**REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1195193** **FLOURISHING LIVES REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** **FLOURISHING LIVES** ## **CONTENTS OF THE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ||**Page**| |---|---| |**Report of the Trustees**|3 to 13| |**Independent Examiner’s Report**|14| |**Receipts and Payments Accounts**|15| |**Statement of Assets & Liabilities**|16| |**Notes to the Accounts**|17| 2 ## **FLOURISHING LIVES** ## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **Legal and Administrative Information** ## **Name of charity** Flourishing Lives ## **Charitable Incorporated Organisation number** 1195193 ## **Principal and registered office** Claremont Building, 24-27 White Lion Street, London N1 9PD ## **Trustees** Stuart Cox, Interim Chair Maggy Pigott CBE FRSA, Age Activist Trustee Diana Ambache, Treasurer (stepped down as Treasurer 18[th] July 2023) Rhoda Idoniboye Emma Rodwell (appointed as Trustee 7[th] February 2024) Maurizio Fiaschetti (appointed as Trustee 7[th] February 2024) ## **Banker** CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ ## **Independent examiner** Andrew Moore Blaenpentre, Swyddffynnon, Ystrad Meurig, Ceredigion, SY25 6AW 3 ## **Report of the Trustees** The trustees are pleased to present their report and the financial statements of Flourishing Lives for the year ended 31 March 2024. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with CC15d Charity Reporting and Accounting: The essentials, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the Charity Commission’s Receipts and Payments Accounts guidance (CC16), applicable to small charities under the audit threshold preparing their accounts on a Receipts and Payments basis. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** Flourishing Lives is a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with a Board of Trustees that is responsible for deciding strategy, setting policies, appointing staff, setting, approving and reviewing the annual budget and accounts, and overseeing fundraising. Trustees are appointed through an open recruitment process and are appointed or reappointed at Trustee meetings. Flourishing Lives has two members of staff: a full-time Programme Director, David McDonagh, and part-time Head of Engagement, Cordelia Wyche. A steering group of Flourishing Lives’ coalition partners, The Flourishing Lives Advisory Group (FLAG), meets quarterly to discuss future areas of work, share information, and advise on the strategy, design and delivery of Flourishing Lives’ Best Practice programme. A steering group of Flourishing Lives’ coalition partners, The Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG), meets quarterly to discuss future areas of work, share information, and advise on the strategy, design and delivery of Flourishing Lives’ Inclusive Practice programme. ## **Risk management** The trustees convene Board meetings every two months to review Flourishing Lives’ activities and identify the risks to which it is exposed, in operations, finances and the external environment. ## **Objects and activities for Public Benefit** The objects for which the CIO is established are: For the public benefit, the relief of those in need by reason of old age, for people living in Greater London and the surrounding area, in particular, but not exclusively by: - Providing training and support for projects that promote engagement with, and participation - in, the arts by elderly people. - Providing recreational facilities in the interest of social welfare with the object of improving - the conditions of life for elderly people. - Raising standards and encouraging best practice in the provision of participatory arts - projects for elderly people. - Raising awareness of the issues affecting elderly people. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities. 4 Flourishing Lives is a London-wide coalition of arts, health and wellbeing organisations taking a creative approach to supporting richer, more independent lives for people over the age of 55. **We combat social isolation amongst older people by promoting community, expression and engagement through the arts.** We believe that building quality relationships is the heart of our work - genuinely engaging with older people as unique individuals and forming close bonds with the dedicated staff and volunteers who work alongside them. We connect older people’s groups, creative practitioners, day centres, arts organisations, health initiatives, social justice groups, grassroots community champions and international thought-leaders so that knowledge, research and resources can be shared. We deliver a variety of workshops, training, showcase arts events, support groups and inclusion programmes to help galvanize organisational collaboration, communication and resilience across the arts and wellbeing sector, for the benefit of older people. ## **We strengthen and support our coalition members to flourish so that they can deliver vital support and progressive services for older people.