## **Report of Trustees to Charity Commission - 2023– 2024** 

## **Introduction** 

The Friends of Kennington Park was registered as a charity by the Charity Commission in April 2020. Seven Trustees were appointed. Our status is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registration number 1188922. 

Our Charitable purpose is defined as _**being for the benefit of the inhabitants of South London ("the area of benefit"), to provide or assist in the provision of facilities for recreation and other leisure time occupation in the interests of social welfare with the object of improving the conditions of life for the inhabitants of the area of benefit in particular by supporting the preservation, conservation, improvement and protection of Kennington Park**_ . 

Our financial year ran from the end March 2023 to the end of March 2024. Our current income level means that we are classified as a small charity. Our accounts are audited annually by an independent Auditor and copies are available on our website. 

## _**This activity report covers the period from the last AGM held in September 2023.**_ 

## **Park Infrastructure – Improvement and Protection** 

2023/24 has been another busy year. As well as organising the annual programme of events and managing the day-to-day issues relating to the park, members of the committee have continued to be actively involved in shaping the council’s **capital development programme for the park** . 

The programme originally comprised several elements – the restoration of the iconic 1970s skatebowl, development of a new children’s play area, creation of a youth zone, the improvement of the toilet facilities and pathways and the provision of drinking water fountains. 

The new **children’s play area** has continued to be extremely popular and is a meeting place for many of the children taking part in the Junior Parkrun which happens every Sunday morning. The water fountains have proved popular with humans, dogs and other wildlife, a young fox was seen using the dog bowl of one fountain. 

Unfortunately, there have been significant delays with the work on **the skatebowl** due to technical difficulties. This was always a challenging project, but the hoped-for simpler restoration options have not proved possible leaving only a costly and complex solution which will require additional funding. Work on the project was suspended for a short period in the earlier part of the year until additional funds were secured. In the end funding was primarily sourced by redirecting money intended for the other projects, referred to above. 

One of the reasons for agreeing to the transfer of funds from other projects was because our hopes of installing modern toilet facilities in the park continued to be thwarted. Despite support for our proposal from project officers and the Councillor representative, Lambeth Council’s Planning officers are insisting on the retention of the old cottage style buildings based solely on their aesthetic value. Modernising the toilet facilities within them is a more expensive option than creating a new purpose-built block and may not allow for the auto-locking option which forms part of the new block option. 

Early progress was being made on the design of **a youth zone** and consultation had begun with local youth groups based on the concept of a modular design featuring both activity and social 



space. The need to reassign funds means that this project has now stalled. The possibility of securing additional funding will be explored later this year. 

Work on the **pathways** which are prone to flooding was designed to take place alongside the development of each individual project. This means that the pathway near the children’s play area has been completed with the surface changed and additional drainage added. 

## **Events and Activities in the Park** 

FoKP has already held a diverse programme of events this year – all events were free, open to everybody and well promoted through posters and social media. The programme included nature and history walks, including a Dawn Chorus Walk at 5am to mark the International Day and a Chartist walk to commemorate the 1848 Rally. The Easter Egg Hunt was again held in the Flower Garden and was a great success. Working again with our co-organiser Melanin Health & Wellness, the Summer Festival (KPF24) was a great success. It was bigger and better than in 2023 with more commercial and community stallholders and more workshop activities for both children and adults. This year Surrey County Cricket Club supported us by organising cricket practice games. Reluctantly, we had to turn many commercial stallholders away. Many more wanted to be involved than we felt able to accommodate. This was done to ensure that the event retain its character and allowed visitors space to picnic, dance and do exercise routines. Next year is the 5[th] anniversary of the festival, so we will need to carefully consider how to manage the event to continue to keep the right balance of activities. Our successful (and important) monthly gardening sessions continue to be popular. 

The Committee recognises the need to arrange events which will appeal to all ages and communities and has plans for a Dog Show in October. Other ideas include a tree hugging competition and the possibility of an outdoor art event. Plans for later in the year and into 2025 also include the possible restoration and enhancement of the Nature Trail.  This project has been proposed by a local community group and is subject to securing funding. 

