2025-03-31-accounts

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1195193

FLOURISHING LIVES REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

FLOURISHING LIVES

CONTENTS OF THE REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Page Report of the Trustees 3 to 14 Independent Examiner ’ s Report 15 Receipts and Payments Accounts 16 Statement of Assets & Liabilities 17 Notes to the Accounts 18 to 19

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FLOURISHING LIVES

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

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 Emma Rodwell Maurizio Fiaschetti, Treasurer Deborah Stone (appointed as Trustee 5th June 2024; stepped down as Trustee 6th August 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

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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 2025.

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.

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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.

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 galvanise 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 2024-25

Our activity in 2024-25 has exemplified the crucial position that Flourishing Lives holds as a central hub for the sector, emphasising our pivotal role as a catalyst for positive ageing, and the vast reach and impact that our work now achieves: providing an influential platform for older people across Greater London to address cross-cutting audiences and inform best practice at local, regional, national and international levels.

In 2024-25:

• We launched a new research collaboration with The Policy Institute at King’s College London, in support of their three-year ‘Sciences of Ageing and Cultures of Youth’ (SAACY) project. The project advocates for policy changes to help normalise ageing as a lifelong process to create more positive attitudes to ageing. Flourishing Lives are Project Partners on SAACY+3, facilitating older people’s leadership in the research.

• Our Inclusive Practice and Reflective Practice programmes were highlighted as models of best practice in older people’s creative health provision by The Mayor of London and London Arts & Health’s ‘Understanding Creative Health in London’ 2024 report.

• Our Intergenerational Forum and partnership with Intergenerational Music Making contributed to the launch and development of Intergenerational England (IE), a network of organisations connecting across the arts, health, housing and education sectors to advocate for intergenerational practice at policy level. Flourishing Lives is a founding member of IE’s Advisory Board and works closely with IE to support and develop intergenerational advocacy.

• Our work alongside Arts & Health South West (ACHSW) in support of their rapid review research project into mental health support for practitioners working with older adults in

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complex mental health settings helped to inform Arts Council England’s ‘Keeping Safe’ report.

• Our work alongside the Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) in older people’s wellbeing and arts services has been consulted in 2024-25 by researchers from Harvard University, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and University College London Hospitals (UCLH).

• Our older people-led workshops, roundtables, and forums have been attended by delegates from London borough councils, Greater London Authority (GLA), Centre for Ageing Better, and the World Health Organisation (WHO), accessing best practice and informing policymaking.

• Our developed practice toolkits and older people-led learning resources have been disseminated and amplified on national and international platforms, including the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) and the BSG Creative Ageing SIG.

• Our partnerships with Tate, Complicite Theatre, and Barbican have catalysed opportunities for socially-isolated older people to access aspirational services and co-produce high quality arts projects and events.

• Our work alongside the Reimagining Dementia Coalition has mobilised dementia activist campaigns and petitions to the Alzheimer’s Society to combat the ‘tragedy narrative’ around dementia and support more creative and affirmative approaches to dementia care.

• Our R&D process alongside our Age Activist Trustee into effective and impactful positive ageing campaigns has led to the development of our new Flourishing Lives Strategic Plan for 2025-2029, which will help to catalyse positive ageing by placing Older People Leaders and intersectional lived experience at the heart of wellbeing and arts services.

As we embark on our exciting next five-year phase of work as an organisation – with the generous support of The National Lottery Community Fund – Flourishing Lives is ideally-positioned to galvanise our close relationships with grassroots champions, advocacy groups, policy-makers and funders into meaningful transformation.

Working alongside our community

As a learning-led organisation, we have an embedded practice of involving people from our community in everything that we do, fostering consistently open channels of communication through our lived experience action and advisory steering groups, open forums to explore each other’s practice, and our ongoing process of needs analysis meetings and consultations with older people, service providers, social justice representatives, funders, and policy makers. We continue to ensure that the voices, needs and aspirations of the communities that we serve are the central drivers at all levels of our work.

In 2024-25, we:

• expanded the Flourishing Lives coalition to 766 member organisations, forging links with 113 new coalition partners, including English Heritage, Government Department of Health & Social Care, LGBTQ+ Dementia Advisory Group, and Migrants in Action.

