## **Trustees’ Annual Report LIVING ON BEREAVEMENT SERVICE** ## **1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023** UK charity registration number: 1166617 This Trustees Annual Report (‘TAR’) has been prepared by and is the responsibility of the charity’s Trustees and has been approved by the Trustees for publication. This TAR provides information intended to help the user understand how the charity’s aims fulfil its legal purposes, the activities it undertakes and what it has achieved, including: 1. particulars of the charity; 2. the purposes of the charity (including confirmation that the activities undertaken further the charity’s purposes for the public benefit); 3. the activities undertaken, finances and impact / results; and 4. a declaration by the Trustees. ## **1. Charity particulars** a) The following details relate to the charity: |Name|Living On Bereavement Service| |---|---| |Other names used|Living On| |Registered charity number|1166617| |Place of registration|UK| |First registered|19 April 2016| |Type|Charitable Incorporated Organisation| |Governing document|Constitution| |Registered address|11 The Brackens
Orpington
BR6 6JH| |Operational address|The Parish Room
Skibbs Lane
Orpington
BR6 7RH| |Related entities|There are no related companies,
subsidiaries or other entities associated
with the charity.| Trustees’ Annual Report 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023 Living On Bereavement Service UK charity registration number: 1166617 ## b) Trustees Trustees are appointed by the existing Trustees in accordance with the charity’s constitution. Potential Trustees are invited to submit a short CV or similar demonstrating the skills they can bring and a letter detailing why they would like to join the Board of Trustees. Trustees are selected taking into account the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the charity. The following are the Trustees who acted during the year: ||Trustee name|Office (if any)|Dates acted|Appointed until| |---|---|---|---|---| |1|Louise Carr|Trustee / Chair|1stJan – 31stDec 2023|30thApril 2024| |2|Gary Chapman|Trustee / Treasurer|1stJan – 31stDec 2023|30thApril 2024| |3|Samantha King|Trustee / Secretary|1stJan – 31stDec 2023|31stOctober 2024| |4|Heather Williams|Trustee|1stJan – 31stDec 2023|30thApril 2025| |5|Robert Doherty|Trustee|1stJan – 31stDec 2023|30thJune 2024| |6|Susan Wates|Trustee|1stJan – 31stDec 2023|30thJune 2025| There were no corporate trustees, trustees holding title to property or other trustees present or appointed in the year. Also, no funds were held as custodian trustees on behalf of others. Following the year end, Gary Chapman resigned as Trustee / Treasurer of the charity with the resignation effective from 31 October 2024. Rachael Burke was appointed as Trustee / Treasurer with effect from 1 November 2024. ## c) Advisors The charity has no appointed advisors. ## **2. Purposes of the charity** ## a) Overall To protect and preserve the health and relieve mental and emotional suffering of bereaved children up to the age of eighteen in Bromley / Orpington and surrounding areas, and their families or anyone directly affected by that bereavement, by providing advice, support and guidance. Page 2 of 7 Trustees’ Annual Report 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023 Living On Bereavement Service UK charity registration number: 1166617 ## b) Public benefit The Trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the commission in exercising their powers and/or duties. ## **3. Activities** ## a) Operational activities The charity operates two main services: - A buddying service which connects a recently bereaved family with a specially trained 'buddy' (that may be an employee of the charity or a trained volunteer) and who offers bespoke support to the family. The buddies can also work in and with schools and other appropriate settings, supporting teachers, carers and families within their setting; and - Grief Groups which typically (but not always) run weekly for a period of between 4 and 8 weeks and bring together groups of similar-aged children, young people and / or their families who have all been bereaved of a loved one, with the aim of showing them that they are not alone and to alleviate the feelings of isolation that are so often present with grief. These groups are often followed up with ongoing family days and events. All of the services provided by the charity to children and families are free of charge. Additionally, the charity provides support, resources and advice to professionals and family members working, assisting, caring for, or living with bereaved children. We also support local schools to develop bereavement policies and provide tailored bereavement training packages, as well as direct support if that school or a class suffers a bereavement (such as a teacher, a pupil or the parent of a pupil etc.). In respect of the buddying service, each volunteer buddy is asked to commit to a minimum of three hours per week. All our buddies have some form of professional qualification in Health or Education and/or are closely supported by someone that does. We also look to recruit volunteers who support the charity with administration and marketing tasks, and they provide equally valuable support. The charity takes safety and security seriously and holds policies related to all such matters, including safeguarding, lone-working and DBS checks for all relevant Trustees, staff and volunteers. To continue managing the