## **Partnership Working and Protection of the Park** 

The working relationship between committee members and Lambeth Landscapes staff and management remains strong, as do relationships with local councillors. We continue to work in partnership with other park-based organisations such as Bee Urban and Trees for Cities to promote events and activities. Events such as the Summer Festival strengthen our ties with local businesses and organisations such as community services, schools, churches and colleges, also with community groups and independent traders. This year we worked closely with one of the leading figures in the Brandon Estate, a large housing estate adjacent to the park, a useful connection, which we hope to continue. 

In addition, FoKP is a member of both Lambeth-wide and London-wide organisations helping us to keep in touch with developing issues, legislative requirements, etc. The Park was again awarded a Green Flag, has accreditation as a Green Heritage Site and received Gold awards from London in Bloom. In the late winter/early Spring a large number of hedging whips were planted on the park extension. The purchase of these was supported by London CPRE grant funding and the input of Lambeth Council’s Environment officer. The planting is designed to improve biodiversity in that area of the park and to help extend the Bee Highway.  FoKP are also encouraging the Council to proceed with the Field in Trust Initiative helping to ensure the long-term future of the park as a recreational space. There have been further delays as the Council is trying to position itself to take all Lambeth parks through in one application. 



**Governance** 

## **Financial Reporting and Updated Policies** 

As the result of commercial sponsorship for some of our events and the generosity of members our budget position is healthy. The usual financial protocols have been followed.  Our Treasurer has prepared the final accounts which were submitted to our Auditors for review prior to the AGM. This year we have reviewed and updated a number of our policies and role descriptions. 

## **Membership Numbers** 

Similarly, our membership levels are relatively stable although there has been a slight reduction in new members. 

## **Committee Membership and Trusteeship** 

A new trustee was co-opted part way through the year and will be formally proposed to the 2024 AGM. Two trustees will be standing down as part of the required rotation. Both are prepared to continue to stand. 

Recruiting new Committee member continues to be difficult despite publicity among members in our regular e-bulletins.  One of the 2023 committee plans to stand down at the AGM and is being proposed as a trustee. He will be sadly missed on the committee, but his presence as a trustee (if elected) helps maintain the number of independent trustees. 

## **Public Benefit Statement** 

FoKP continues to act in accordance with the required protocols and legislation, required by the Charity Commission. This means that there is appropriate decision making and recording of decisions and there are protocols and policies in place. Specifically, this ensure that: 

- money is appropriately spent, managed, and reported. 

- decisions are made through the committee process and in accordance with our charitable purpose; these decisions are recorded in meeting notes and through the AGM process. 

- the interest of the park and its users are the focus of our decision-making and actions. 

## **Summary** 

We have continued to help create improvements in the park and to run a successful programme of events. Progress on some of major developments in the park have been slower than anticipated mainly due to technical difficulties with only one fully completed and launched. Work continues on the restoration of the skatebowl with FoKP Committee members closely involved. 

We have unfortunately not been able to add additional committee members this year, but we are pleased to have welcomed a co-opted trustee. Recruiting new committee members and event organisers remains a priority. 

## **Marietta Crichton Stuart – Trustee and Chair of FoKP** 

## **September 2024** 

## **The AGM is recommended to endorse the report of the Trustees.** 



The Friends of Kennington Park
Report and
Financial Statcments
For the Yeai Ended
3 ISI Marcb 2024
HW Associates Limiied
Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors

The Frtcnds of Kennington Park
CONTENrs
PAGE
Management Committee's Report
Indq)endent Auditor's Report
Balance Sheet
Statement of Financial Activities
In¢ome and Expendi￿re Rq)ort
Notes to the Financia] Statements