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• met directly with 209 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 2 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 the ‘Take it to the Streets 2024’ activism campaign alongside people living with dementia, to promote inclusion, relationships, creativity, joy and the possibility of growth for everyone impacted by dementia.

• held 16 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 11 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 2271.

Inclusive Practice

We have promoted greater access to aspirational services for socially isolated older people – especially those from racialised, minoritised and marginalised communities - through our Anti-Racist Action roundtables, ‘Transformation Space’ catalyst workshops and collaborations, Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) meetings, ‘Exploring Outreach – Low Income Background’ consultations, 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 162 wellbeing and arts organisations across London and the South East:

• We partnered with Nubian Life – a community resource centre supporting the ageing African Caribbean population in London – to deliver a free online ‘Dynamics of Culture in Dementia Care’ roundtable. 31 delegates engaged with the roundtable – including representatives from Equal Arts, RNID, and Connect Hackney – outlining the importance of a more personcentred, culturally aware, and intersectionally-informed approach to dementia care.

• Resources shared: Resources exploring the dynamics of culture in dementia care, the merits of anti-racist practice and person-centred care, and outlining models of practice that create

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effective outcomes for beneficiaries. Also signposting to Nubian Life’s free Monthly Racial Trauma Clinic, a safe space for individuals to share their experiences, receive support, and learn coping strategies for processing Racial Trauma.

• Participant feedback: 89% of respondents said that they ‘have a better awareness of the lived experiences of racism affecting people living with dementia’ following the roundtable. 89% of respondents also said that ‘this awareness and understanding [will] help to inform [their] work in promoting better wellbeing for racialised and minoritised people who are living with dementia’.

• “A really useful and thought-provoking session - felt like it highlighted what happens when ageism, meets dementia care, meets racism.” “The workshop was a useful space to consider cultural needs and how institutionalised settings can create spaces where those needs are not always able to be considered/factored into care.”

• We also partnered with Mabadiliko CIC – a black-led organisation specialising in inclusion and equity for racial groups – to deliver a free online roundtable ‘Addressing the Issue of ‘White Silence’ in Anti-Racist Action’. 20 delegates engaged in a discussion exploring the fears that can sometimes hold us back from speaking up in Anti-Racist Action, the impact of staying silent, and how it affects our colleagues, our organisations, and the communities we serve. This was a deliberately intimate workshop to allow for active engagement. Participants included representatives from Tate, Department for Health and Social Care, and People United.

• Resources shared: ‘Breaking the Silence’ guidelines, and resources outlining practical ways to create change, both in our individual behaviours and in our organisations.

• Participant feedback: 75% of respondents ‘Strongly Agreed’ and 25% ‘Agreed’ that ‘the workshop provided me with knowledge or a perspective that I did not previously have’. 75% of respondents ‘Strongly Agreed’ and 25% ‘Agreed’ that ‘the workshop provided space to help me address my fears’.

• “I just wanted to say thank you so much. It was an outstanding session, and it has really had an impact on me. I am planning to get involved in some work with my organisation around EDI and I feel fortified to do so in an effective, but compassionate way.”

• We also partnered with the Black Men’s Consortium on a free online workshop exploring intergenerational collaboration within anti-racist action. 40 delegates engaged with the workshop – including representatives from Rooted Community Assets, Brixton Wings, St Vincent’s Centre, and Migrants in Action.

• Resources shared: Shared links and resources from the discussion, including ‘Understanding Interculturality and Intergenerationality’ and the ‘Story Circle Toolkit’.

• Participant feedback: “Fascinating examples of practice”. “I was really taken with questions about when it’s best that people are from very different backgrounds and cultures, and have the privacy of not talking to their own elders/youngers, and when it’s best to be really tuned in to particular cultural/faith/geographical communities”.

• We also held 4 Anti-Racist Action Group (ARAG) steering meetings to outline plans for ongoing older intersectional inclusion roundtables and transformation projects. The ARAG steering group have outlined plans for further roundtables in 2025 to address issues

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affecting specific intersectional groups and communities, including the role of community and cultural spaces as sites for Transformative Justice.