growth in and demand for the charity’s activities and services, the charity employed 3 part-time members of staff in the year, with 1 staff member resigning in the summer, leaving 2 members of staff for the remainder of the year. It is the charity’s intention Page 3 of 7 Trustees’ Annual Report 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023 Living On Bereavement Service UK charity registration number: 1166617 to continue with 3 members of staff on a long-term employment contract basis, always subject to financial capacity. ## b) Finances ## _i. Trustee remuneration_ The Trustees are not paid for their time or for the activities they undertake as Trustees. The Trustees are also not reimbursed any expenses related to those activities. If a Trustee provides services as a Service Provider (supplier) and not as a Trustee (for example, as a therapist during Grief Group sessions), then a payment may be made to that Trustee in an amount that is in line with what other third-party providers are, or would also be, paid. Such amounts are regularly reviewed by the Trustees and any Trustee that may be in receipt of any such payment or any Trustee with any actual or perceived conflict of interest does not participate in any decision or discussion related to that payment, its amount, or its timing. It is also the policy of the charity to provide suitable operational training and ongoing development to those who provide our services, and this may include training or development being provided to a Trustee, an employee, or a volunteer. As a result, an incidental benefit may arise to a Trustee by way of this provision, however any Trustee that may be in receipt of any such training or development does not participate in any decision related to that provision, nor are they treated any differently from any other similar employee or volunteer. ## _ii. Cash balance at end of period_ This represents the eighth operational and accounting period for the charity and at the end of the period the charity’s cash balance was £68,453.48. The charity had no material outstanding liabilities, debts or other assets at the balance sheet date and considers that it has sufficient funds to operate as a going concern for at least the next 12 months. ## _iii. Sources of funds_ The charity receives all of its funding via grants and donations from private individuals, private organizations and various fundraising activities and events. The charity does not undertake any professional fundraising activities and relies heavily on the generosity of those that become aware of the charity who are mostly local individuals, certain grant giving charities and local and regional businesses. Those that have benefitted from the charity’s services often volunteer to raise money on our behalf and this has been a very welcome source of funds. The charity was awarded a significant grant from the National Lottery Community Fund in the summer of 2021 in an amount of £100,000 to be received over a three-year period, specifically to fund the charity’s employment costs and some Grief Groups. Since the initial grant, the Page 4 of 7 Trustees’ Annual Report 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023 Living On Bereavement Service UK charity registration number: 1166617 charity has successfully applied for further funding and the total amount now expected to be received is approximately £113,000 over the same three-year period. Other than the grant outlined above, the majority of the funding received and raised by the charity is unrestricted. ## _iv. Restricted Income Funds_ At the balance sheet date, of the total cash available of £68,453.48, an amount of £2,965 was considered to be restricted funds related to the National Lottery Community Fund grant. During the year the charity received £41,190 from the National Lottery Community Fund grant. ## _v. Reserves_ The Trustees’ target is a reserve of six months’ operating expenditure, considered to be £30,000, to ensure that the charity can continue to operate, notwithstanding any unforeseen costs, and which policy remains under review. Although this target reserve amount was met as at the end of the year, due to the uncertain nature of the charity’s future income and the continued challenges in raising funds, there is no guarantee that this reserve can or will be maintained. ## _vi. Going concern_ This is the eighth accounting period of the charity and we continue to build up a strong core of volunteers, processes and services and we have continued to be successful in various fundraising efforts. Provided the charity continues on its current path the Trustees consider that it has sufficient funds to operate as a going concern for at least the next 12 months and beyond. ## _vii. Subsequent events_ In 2021 the charity was successful in an application to the National Lottery Community Fund for a total grant of £100,000 to be paid each six-months over a three-year period to fund the position of a Family Support Worker, and to run a number of bereavement groups for families and children. At the beginning of 2022 and 2023 the charity was successful in its applications to increase this grant to also cover inflationary cost increases and certain costs of supervision. In February and March 2024 the charity received the final funding payment under this grant such that the total received across the 3 years was £113,031.24. In May 2023 the charity’s Lead Family Support Worker announced her intention to resign from her position with effect from