## Trustees’ Annual Report for the period
## **From 1st April 2024 To 31st March 2025**
## **Charity name:**
Let’s Talk About Loss
## **Charity registration number:**
Registered Charity No. 1195258 (Charity Commission for England and Wales) Registered Charity No. SC051599 (Scottish Charity Regulator)
## **Objectives and Activities**
## Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document
The objects of _Let’s Talk About Loss_ are;
To relieve the suffering and isolation of persons aged 18-35 in the UK suffering from bereavement or loss by the provision of peer support and advice for such persons.
Charitable purpose 12; The relief of those in need, by reason of age and bereavement. This means giving recognition, support and time to a specific age range who have faced the loss of someone important to them.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.
- Meet ups (activities)
- In total, we ran **137 meet ups** during the year, with 1 new group starting - an Online group specifically for young grievers who identify as male.
- This year we also ran **themed meet ups** , all hosted virtually on Zoom, for specific moments in the calendar or types of loss. These included Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas themed meet ups.
- Our _**Creative Writing About Loss**_ group continued with a volunteer, Bridget Hamilton, running this. It continues to be really successful with regular Zoom meetings and people sharing their own creative writing frequently in the Facebook group. (activity)
- Our _**Bereavement Book Club**_ continued this year and increased the number of meetings with new committed volunteers. The group ran several successful book giveaways on our social media which helped grow the group. (activity)
- On our **blog** , we published 15 posts during the year with a variety of advice and support for young grievers. We specifically try to cover different topics in our blog to ensure that all young grievers feel seen and supported. This year our blogs were on topics including baby loss, sibling loss, partner loss and more. (activity)
- We continued our three **Advisory Boards** which help us to learn from young grievers in under-served communities and be a truly user-led organisation. The three Advisory Boards focus on Racial Equity, Accessibility, and LGBTQ+ communities. (project)
- In December 2024, we ran two **community open meetings on disability** and inclusion, run by the Chair of our Accessibility Advisory Board. These meetings aimed to gather feedback and input from disabled young grievers and allies on how the charity could improve our work and services. The ideas generated and shared in those meetings will be reviewed and implemented by our Accessibility Advisory Board. (project)
- We continued to ensure that all our volunteers completed mandatory **safeguarding training** and during the financial year there were no safeguarding reports made. (service)
- **Social media** - this continues to be the main way that people find out about Let’s Talk About Loss and we continue to publish engaging content for our target audience - a generation of scrollers! We published content year round, particularly acknowledging Black History Month and LGBTQ+ history month. We also continued to work with influencers from a diverse range of background for weekend takeovers, which help us amplify the voices of different young grievers and work in partnership with fantastic individuals and organisations. (activity)
- Thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, we ran three **Big Meet Ups** this year, following a successful pilot in the last financial year. These Big Meet Ups were in Coventry, Liverpool and Newcastle (one in April and two in October). These events were hugely successful at reaching new audiences in target areas for the charity, and bringing grief support to communities who so often can’t access it. (activity)
- A group of our young grievers **co-created content** with Young Minds this year, helping to create a resource for trusted adults supporting young people who are grieving. Joining the roundtable discussion was an exciting opportunity and it was good to work in partnership with Young Minds. (project)
- We ran a large **survey** of our meet up attendees from May - July 2024 and gathered useful information about how they heard about the organisation, how we could improve our services, and what other grief support they find useful.
These insights will shape the work of our new strategy, which will be written in the 2025-2026 financial year.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit
All trustees have had regard for the guidance provided by the _Charity Commission_ , using the online resources on a number of occasions to aid the creation of processes and protocol.
## **Achievements and performance**
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.
- We were delighted this year to recruit and appoint our second member of staff, a Community Engagement Officer, who started in May 2024. This increases our capacity significantly as we now have two part-time members of staff working to run Let’s Talk About Loss. The new role focuses on the oversight and management of our volunteers, including improving onboarding and offboarding, and supporting growth and development.
- During this year, the charity continued to work with over 60 volunteers with minimal turnover, all of whom have experience of losing someone at a young age. These volunteers served across a range of activities:
- Blog management
- Meet up hosting
- Advisory board members
- Host Coordinators, supporting our Hosts
- Book Club and Creative Writing group facilitation
- Men Talk About Loss campaign planning
- This year we were extremely grateful to receive significant funding from Take Our Hand, a charity that decided to close its doors and wind up operations. We were chosen as the beneficiary to receive the money that Take Our Hand had remaining as unrestricted spend, and this was incredibly useful for our small charity.
- In June 2024 we had our annual Trustee Away Day in London and we remain very thankful for the amazing Trustees who support Let’s Talk About Loss and continue to grow and develop our work.
- Our Director and our Freelance Social Media Manager both took part in The Bold Type - a course for improving inclusive communication - this year. This was a brilliant course led by Ettie Bailey-King with practical tips and advice for becoming more inclusive and accessible in all internal and external communication.
- Our TikTok channel grew significantly this year, thanks to the tireless work of our Freelance Social Media Manager. It is now one of the key ways young grievers discover Let’s Talk About Loss and get in touch with us.
- A team of dedicated fundraisers took on a charity skydive for Let’s Talk About Loss in July 2024, and raised thousands of pounds for our work with young grievers.
- We worked with new illustrators and collaborators to broaden our range of sympathy and Christmas cards, which are a useful source of income for the charity.
- Our Director gave two talks to other organisations on World Mental Health Day in October 2024 - GSMA and Rolls Royce. We are grateful that these organisations supported our mission that no young griever grieves alone and supported Let’s Talk About Loss financially by booking these talks.
