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← Living Well Bromley

2025-03-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT

2024-2025

LIving Well Bromley Registered Charity Number: 1157385

CONTENTS

4 Our mission and values 5 Legal & administrative information 6 Structure, Governance & Management 8 Accounts for the year ending 31 March 2024

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, mental health support and advice on benefits, debt and housing.

Living Well Bromley serves the local 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 helping the whole person is at the heart of our vision and values.

1

WHAT WE DO

3 times a week, open to everyone in the local area

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

Advice on debt, benefits, housing and homelessness

AND SO MUCH MORE...!

COUNSELLING

CHOIR

CLOTHES BANK

GARDEN

WORDS & NUMBERS

PRAYER

ART

PASTORAL CARE

2

ACHIEVEMENTS

We have over 2,400 registered guests and have made a huge difference to hundreds of people’s lives over this financial year.

Unlike other foodbanks we don’t require a complicated referral or voucher process. We welcome anyone who needs our help and spend time with guests to see how best we can support them.

In 2024 we saw an average of 881 adult visits per month to our foodbank and 479 dependents visits. To the most sick and vulnerable in our community we were able to offer home deliveries of these food parcels. Due to high demand and decreased food donations, we spent an average of £6,493 per month spent purchasing food.

Our community lunch served an average of 962 free hot meals a month in 2024. This is a highlight of the week and provides a real sense of community as well as delicious, nutritious food.

At every foodbank session we opened our free café serving free hot drinks and snacks and offering a warm, safe space. We offered hundreds of advice sessions with our Advocacy team to help people on a one-to-one basis with debt, benefits, housing and other issues. We also offered counselling to those struggling the most with their mental health.

Our charity shop in Penge continued to provide an income stream, promote our charity, and offer jobs and volunteering opportunities to the local community.

3

OUR MISSION & VALUES

Our mission is to ensure people have food, guidance and the support of an uplifting community to live life to the fullest.

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.

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.

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.

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.

4

LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

TRUSTEES

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

Registered Charity Number: 1157385

Independent Examiner: T Huxtable FCCA

Email: hello@livingwell.life

Telephone: 07864591607

5

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 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:

Fiona Barnes (Art café) Sue Thomson (Blend Choir) Mary Morinan (Clothes Bank) Tamara Cooper (Community Café) Henrike Hawkins (Community Lunch) Shirley Anthony (Counselling) Mary Elliot (Foodbank and Collections) Rev Jessica Smith (Pastoral care) Libby Thompson (Shop)

Management Team:

Kate Lott, Chief Executive Officer Aida Shoush, Advice Manager Lesley Nunes, Operations Manager

6

Living Well is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Our Trustees are responsible under the constitution 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 five times during the year.

Our Trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

Risk Management

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

7

ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Statement of Financial Activities for year ended 31 March 2025

Balance Sheet for year ended 31 March 2025 £16150, £12110 Cash * NatWe%t £327776 £770 £355780 £327776 £327770, APPROVED BYTHE TRUSTEES ON: SIGNED Chair of Trustees, Andrew Cornish

Notes to Statement of Financial Activities G•n•ral R••trlct•d Charty Shop Incom• Gift Ald £93328 £29598 Bank and •avlng• accounts Int•rMt £10443 Oth•r total £133369 The Ilst of don•tlong1grants belowlg not eX￿U*t1vt but does sh¢)w the rang• ol Incom• durfng th• y•ar ov•r £1000 Local church•s £19307 Penge Food Hub Marathon Fundral•lng Plant 3al• donatlon• £1850 £1650 Richardson b•qu•¥t £15(X)o Crowdlunder Appeal Avfva match•d fundlng Sh•ldon corporat• dOna￿On Homer Famity Trust £12237 £13868 £1000 £1(K)O Alway• Be Comedy Broml•y NEU Br¢ynl•y V•tsrans Athl•15cs Associali¢)n £1170 Ad• and Albert £7151 L•ngl•y Park Goll Club B•ck•nham Scouts £8167 Big Giv• Xmas Appul including match•d lunding Arnold Cla £16259 £2 Arg•nta In•urnnc• Brok•r• R•gular donorn, ad hoc donors, B•n•vlty. •v•nts •tc £7790 £130484 Grants and dL)n•kng totsl £242082 £7151 TOTAL FUNDS £375461 £7161 TOTAL £382602

