REGISTERED CHARITY IWMBER: 1158437 CHARITY COMMISSION RT OF THE TRUSTEES ATr4 NAU TED FIN Nc TATE THE YE ENDE H20 FO WESH KNOW SEOF ASAG TEND ONC Ip NLE FI CRT Lirnited F￿t 24 Wellingtonia Court L4ille Close Brigbton East Sussex BNI 6TD LEWES HOUSE OF FRIENDSHJP FORMERLY KNOWN AS AGE CONCERN LEWES CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL sfATEMEKrs FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 ￿CH 2025 Page Report of the Truste0& I to 7 Indcpendent Examiner's Report Statement of FIDan¢ial Actlvllks Balance Sheet io Cash Flow Statemellt Notes to the Cash Flow St2temeDt 12 Notes to Ihe Fkna*eial Stslements 13 to 21 LEMTS HOUSE OF FRIENDSHIP FORMERLY KNOWN AS ACE CONCERN LEWES REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 The truste&s present their repirt with the fman¢ial statements of tbe charity foT the year ended 31 March 2025. The tr￿SteeS have adopted the provisions of Accounting and RerAKtiDg by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their aecounts in accordance with thc Financiaj Rq)ortitig Standard Applicable in th¢ UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective l January 2019). OBJECTIVES AF4D ACTIVITIES Objectl¥e5 and aims Lewes House of Fri¢N]ship exists to pronK)te the well￿Ing of old¢r pe4)ple in aDy n)anD￿ whi¢h now is or hereafter ll￿Y be de¢med by law to b¢ charilable in and around L4wes. The staff and vohmteers supported these objeuives d￿ing ttke year by continuing to encourye participation in activltieg held in the House itself and by CODtinuing tbe lunch d¢livy serii¢e to members, homes wh¢n reqU￿¢d.. Publle bene(It Lewes Hous¢ of Friendship exists to support the older members of the comthuDity of Lewe5 and its surrounding vllla8es and small towms. Its activities are designed solely to Ixnefit its members, the publi¢ from which its memb¢TS are drawn, and the community ID wbi¢h it is located. Pagc I LEm￿s FtOUSE OF FRIENDSHtp FORMERLY KNOWN AS AGE CONCERN LEWES REPORT OF THE TRusfEES FOR THF, YEIIR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 ACHtEVEMENf AI4D PERFORMANCE Charitable activities Overview and Background This year has been full of challenges- some positive and motivatin& others n)or¢ obviousty denmnding and colDured by f¢elings of sathi¢ss al lh¢ death of one of the key players in the success of the Ho￿. On tb¢ upside. we have put in pla¢¢ soll￿ of th¢ recommendations from th¢ SITalW Review r¢garding our aims and activiti¢s foT th¢ fi]ture. By rontrasL the legacy of the pandemic and its afternJath have pose cljallenges. Fioan¢ial concern5 have dominat¢d rnu¢h of our thinkin We coped with the Covid 19 wisis as well as was possil)le and emerged from its limit*ions believing we might retLml to the old ways of workin& Regrettably, we still have a largve part of the membership stNggliDg to overcome fear of goillg out LuDching at the House and iaking part in its various activities seem no longer to hold their thrmer appeal and numbeTS bave declined mark¢dty. This is ar the core of the fillancia] challeDg¢ we have fa￿d. The Strategic Review. established to help us fixme our fjAure ObJ￿rIVes, gained momenlum early ID the year when an ¥¥ternaJ ageocy presented its research report This contained interesting observations about lh¢ way tbe Hous¢ 1$ per¢eived locally and excellent iDsighls into ways in which we might develop for the future, By the close of the year, a range of actions had been initiated to enable a r¢laun¢h of the House which we hope njay lead to a ￿0wing membership and a wider range of aclivity - all without upserting tbe e*ablISh￿ and appre¢iated ways of working. The rev8Tnp ot the gardcn wilh new planting completed thanks to the Audrey James, legacy. Tbe garden was opened formally by the Mayor of Lewes. Councillor Imo8en Mak¢pe￿, on 5 July 2024 apd has yielded a splendid outdoor area for members to ¢DjOy wben weather pernLts. A time capsule was buried in the gaTderL Tragically. just before Chriskna5, one of our dearest Colleagues died suddthty. Keith StenDing had worked qs th¢ Cook in cbarge of the kitchen for twelve years. Not only did he create excellent meals. but he was a key player In senerating the M'arni and welcotning atsnosphere that chararterised the House. His loss h&8 h&1 a profound imp&Gt Dn many. In particular, on Sophi¢ and RaGhel. his closest ￿lleagueS, who have ral lied valiantly to maintain the luncb servico without him. bul alyo OD the volunteers and staff with Ththorn he Work￿ closcty" 8nd on the members of the House who could always rety on a ch¢¢ry welcome from him and whose di¢tary preferences were imprinteAI on his memory. Keith w&8 8 sp¢¢iaL ¢oll¢aguc aDd friend and is very much rn1￿. Aehlevement and performanee