** ## **Flourishing Lives’ Achievements and Performance 2023-24** In our activity from 2023-24, we have built upon our rigorous coalition framework of support and development for the older people’s wellbeing and arts sector to ensure that older people across Greater London can continue to flourish, socially connect, and access aspirational services, in the face of increasingly complex challenges arising from the cost of living crisis and the lasting impact of Covid on our communities and the services that support them. Our ongoing needs analysis meetings with older people and service providers have highlighted the stark pressures that older people and services are currently facing to meet their basic needs. In a climate where many wellbeing and arts services are having to focus resources on providing essential community services – with arts organisations and venues pivoting to offer warm banks and food banks to older and vulnerable people in our communities – this carries the risk of a potential setback to aspirational services for older people, or the possible emergence of a two-tier provision, where economically disadvantaged older people struggle to meet their basic needs and face social marginalisation and mental ill-health, while more economically advantaged older people can continue to access aspirational services and the health benefits that they offer. This is very much a live issue that we continue to address as a coalition, but our close working partnerships and our strength in depth as a central hub for the sector have enabled us to militate against these risks, respond to emerging challenges, and continue to support older people from all backgrounds to flourish. Our close collaborative relationship with Tate, for example, has resulted in older people from coalition partner groups being signposted and referred to access their free Community Breakfast and Social Lunch offers, whilst we also promote access to their aspirational older people-led Soapbox programme, to reach and include older people from our networks who might otherwise be apprehensive about attending such a programme. As a coalition that places lived experience at the heart of our work, we have continued to strengthen our foundation of support and enhance our influential platform for older people – especially those previously isolated, from marginalised and minoritised communities, and ageing at social 5 intersections – to communicate with far-reaching and cross-cutting audiences, increasing awareness and understanding of the heterogeneity and complexity of older people’s needs and aspirations, highlighting key issues and recommendations, and directly educating, informing and influencing the working practice of wellbeing and arts provision across London. In 2023-24, we have partnered with several older people’s lived experience groups, advocates, panequity, and social justice organisations – including the Age of Love project, the Shame Lab, MACWO Somali women’s group, and Curators of Change – that reported that they have never previously had the opportunity to connect with, educate or influence arts, cultural and wellbeing services. The central convening power of Flourishing Lives, and our crucial role as an active catalyst for the older people’s sector, has allowed us to forge those connections, create those fresh opportunities, and cultivate an environment where older people’s voices and the diversity of their experience can be heard, supporting advocacy and learning in services around vital issues including older black men’s mental health, identity-based harms, age positivity and sexuality, and shame sensitivity. The collective knowledge base that we have continued to foster and develop – and the deepening range of resources, guidelines, developed-practice toolkits, best practice workshops, forums, roundtables, and networking opportunities that we provide – have consistently engaged an evergrowing network of organisations, keen to access and learn from the vast wealth of experience and expertise that we offer as a coalition. In 2023-24, we have been sought out for consultation on a number of service transformation projects by national organisations and large institutions, including the Lived Experience Network and the Barbican, seeking to improve their inclusive practices and their wellbeing and arts services for older people. Coalition partners have consistently reported in feedback and needs analysis meetings that Flourishing Lives offers them a trusted space to connect, learn and reflect: “You’ve created a safe space. Flourishing Lives has created the trust and connection that allows the change to happen.” The lived experience-led communities of practice, interest and advocacy that we have cultivated around intergenerational practice, inclusive practice, staff wellbeing, service innovation, and age activism have continued to amplify older people’s voices, support their needs and aspirations, and emphasise the vital role that we play in supporting and developing a proactively collaborative older people’s wellbeing and arts sector that benefits the diverse communities it serves. ## **Working alongside our community** We continue to ensure that involving people from our community in the work that we do is the central driver of our practice. From governance and strategy, to research, design and delivery, everything we do is informed by older people, and the wellbeing and arts service providers who work closely alongside them. Our ongoing process of needs analysis meetings, steering group meetings, and consultations with older people, service providers, lived experience representatives, funders, and policy makers ensure that we are continually expanding our network, deepening our collective knowledge base, and collectively identifying areas where support and development is needed. 