2023-12-31-accounts

11 *J Annual Report 20,24 .: ThiQuEqn'sAwird

Nl9htwatch Annual Report 2023

Contents

The Nightwatch Philosophy	3	10 years at Nightwatch and becoming Secretary	10
Chair’s Report	4	Treasurer’s Report	12
Helping Nightwatch	5	Independent Examiner's Report To the
		Trustees of Nightwatch	14
Resettlement Report	6
		Out with the teams	18
Committee Members	6
		Information for Volunteers	20
Numbers We Serve	7
		Nightwatch - Legal Information	23
Hardship Fund	7
		Useful Numbers	24
Harvest Help	8
Our Thanks to	9

The Nightwatch Philosophy

hostels and so on. We address people’s own wishes, working with them to encourage independent living and refurnish new accommodation.

Nightwatch is a charity founded by members of the community in Croydon who were concerned about homelessness. We believe in local solutions for local problems.

Still entirely voluntary, we have been running for more than forty years, adapting to new conditions and applying ourselves to the challenges of homelessness in today’s Britain. Our core activity is a meeting point that is staffed every evening where we give basic help with food and clothing and address more profound needs.

We help people who are street homeless, in squats and other inadequate accommodation, in hostels, in bed and breakfast accommodation, and those who are housed but still need support to help prevent them from again becoming homeless.

Our philosophy is that we treat homelessness as a fluid rather than a steady state – people in need are constantly moving through the system: getting out at the top (becoming housed and needing no further help) or falling off the bottom (becoming street homeless). Our objective is to try to keep people’s motion upwards, so our intervention is tailored to individual needs and aspirations. We assist some people out of street homelessness, others out of

For former homeless people who wish to keep in touch with us, we can help with expensive items such as cookers and fridges, which are beyond their means but without which life is squalid and unpleasant. By maintaining such contact, we help to prevent future homelessness.

Where appropriate, we supply materials to help in re-entering education such as books or travel cards; and we supply appropriate clothing (such as working boots) for people looking for work.

The clients we see have a variety of backgrounds but often have institutional life in common – they have been in children’s homes, psychiatric care or the armed forces, and a number are ex-offenders. Significant problems frequently seen are mental health, drugs, alcohol and marital break-up. It is an important part of our work that we treat all people as individuals and tailor our advice and assistance to their needs. People cannot receive advanced levels of help unless they are willing to address their problems, but everyone gets some help appropriate to their level, with the promise of more as they progress towards independent living.

This work is time consuming and labour intensive, we are the largest volunteer organisation in our borough and we are at work every day of the year.

Nightwatch Annual Report 2023 3

Chair’s Report

We were glad to be told that in the civic year 2024-5 Nightwatch is to be one of the two charities nominated by the Civic Mayor, Cllr Kola Agboola. We very much appreciate the honour and look forward to working with the council’s charity team.

Our services have been more in demand than ever. There has been a 27% increase in street homelessness nationally, a figure which has been reflected in the numbers of people we have been seeing at our meeting point in central Croydon. While we used to see 20-30 people a night, now the weekly figures are more like 60 and on Sundays 80-90. Of these people, many are not homeless but people who have been drawn to use our services by poverty caused by the cost of living crisis. The higher numbers put pressure on our resources so we are now buying a shipment of tins every week from Tesco.

The pressure on low-cost temporary accommodation caused by the small boats crisis and the backlog in asylum seekers claims has a knock-on effect in Croydon. The Home Office has taken up tens of thousands of units of low cost accommodation nationally. The effect locally is that we find it difficult to find hotel places when we need them for vulnerable people in emergencies. The council has also found it difficult to find temporary accommodation in hotels during the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol when the temperature drops below zero. The system is simply not working, as we

pointed out when we were consulted by the council’s homelessness strategy review panel.

We continued to receive help from the wider community, notably regular help from the Sikh group, Ahmadiyya Muslim Group, Hindu temples and the Croydon Churches whose members make up sandwiches for us as do the Turnaround youth offending team and Mencap youngsters.

Thank you to our excellent treasurer Roger Davies who has maintained our continued financial success and secretary Nicky Edwards who has maintained food supplies. Good wishes to Fiona Satiro who became volunteer co-ordinator this year and Sean Harling who took over our social media operation.

Location

We continue to operate from the corner of Katharine Street and Fell Road, a place we could adapt for our use by putting a covering over it. We have discussed this with experts and it is a feasible project to erect a cover which would blend in with the surrounding architecture. We have tried to enter into discussions with the council about this but as yet have had no response.