- Fundraising
- In total, we raised £56,950 during this financial year.
- Of this total, £33,171 was unrestricted funding and £23,779 was restricted to specific projects or events.
- We continue to be mostly reliant on grant funding, but are looking to expand our income sources and continue to be exceptionally grateful to our supporters who give on a monthly basis, and our fundraisers who take on challenges and events to support us.
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
Type of governing document CIO - FOUNDATION
## How is the charity constituted?
CIO
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees Trustees are selected for experience and skills needed on the board, as well as knowledge and interest in the objectives.
## **Reference and Administrative details**
Charity name Let’s Talk About Loss
## Other name the charity uses
NA
Registered charity number 1195258 (England and Wales) SC051599 (Scotland)
## Charity’s principal address
St Barnabus Church, Lodge Road, Southampton, SO14 6RF
|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|
|---|---|---|
|Katherine Moreton|Chair||
|Latoya Laryea|Treasurer||
|Jonathan Salmon|NA||
|Rohit Sagoo|NA||
|Elisha Matthews|NA||
|Amy Lambert|NA||
|Sanisha Wynter|NA||
## **Declarations**
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
||Signature(s)
Katherine Moreton (electronic)
Full name(s)
Katherine Moreton
Position (eg Secretary,
Chair, etc)
Chair|
|---|---|
**----- Start of picture text -----**
LET'S TALK ABOUT LOSS CIO No: 1195258
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 01/04/2024 31/03/2025
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Endowment
Restricted funds Total funds Last year
funds funds
to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£
A1 Receipts
Lush Foundation - - -
National Lottery Community
20,000 - 20,000 150
engagement
Take Our Hand (TRF OF CLOSURE
14,996 14,996 -
FUNDS)
National Lottery Awards for All -
- - 10,000
England
Sir Robert McAlpine Strong
- 1,500
Communities Fund
DONATIONS 3,780 - 3,780 2,654
PRODUCT SALES 631 - 631 164
WORKSHIPS/TALKS/MISC INCOME - - 2,063
CORPORATE FUNDRAISING 85 85 8,074
SUPPORTER & COMMUNITY
11,238 11,238 8,236
FUNDRAISING
Government grants 1,055 - 1,055 596
CO-OP #Iwill BEREAVEMENT Grant 1,055 - 1,055 -
MAGIC LITTLE GRANTS - - -
NATIONAL SURVIVOR - - -
TUDOR TRUST 3,500 - 3,500 21,000
TALKS AND EVENT INCOME 331 279 - 610 -
Sub total (Gross income for AR) 33,171 23,779 - 56,950 54,437
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see
table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 33,171 23,779 - 56,950 54,437
A3 Payments
OFFICE 1,358 - 1,358 -
TRAVEL 639 180 - 819 308
COST OF GOODS - - -
POSTAGE 181 9 - 190 212
COST OF LOCAL GROUPS & EVENTS - 790 7,119 - 6,329 4,766
ADVERTISING 286 586 - 872 639
COMMUNICATIONS
(EMAIL/WEBSITE) 6,347 230 - 6,577 3,357
TRUSTEE EXPENSES, VOLUNTEER
TRAINING AND MEETINGS 1,823 213 - 2,035 2,118
INCLUSION WORK 2,976 5,030 - 8,006 -
MISC 1 - 1 - - 912
WAGES, NIC, PENSION 23,783 2,497 - 26,281 12,091
STAFF EXPENSES & TRAINING 1,631 227 1,858
PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR - - 3,292
FUNDRAISING 2,487 2,487 1,204
INSURANCE 248 - 248 751
GOVERNANCE 1,485 - 1,485 3,109
Sub total [ 42,453.39 ] 16,091.22 - 58,545 32,758
A4 Asset and investment purchases,
(see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - - -
Total payments 42,453 16,091 - 58,545 32,758
**----- End of picture text -----**
|**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|**- 9,283**|**7,688**|**-**|**- 1,595**|**21,679**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**- 5,486**
**51,802**
**37,033**|**5,486**
**10,000**
**23,174**|**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**61,802**|**-**
**40,123**|
|||||**60,207**|**61,802**|
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the charity’s**
**own use**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B1 Cash funds**|Signature
HMRC - PAYE for Jan, Feb and March
Payroll
Accountancy and Independent
examination fee
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
CURRENT ACCOUNTS
Pre-paid card balance
Petty Cash
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and
payments account(s))
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**37,033**
**-**
**-**
**37,033**
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Print|**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**23,174**
**-**
**-**
**23,174**
OK
**Restricted funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**814**
**-**
**1,525**
**-**
**-**
Name|**Endowment funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**-**|
|||||OK|
|||||**Endowment funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**When due (optional)**
**22nd April 2025**
**15 December 2025**
Date of approval|
## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**
**Report to the trustees/** Charity Name Let’s Talk About Loss **members of On accounts for the year** 31[st] March 2025 **Charity no** 1195258 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** 1-2
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended **31/03/2025** .
- **Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** 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 the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
**Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
|**Signed:**
**Name:**
**Relevant professional**
**qualification(s) or body**
**(if any):**
**Address:**||12th December
2025|
|---|---|---|
||||
||Janice Willis FCCA||
||||
||Association of Chartered Certified Accountants||
||||
||Cloud Eleven Accountants||
||12A Stanford Rd, Lymington||
||Hampshire, SO41 9GF||
1
**October 2018**
**IER**
**Section B Disclosure**
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
**Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** .
2
**October 2018**
**IER**