2024-03-31-accounts - Lewisham, Greenwich And Southwark Samaritans

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AMARITANS Lewisham, Greenwich & Southwark Whatever you're facing We're here to listen Annual Report 2023-24

AMARITANS Our vision Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy, and our vision is that fewer people die by suicide. Our mission To be there for anyone who needs someone. To give people ways to cope and be there for others. And to campaign to make suicide prevention a priority. Our values Llstenlng Non-judgmentol People Human contact Explorlng teellngs We want people to maklng thelr Glvlng people tlme. ollevlutes dtstress be oble to tolk to own declslons undlvlded ottentlon and helps people us wlthout fear of and empathy meets to reach a better prelud5ce or reSectlorL a fundamental understandlng omotlonal need of thelr sltuatlon and reduces dlrtress and the optlons open to them. and de5palr. We belleve thot people have the rlght to flnd thelr own sdvtlon ond thot telllng people what to do takes 1esponslblly awoy from them. Confldentlallty If people feel safe. they ore more Ilkely to be open about thelr feellng& ArÈ9isiErtdrlthity

Lewisham, Greenwich and Southwark Samaritans are an independent charity, and we are part of the national network of Samaritan Branches

Director’s report

Hello Everyone - Volunteers and Supporters

Welcome to our 2023-24 Annual Report.

I am now into my final year as Director and have never known two years go by so quickly. It has been tough at times, but we have some

incredible volunteers, who put in so many hours to ensure we can be there for our callers, who are often at their most desperate. And I would never have been able to do even half of what I do without the support of the Leadership Team and all volunteers who have supported other roles within the branch, including our support volunteers.

At the time of writing this in July 2024, we have 109 Listening volunteers, including 14 new volunteers who are still being mentored, plus 7 Support volunteers. And we are now interviewing potential new volunteers for our next round of training, which will start again in October.

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans Annual Report 2023-24

Outreach has really taken off in this last year. We have attended Freshers Fairs at local universities; we have visited 5 local train stations during the morning rush hour, handing out contact cards and speaking in more detail to others passing through and on Marathon Sunday we were at Waterloo Station to greet members of the public coming and going to cheer on the runners.

We continue with our work in HMP Belmarsh, with a dedicated team of volunteers, training and supporting Listeners to be there for their fellow prisoners.

After heavy rain earlier in the year, and a survey of our roof, we have had to have temporary repairs done, guaranteed for a minimum for 2 years, and will now have to start raising funds for a complete new roof for our building. And we still need to improve our fundraising, including using opportunities to rent our downstairs rooms to local organisations, when not in use for training or social activities, which had to stop completely during Covid.

We are deeply grateful to Maggie Tetlow – Ladies’ Captain at Dulwich Golf Club, who chose us as her Charity of the Year. The fundraising events and appeals she organised among club members and friend has raised over £7,500 for our Branch.

Many thanks also to Blackheath Choir: their beautiful and joyful carol singing at Canary Wharf, just before

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans

Annual Report 2023-24

Christmas, helped us with our largest fundraising collection of the year.

And I would like to say a very special thank you to all our supporters who generously donate to our branch, especially in these difficult times. Without you we would not be able to keep the branch running.

Jean 996

Choir supporting Samaritans at Waterloo station.

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans

Annual Report 2023-24

Collecting at Canary Wharf Station in December helped raise much needed funds. Our thanks to Blackheath Choir and TfL whose support made this possible.

Outreach report

We are hugely indebted to Nathan Lewis who has been our Community Outreach Manager since 2020. Sadly we have had to make his post redundant until we are in a better financial situation, but his work has created many brilliant local links for the Branch.

Over the year we attended Freshers Fairs at local universities in the early autumn, where we were there to raise awareness of Samaritans to new students, many leaving their family homes, cities, or even countries, for the first time.

As part of the national charity’s Network Rail initiative, we attended five local train stations during the morning

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans

Annual Report 2023-24

rush hour, handing out contact cards and speaking in more detail to passengers and staff. We also supported 3 shows at Greenwich Theatre, WAWWO by Matt McGuiness. The shows covered his journey to the Edinburgh Fringe, and his struggle with depression. We were able to talk to the audience during the interval and after the show.