When Inside Croydon covered the issue of our location among many supportive messages was the following from someone who had clearly seen us at work:

‘The presence of all those volunteers in luminous jackets in the evenings, happily chatting and smiling while serving food to hungry street sleepers, make one feel much safer there in that part of Croydon than in most other town centre areas, where there is a night time dystopian feel. An absence of the figures that represent society– police on foot patrol, and council roadsweepers– and the presence of overspilling bins, and litter - are the hallmarks of contemporary central Croydon after dark.’

We are glad to be making a difference.

Jad Adams

4 Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Helping Nightwatch

Different ways the community has helped us:

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Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Resettlement Report

We make full resettlements for former homeless people in new accommodation which means substantial amounts of furniture including cookers, beds and fridges.

This totalled 24 resettlements in 2023, about the same as in 2022 (25). The low numbers reflect the continuing shortage of low cost housing to which our clients could move on.

The total resettlement bill in 2023 was £14,450 compared to £17,205 in 2022. There were 24 large resettlements, 6 of them women (so women making up 25 per cent of the total).

While still outnumbered by men needing help, the percentage of women coming to our meeting place has been going up. We used to talk confidently of women making up 10 per cent of our client base, now it is nearer to 20. On December 17 when we did a count (on the very busy pre-Christmas night) we saw 108 people of whom 29 were women so 27 per cent. This compares with last year when women made up 22% of the clients when we did the same count.

We also made 140 deliveries of ‘small’ items short of full resettlements. This compares with 116 last year. These are required because, for example, if a client’s fridge or cooker stops working, they cannot afford the repair or replacement, and we can help out. Former clients often come to see us even though they have been settled for a long time, requesting help with high-cost household goods like this.

We work mainly with the recycling charity Emmaus who receive donations of unwanted furniture from members of the public; they store and recondition it and deliver it to our clients as we request them to do. Their contact details are on the back of this report booklet. We paid them a total of £8,752 which is comparable to last year’s £11,474.

We also help clients with vocational support such as steel-toecapped working boots and working trousers for people doing heavy work. Other vocational support included grass trimming tools, a soldering iron block, an electric cable and screwdriver.

Work related expenditure totalled £1104, slightly lower than the 2022 figure of £979. Most of the people

accessing work clothing were East Europeans and we are seeing fewer of them post-Brexit. We have had trouble obtaining sufficient numbers of second hand microwaves so have been buying new ones as they are the most economical mode of cooking.

We gave out 32 charged mobile phones so people could keep in contact with us, with Streetlink, the council and other services which can help them. This is double the number given out in 2022 which reflects services sending clients to us specifically for phones.

Committee Members

Please use emails to contact committee members for non-urgent communications

Chair Jad Adams 020 8699 6718 [e-mail]

Secretary Nicky Edwards 07828 144645 [e-mail]

Treasurer Roger Davies 07749 007049 [e-mail]

Volunteer Co-ordinator Fiona Satiro 07867 491978 [e-mail]

Fundraising officers Cindee Low 07403 456756 [e-mail]

Nana Acquah 020 8405 8712 [e-mail]

Social Media Sean Harling [e-mail]

Committee Member Ayesha Sharma 07794 325156 [e-mail]

Committee Member Tony Packwood [e-mail]

6 Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Numbers We Serve

In 2023 the average attendance each night was 82 for both Sundays and Thursdays. The trend of more people coming in the week continued from 2022. On other nights the average was about 60 each evening, giving the total number of contacts as 24,000. This was a record compared to 22,000 in 2022.

In as study between May and August 2023 the weekly number increased from 342 to 573. There was no particular reason why this happened.

Roger Davies

----- Start of picture text -----
25,000
20,000
15,000
Nightwatch
Total contacts
10,000
5,000
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
----- End of picture text -----

Hardship Fund

Figures rounded for clarity. The Hardship Fund is intended for clients that are faced with a financial hurdle. It’s a one-off payment agreed by the Trustees to enable the receiver to overcome the problem and continue their life free from that burden. Since 2019 the fund has distributed £91,500.

Hardship payments made in 2023 were £24,200 compared to £22.800 in 2022.

The largest payments were for Service Charge Debts in hostels and supported accommodation with 18 payments with a total of £12,400. Service or utility payments of about £18 per week are not covered by Housing Benefit and must be paid from the individual’s Universal Credit.

As a result of the energy crisis the fund distributed 272 energy vouchers amounting to £8,800 for top-ups on payment meters.

Other payments ranged from oyster cards to emergency accommodation for people turning up at Nightwatch homeless, sometime a family with a child.

Roger Davies

----- Start of picture text -----
No Reason Amount
18 Service Charge 12,379.85
272 Energy Vouchers 8,781.00
1 Rent Arrears 875.00
1 Tax Debt 642.41
1 Council Tax 436.78
2 Glasses 407.50
2 Emergency Accomodation 369.82
1 Presents 179.00
1 Passport 93.00
2 Oyster Card 74.00
301 24,238.36
----- End of picture text -----

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Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Harvest Help

We welcome donations throughout October in our Harvest Festival appeal. This is one time when children and young people can get involved, sorting through thousands of donated tins and packets.