6 In 2023-24, we: - expanded the Flourishing Lives coalition to 653 member organisations, forging links with 125 new coalition partners, including Libraries Connected, Gendered Intelligence, The Together Project, Black Thrive, and The National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH). - met directly with 262 older people and older people’s providers to discuss the challenges affecting older people and older people’s services, and identify where support is needed. - held 4 Flourishing Lives Advisory Group (FLAG) steering meetings, exploring topics and concerns affecting older people, and devising and planning best practice workshops to address these issues. - held 4 Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) steering meetings, identifying intersectional issues affecting older people from racial minority communities and outlining plans for inclusive practice workshops and transformation projects. - held 4 Intergenerational Forum meetings, fostering a community of practice to catalyse projects and collaborations across the sector, and help inform our ongoing intergenerational programme. - held 3 practitioner care forum meetings, fostering a community of interest to advocate for wellbeing support for creative health providers, and help inform our ongoing reflective practice programme. - participated in 12 Reimagining Dementia steering group meetings, co-designing workshops and a ‘Take it to the Streets’ activism campaign alongside people living with dementia, to counter the ‘tragedy narrative’ often associated with dementia. - held 15 consultations with community/lived experience representatives to monitor the impact of our inclusive practice, intergenerational practice, reflective practice, and older people-led advocacy work, and help shape future programming. - provided 10 consultations for organisations seeking advice and access to our collective knowledge base on service transformation in provision for older people. - grew our @EverydayAgeism twitter/X followers from 2016 to 2238. ## **Inclusive Practice** We promoted greater access to aspirational services for socially isolated older people – especially those from ethnic, minority and marginalised communities - through our ‘Arts, Refugees and Mental Health’ roundtable, ‘Transformation Space’ catalyst workshops, Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) meetings, ‘Black Men and Mental Health’ roundtable, and our LGBTQ+ partnership work, supporting older people from marginalised communities to share their intersectional lived experience and expertise, and directly influence and improve the outreach and inclusion strategy of 187 wellbeing and arts organisations across London and the South East: - We partnered with Counterpoints Arts - a leading national organisation in the field of arts, migration and cultural change – to facilitate a free online ‘Arts, Refugees & Mental Health’ roundtable with coalition partner organisations. 43 delegates engaged with the roundtable – including representatives from Union Chapel, Foundling Museum, Centre for Mental Health, Horniman Museum, UAL, and Talk for Health – exploring the experiences of people seeking asylum in the UK, and accessing resources on anti-racist action and inclusive practice. 7 - Resources shared: Slides and additional resources developed from the roundtable, sharing case studies that included a range of different approaches to supporting refugees and asylum seekers in arts and wellbeing services. - Participant feedback: 100% of respondents said that they ‘have a better awareness of the lived experiences of racism affecting people seeking asylum in the UK’ following the roundtable. 100% of respondents also said that they ‘have a better understanding of the barriers that refugees and asylum seekers face which may prevent them from accessing arts and wellbeing services’ following the roundtable. - “Thank you for a brilliant session, I reflected on how helpful your format was, with the principles, a presentation, creative expression, valuable resources and personal accounts, first-hand experience and an inclusive environment to share and learn.” - We also partnered with Isaac Samuels and Curators of Change – a Community Reporting group centring lived experience voices – to facilitate a free online ‘Black Men and Mental Health’ roundtable with coalition partner organisations. 