Finance Report and Accounts 2023-24

Introduction

During the financial year 2023/ 24 the branch used £27,845.02 from its cash reserves to support day to day spending and the redecoration of the front of the building, which has reduced the cash in the bank at the start of April 2024 to £24,377.31.

Therefore, the Trustee Group agreed take a number of costcutting measures, to bring the budget back in line. These sadly included making the post of Outreach Manager redundant, as well as cutting other administrative costs and transferring the responsibility for cleaning to branch volunteers. Further measures are required to ensure the branch finances are put on a sustainable basis going forward.

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans

Annual Report 2023-24

Income

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Notes 2023-24 2022-23
Donations 12,122 16,151
Funds raised 5,475 8,332
Grants 0 7,825
Bank interest 776 372
Prison Grant 1 2,140 2,121
Total 20,513 34,801
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Expenditure

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Notes 2023-24 2022-23
Premises overheads 2 19,434 11,476
Direct charitable 3 4,860 6,750
expenditure
Fundraising and 276 216
publicity
Management & 4 6,030 7,700
administration
Community 5 17,936 15,760
Outreach Activity
Total 48,535 41,902
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Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans Annual Report 2023-24

Surplus/Deficit 2023-24 2022-23

-£28,022 -£7,101

Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31 March 2024

Cash balance brought forward from prior year Surplus/(deficit for year) Carried forward to next year

52,399	59,500
(28,022)	(7,101)
24,377	52,399

Fixed Assets

Leasehold improvements brought forward £85,053 Depreciation charge for the year £5,670 Carried forward £79,383

In 2009, the Branch acquired a 30-year lease for 1, Angus Street London SE1 6LU from the London Borough of

Lewisham for a peppercorn rent. Refurbishment work started in November 2008 and the Branch moved in and started operating there in April 2009. Funds spent on the refurbishment of the building have been shown as a capitalised asset. The depreciation for the refurbishment is deducted annually on a straight-line basis.

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans Annual Report 2023-24

Notes to the Accounts

Note 1 - Prison Grant / Expenditure

Prison Expenses (recorded within 'Note 3 - Direct Charitable Expenditure') have been reimbursed through a grant from Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) which includes a contribution to general branch costs.

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Note 2 Premises overheads
Insurance and Bank charges 66
Utilities 6,023
Repairs and maintenance 5,642
Housekeeping 7,703
Total 19,434
Note 3 Direct Charitable Expenditure
Telephone and internet 2,904
Volunteers travel 1,818
Prison expenses (see note 1 above) 138
Branch contribution to Central Charity 0
Total 4,860
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Note 4 Management and Administration
Administrative Support 4,506
IT software and stationery 1,524
Total 6,030
Note 5 Community Outreach Activity
Community Outreach Manager salary 14,366
Community Outreach Manager pension 1,059
Community Outreach Manager PAYE 2,511
Total 17,936
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Note 6 - Payment to Trustees

No payments have been made to Trustees except to reimburse purchases made for the Charity or expenses in the usual course of volunteering.

Note 7 – Reserves

The Charity seeks to maintain its reserves at the equivalent of 6 months normal running costs.

Approval of Financial Statements and Accounts

Approved: Jean Gilardi, Director 1 December 2024 Approved: Sandra Snelgrove, Treasurer 1 December 2024

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans

Annual Report 2023-24

Independent examiner’s report

Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts Report to the Trustees/Members of Lewisham, Greenwich and Southwark Samaritans on accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 set out on pages 6-10.