• We also devised and delivered a ‘Transformation Space’ catalyst workshop 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. 38 delegates engaged with the catalyst workshop – including representatives from Age UK East London, and Curating for Change – co-creating a community of practice, and sharing thought leadership to lay the foundations for future transformation projects.

• Resources shared: co-developed toolkit and shared links from the discussion, including resources relating to ‘Empathy mapping’, layers of practice, and how we can create a space of co-learning and practice of ‘calling in’ in services.

• The ‘Transformation Space’ workshops have also led to a catalyst project collaboration with Dacorum Borough Council (Hertfordshire), as the ARAG steering group consults with the Council to support incorporating Anti-Racism into their overall council strategy process. This consultation process is underway and will continue into 2025.

• We also worked in partnership with LGBTQ+ organisations - including The Open Minds Project, Pride UK Quality Standard, Sol Cafe, and Gendered Intelligence - on the delivery of a free online LGBTQ+ catalyst workshop, supporting intergenerational connection and collaboration within LGBT+ inclusion. 33 delegates engaged with the workshop – including representatives from 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 area of inclusive practice.

• Resources shared: Links, opportunities, resources, and signposting to older and intergenerational LGBTQ+ support services.

• Participant feedback: “Massive thanks for holding space for us to share.” “Thank you to the inspiring speakers for sharing your work and practice.”

• We also worked in partnership with both the Barbican and the University of the Arts London (UAL) to support greater engagement in aspirational services for socially-isolated older people from a low-income background. We facilitated a series of consultations with the Barbican’s Communities and Creative Collaboration teams on service design and transformation in support of widening engagement for older people from a low-income background. We also consulted with UAL on their ‘Be Well’ pilot project, connecting older people’s social prescription services with a wellbeing network to support greater creative health opportunities for socially-isolated older people from a low-income background.

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 catalyst work, Intergenerational England advisory meetings, and by cultivating our thriving Intergenerational Forum, sharing best

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practice and supporting opportunities to develop intergenerational practice with 205 wellbeing and arts organisations across London and the South East:

• We held 4 Intergenerational forum meetings in partnership with leading Intergenerational Arts organisations and practitioners, including The Together Project, House of Memories, Tony Cealy, and Magic Me, sharing practical tips and guidance around fostering creative and social connections across generations. 205 wellbeing and arts delegates – including representatives from Befriending Networks, Turner Contemporary, and The Linking Network – 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: ‘The Essential ‘A’s’ of Intergenerational Experience’ toolkit; Policy documents to support best practice in safeguarding CAYP and older adults; ‘Stages of Group Development’ collaborative leadership guidelines; ‘Connecting with Yemeni Elders’ Heritage’ toolkit; the ‘Magic Me, Spark (Magic Moments) Resource for Care Homes’.

• Participant feedback: “Thank you to the inspiring speakers for sharing your work and practice.” “I thought everyone who participated was supportive and made nice contributions to the discussion. The topics that were discussed were well-organised and gave me clarity about the different aspects of intergenerational work to consider-- such as authenticity, how to facilitate interactions and meaningful activities, being careful not fearful.” “It is a fantastic forum and always inspires me! Thank you all so much.”

• We have continued to work in partnership with Intergenerational Music Making (IMM) in support of Intergenerational England (IE), a network of organisations connecting across the arts, health, housing and education sectors to advocate for intergenerational practice at policy level. Flourishing Lives is a founding member of IE’s Advisory Board and works closely with IE to support and develop intergenerational advocacy.

• In 2024-25, we have: taken part in 3 Intergenerational England meetings, discussing the development of the IE Prospectus and Theory of Change; shared IE research and reports; and supported coalition partner engagement in Intergenerational England events, advocating for Intergenerational Housing projects and collaborations.

• We have also worked in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire on the development of a new Intergenerational research catalyst project, exploring the potential for arts-based experiences to shape intergenerational LGBTQ+ belonging and connection. We have connected the UKRI ESRC New Investigator Award research project with coalition partners including QueerCircle and Charleston Museum to ensure that the research is led by lived experience, and catalysed by intergenerational LGBTQ+ community consultation and co-production.