30 delegates took part in the discussion - including representatives from GLA, the National Centre for Creative Health, Volunteering Matters, London Plus, and Reality Arts - exploring the lived experience of older men from Black and minoritised ethnic communities. - Resources shared: ‘Community Reporting’ methodology toolkit; slides, video and additional resources reflecting older Black men’s personal stories of barriers to engagement, and exploring the changes that are necessary to ensure equal access for global majority men to arts and wellbeing services. - Participant feedback: 100% of participant respondents reported that they **‘** have a better awareness of the lived experiences of racism affecting Black and Brown (global majority) men’ following the roundtable. 100% also reported that ‘this awareness and understanding [will] help to inform [their] work in promoting better wellbeing for Black and Brown (global majority) men’. - “Thanks very much for giving the space to discuss this.” “I thought that the Community Reporter idea was extremely interesting. This may be very relevant to future work.” “Lots of really great food for thought. Looking forward to next phase of this important work.” - We devised and delivered 5 ‘Transformation Space’ catalyst workshops alongside the ARAG steering group, providing a collaborative space to catalyse anti-racist action in services and help transform engagement in wellbeing and arts for marginalised older people. 114 delegates took part in the catalyst workshops – including representatives from Hospital Rooms, ACAVA, Holloway Neighbourhood Group, Headway East London, and King’s College London – co-creating a community of practice, co-developing catalyst toolkits, and sharing thought leadership to lay the foundations for future transformation projects. - Resources shared: co-developed toolkits and shared links from the discussions, including resources relating to anti-racist recruitment practices, funding, and safeguarding wellbeing within anti-racist action work. - Participant feedback: “Great to get involved in more creative and inclusive ways of tackling some of the deep-rooted systemic inequalities.” “It’s a space I can come to. I can learn. I can listen.” - We also took part in 4 Transformation consultation meetings that were catalysed as a result of the Transformation Space workshops, consulting alongside our ARAG steering group on systems change and anti-racist action projects with organisations including a national social justice network and a London Gallery. - We also held 4 Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) steering meetings to outline plans for ongoing older intersectional inclusion roundtables and transformation projects. 8 - We also supported the development of QueerCircle’s ‘Queering Creative Health’ network, connecting QueerCircle with coalition partner organisations to ensure that older people’s voices are represented and, in turn, that the lived experiences of older LGBTQ+ people within the network are informing the inclusive practices of services across the wider wellbeing and arts sector. The network held 3 meetings in 2023-24, providing a community of practice, learning and support for LGBTQ+ wellbeing and arts service providers. - We also initiated R&D into older men’s service provision, conducting needs analysis meetings with older men, practitioners, wellbeing and arts service providers, and funders, developing desktop research, and undertaking a mapping exercise of current provision across London that is primarily focused on engaging older men in social activities. As a result of this research, we aim to develop an older men’s services forum in 2025, offering a facilitative space of connection and discussion for older men - and services interested in developing activities for older men - to meet and identify ways in which socially-isolated older men can be better engaged, supported and inspired by wellbeing and arts services. ## **Intergenerational Practice** We promoted greater social integration across age groups within services, to reduce the isolation of older people within age-defined silos, through our Intergenerational Roundtable, Intergenerational England advisory meetings, and by cultivating our thriving Intergenerational Forum, sharing best practice and supporting opportunities to develop intergenerational practice with 165 wellbeing and arts organisations across London and the South East: - We held 4 Intergenerational forum meetings in partnership with leading Intergenerational Arts organisations and funders, including McCarthy Stone Foundation, Intergenerational Music Making (IMM), and Jazanne Arts, sharing practical tips and guidance around fostering creative and social connections across generations. 