  1. Administration (£4244) This includes expenditure on telephones, photocopying, petty cash and miscellaneous office costs 3 Advocacy (£72755) This includes the salary for the Advocacy Manager. Advocacy Supervisor plus the Admin Assistant and Database Admin. A new team is now in place and all their activities now take place at Holy Trinity Church
  2. Art Cafe (£3915) This meets weekly at a Tuesday foodbank session
  3. Central Costs (£16176) Insurance, rent, garden costs, equipment and miscellaneous items
  4. Communications (£502) This budget will be combined with Admin from 1 April 2025
  5. Counselling (£30277) This includes the salary of our Counsellor who reduced her hours during the year and a new volunteer has been recruited to the team.
  6. Foodbank/Community Meals (£135465) This fund includes part of the Operations staff salaries used to support these activities
  7. Health & Safety (£2615) Croner provide H&S support. These costs have been significantly reduced by entering a longer term agreement
  8. IT (£11416) An IT review has been completed and Qlic appointed as the IT support contractor. A 3 year IT hardware and software development Ims been started. Following a trial we are now using Liberty for our accounts package

  9. Staffing 1£46436} Some salarie5 or parts of salaries have been allocated to other funds to show the real costs of providing services. There have been a number of changes during the year including the appointment of a CEO. change of Operations Manager and a new Admin Co-ordinator. who also has bookkeeping duties

  10. Training (£2135) This is a fund started last year to separate out expenditure on training except for Advocacy which is shown on their account - see 3 above

  11. Reserves As our reserves policy states, we need to hold sufficient funds to ensure that we can meet our financial commitments, manage unforeseen financial difficulties and be sustainable into the future. We currently hold £327,776 in unrestricted funds. Our projected income for 2025/26 is £372.000. Our projected expenses for 2025/26 are £533,585. We therefore expect to run at a deficit of £161,585 this year. This will leave us with £166.191 in reserves in April 2026. This is within our target reserves range of £160.000 - £180.QX)o. Our specific financial commitments in this financial year. which are outside of our usual running costs include: Significant upgrade to our commercial kitchen to be able to provide our community lunches. Building works required to our cafe area to be able to provide our free cafe services 3 times per week. Building works to the lounge area used as a meeting space for our Advocacy service5. Building works to our storage area used as food storage required by our foodbank. Launching a pantry service with associated equipment and food costs.

Independent Examinerf Report Report to the Trustees of Living Well on the accounts for the year ending 31"March 2025 The Charity's trustees are responsible for the prepafatlon of the acccwnts . The Charitrf5 trustees consider that an audlt is not required for thls year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charlties Act) and that an independent examlnation Is needed. It is my responsibility to -examine the accounts under sertion 145 of the Charltes Act To follow the procedures lald down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission(under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Acr) and To state whether particular matters have come to my attention. My examination was carried out in accordance wlth general dlrections given bv the Charity Commission . An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideratlon of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts ,and seeking explanations from the 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 fairf view and the report is limited to these matters set out in the statement below In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my Attention (l)Which gives me reasonable cause to belleve that in ,in material respect, the requirements To keep accounting records In accordance wlth section 130 of the Charities Act To prepare accounts which accord with the accountlng records and comply with accounting requirements of the Charitles ACT have not been met ;or (2) to which .In my oplnlon, attentlon should be drawn In order to enable a proper understandlng of the accounts to be reached Signed T Huxtsble 11 Stanhope Grov Beckenham BR3 3J 2- July 2025

www.livingwell.life

@Livingwellbromley

@LivingWellBromleyfoodbank

Living Well Bromley