I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (The Trust) for the year ended 31 March 2023. As the charity trustees of The Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act of 2011 (The Act). I report in respect of my examination carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed the applicable Directions given by The Charity Commission under section 145 (5)(b) of The Act.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that, in any material respect:

 Accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or

 The accounts do not accord with the accounting records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed Carolyn Holbrook 22 January 2025 Mrs Carolyn Holbrook 5 Croftside, Bures St Mary, CO8 9LL

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans

Annual Report 2023-24

Trustees 2023-24

Jean Gilardi – Branch Director

Sandra Snelgrove – Treasurer Will Skinner – Secretary (to Jan 2024) David Waugh Co-opted Secretary from Jan 2024 Caroline Adie (resigned April 2024) Ian Buchan (co-opted Jan 2024) David Cope Deb Dowdall Ruth Driscoll (To Dec 2023) John Sabine

Marathon achievement

Lewisham Volunteer Stephen 1498 ran 2024 London Marathon, raising funds for the Samaritans Central Charity. He describes his experience:

“When I ran a half marathon in 2021, I swore blind at the finishing line that I would never run that far again. In summer 2023 a colleague

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans

Annual Report 2023-24

described how it had taken her ten attempts to get a place in the London, but she eventually succeeded and enjoyed the experience. Then I found out that Samaritans had been chosen as the official race charity of 2024. That meant that they had 500 places in the marathon, compared with 50 in a normal year, I offered to run for them, never really expecting to be selected.

“When I heard that I had a place, a certain element of panic set in. How was I going to find time to train three times a week all winter, sometimes running for three hours? And how was I going to raise the £4000 I had rashly promised them I would raise.

“The training was a blessing. I am normally reasonably good at getting up early on a Sunday morning to go running, but having the marathon to work for gave me a sense of purpose throughout the winter and helped me maintain my mental and physical health. I built up the distances gradually, so remained injury-free. The nasty bout of man-flu about three weeks before the race fortunately went away in time.

I was overwhelmed by how generous people were. I had donations from people I didn’t know, people I hadn’t seen for 20 years; from people I suspected were going through a hard time themselves and people I would never have asked for sponsorship. I feel that many could relate to Samaritans and recognised the seriousness of the situations we deal with.

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans Annual Report 2023-24

The race day itself was definitely memorable, with amazing support from the crowd throughout. Thank you everyone who supported me, especially those who made financial contributions and gave me fundraising tips. I’m incredibly grateful to the Samaritans who cheered us on and organised an excellent reception for all the runners after the race.

Our volunteer Louise Eldridge will be running in the 2025 London Marathon for Lewisham Branch – you can sponsor her here: - https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/louise eldridge-samaritans

Thank you

We owe a huge thank you not only to our volunteers for giving their time to keeping the phone lines open, the branch running and our Outreach continuing in local prisons, colleges, community and other organisations.

We also owe a lot to the generous organisations and individuals who give us financial support. We depend on their support to keep the service running and the lights and computers on. So thank you:

Blackheath Choral Society  Maggie Tetlow and Dulwich Golf Club members Diamond Digital Print  London Borough of Lewisham  Matt McGuinness Sarah Millican  Susan Yau and Richard Wait  The other generous individuals and organisations who provide free supplies and services, regular monthly donations, and who prefer to remain anonymous.

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans Annual Report 2023-24

Fundraising and ways to support our branch

We are extremely grateful to everyone who has raised funds for us, or given their own funds or influenced other grant givers to support Lewisham Greenwich and Southwark Samaritans over the past year.

We are a registered charity and rely on donations to keep our branch open, our phone lines available for callers and our volunteers warm, fed and supported while they are on shift. We are affiliated to the National Samaritans Charity, but we are not funded by them.

There are many ways you can support our Branch.

Donate directly via our website

www.samaritans.org/branches/lewisham and click on the donate button on our web-page. You can make this a one-off gift or set up a regular donation.

Select us as your charity if you are undertaking a sponsored challenge or fundraising event.
Support us through Give as You Live – a free and easy way to raise money when you shop online, with more than 6000 stores and services signed up.

www.giveasyoulive.org

Hire our meeting rooms for a meeting, small conference or course – all proceeds go back into supporting our

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans

Annual Report 2023-24

work. You can find a link and full details of the rooms available and the costs on our website.

You can also scan the QR code below which will take you our donation portal.

If you would like to find out more about supporting us, please contact lewisham.director@samaritans.org

Lewisham Greenwich and Southwark Samaritans is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in England and Wales no: 1167963

Lewisham Greenwich & Southwark Samaritans

Annual Report 2023-24

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