The Friends of Ker￿]ngtOll Park
MANAGEMENT COMMtrrEE'S REPORT
The Management CoTnmattee presents its annual reportwith the fLnancia] sthrements ofthe organisarion forthc year ended 31st
March 2024.
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTrATtVE DETAILS
The Friend5 of Kennington Park is a regisiered charity (1188922) by volunteer5. The addrc5S 15 Prince cOn￿rt Lodge,
Kennington Park Plact, London, SEI 14AS. The Objects of ihe organisation 8re sd Out an the constitUTlOn'.
for tbe benefii of the iDbAbitants of South London ('the am of IKn¢fit"). to provide or in the pn)vision of
facilities for recreation and Oth￿ leisute lilne oc¢vpaiion in the interests of social welfare with the object of in]proving
the conditioDS of lrfe for thc ijthabilallts of the area of F*nefii by supportsng the prCseryatio￿ coJJsetvatio
Improvtmeni and EWOtrction of Kcnnington Park
HM Revcnueand Customs a¢ceptedThe Friellds ofK¢nnington Pth a$a¢h￿￿ty fortsx purposes undcrthe referen¢eXT26286
with effect from 12 May 2¢XJ8. Follo￿ng the peri(Nl end 2020 The Frien¢ls of KeDniTtgton Pork was regjstcred a5 a Chan"tsble
Ineorporated Organisation {"CIO" 1188922) on 6. April 2020 with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
STRUCTURE GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The Friends ofKenDingtot] Park is a r¢gistered cbartty governed by ITh￿ atNi managed by a management ¢om]nittee Cl￿ted
8t the At]nual Ga]eral Meeiing.
ACTtVlTIES
The Friends bave worked wth Lambdh Co￿tIl, gardenÈng voluoteer5 and other volunteer group5 to help mailltait)
and improv¢ the park. Plans for the Capitsl PFogrdnmie i￿VeSt[￿ent in tbe park ar¢ ongoing with a new children's
playground opened in July 2023. this has proved extremely popular. New drinking water fountains were iDStalled in
the park to r¢dure p13Stic bollle usage. W¢)rk continues to ach]"eve a restONiOD of tht path's iconk¢ skaie bowl. PIL
money VTas syent on new park benches.
To celebrate the 175th aDnivcrsary of the 1848 Chartist rdlly iti the p￿k aD auth"o trait was taunche(L Ic wa5 devised,
Viritte￿ narrated aud produced by Committee tDembers. It is also tiDk¢xl to the Frietth. web5it¢.
Th¢park trrained its Green Flag for the 13th ycar an( aftttinspectioo London in Bl(K>m agdill awarded tbe park and
flower gard￿ gold S¢atrJs.
The Friends havc had a range of evellts during the last twelve months. (bcse include voluntttr gardening
5¢S5ions,' RSPB garden bird watch. sharp¢ning gatdelling tools. history aDd bat wth. a dawn ChI)n￿ walk Èlld an
Easter Egg hunL A Junior Parf( run eontinuts tts be held each Sunday momitig in the p￿.
MeTnber5 rec£ive rcgu]ar electrot)ic llewslettus with ptTk news and the website is kept up to d*e.
A very Success￿ third frce ¢on]]llunity KeoniDOon Park Festival w&$ held iti July 2023. This w&s org8nized by the
Friends in collaboration with local pa￿tr& 5wJnsors and Lambcth CouDcil.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Grants and the support of our donors and meTnbers have provided an income of £16205 {2023.. £15,525). A surplus of £2,058
(2023.. £146) was recoided. The Friend5 of Ken1)in￿on Park appty this income to the promotiort of their objeeiives. In the
event that incotne exceeds expel]dill￿¢ such surp1￿8 is not diS￿b￿tr￿ bm is ￿ined by the Friends for the protnoti¢)n of these
objectives. A ststement of financial activkties is sei out on ￿ge 5_
The Friends of Kennington Park
STATEMEwf OF MANAGEMENT COMMtrrEES' RESPONStBILtTtES
The ManageTnent Cornmittee is required to prepare fiEJanctaI ststeTnEnts for each accounting year wbich Bive a true and fair
vicw of ihe state of affairs of the organisation as at the end of the financial year and ofthe Incorne & Expenditure for that year.
In preparing thosc statements. the committe¢ is requir¢d ￿-.
Page I