165 wellbeing and arts delegates – including representatives from What Works Wellbeing, NAPA, and Creative Dementia – took part in the online forum meetings, connecting and sharing learning, accessing best practice, and identifying methods and opportunities for supporting intergenerational practice in services. - Resources shared: Monitoring and Evaluation of Intergenerational projects; Addressing Intergenerational injustices; Community Ripple effect; McCarthy Stone Foundation’s funding toolkit, exploring challenges and successes within the intergenerational funding landscape and making your case for support as an organisation. - Participant feedback: “Sharing ideas with like-minded people. Increasing my knowledge of strategies or approaches to solutions.” “The connections we all make which will no doubt lead to great collaborations.” “If we apply for funding I know this session will help us and in the meantime it is transferable to other projects I work on.” - We worked in partnership with LGBT Consortium on the delivery of an LGBTQ+ intergenerational catalyst roundtable. Representatives from The Open Minds Project, Pride UK Quality Standard, Sol Cafe, and Gendered Intelligence came together with delegates from arts and wellbeing organisations - including Wigmore Hall, The Children’s Society, and Apples and Honey Nightingale – to discuss the importance of intergenerational work in the LGBTQ+ community, and share the important aspects to consider when engaging in this form of intergenerational work. 9 - Resources shared: Links, opportunities, signposting to LGBTQ+ services, and resources from the session, sharing ideas and best practice to support greater awareness and understanding around intergenerational practice both within and outside the LGBTQ+ community. - Participant feedback: “Massive thanks for holding space for us to share.” “Thank you to the inspiring speakers for sharing your work and practice.” - In Autumn 2023, we also supported the launch and development of Intergenerational England (IE), led by Intergenerational Music Making (IMM). Intergenerational England is a network of organisations connecting across the arts, health, housing and education sectors to advocate for intergenerational practice at policy level. Flourishing Lives is proud to be a member of IE’s Advisory Board, advising on the development of the IE Prospectus and Theory of Change, and contributing to the IE monthly newsletters. We will continue to work closely with IE to support and develop intergenerational advocacy going forward. ## **Reflective Practice services** We increased resilience in service provision for older people across London, providing 410 practitioners with a structure of support and reflective practice that has helped to safeguard their wellbeing, sustain and grow their working practice, and develop a more robust foundation of support for the older people who engage with their services. - We delivered 50 Reflective Practice Group sessions and 110 1:1 sessions, offering 410 older people’s service providers a vital structure for peer support and in-depth reflection on working practice led by trained counsellors. - Participant feedback: 75% of participant respondents ‘Agree’ and 12.5% ‘Strongly Agree’ that they ‘can reflect upon [their] work-based experiences with confidence’ as a result of the reflective practice sessions. - Participant organisation feedback: “The team have absolutely loved the sessions and have found them very useful and helpful.” - Resources shared: Facilitating safe spaces toolkits, including developed practice guidelines around ‘Managing behaviours that challenge in arts & wellbeing settings’ which share best practice around creating inclusive spaces whilst also safeguarding the mental health & wellbeing of the creative facilitators. - We also conducted 2 summit meetings with practitioner care organisations and researchers to further develop and promote practitioner care advocacy across the wellbeing and arts sector. - We held 4 consultations with our therapist facilitators and 3 participant interviews with community/coalition representatives to monitor the impact of our reflective practice activities and help shape future programming. ## **Sharing Best Practice** Our newsletters, networking sessions and quarterly best practice workshops reduced the fragmentation of the sector by providing communities of practice and learning for providers, and galvanising organisational collaboration for the benefit of older people. - We delivered 5 free best practice workshops alongside lived experience and specialist organisations, including Protection Approaches, the Shame Lab, Professor Luna Dolezal, the 10 Age of Love, and Professor Sharron Hinchliff, providing practical support for coalition members and sharing best practice resources and toolkits on: ageing well and the sexual rights of older adults; exploring shame and its effects for older people accessing wellbeing and arts services; exploring what works in building more inclusive, connected and equitable communities; practitioner care in older people’s arts and wellbeing services; and supporting older people’s leadership as Community Builders. 