Reflective Practice services

We increased resilience in service provision for older people across London, providing 160 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.

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• We delivered 13 Reflective Practice Group sessions and 82 1:1 sessions, offering 160 older people’s service providers a vital structure for peer support and in-depth reflection on working practice led by trained counsellors.

• Participant feedback: 88% of participant respondents ‘Agree’ or ‘Strongly Agree’ that ‘[they] can reflect upon [their] work-based experiences with confidence’ following reflective practice

• “I really enjoyed the session. It felt really good to have an open space to share thoughts and concerns. Having this space felt so liberating, energising and inspiring, so I hope the sessions can continue!”

• Participant organisation feedback: “Our staff have really benefited from the Reflective Practice service.” “We’ve had some great feedback from musicians who took part. Thanks again for helping us to facilitate these sessions!”

• Resources shared: Practitioner care developed practice toolkits and reading lists; ‘Keeping Safe: practitioner care’ report. Kazzum Arts Trauma-informed Practice toolkit.

• 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 also partnered with Arts & Health South West (ACHSW) in support of their rapid review research project for Arts Council England on mental health support for arts practitioners. We consulted on the recruitment of advisory group members and review participants for the project, connecting ACHSW with organisations to share their expertise on working with older adults, dementia care, and working in complex mental health need settings.

• 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 4 free best practice workshops alongside lived experience and specialist organisations, including Pride UK Training and Consultancy, Dr Georgia Bowers and the University of Surrey, providing practical support for coalition members and sharing best practice resources and toolkits on: exploring the impact of internalised ageism in older people’s wellbeing and arts services; supporting practitioner care in older people’s services; exploring the impact of death and grief in older people's services; and creating inclusive art spaces for older LGBTQ+ people. 221 delegates engaged with the workshops – including representatives from South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Centre for Ageing Better, and Age UK – accessing thought leadership in the respective focus areas to implement in their own provision.

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• Resources shared: Developed practice toolkit sharing examples of successful working practice around Exploring Death and Grief in older people’s services; ‘Exploring the Impact of Internalised Ageism’ shared links, resources, and signposting to support services; ‘Building LGBTQ+ inclusion in the arts’ toolkit; ‘Building LGBTQ+ inclusion in the arts' checklist video recording.

• Participant feedback: 100% of attendees reported that they ‘have a better awareness of internalised ageism’ following the workshop and 100% reported that the Internalised Ageism workshop ‘will change [their] working practice’. 100% of participant respondents said that they ‘feel encouraged to support more conversations around death and grief in [their] own work settings’ as a result of the workshop. 100% of participant respondents ‘feel encouraged to support more conversations around building LGBTQ+ inclusive art spaces in [their] own work settings’ as a result of the workshop.

• “Thank you for organising the event and promoting this vital issue.” “I felt the sensitive issues were dealt with very well.” “It will give me more confidence to express my thoughts, experiences, and understanding around grief and dying in my practice and everyday life rather than feeling like it is a "losing battle" that nobody else is aware of / interested in. Emotions, particularly around death and dying as we will all experience it, need to be more openly addressed and acknowledged and art offers a safe space and means to do so.”

• 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 80 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 17 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 1009 to 1094. The newsletters had a 47.2% average click through rate, and shared opportunities and thought leadership from across the older people’s services sector, including: 20 reports, 30 funding opportunities, 17 resource/toolkits, 11 research open calls/opportunities, and 46 coalition partner events/activities for older people and/or older people’s service providers.

• Feedback: “Flourishing lives have been excellent in providing information.” “Flourishing Lives have been very interesting, lots of opportunities to meet with other professionals. Interesting discussions and v supportive atmosphere. Some strong modelling of projects that have worked. Very enjoyable and inspiring network - thank you all.”

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 launched a new research collaboration with Dr Martina Zimmermann and The Policy Institute at King’s College London, in support of the next 3-year phase of their ‘Sciences of

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Ageing and Cultures of Youth’ (SAACY) project. The project advocates for policy changes to help normalise ageing as a lifelong process to create more positive attitudes to ageing. Flourishing Lives are Project Partners on SAACY+3, supporting older people’s leadership in the research, and consulting on activities and events.