Girls from the 7th Purley Guides came to help as did young people from the West Wickham and Shirley Baptist Church youth club.

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Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Our Thanks to *leiades Netball COVEL%LJIIE access INSURANCE 00 Aegys Smart SmartC4re For4Ji (XOIV4hi HURsr SHA Alzheimer Society ameyi fsb Insurance Seryl A.N.D )? GREGGS CQMp4yNITV r Iriill London <> Catalyst SHW LONGLEY streets alie(Id [1 B The Midcounties fthow7tiv8 TESCO BARRATT Mlecz TLDallas UEVELQPWItIT• PLC orbit Towergate Riskline co Pension Protection Fund ZURICH Community Trust HWwtthAnnual Report 2023

10 years at Nightwatch and becoming Secretary

I began volunteering for Nightwatch at Christmas 2014. My daughters were travelling that Christmas and I knew it would be a pretty quiet one for me. I initially spoke to Crisis about doing something for them over Christmas but they were fully booked with people like me wanting to help! I wracked my brains, and somewhere in the back of that space was a memory that Nightwatch existed in Croydon. I thought really, why just help on a “one off” basis, why not get involved in something local where I might be able to do some good generally as part of my every day life. I contacted Jad from the Nightwatch website and that was how it all began.

I quickly got involved on Sunday evenings and began to take responsibility for collecting the bakery donation at Sainsburys in West Croydon. Then I started buying the toiletries when the current toiletries buyer left. Buying the toiletries is a job that I have not been able to shake off to this day. In those early days, my friend and I would terrorise all the stores trying to buy shaving foam at 26p a can. The 26p shaving foam went up and up in price until we could no longer buy a whole set of toiletries for £3 a head. We decided to invest a little more money in what we put in the toiletries bags and today’s bags emerged. My friend left Nightwatch and I continued this procurement by myself. It is very difficult

to buy large quantities of cheap toiletries, I have tried many ways and have found out that supermarkets do not really want to sell you 100’s of items. Some make it easier than others. Cash & Carrys are useless for this purpose and so the shopping round all the local supermarkets became my time-consuming hobby.

Toiletries Procurer

I joined the committee a little while later, I think I was there as Toiletries Procurer. A short while after that the position of Secretary became available and I asked about the role and after a very short time (and no one else wanting it!) I got the job.

Soon after that I was asked if I would become a Trustee. After running off to Google to find out what one was, I agreed to take the position and I think this is when Imposter Syndrome started. Loosely speaking I was to take part in making sure the Charity’s money was spent wisely and be accountable for the funds staying where they should be.

I became secretary in early 2019, I was filling the shoes of Bob who had been Secretary for many years before me. Over time I began to get involved in how things ran at Nightwatch and I felt the need for some organisational input. During that year of 2019 a lot else happened, my first grandson was born, and my husband had a heart attack and a stroke and that was all in the same week! This is how juggling the role of Nightwatch Secretary, home life and work life became real.

Covid days

A few months after that, Covid reared its head and we had to re-learn how to run the nightly soup kitchen. The course of Covid is well documented, but for me it meant Jad, Roger and I spoke almost daily, we arranged teams from new volunteers drafted in to take the places of our own volunteers who had to stand down for shielding purposes. We found places to order from to get the food we needed that wasn’t available in the supermarkets and we began to order and run a sandwich rota on Saturdays for my team of lovely sandwich makers to continue to put the soup and sandwiches “on the table” for our clients. Simply Lunch in Croydon supported us massively during this period and for many weeks supplied us 60/70 sandwiches and snacks daily completely free of charge. For many months after that they charged us just £1 per head to cover their costs. For this support, Simply Lunch will always have a special place in my heart! They supplied these items in the little paper carrier bags and we have carried on that tradition to date with most teams using this system to pack up the food and give out.

10 Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

The ordering of all the supplies was then, and is now, complicated. As we have no presence at the place we use to prepare food in the evening during the day, no deliveries can be made there. It became the norm that most of the deliveries for most of the aspects of Nightwatch would come to my house. This arrangement is still in place and I very regularly have 50 sleeping bags or 5,000 cups or 2,000 paper carriers in my hallway/porch. At one point I also had 200 tins of soup arriving weekly at my home. This we were able to re-think recently and that’s one less commodity that sits waiting for me to drive it to the hall! I must say that if the roles were reversed, if my husband’s hobby ruined the aesthetics of our hallway, l probably wouldn’t stand for it!