S¢led the appropriate accounting policie5 attd apply them consistentty (see Note l)"
Make judgements and estiEtHtes that axe reasonable and prudenL
Stat¢ wh¢ther appl]"cable accounting standar(Ls have been follow￿.
Prq)are the financial ststem¢nts on the going concern b&sis it is inapprowiate to presunK that the organi￿tiOn
will ¢ontinue its ￿1VItIeS.
The ma￿ageMent Committee members are Teswnsible for enswing that the organisaiion keeps accountsftg recoriL% which
disclose with reasonable a¢curdCy. the financial positiott of the or￿Ul$8110n and enable it to ensure the financial
statements comply with the consrituiion of the or8dnisation. They are also resEK)n5ible for safeguardin8 the assets of the
organisation by taking reasonable steps for the pr¢Yenriort and detec(ion of fraud and other irregulariEies.
Approved by the Managemeni Conmiittee and 5i8ned on its behalf by..
atietta Crichton Stuart Icbair)
Vilde Aagcn¥es (r￿￿urer)
Dated JJ
2024
2024
Page 2

INDEPENDEN[ AUDITOR'S REPORT
To the Member of The Friends of Kennington Park
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
We have audited the financial ststements of The Friends of Kenningto￿ Park for the ye4r ended 31 M￿ch 2024 as set out on
pages 4 tt> 7. These financial ststements havc been preparedin a￿rd￿ with the accounting policies set out thueiu and the
r¢quiremenL5 of the Ma￿¢￿ent Cowmitlee.
This report is made 501ety to th¢ mellkn, as a body. in ac¢ordollce with the coDstitutioD of Thc Fri¢nd5 of KellDit)gtoD Park
(hjt audit work has been unden2ken 50 we might state to the rnembcrs those matters we are required to State 10 them in a
auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extrnt Ftmiitted by law, we do not accept or &£sume re5poDsibiliry to
anyone other than tb¢ omnbers a body. foT our audit WOTL for this reporL OT for the opillioDs we have f¢)rnieé.
Rupe¢tive responslbllltles Df m￿lEet￿ent Commltttt
As described in the Statement of The M&Dagemeni ComtDitt¢e's Rwnsibilities the manarnt Committee are responsible
for the prepardtion of the financial slaiemerits in ac¢ordance with the COTJSttÉutio
Our respO￿51b11ity is to audit the financial stat¢mcnts in accordance with r¢levant legal and reglliatory requirements and
tnternational Standards on Auditing (UK).
We report to you our opitsiort as to vthether the fiDancial statements give a true and fw view. the fillancial Stat¢]n￿ts are
PToperly prepared in accordall¢e wlth tbe co￿*titUtion and the iEJfonnatioT] given in the ￿￿nagement con￿]rtees. report is
consistent with the financial statements. We also report to you if. iu our opinion, the n￿ttagement cornmittee has not kq)t
proper accou￿Ill8 rccords and if we have not received all the iDfi)M￿l0ll alld explanatioDS we require for our audit.
BrÈsls tsf Audit opluion
We conducied our audit in accoTdance with International Stsndards on Auth"tiDg (UK) issued by the Auditill8 Pra¢ti¢es Board.
An audit illcludes examination, on a basi￿ of evidence relevant kn the amounts and discloswes in the financial statements.
It also in¢lude5 an￿eSSMent ofthe $i￿)ific0￿tc￿lm￿￿s and judg[[￿lts￿￿I¢ bythe managetnent¢otntnittee in the preparation
of the finan¢ial sratements, and of wheth¢r the accounting polici&% ar¢ appropri￿ to the group's ¢jraimstallces. consistently
applied and adequately disclos￿1.
We pl&Dned and ￿Formed our audit so as to obtaÈD all the infotttiation and explanati¢)ns which we ¢onsidered ne¢essary in
ord¢r to provide us wtth suffici¢ni evidence to giv¢ reasollabLe asstuance that the fi1)a￿cIal stst¢ll￿ttts are free from ￿aterIal
misstat¢men¢ whetber caused by fraud or othtt itregularity or ern)r. In forniiug our opthio￿ w¢ also evaluated the overdl
a(kqll2¢y of the pres¢ntaison of Inforn￿tiOn in the financial statern￿ts
Oplttlo
In our opinion:
the fllJa*cia] statements giveatrueand fAirview. in ac¢0rdau¢e￿th u￿it¢dKIDgdorn GenerallyAccepttdAc¢ountin8
Practtce applicable to Smaller Entities. of the of the affairs as at 315t March 2024.
the inforn3ation pmvided in the Management Committee Repon is consistent with the firÈanci81 statemet)ts.
HW A550ciate5 Limited
Ch&rtered Ac¢oulltsnts 8nd Registercd Auditors
Pottmill House
Pottinill LAlle
HitchEn
Herts SG5 IDJ
13 September 2024
Pag¢ 3