165 delegates attended the workshops – including representatives from LSO, Southbank Centre, Parkinson's UK, and Imperial Health Charity – accessing thought leadership in the respective focus areas to implement in their own provision. - Resources shared: ‘Community Building’ toolkit, ‘Community Building Principles’ developedpractice document, Protection Approaches training certificate. ‘The Age of Love’ video and audio resources, ‘Portraits of Menopause’ resource with lived experience testimonies about the positive aspects of menopause, and ‘The Sexual Rights Charter’ tackling age-based discrimination. ‘Introduction to Shame Competence - Workbook’, with resources including ‘shame compass’ to apply in working practice. - We staged 2 online networking sessions, creating facilitated opportunities for older people’s wellbeing and arts delegates to directly meet and develop partnerships. Our facilitated ‘speed-dating’ sessions connected 74 older people’s service providers, many of whom had never met before. - Our sector development role as a central hub and connector for organisations has also led to 20 external project partnerships and collaborations directly catalysed by Flourishing Lives and co-developed between older people’s wellbeing and arts organisations. - We also delivered 12 monthly newsletters, growing our subscriber base from 893 to 1009. The newsletters had a 40.3% average click through rate, and shared opportunities and thought leadership from across the older people’s services sector, including: 15 reports, 24 funding opportunities, 18 resource/toolkits, 14 research open calls/opportunities, and 45 coalition partner events/activities for older people and/or older people’s service providers. - Feedback: “Great opportunities and information here.” “The diversity and specialism of your talks are consistently inspiring - a big thank you for all the thought you put into the work you do!” ## **Positive Ageing and Older People’s Leadership** We promoted the involvement of older people in their own services and activities, amplifying older people’s needs and aspirations, challenging negative stereotypes, and advocating for positive ageing and older people’s leadership: - We worked alongside our Age Activist Trustee to submit to the Women and Equalities Committee, contributing submissions to an inquiry on the rights of older people, examining whether ageist stereotyping and discrimination is preventing them from participating fully in society. - We supported 3 online ‘Joy of Dementia’ gatherings alongside the international Reimagining Dementia coalition. 95 dementia allies, activists, and people living with dementia came together to creatively explore and challenge the stigmas of living with dementia. - We also worked alongside the older people-led Reimagining Dementia steering committee to co-develop and co-produce the 'Take it to the Streets' campaign, which took place in September 2023 to coincide with World Alzheimer's Day, exploring collaborations and 11 coordinated activities to mobilise social change around the perspectives and experiences of living with Dementia. - Resources shared: ‘Take it to the Streets’ Campaign toolkit, with social media resources, event ideas. - We also co-produced an older people-led Showcase event, ‘The Old House’, devised, designed, and created by dramaturg Kate Maravan, and co-produced by UK RID steering committee member Kate White. 46 people engaged in the Showcase of a performance by an aged 55+ writer, actor and dramaturg, exploring her lived experience as a dementia carer for her mother, followed by a Q&A discussion around reimagining dementia. This event was devised and led by an older coalition partner and colleague on the Reimagining Dementia steering committee, with support from Flourishing Lives. The show challenged ageist and ableist stereotypes, and explored the possibility that relating to someone with dementia can be a creative & meaningful exchange. - We continued to develop our Communities in Residence partnership with the Barbican, hosting older people-led Wellbeing & Arts Showcase events and offering a high-profile platform for the Creative Ageing agenda. As part of our ‘Flourishing Lives at Barbican’ partnership, we worked alongside a Somali intergenerational group, Mother and Child Welfare Organisation (MACWO) and storyteller Richard Neville to deliver a 'Shaah iyo Sheeko' (‘tea and story’) Storytelling Workshop. 24 people - including delegates from Healthwatch Lewisham, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, and lived experience members of the Mother and Child Welfare Organisation (MACWO) – took part in an intimate sharing session, exploring the significance of storytelling in Somali culture and contemporary life. - Resources shared: Slides & resources shared during the discussion, along with a video resource on ‘Trauma-Informed Storytelling in Trainings‘, created by the National Survivor Network. - We also worked in partnership with the Barbican and Complicite Theatre, in support of a theatre and storytelling project for older women in London, tied to Complicite’s production ‘Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead’. We connected Flourishing Lives community partner organisations – including Third Age Project and Ruth Winston Community Centre – with Complicite to co-produce a series of 6 free workshops for women aged 65+, with a focus on the theme of ‘rebellion’. The workshops were devised and led by 20 older women, with unique access to the aspirational arts provision, resources and expertise of Complicite Theatre, and culminated in 2 Showcase sharing events in their community locations. ## **Financial Review** Flourishing Lives is grateful to the National Lottery Community Fund for its ongoing support for the organisation, as the charity is funded under the Reaching Communities England programme until December 2024. As at December 2024, the trustees view the charity as a going concern, as the organisation has secured additional funding from the National Lottery Community Fund under the Reaching Communities England programme until December 2029. 