• In October 2024, we supported SAACY in the delivery of a Policy Lab event, exploring representations of ageing in the media and how to change this. The event brought together representatives from the public, private and third sectors to develop a manifesto: ‘How do we change the way that ageing is represented in advertising, the media, and the creative industries?’ We supported older people’s leadership in the event, represented by Flourishing Lives coalition partner Stephen Bush, an advocate of lifelong learning and recipient of the 2017 Festival of Learning Patron’s Award.

• We supported 3 online ‘Joy of Dementia’ gatherings with the international Reimagining Dementia coalition. 90 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 2024' campaign, which took place in September 2024 to coincide with World Alzheimer's Day, exploring collaborations and coordinated activities to promote inclusion, relationships, creativity, joy and the possibility of growth for everyone impacted by dementia.

• Resources shared: ‘Taking it to the Streets 2024’ conversation starters and campaign engagement strategies.

• We continued to work in partnership with Complicite Theatre in support of ‘Rebel Voices’, a theatre and storytelling project for older women in London. We connected Complicite with Flourishing Lives community partner organisations 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.

• We worked in partnership with the members of our older people-led Flourishing Lives Advisory Group (FLAG) to co-design and co-deliver our workshop exploring the impact of internalised ageism. The workshop led to a collaboration with the British Society of Gerontology Creative Ageing Special Interest Group (SIG), providing an influential platform to share learnings and reflections from the FLAG workshop to the Creative Ageing SIG’s international community of researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders exploring what it means to age creatively.

• We also continued our R&D process alongside our Age Activist Trustee, Maggy Pigott CBE, exploring the development of effective and impactful positive ageing strategies and methodologies. Our Age Activist Trustee also participated in the monthly meetings of the Creative Ageing Lived Experience Network (CALEN), representing Flourishing Lives as part of the Network to amplify older people’s voices and advocate for creative ageing at national level. As a result of the R&D process and consultations, we worked alongside our Age Activist Trustee to create Flourishing Lives’ new Strategic Plan 2025-2029. This exciting new phase of work will help to catalyse positive ageing by placing Older People Leaders and intersectional lived experience at the heart of wellbeing and arts services.

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Financial Review

Flourishing Lives is grateful to the National Lottery Community Fund for its ongoing support for the organisation.

As at October 2025, the trustees view the charity as a going concern, as the charity is funded under the National Lottery Community Fund’s Reaching Communities England programme until December 2029.

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

As we embark upon our 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; launching our Older Men’s Forum; growing our outreach and inclusion programmes; advocating for intergenerational practice and more closely integrated communities; developing our new CPD-accredited training to catalyse Older People’s Leadership and amplify Intersectional Lived Experience at the centre of older people’s arts and wellbeing provision; and supporting and developing 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:

Name: Emma Rodwell

Address: 67 Kingsley Way, London, N2 0EL

Date: 25th November 2025

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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 2025.

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: Andy Moore

Address: Blaenpentre, Swyddffynnon, Ystrad Meurig, SY25 6AW

Date: 26/11/25

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FLOURISHING LIVES RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

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FLOURISHING LIVES STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

The financial statements were approved by the Flourishing Lives Board of Trustees and were signed on its behalf by:

Name: Emma Rodwell

Signed:

Date: 25th November 2025

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FLOURISHING LIVES NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

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.

Funds schedule

Taxation

The charity is not liable for Corporation Tax, Income Tax or Capital gain tax but is liable to VAT to the extent is not recoverable.

CIO Guarantees and Secured Debts

The trustees confirm, in accordance with the Charitable Incorporated Organisations (General) Regulations 2012, that at the year end the CIO did not have any outstanding guarantees to third parties nor any debts secured on assets of the CIO.

Pension costs and other past-retirement benefits

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Employer contributions payable to the charity's pension scheme are included in the payroll payments category of the Receipts and Payments Accounts (section A3).

Trustees' remuneration and benefits

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2025.

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 2025.

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Conflicts of Interest

There were no conflicts of interest in the year ended 31 March 25.

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