Nightwatch stuff

The time spent checking stock and re-ordering is now huge! I went on to have two more grandchildren, one in 2021 and another in 2022. In fact, they are often buried in their car seats by Nightwatch supplies as we deliver them onwards. Their treat at the end of it is a run round an empty hall with Nana chasing them! Being Secretary means you take quite a large proportion of the calls or emails offering donations to Nightwatch. It is common to see me attending schools and workplaces piling my car high to the ceiling with more “stuff” for Nightwatch. I happen to have one of the smallest cars available but it is also a tardis and it is very seldom that I don’t fit everything in.

As Covid drifted away, we tried to keep the continuity between the teams over the week. The food bags, taking out tables and getting clients to queue were all born in Covid and we strive to keep this going even now.

My beloved Sunday team also took some reorganisation too, many of the sandwich makers had stood down. I begged and bribed people to make sandwiches at home and I buy ingredients to make sandwiches at the hall on the day. Again, the procured sandwich ingredients live in my fridge and hallway until the day.

More recently I have been getting involved with other ‘‘official bodies’’ regarding homelessness in general. I alternate between thinking that these official bodies are doing a good job and do have a handle on the homeless situation in Croydon to deciding that a lot of them do little or less. I am learning mostly that Nightwatch is about the most consistent positive power in homelessness in Croydon.

We were given sleeping pods by the charity Sleep Pod (www.sleeppod.org.uk). Nicky gamely tested one out.

My family tolerate my Nightwatch habit quite well, there is lots of eyerolling and “I suppose it’s for Nightwatch” and “What! You are going to Nightwatch again!” I feel extremely proud of how Nightwatch has evolved and do certainly feel instrumental about making it happen. I was a lucky woman last summer when I got to represent Nightwatch on their being awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service by attending a Buckingham Palace Garden party. The Imposter syndrome is very real now!

I’m here for Nightwatch for as long as everyone will put up with me, and when all is said and done, I am proud to say “I am Nicky from Nightwatch…”

Nicky Edwards

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Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Treasurer’s Report

The chart shows the full range of receipts, expenditure, and reserves over the last 14 years.

----- Start of picture text -----
Yearly Financial Figures
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Receipts
Donations 15,400 10,000 25,200 43,000 25,000 42,400 46,650 74,000 63,928 50,101 92,684 30,133 61,453 74,701
Virgin Money 10,733 14,223 26,263 34,543 19,825 20,430
Lottery/Gift Aid 33,000 27,000 1,281 747 482 1,484 373 1,046
Grants 17,700 31,000 20,200 16,200 16,200 6,000 2,000 4,700 13,100 0
Interest 336 468 258 12 790 3,196
Total Receipts 66,100 68,000 45,400 59,200 41,200 48,400 46,650 74,000 78,278 70,240 132,786 66,173 82,440 99,373
Expediture
Food and Preparation 1,000 2,100 1,800 9,400 9,300 9,250 10,500 9,350 10,850 15,122 11,310 16.683 28,550 36,193
Clothing 3,600 2,500 3,300 4,300 4,800 4,700 3,800 3,400 2,527 1,960 4,219 6,116 5,856 7,125
Training 2,300 850 1,900 1,700 2,300 14 46 32
Toiletries/Sleeping
300 200 2,200 2,450 1,900 1,100 1,911 2,280 2,606 3,934 5,876 8,259
Bags
Gifts/Donations 1,700 800 2,000 1,800 1,900 1,600 1,700 2,236 2,749 5,380 3,489 2,885 1,457
Hardship Fund 10,466 18,331 15,178 22,746 24,765
Resettlement 41,500 26,100 14,700 17,800 13,800 29,800 27,500 8,500 23,803 26,744 14,230 20,073 17,205 14,451
Total Clients 50,400 32,350 19,800 35,600 33,600 50,400 45,300 24,050 41,327 59,320 56,091 65,471 83,165 92,283
Core Costs
Office/Premises 5,400 7,200 4,900 4,700 3,500 2,800 2,650 3,350 3,932 3,504 3,420 4,158 5,462 6,549
Rent 2,000 2,600 3,800
Insurance 1,400 1,400 1,350 1,300 1,400 1,350 1,400 1,450 1,256 1,276 1,276 1,204 1,198 1,216
Audit 800 700 700 850 750 750 650 600 625 605 660 851 660 690
Total Core Costs 9,600 11,900 10,750 6,850 5,650 4,900 4,700 5,400 5,814 5,384 5,356 6,212 7,320 8,455
Operational Costs 60,000 44,250 30,550 42,450 39,250 55,300 50,000 29,450 47,140 64,704 61,447 71,687 90,484 100,738
Net 6,100 23,750 14,850 16,750 1,950 -6,900 -3,350 44,550 31,138 5,536 71,339 -5,514 -8,044 -1,365
Capital/Special 7,800 1,000 11,000 1,686 1,445 1,045 973 732
Covid 19 56,173 17,031
Total Expenditure 60,000 52,050 31,550 42,450 39,250 55,300 61,000 29,450 48,827 66,148 118,664 89,690 91,219 100,738
Balance 6,100 15,950 13,850 16,750 1,950 -6,900 -14,350 44,550 29,451 4,091 14,121 -23,518 -8,779 -1,365
Total Reserves 14,282 30,232 44,082 60,832 62,782 55,882 41,532 86,082 115,533 119,721 133,842 110,325 101,546 100,181
COIF 42,017 17,173 72,261 92,598 98,163 108,421 88,432 74,222 72,418
HSBC 14,282 30,232 44,082 60,832 62,782 13,865 24,359 13,821 22,936 21,559 25,422 21,892 27,324 27,763
----- End of picture text -----