12 ## **Reserves policy** Flourishing Lives seeks to maintain free reserves equivalent to three months' core expenditure, in line with good practice. Free reserves are considered to be unrestricted funds that are not tied up in fixed assets. ## **Plans for the future** The next year will be pivotal in the growth and development of the charity, as we plan to develop our new 5 Year Strategy for 2025-2029. In consultation with our Age Activist Trustee and board of trustees, we plan to develop a bold and ambitious vision for the sector that will place Older People Leaders at the centre of older people’s arts and wellbeing provision over the next 5 years. Learning will be at the heart of our new strategy, emphasising the vital role that older people can play as educators and leaders in their own services – experts by lived experience – and also the integral role that lifelong learning and aspirational activity can play in healthy ageing. As we embed and implement the new 5 Year Strategy 2025-2029, we plan to increase income and grow the organisation to further scale our operations, increase our sustainability, and strengthen and develop the organisation to increase the reach and impact of our work in supporting older people’s wellbeing and creative health across Greater London. Alongside this, Flourishing Lives will continue to extend and deepen its role in developing the sector and addressing the needs and aspirations of older people, expanding our vital framework of connection and support for services and practitioners, growing our outreach and inclusion programmes, advocating for intergenerational practice and more closely integrated communities, and supporting a proactively collaborative older people’s arts and wellbeing sector that benefits the diverse communities it serves. ## **Signed on behalf of the Flourishing Lives Board of Trustees:** Signed: S.Cox Name: Stuart Cox Address: 47 Park View Mansions, Olympic Park Avenue, E20 1FA Date: 15/1/25 13 ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF FLOURISHING LIVES** **Examiner’s unqualified report (for a non-company charity preparing Receipts and Payments accounts) with a gross income of £250,000 or less in the relevant financial year.** ## **Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Flourishing Lives** I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of Flourishing Lives (the Trust) for the year ended March 2024. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** 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 2011 (‘the Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or I have no concerns and 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 understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: ## Name: Andrew Moore Address: Blaenpentre, Swyddffynonn, Ystrad Meurig, SY25 6AW Date: 15/1/25 14 ## **FLOURISHING LIVES RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** 15 ## **FLOURISHING LIVES STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES** ## **AS AT 31 MARCH 2024** **The financial statements were approved by the Flourishing Lives Board of Trustees and were signed on its behalf by:** Name: Stuart Cox Signed: S.Cox Date: 15/1/25 16 ## **FLOURISHING LIVES NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024** ## **Basis of accounting** These accounts have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis in accordance with CC15d Charity Reporting and Accounting: The essentials, and the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. ## **Fund accounting** Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. ## **2022/2023 Accounts** These are restated to reflect updated policies and procedures on treatment of payroll and fund accounting issues and for the purposes of consistency within the Receipts and Payments accounting guidelines. ## **Taxation** The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities. ## **Pension costs and other past-retirement benefits** The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charity's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate. ## **Trustees' remuneration and benefits** There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2024. ## **Staff costs** No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000. ## **Related party disclosures** There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2024. ## **Conflicts of Interest** There were no conflicts of interest in the year ended 31 March 24. 17