## **LOCAL VILLAGE NETWORK (FORMERLY LONDON) AUDITED ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS** For the Period 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025 ## **CONTENTS** |A Message from our Founder|Page 3| |---|---| |Trustees’ Annual Report|Page 5| |Independent Examiner’s Report|Page 7| |Receipts and Payments Account|Page 9| |Statement of Assets and Liabilities|Page 10| Charity Registration Number: 1161275 ## **A MESSAGE FROM OUR FOUNDER** ## **“You can’t be what you can’t see.”** ## **Our Purpose and Theory of Change** LVN is grounded in the belief that exposure to professionals and workplaces builds the mindset young people need to imagine, pursue, and secure their aspirations. Our theory of change shows that **ten interactions outside a young person’s immediate sphere of influence** —role models, mentors, workplaces, and peers—can significantly shift confidence, communication skills, and future readiness. ## **Our Impact in 2024–2025** During the year, LVN expanded both reach and depth of delivery. - Supported **1275 students** - Worked across **23 schools and colleges** - Active in **12 London boroughs** - Delivered programmes supported by **670 volunteers** - Launched a **curated work experience programme** ## **Outcomes for Young People** Because of LVN: - Students reported raised aspirations and improved communication skills - - Young people became clearer about career pathways and next steps - Students from underserved communities reported increased confidence to apply for roles, speak to professionals, and prepare for the world of work - - Teachers consistently reported improved maturity, engagement, and self-belief ## **Amplify Me, Amplify Connect & Online Mentoring** This year we strengthened our **online mentoring and digital delivery** Online mentoring enables: - Flexible, accessible volunteering for professionals - Continued exposure to role models for vulnerable students - Scalable delivery without compromising impact Students consistently tell us that meeting professionals reassures them that uncertainty is normal and success is not linear. Charity Registration Number: 1161275 ## **Looking Ahead** The context in which young people are navigating their futures is becoming more challenging. Youth unemployment is rising, competition is increasing, and the workforce is rapidly evolving due to AI and automation. While technology will replace tasks, it cannot replace **creativity, leadership, compassion, and purpose** —qualities we see daily in the young people we serve. Our focus for the coming year is to: - Expand online mentoring - Continue making work experience equitable and accessible - Build an alumni network of young people who return as mentors On behalf of the trustees, I thank our staff, volunteers, schools, funders, and corporate partners for walking this journey with us. Together, we continue to raise self-belief, eliminate fear, and show young people that the future is theirs to shape. **Rachael Box** Founder & CEO Local Village Network Charity Registration Number: 1161275 ## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT** The Directors present their report and the financial statements for the period 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025. The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis and comply with the Charity’s governing document and the Charities Act 2011. ## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** ## **The Purpose of the Charity.** The objects are, for the public benefit, to advance in life and relieve the needs of young people, particularly but not exclusively, those at risk of being not in education, employment or training (NEET). We do this by providing support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to participate in society as mature and responsible individuals. ## **Principle Activity** Local Village Network addresses network poverty - one of the key contributing factors that keeps young people in poverty. Increasingly a lack of networks is being used as a new measure of poverty. Statistics show that good networks significantly increase the chances to finding employment, 85% of vacancies are filled through networks. When you couple this with the fact that 50% of our poorest young people are in 20% of the schools you start to see why providing a platform to increase the likelihood of building positive networks in crucial. LVN brings the community together to make a real difference in society. We help to bridge the gap between business and education in order to tackle social inequality. Our model supports youth to change their mindset and broaden their horizons. ## **Public Benefit** The Trustees are satisfied that public benefit has been provided in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and have due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. ## **Volunteers** The charity deeply values the contribution from all our volunteers. Central to our programme are our volunteers. Our programmes could not happen without them. They give their time to help inspire the hopes of the next generation. In line with the accounting framework used in this report, the Charity cannot assign any monetary value to donated volunteer time in the financial statements. ## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** ## **Programmes** The Amplify Me programme is delivered in 6-week blocks in a school, college or PRU. 20 –25 students attend a one-hour session, once a week, for 6 weeks. 3-4 volunteers attend the programme, and the final week is a trip to the volunteer’s office. Evaluation and impact surveys have shown the programme is having a huge impact on the students but is also proving a valuable and inspiring volunteer opportunity. 12 programmes are delivered each half term throughout the academic year, other than Charity Registration Number: 1161275 the final term. In the final term, Work Experience programmes were launched, giving the students who have gone through Amplify Me the opportunity to have a week’s work experience at some of our corporate partners. These programmes were curated and facilitated by LVN. Our online mentoring goes from strength to strength, with expansion into more schools and colleges. ## **Fundraising** We have successfully increased our income again. This is largely in part to the winning of City Bridge Trust, an income of £50k per year for 5 years. We also secured a one year extension to the Mayor of London’s Propel funding, delivering £100k in the year. Our strategy to diversify our income to attract more corporate funding is also paying off, securing £65k from corporate partners. ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** ## **Reserves** LVN has a policy of keeping funds in reserve, equal to 6 months of regular operating expenditure. The expenditure figures are calculated and reviewed quarterly to ensure they stay up to date with current operations. These unrestricted reserve funds cover 6 months of expenses, including expenses which may already have specific funds earmarked to them (restricted funds). This is to protect against any delayed income. At the end of the period, the Charity held £258,626 in reserves of which £77,588 was restricted. Reserves are held to ensure financial stability and continuity of the Charity’s core operations. As the Charity continues to grow and prepare to upscale, with the underpinning of the LVN app, reserves remain a key part of future planning. ## **Going Concern** The Trustees have reviewed the Charity's funding and financial standing and are satisfied that there are adequate resources to meet all operating commitments for a minimum period of 12 months from the date of the accounts. ## **Principle Funding Sources** Alongside receipt of in-kind support, our main sources of funding are from grants and donations. We would like to thank all our donors past and present for their support and acknowledge the following who provided funding during the financial year: - Mayor of London – Propel - City Bridge Foundation - Deutsche Bank - Notting Hill Genesis - Garfield Weston Signed by Trustee . _______________________________ Print name:____ Lucy Edwards ________ Date: 12/01/2026 Charity Registration Number: 1161275 llWEPEIYDENT EXAMINERS, REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF LONDON VILLAGE NETWORK ON THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025 Charity Number 1161275 Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is our responsibility to: examine the accounts under section 145 of th¢ Chariti¢s Act, follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Ac( and to state whether particular matters have come to our attention. Basis of independent examiners, statement Our examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by 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 consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and se¢king explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. Th¢ proc¢dures und¢rtaken do not provide all the evidence that would b¢ required in an audit and Consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts pr¢s¢nt a 'true and fair, view and the report is limitsd to those matters set out in the statement b¢low. Independent examiners, statement In connection with our examination no material matters have come to our attention which gives us cause to believe that in, any material respect: accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records. We have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enabl¢ a prop¢r understanding of the ccounts to be reached. BRENNAN PEARSON & Chartered Accountants 1101112 Lancaster Road New Barnet Herts EN4 8AL 27 December 2025 |||**Charity Name: London Village Network**|**Charity Name: London Village Network**|**Charity Name: London Village Network**|**Charity Name: London Village Network**|||||||**No: 1161275**|**No: 1161275**|**No: 1161275**|||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||**Receipts and payments accounts**|||||||||||||**CC16a**|| ||||**For the period**
**from**||Period start date
1st of April 2024||**To**||||||Period end date
31st of March 2025||||| |**Section A Receipts and payments**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**A1 Receipts**|||||**Restricted funds**
**to the nearest £**||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**||**Endowment**||||**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**|||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|| |Grants and Donations|||£144,594.04||171,443||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**316,037**|**316,037**||263,916|| |Debtors|||||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**|||| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**|| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**|| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**|| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**|| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**|| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**|| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_|_(Gross income for AR)_|**144,594**|**144,594**||**171,443**||**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||**316,037**|**316,037**||263,916|| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Total receipts_**
**144,594**
**171,443**
**-**
**316,037**
263,916
**A3 Payments**
——_——~~——~~|||||||||||||||||| |Charitable Expenditure|||**(119,281.67)**||**(135,648.11)**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**- 254,930**|**- 254,930**||204,421|| |Raising Funds||-|4,378
-||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**- 4,378**|**- 4,378**||5,202|| |Separate material item of expense|||-||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**|| |Other|||-||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|||**-**|||| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||-|| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||-|| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||-|| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||-|| |||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||-|| |**_Sub total_ **||**- 123,660**|**- 123,660**||**- 135,648**||**-**|**-**||**-**|**-**||**- 259,308**|**- 259,308**||209,623|| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Total payments_**
**- 123,660**
**- 135,648**
**-**
**- 259,308**
209,623
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**20,934**
**35,795**
**-**
**56,729**
54,293
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**-**
**- -**
**-**
-
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
201,897
- -
**201,897**
147,604
**_Cash funds this year end_**
**222,831**
**35,795**
**- 258,626**
**201,897**
———~~——~~
====>==>|||||||||||||||||54,293
-
147,604
**201,897**| **----- Start of picture text -----**
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Unrestricted Restricted funds Endowment
Categories Details funds funds
to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B1 Cash funds Current Bank Accounts 222,831 35,795 -
- -
- - -
Total cash funds 222,831 35,795 -
(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) OK OK OK
SSS BS
Unrestricted Restricted funds Endowment
funds funds
Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
===
Fund to which asset Current value
Details belongs Cost (optional) (optional)
B3 Investment assets - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
===>
Fund to which asset Current value
Details belongs Cost (optional) (optional)
B4 Assets retained for the - -
charity’s own use - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
ee
Fund to which Amount due When due (optional)
Details liability relates (optional)
B5 Liabilities -
-
-
-
-
===>
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf
of all the trustees Signature Print Name Date of approval
Lucy Edwards 12/01/2026
cs
**----- End of picture text -----**