12 Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

The following reviews include figures that have been rounded for clarity.

Income

A record amount of £99,400 was receive in 2023 (ignoring the major covid year in 2020). General donations were £74,700 compared to £61,500 in 2022. This was mostly due to the £10,000 Barratt Development donation being received early in 2023 rather than late 2022. The major donor was Zurich Insurance with the second tranche of £17,333. £4,000 was received from the Diocese of Southwark, £2,000 from Mleczko Delika and St Augustine’s Church. There were a further 120 donations from companies and individuals averaging £400. JustGiving donations were fairly similar to 2022 at £20,400. Interest from the CCLA account increased considerably to £3,200 as a result in improving interest rates.

Expenditure

Expenditure reached the £100,000 mark in 2023! Another record, ignoring the covid Year 2020. £10,000 more than in 2022. The main difference was the spending on Food and Preparation which increase by £7,500 to £36,200 because of the increase in numbers we serve and the reduction in donations of tins of food. Toiletries and sleeping bag spend increased by £2,400 to £8,300. Another change was the Hardship Fund that provided £8,800 of energy vouches during the energy crisis, though other demands reduced providing only a £2,000 increase compared to 2022. Core costs (insurance etc) rose by £1,100 to £8,500. The spend on clients was 92% of the total expenditure.

Reserves

The reserves reduced only slightly to £100,100. It’s expected that with the increased demands and a reduction in donations that they will reduce to £90,000 in 2024. The policy is to reduce reserves to 9 months of expenditure, which is £75,000 by continuing with the Hardship Fund. This level is important because donations reduce considerably in the summer months. In 2023 between February and September the average donations were £3,300 per month with a spend of £8,800 per month result in a gradual reduction of £44,000 over thar period. This was alleviated by larger donations in the months leading up to Christmas.

----- Start of picture text -----
Total Receipts
140,000
130,000
120,000
110,000
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
----- End of picture text -----

Total Expenditure

----- Start of picture text -----
140,000
130,000
120,000
110,000
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
----- End of picture text -----

Total Reserves

----- Start of picture text -----
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
----- End of picture text -----

Roger Davies

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Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Independent Examiner's Report To the Trustees of Nightwatch

I report on the accounts and notes to the accounts for Nightwatch, Charity number 274925, for the year ended 31st December 2023. These accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The trustees of the charity are responsible for the preparation of accounts; they consider that the audit requirement under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act), does not apply. It is my responsibility to:

• examine the accounts under Section 145 of the 2011 Act.

• follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners made under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

• state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

Based on my examination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect, accounting records have not been kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act, or that the accounts presented do not accord with those records or comply with the accounting requirement of the 2011 Act. No matter has come to my attention in connection with my examination to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Carol Thomson ACA ICAEW 124 RANBY ROAD SHEFFIELD S11 7AL

Date: 17th May 2024

14 Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Nightwatch

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT

For the year ended 31st December 2023

	Notes	Unrestricted	Restricted	2023	2022
Receipts		General	Funds
Voluntary receipts
Grants and gifts received		77,798	17,333	95,131	81,278
Tax refunds under Gift Aid		1,046	-	1,046	372
Other receipts
Interest received		3,196	-	3,196	790
Total Receipts		82,040	17,333	99,373	82,440
Payments
Payments in furtherance of the charity's		objectives
Direct costs	2a	74,950	17,333	92,283	83,899
Overheads
Indirect Costs	2b	8,455	0	8,455	7,320
Total Payments		83,405	17,333	100,738	91,219
Net Receipts/(Payments)		(1,365)	0	(1,365)	(8,779)
before transfers
Transfers between funds		-	-	-	-
Net Movement in Funds		(1,365)	-	(1,365)	(8,779)
Balances B'fwd		101,546	-	101,546	110,325
Balances C'fwd		100,181	-	100,181	101,546

The notes on pages 18 form part of these accounts.