The Executive Committee met on eight Or￿10nS during the ymr. Two speci￿ nJeetin83 were held to provide time to reflect on the impact of Keith's death and the w7y in which we might cope with hi5 loss and tbe relv4uncbing of the House aDd its a¢liviti¢s. Rosie Taylor, one of the key volunteers leading tbe g8rden revamp> resi￿ from the committee mid-H•y through the year having achieved her aims with the new desi￿ and pl8ntin& Thexe has beeD a Si￿lfiCant decline in the number of people taking lunch at the House and even those receivin¥ their lurt¢hes at bome have reduced io number. This 15 a concern for the Executive Cothmitte¢ since it r¢sultS ill an increase ill tbe subsidy iD¢urred for eacb meal oke￿ Wbile the lunch service has never been expected to lyeak even, the cornrnitte¢ cannot allow the subsidy to grow an uncontrolled way. Neither can e%￿SiVelY high price iDcrea$es b¢ used to resolve the issue. SeTiOUS C4)nsideralion - possibty to introduce different types of fO0￿mea1 offerings - was initiated, aimillg to discover whether this might en¢our48e •er take-up and a lessenillg of the worrying subsidy. St is fortunate that the generous bequest noted las¢ yearfs rekrf can bridge the f￿ancial gap wbile tbese ￿nSiderationS continue. Establtshed activities - exeYcis¢ classes. ukulele clas8es, the craft group, and the ¢hoir - continued to attract r¢gular participaths. To ¢xiend the range of our a¢tiviti¢s and Jy)ssibty to ￿￿￿Tage m¢mber4 n¢w initiatives were tried. Thanks go io Alex Sabnoffj who manw the House and all ihat happens th¢re, and to individual ¢ommttte¥ tlletnbers W]M￿c ideas for change and d¢velopnKnt weTe invaluable. Yoga and Pila￿ sessions were UP ond have proved w¢lcome aDd worthwhile.TheTapethtic hand massage sessions wer¢ ajso tri¢d. Page 2 LEWES HOUSE OF FRIKNDSHIP FORMERLY KNOWN AS ACE CONCEIiN LEWES REPORT OF THE TRUSTKLS FOR THE YEARENDED 31 MARCH 2D25 Inter-generational meetings btheen ¢hlldrell from a I(￿ prrmary S￿￿01 and our members were set up with considerable succesg. R£cently. it Ilas iwi possible tr) extend the Inter-gene￿10nll wod£ by inviting babies and toddlers into the House with their parents to rnix with the mern1￿. It is too eaTly d¢finitive aboui th¢ impHct of this initiative. Links Thith the Jocal ind¢p¢nd¢nt cioetlla have enabled screenings to b¢ eslablished as part of the ￿gll18r progranm]ing that are felt to better reflect the interests of older resid¢nts. This is qUTt¢ a difficult ar¢a given th¢ variety of tastes and opiniofts which inevitably exist ID ary defined age group. This m&y theT¢for¢ be seffl as an oppor￿nity to show a range of films, C￿efullY monitor r¢actiODS and seek feedback and r￿On￿}en￿onS for the future. A bereavement group was establisbed to recognise this iryrtant need for so many of the older ￿SidentS of Lewes. After early Sessio￿ ir was necessary to alter th¢ forn]at to better refleci the preferences of those affected. This more individual approach ID th¢ Bereavement Circle continues. As part of the "soft" relaunch - to promote the House in a livelier way - some modest red¢￿ratIOn end refurbishmettt was cariied out, a new logo was designed and a new website developed and inauguraied. Towards the end of the year, members of the Executive Con]mittee resolved to re-establisb a Closer relationship with Age UK East Sussex witb whom we were fornially and fomlerly affiliaied. w0￿1ng iogether, the In￿tteS bolievg that we could tnak¢ bolder slrtdes forward in our ststed objective to promote the wcllbeing of older resldentg to hèlp them ll￿ke the best of later life and to provide a livelier and more relevant sourc6 of support and gocial engagement for tbem. This iniuative 1$ in its earliest siage but very mu¢h on the agenda for,the corning year. trnstees offer their sincere thanks to th¢ v0h￿teerS. the conllJ)ittee member& the staff an4 not leasL the meJnb¢rs who continue lo appreciate the ¢lTorts of all involved and make the House the place that it is. Page 3 LEWES HOUSE OF FRIEI¥DSHtp FORMERLY KNOWN AS AGE CONCERN LEWES REPORT OF THE TRusfEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 FTNANCIAL REVIEW Financial position The 1'rllstees nole that Ong￿ operntiog income for the year was £162,628 and that expendith was £205,337. The deficit for ongoing operations was thereforc £42.7CH) for the y¢ar: an in￿¢&8¢ of over £24.0(M) OD the previous year. This in¢re&se was a to a level of deficit we would generally expert following the uousually small deficit in 2023124. Flat rental and room hir¢ have ¢￿tillu¢d to provide excellent incom¢ maintaiThing the levels a¢hieved in 2023124. Fewer meals were provided during tbe year but with increased charyes the anDual meal income Ims been maintsin