Wandsworth Prison Welfare Trust – Report and accounts for year ending 5 April 2025
Chairman’s report for the year to the 5 April 2025
The year began with a sense of crisis at every level. The Governor of Wandsworth Prison resigned in May just before a damning report was issued by the Chief Inspector of Prisons. The Chief Inspector also issued an Urgent Notification to the Government putting the prison into special measures.
The annual report from the Wandsworth Independent Monitoring Board was equally bad, describing vermin, poor living conditions, little time out of cells and frightening levels of violence shown to staff and other prisoners, with high numbers of men registered as selfharming and suicidal.
Given the total denial of access to the prison for WPWT during this very difficult period, there was little the charity could do in the early months of this year, but in June a new Governor, Andy Davy, was appointed, and over the next few months, WPWT established a relationship with him that has improved the situation considerably.
We were put in contact with the Governor responsible for the Safer Custody team and almost immediately began ordering and supplying items to relieve boredom and provide some interest and activity for the men.
Since then, we have supplied many wind-up radios a month for use in the segregation unit where men are in solitary confinement without TVs, and for men who are vulnerable but are held on a basic regime with little access to buy anything to amuse themselves or supplement their diet. For them a radio is a Godsend.
We also sent in games -chess, backgammon, dominos, snakes and ladders and ludo.
We have our own boards designed to fit the counter in a Wandsworth Cell, and we have bought all the pieces and dice that are necessary to play.
We have tried to set up a relationship with the neurodiversity team, and have bought poppers, Rubik cubes, and fidget toys. There is a lot still to do in this area.
For the library we have sent in secondhand jigsaws and reading glasses, and here too we have plans for closer working. We also sent supplies of reading glasses to the First Night Assessment unit.
During Covid there was a lot of colouring and art going on in the prison which had come to an abrupt end. This year we bought about £2000 of paint and colouring pens which is now in the prison and being used.
The most interesting project started after Christmas when it was decided that the reception area in the prison was unwelcome. Murals were designed and prisoners recruited to paint them, and the charity spent about £3000 on specialist paint.
From a very frightening and dismal start we have ended on a high note with much more to do. We are keen to make better connections with the Safer Custody team and the Neurodiversity team and the library. We are confident that the Governor will work with us in this. He has also been helping us build a relationship with PACT (Prisoner Advice and Care Trust) a charity that provides support and service to the families of prisoners and we are discussing providing play equipment and other items to make visits to prisoners more enjoyable and less stressful.
Liz Bridge, chair, WPWT
Accounts Year ending 5 April 2025
27-May-25
Wandsworth Prison Welfare Trust
| Opening balance 06 Apr 2024 Income Income from donations Gift Aid from previous years Bank Interest |
£26,346.65 Expenditure Arts & crafts £4,269.03 £9,237.39 Spectacles £51.00 £1,570.67 Red radios £1,564.80 Chess sets £960.00 Games £499.23 Paint £1,848.14 ADHD assistance £436.50 Jigsaws/puzzles £0.00 Sleeping bags £0.00 Books/reading £93.00 Miscellaneous £118.66 £9,840.36 £52.85 Bank charges £60.00 Closing balance 05 April 2025 £27,307.20 £37,207.56 £37,207.56 |
£26,346.65 Expenditure Arts & crafts £4,269.03 £9,237.39 Spectacles £51.00 £1,570.67 Red radios £1,564.80 Chess sets £960.00 Games £499.23 Paint £1,848.14 ADHD assistance £436.50 Jigsaws/puzzles £0.00 Sleeping bags £0.00 Books/reading £93.00 Miscellaneous £118.66 £9,840.36 £52.85 Bank charges £60.00 Closing balance 05 April 2025 £27,307.20 £37,207.56 £37,207.56 |
|---|---|---|
| £9,840.36 £60.00 £27,307.20 |
||
| £37,207.56 |
Notes
Major Charitable Incident . The incident of late 2024 has been resolved and we have restored a working relationship with the prison.
Reserves policy : The trustees aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates
to approximately four months of unrestricted charitable expenditure. The trustees consider that this level will provide sufficient funds to respond to applications for expenditure and ensure that support and governance costs are covered.
Keith Walton, MA, MHGI
Treasurer
London
Report to the Trustees of Wandsworth Prison Welfare Trust
On accounts for the year ended 5[th] April 2025
Charity no 1198674
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 5[th] April 2025.
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 the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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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.
Kevin Mead MA CEng FICE
18 August 2025