July 2023. Following a selection process an existing Family Support Worker was then promoted to Lead Family Support Worker with effect from September 2023 and a new Family Support Worker was recruited and commenced their employment with the charity in March 2024. Page 5 of 7 Trustees’ Annual Report 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023 Living On Bereavement Service UK charity registration number: 1166617 ## _viii. Audit_ The trustees believe that the charity is not required to undertake a statutory audit but is required to undertake an Independent Examination of its accounts. The Independent Examiner’s report is included within our annual accounts. ## c) Summary of results / impact There remains an ever-growing number of enquiries received by the charity and our service remains in high and increasing demand. There is no other local children’s bereavement service that offer a similar approach, allowing indirect and creative ways to access emotions and feelings and for those services to be provided over multiple weeks and potentially months. There is also insufficient provision of all types of bereavement services and a lack of training and support for other professionals, in particular for teachers and schools. The local adult hospice offers one to one counselling for bereaved children, but it is a considerable distance from Orpington and is typically hugely over-subscribed. In contrast we have continued to provide support, seeing children in their schools and in local community venues. Over the past year the charity has received approximately 90 family referrals to the service. This equates to support for 140 additional children and young people in 2023. The majority of our referrals continue to be made by local primary and secondary schools due to strong links formed within the local community. As well as supporting individual children and families when a bereavement has occurred, Living On also trains and assists teachers and those working with children and young people to deal with bereavement within the school or educational setting. Within 2023, and for the first time, Living On facilitated a bereavement support group within a learning centre for young people with an EHCP who would not have been able to access a group within the community. Due to the rise in referrals relating to complex and traumatic deaths, the charity also ran a specific group for children and young people affected by these circumstances. We also were able to recruit and train a new cohort of volunteers to the charity within 2023 who are already working alongside the Family Support Worker team and existing volunteers in providing one to one support for children and young people. We offer continuous development to all our volunteers who have completed training in 2023 on topics such as vicarious trauma and supporting young people who self harm. As the charity goes from strength to strength now in its eighth year, one key risk remains, that of over-commitment when faced with the significant imbalance in the supply and demand for the charity’s help, and the health and well-being of our dedicated Family Support Workers and our volunteers is paramount in this regard. Page 6 of 7 Trustees’ Annual Report 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023 Living On Bereavement Service UK charity registration number: 1166617 ## **4. Declaration** The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees Annual Report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s Trustees: |Signature|| |---|---| |Full name|Gary Chapman| |Position|Trustee and Treasurer| |Date|31 October 2024| Page 7 of 7 f REAVEM INI SERVICE Financial report Living On B8reavem8nt Servic8 For the P8riod 8nd8d 31 D8C8mb8r 2023 Prepared on 20 October 2024 Registered charity number 1166617 Independent examinerfs report to the trustees of Livin8 On Bereavement Service (the -charitsble incory)orated organisation- or-a(Y) I hereby report on my examination of the accounts ofthe CIO for the year ended 31 December 2023. ReSPon￿bntt￿ and basls of Trport As the charity trustees of the CIO you a￿ responsible fof the preparation of the acfounis in atcordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 20111.the Act'l. I report in respect of my examination of the CIO'S accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying oui my examination I hè¥e followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under sertion 1451511bl of the Act. Independ•nt examlnerfs statement I have completed my examination and confirni that no material matters have come to my attention In connectlon with the examinatK*n 8ivin8 me cause to bel¢eve that in any material respect: attounting records were not kept in respect of the CIO as required by sectlon 130 of the Act,. or the accounts do not accord wth those records; or the accounts do not comply with the applicable requiremeftts concernin8 the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities IAc£ounts and Reports1 Regulations 2(J)8 other than anv requirement that the accounts Eive a 'tTue and fair viev/ which is not a matter consldered as part of an indePer￿ertt examination. I have no concems ènd have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understandlng of the accounts to be reached. The work perfOrn￿d and this report do not coftstitute an au(Ilt and asthe Clofalls undef the threshold set out In law audit is required to be perfomed. Signed: NJIcttcLA SttyfyJi& Relevant professional qualification or membership of