15

Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Nightwatch

STATEMENT OF ASSETS & LIABILITIES

For the year ended 31st December 2023

1.Fixed Assets

Nightwatch has no fixed assets.

The charity has use of the premises at the Quaker Meeting house in Croydon, for preparation of food.

2.Bank & Cash Balances

Note Cash & Bank Deposit Accounts 3.Other Assets & Liabilities Assets Gift aid tax recovery not yet received Liabilities Unbilled fee for Independent Examination	2023 2022 27,763 27,324 72,418 74,222
	100,181 101,546
	2023 2022 - - 710 690
	710 690

The accounts were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf on 17th May 2024 by Jad Adams

Signed

16 Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Nightwatch

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

For the year ended 31st December 2023

1. Accounting Policies

The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis with a statement of assets and liabilities.

2a. Direct costs Food, distribution and preparation Clothing Client Training Special Needs i.e Toiletries Gifts Resettlement Hardship Fund Covid 19 Relief 2b. Indirect costs Equipment Premises & Office Insurance Independent examination	General Restricted Total Total Funds Funds 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ 18,860 17,333 36,193 28,550 7,125 - 7,125 5,856 32 - 32 46 8,259 - 8,259 5,876 1,457 - 1,457 2,885 14,451 - 14,451 17,205 24,765 - 24,765 22,746 - - 735
	74,950 17,333 92,283 83,899
	- - - 6,549 - 6,549 5,462 1,216 - 1,216 1,198 690 - 690 660
	8,455 - 8,455 7,320

3. Employees

There were no employees during the year

Amounts paid to trustees relate to reimbursement of expenses only.

No trustee is remunerated for trustee services.

17

Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Out with the teams

A team goes out every night to help needy people in the borough. Members of teams develop a cheerful working relationship.

18

Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

•rr *t ii. Nlghtwatch Annual Report 2023 19

Information for Volunteers

Nightly Teams

Volunteers go out in teams every evening. You should have contact details of other volunteers on your team. Volunteers decide themselves how they handle the work. Some go out and also make sandwiches to take; others collect sandwiches from volunteer sandwich makers; others collect from shops that give us unsold food. Some teams take out more elaborate food than soup and sandwiches. Whatever you wish to do, claim the cost from our treasurer unless we have supplies in the hall (e.g. sandwich fillings).

If anything prevents your usual routine (very bad weather, for example, stranding some volunteers in the south of the borough) buy ready made-up food from whatever shop is available: a garage, supermarket or fast-food outlet. Get a receipt and claim the cost. Maintenance of supply is more important than cost.

In the Kitchen

Remember we are running a catering operation and the highest standards of food hygiene must be maintained. Please keep the kitchen clean and respect the needs of other users. Drain unused soup in a strainer and throw it in a bin (solids block the sink or toilet). When rubbish bags are full, throw them out in the big green rubbish bin outside. Recycle tins in the separate bin.

If we need things such as dishcloths or bags, just buy them, keep a receipt and claim the cost. In general, you can always buy things you need for our work such as torches. If you are in any doubt as to the appropriateness of anything you want to get, speak to the treasurer.

Anything placed in the fridges must be labelled with the date. Treat unlabelled food as out of date and throw it away. Remember that our clients sometimes take away food to eat for breakfast so the food you give them must have sufficient shelf-life to stay unrefrigerated until the next day.

Reports

There should always be at least one man in a group. There should be a person designated as group leader (normally the most experienced person) to whom members should speak if they are unable to go out on a night. The group leader should try to find a replacement if necessary.

A volunteer should also talk to the group leader if they wish to stop volunteering for Nightwatch. The group leader will tell the volunteer co-ordinator. It is important that the volunteer co-ordinator always has a picture of the way each night is working. We do not want to be in the situation where a couple of people leave from one night and the first the volunteer co-ordinator hears about it is when there is a crisis and the night is completely uncovered.

Our volunteers have to be over 18, confident and levelheaded. The age limit is to prevent teenagers from being exposed to experiences for which they are not yet emotionally equipped.

It is advised that all who come into contact with people who fit our client group profile should have Hepatitis B inoculation. You can get this from your GP who should not charge as you are ‘at risk’ but if you are charged, claim from Nightwatch. The injection is not one of the most unpleasant ones but it does have to be boosted twice in the first year to give full protection. We have public liability insurance.

Note on the daily log which volunteers were out and which clients we have seen (where you know the names). Note anything unusual which will help following evening: tension, arguments between clients, unexpected behaviour. Note the total number of people. Team leaders often also post reports on WhatsApp.

