. Every gift helps us to build our community, providing care, comfort and support to those most in need. Here are some ways you can help:

VOLUNTEER

DONATE

Our volunteers provide regular help

and support to keep Living Well Bromley running smoothly and safely. In return we offer training and support. There are plenty of opportunities to volunteer – from helping with our foodbank, to providing a listening ear, helping with fundraising and events or getting stuck in behind the scenes. We are always pleased to hear from

people of all ages (over 18) and backgrounds who are interested in volunteering. Email us at hello@livingwell.life or call 07864591607

There are many different ways you can support Living Well Bromley – by donating money (either via monthly standing order or as a one-off donation), or by donating food for the foodbank, or clothes to the fortnightly clothes bank. Please remember to Gift Aid your donation if you are a UK tax payer. To donate please go to www.livingwell.life

KEEP IN TOUCH

Please go to www.livingwell.life or find us on social media

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APPENDIX 1

ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

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LMNG WELL BROMLEY Statem¢nt of Flnanclal Activities ft>r year erbded 31 Marth 2022 Toial F•ts F• IK70 Éttm knThw4 £234 7 l7111 •4P Év)) -14Xtt FLVI YEAR HolyTrinity Church, 66 Lennard Road, London, SE20 7LX Tel: 07864591607 Charity Number. 1157385 18

UVING WELL BROMLEY Balan￿ Sheet for year ended 31 Marth 2022 tiaS95 ij t114n5 t1012 APPROVED 8YTHE SIGNED. Ch•lr olthe Trustees. Andrew Comish Holy Trinity church, 66 Lennard Road. London, SE20 7LX Tel.. 07864591607 Charity Number: 1157385 19

LMNG WELL BROMLEY Notes to Statement of ￿nanCIal Artivitses fit t1221 ti( tl120 t7S145 TOTAL FUIIDS Holy Trlnity Church, 66 Lennard Road. London. SE20 7LX Tel.. 07864591607 Charity Number.. 1157385 20

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