The Friends of Kcnnington Part(
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024
NOTE
2024
2023
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash at bank and In hand
920
11.857
Savings knounl
Debtors
16.942
3,925
17.862
15.782
LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES
Creditors (Amounts due within one
yearl
551
529
NET CURRE￿ ASSETS
17,311
TOTAL ASSETS
17.311
15,253
RESERVES
General F%Jnds
17,311
15,253
17,311
15,253
The Financial Staten]ents w¢rc appmved by th¢ Board of Management on 13 August 2024.
rictta Crichton Stuart (Chair)
Vilde Aagenaes (Treasurer)
Page 4

The Friends of Kennington P
STATEMEwf OF FINANCIAL AcTtVrr￿S
FOR THE YEAR FROM I APRIL 2023 TO 31 MARCH 2024
Totsl
Funds
2023
General Restricted
Funds
Funds
Totsl
Funds
NOTES
INCOME
Memberships, Sales & Donations
Re￿iVed
Festival income and
donations
Garden donations
Cash income
Interest Received
Total Incoming resources
8.147
8.147
8.916
8.040
8.040
5,442
1.100
65
18
16.205
18
16,205
15.525
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Dlrect charitable
expenditure
Management and administration
Festival
GarderÈs
Total ￿50￿￿$ expended
4.950
3,385
5,807
1,238
15,379
4.836
8,276
1.035
14.147
4.836
8.276
1.035
14,147
Net incominglloutgoingl resources
2.058
2.058
146
Fund balances brought
forward at 1st April 2023
15.253
15,253
IS,107
Fund balanc•s Carrled
forward at 31st March
2024
17.311
17,311
1&253
Pagc 5

The Friends of Kennington Park
INCOME AND EXPENDrruRE ACCOUN[
FOR THE YEAR FROM I APRIL 2023 TO 31 MARCH 2024
2024
2023
INCOME
Memberships, Sales & Donations
Festival
Gardens
BarTk Intere¥(
8.147
8,040
8,981
5.442
1,100
18
16,205
15,525
LESS GENERAL EXPENOITURE
Mana8ement & Administration
Actountanry Fees
Festival
Gardens
Dev/Fund
Bank char8es and interest
4.229
580
8,276
1.035
2.799
529
5,807
1,238
4.950
57
27
114.147)
15.379
SURPLus/IDEFICITI FOR THE YEAR
2,058
146
Page 6

The Friends of Kennington Park
NOTES TO THE ACCOU￿[S
FOR THE YEAR FROM I APRIL 2023 TO 31 MARCH 2024
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31st MARCH 2024
I ACCOUNTING POLICIÉS
1.1 Accounting
conventions
The Fin8nc4al Statements have prepared under the historical cost convention.
2. SUNDRY CREDITORS &
ACCRUALS
2024
2023
Accountancy
Fees
551
551
529
529
3. GRANTSAND NAMED
PROJEcfs RECEIVED
2024
2023
Festival Project
Gardens Projert
8,040
5,442
1.100
6.542
8.040
Page 7