You may take clothing requests but do not under any circumstances assure people that the things they ask for will be provided by the team on the following Sunday. Any requests you make will not be seen by Sally and the clothing team until Sunday, then won’t be bought till the following week and won’t be supplied until, at the soonest, the next Sunday.

Where people are sleeping out and obviously in dire need, by all means supply them with sleeping bags or blankets from the store but note that you have done so.

Parking Permits

We have three parking permits which allow us to park in Fell Road (and nowhere else). If you want to take one, please return it to the log book when you return to the hall. We have had difficulties with people taking permits away and not returning them, to the considerable inconvenience of other volunteers.

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At the service area

Always stay within sight of other volunteers. You may need to speak confidentially to a client but do not go far from the main body of volunteers.

contact details of the applicant to the Treasurer who will review the position and gain approval for payment from the other Trustees.

Children

Ideally, one person at least should have a mobile phone with them. Threats against volunteers are very rare, but if made should result in withdrawal and then evacuation of the site if you feel unsafe. Incidents of serious violence should be reported to the police immediately. Volunteers should not carry any cash with them when in the service area and if clients ask, they should be made aware of this policy.

More common is argument between clients in which volunteers are not involved, but the same principle applies: neither we nor the clients should have to be in a violent situation. Other clients will often try to calm a situation down if there is an argument. Stand aside and let them do it, they are probably more experienced at this than you. Do not get involved and try to settle a dispute rationally – it probably isn’t about anything accessible to reason.

If there is trouble down in the service area, make it clear you cannot work in these conditions and you will have to withdraw. If trouble persists, withdraw and if there is no improvement, leave.

In general: always leave the service area together. Never leave one person talking with a client while the body of volunteers goes back to the hall. Do not be alone with clients unless in a controlled environment. This is partly because of the fear of unpredictable behaviour, but also because many of our clients could reasonably be described as ‘vulnerable adults’ and public authorities insist that we should take steps to ensure the clients cannot come into danger from volunteers.

Resettlement

Resettlement volunteers organise furniture deliveries from Emmaus which is a charity that recycles furniture. Home visits sometimes do take place but you must be careful: whenever you are visiting a client at home make sure you write down the address and leave it with someone you know. Visits should be brief. Women volunteers should not be alone with male clients in their flats, and everyone should act with caution.

Hardship Fund

We operate a Hardship Fund which is intended to provide one off hardship payments that will overcome a short-term financial problem and relieve the receiver of immediate worry. Please just send the name and

Volunteers must not deal with children directly. There are public policies of screening volunteers and protecting the safety of children with which we do not comply. As we almost never see children alone, it has not proved necessary for us to adopt the cumbersome procedures necessary for organisations which do. The needs of our clients’ children should be addressed via their parents.

Obviously this rule must be interpreted in terms of common sense and charitable behaviour: occasionally we see child runaways in the service area who should be spoken to with appropriate concern.

Equality Statement

Nightwatch is committed to serving the homeless community of Croydon. Our services are available to all regardless of gender, racial origin, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability or mental state. The sole qualification to be in receipt of help from Nightwatch is to be present at the service area at 9.30pm expressing need.

Our volunteers are drawn from the community of Croydon and are accepted on the basis of their willingness and ability to make a long term commitment to the needs of the homeless. No other consideration is taken into account.

The Committee

The committee oversees resources and the interpretation of policy which is set by the Annual General Meeting that takes place in summer. It consists of a chair, secretary, treasurer, volunteer co-ordinator, fundraiser and an administrator. Committee members are happy to help, so feel free to contact them but everyone is a volunteer so time is limited. If you have problems which you can sort out yourself, please do so. For example, if volunteers expect to be short on a particular night, try to sort the problem out before asking the volunteer co-ordinator’s help.

Current voluntary organisation practice urges us to have a grievance procedure. Anyone with a complaint should take it up with their team leader. If resolution is not easily possible (or the team leader is the person complained of) we have designated the secretary as the committee member responsible for investigating and resolving grievances.

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Ethical Standards – Nightwatch

Nightwatch is committed to maintaining the highest standards in its operation. The following guidelines are presented to give clarity on our procedures regarding personal behaviour.

There are situations in which inappropriate interactions are possible: between clients and volunteers and between volunteers themselves. These guidelines are written with the understanding that some clients are vulnerable to exploitation, while some are manipulative and prone to exploit others, including volunteers.

Any inappropriate behaviour or comment by a client towards a volunteer should be reported to the team leader that night, who will judge whether it is grave enough to be reported to the volunteer co-ordinator or committee. Volunteers should immediately withdraw from conversation with a client who exhibits inappropriate behaviour towards them or uses unacceptable language.

Volunteers are expected to act in an appropriate manner, so as not to bring Nightwatch into disrepute. Volunteers are responsible for reporting any action that may endanger ourselves or our clients, or damage our reputation.