professional bodies lif anyl- I C£fiLJ Address: A&£ 1££ Date.. O OLI lo Basis of Preparation ........................................................................................................................................4 Accounting Policies and Notes........................................................................................................................5 Restricted Income Funds ................................................................................................................................7 Financial Activities Comparison ......................................................................................................................8 Balance Sheet Comparison.............................................................................................................................9 Financial Activities by Month .........................................................................................................................10 3/10 viro On Bereavement Semce Basis of Preparation The accounts present a true and lair view. the accounting policies have been consistently applied and there are no material estimates or changes to estimates Contain￿1. The accounts have been prepared on the basis that the charity is a going concern as there are no significant doubts as lo il's ability lo continue into the IoTeseeable future. The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention wth items recognised at cost or transaction value, unless otherwise staled in the relevant nolelsl. There have been no changes to accounting policies aFflied in these accounts as compared to the prior year. Thesg financial slalements have b9en prepared in accordance with the accounting wI￿leS set out in the Notes lo the Accounts and comply with the charity's gov8rning drtument, the Charities Act 2011 and applica￿6 accounting and rgporting Slalement ol Recommendgd Prathe as applicaNe lo charities. No events have occurred after the b￿ance sheet date but belore the accounts are authorised which relate lo conditions that aros8 after Ihg ond ol Ihe reporting period, olhor Ihan those alreaty di￿10$0￿ in Ih8Sg accounts. Register&l charity number 1166617 4110 nn Bereavement Semce Accounting Policies and Notes Rwnlllon of Ir￿0m8 Income is included in the Income Statement when= the charity becomes entr(led to the resources it is more likely than not that the charity will receive the resources. and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability. Ofl8attlrwJ There has been no oflsetting ol assets and liabilities, oi incL)me and 6xpens8s. Grants a￿1 donakns Grants and donab'ons are included in the period in order lo match with related costs where possible. and are recognised in income when the general income Tecognition criteria are met. Certain grants and donations are subject lo one or more reslriclions as to their use and these are recognised as 'Restri¢ted Income Funds,. Tax rodalms on donalon8 and dft8 Gift Aid rgceivablg is included in income when.. the charity is successfully regislereLI lor Gift Aid with HMRC ther& is a valid declaration from the donor il is morè likely than not that the charity will receive the funds Any Gift Aid amount rgcovered is rgcorded as a separate sourcg ol funds. and any grft aid that may bo recovered from any restricted funds will not be treated as so rest[￿ed and will be treated as available to thè charity on an unrèstricted basis. Donated good8 Donated goods are measured at lair value (the amount lor which the asset could b8 exchanged) unless impractical lo oso. Goods donated lor on%oing use by the charity ara recognised as tangitle Iix8d assets unless their on%oing or r8sale value is considered immaterial. Gifts in kind lor us8 by the charity arg induded in th8 accounts as income from donations when rocaivablg unloss thair resale value is conSide￿d immaterial. tyonabj sorvi¢88 and laalrties Oonat8d servic8s and lacilili8s ar8 includ8d in th8 accounts when received at the valu9 01 Ihe gift lo th9 charity providgd th8 value ol th8 gift can b8 measur8(J reliably. Staff numb8r8 At the start of the year the charity had 3 part-time employees, and from mid-July 2023 and for the rernainder of the year the charity had 2 part-time employees. The average rnonthly cost to the charity ol staff wages in the year was £3,962.01. Register&l charity number 1166617 5110 viro On Bereavement Semce Volurtsw hdp The value ol any voluntary help received is not included in the accounts. Incoma from Irrtere8t This is included in the accounts when receipt is probable and the amount receivable can be measured rèliably. Liabilty reLwnrtion Liabilities arg rgcognised wherg it is more likely than not that therg is a legal or constructiv8 obligation committing the charity to pay out resources and the amount can be measured wrth reasonable certainty- Dknred irwmo Income is d8lerred in a period where It would otherwise materially distort the accounts il associal8d costs are r9cognised in the accounts in a different period. Crodltors Credltors are measured al settlem8nl amounts less any trade discounts. Provl6lon8 lor IlabllStlo8 A liability is measured on recognition al ils hislorical cost and then subsoquenlly measured al the best estimate ol Ihg amount required to settle the obligation at the reporting date. Tanglblo flxod aseots for u80 by chadty These are capilalisgd al cost il they can b& used lor more than on8 year, and cost al least £1,000. Stoth6 and work In progr88S Sto¢ks hèld lor salè as part ol non