Volunteers should not be alone with clients. On occasions when it is necessary to visit a client where they are living, a volunteer should have someone with them. If solo working is inevitable, they should not enter the premises but stay at the door or meet in a public place.

Volunteers should not have relationships with clients outside of friendly assistance. If a more intimate relationship occurs, either the volunteer or client must stop engaging with Nightwatch (the volunteer must cease volunteering or the client must stop being a client).

Inappropriate language or behaviour between volunteers themselves should be challenged. If persistent, it should be reported to the team leader. If the team leader is implicated, it should be reported to the volunteer co-ordinator.

If any volunteer is concerned about the behaviour of another volunteer towards volunteers or clients, they should in the first instance discuss it with their team leader or the volunteer co-ordinator. If the volunteer is not happy then they should contact the Chair directly, or another committee member.

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Nightwatch - Legal Information

The name of the charity is Nightwatch, it is sometimes known as Croydon Nightwatch after the site of its activities. The charity number is 274925 and the mailing address is PO Box 2576, London, SE23 3ZH. The trustees over the period for which this report was compiled, the calendar year of 2022, were Jad Adams, Roger Davies, Nicky Edwards, Nana Aquah and Fiona Satiro. The secretary was Nicky Edwards.

Nightwatch is governed by a constitution which was adopted in 1976 when the charity was founded and updated in 2003 and (for minor changes requested by a funder) 2005. Its objectives are the care and treatment of persons in need who are homeless, rootless or suffering from psychological or physical infirmity or who by reason of adverse circumstances or being a discharged offender, are in need of help in acquiring a settled way of life. We are further dedicated to the education of those persons so as to develop their physical, mental and spiritual capacities that they may develop full maturity as responsible individuals and members of society, that their conditions of life may be improved.

The main activities taken in relation to these objectives are the maintenance of a meeting point in the Queen’s Service area in central Croydon every night of the year at which we meet homeless and other needy people. This reporting year we supplied food, clothing and other personal items and provided a constant, caring presence in what were often chaotic lifestyles. We gave advice and guidance. We also provided furniture and essential household items to resettle formerly homeless people into new accommodation; and assisted with household goods those who are accommodated but could not afford such items. We assisted with the provision of working clothes and other items to help people into work or education. We operated a hardship fund making one off payment to overcome short term financial problems. A breakdown of these activities is in this report, as is an account of the charity’s deployment of its more than 150 volunteers.

Trustees are elected at an Annual General Meeting from volunteers from among the active membership. Nightwatch is run by a voluntary Executive Committee elected by the Annual General Meeting.

The Committee meets four times a year to review the activities of the charity including fund raising, the approval of the annual report and accounts prior to their submission to the AGM. The Committee also oversees such issues as insurance, health and safety, assessment of risk, and compliance with legal requirements. It also reviews our contacts with Croydon Borough Council, with funding bodies and with outside agencies doing complementary work. As part of the internal control system, a budget is prepared at the beginning of the year. Management accounts are prepared each quarter, and reviewed by the committee with significant variances being investigated.

The Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each year. The financial position of Nightwatch is set out in the accompanying annual accounts. The trustees agree that an audit is not required for the financial year, but according to the provisions of the Charities Act 1993 an independent examination is required. Our independent examiner is Carol Thomson Bsc ACA (ICAEW) of 124 Ranby Road, Sheffield S11 7AL. Our bank is HSBC.

The Nightwatch practice on reserves is to maintain in a COIF account a sum at least equivalent to nine months’ unrestricted expenditure commitment corresponding to £67,000 in cash terms. The trustees are satisfied with the reserves position of the charity. As of December 2023 our reserves consist of £101,564 which will be reduced over two years by an annual spend of £20,000 on the Hardship Fund. There are no restricted reserves.

Charity law requires us as Trustees to prepare financial statements for each accounting year which record the receipts and payments of the charity for the year.

We are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable us to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011.

We also have a responsibility to safeguard the assets of the charity and to take reasonable steps to prevent fraud or any other irregularities.

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Nightwatch Annual Report 2023

Useful Numbers

Useful Numbers
Emmaus (for furniture donations)	0300 123 2001
	[e-mail]
Street Link(for street homeless people)	0300 500 0914
www.streetlink.org.uk (online referrals)
Palmer House(Hostel)	020 7870 8850
	105-107 Lansdowne Road, CR0 2BN
Croydon Council Single Homeless Service	0208 760 5530
Routes Home(for foreign nationals)	020 3092 7455
	www.mungos.org/routes-home/
Croydon Refugee Day Centre	020 8689 4527
West Croydon Baptist	Church, Whitehorse Road, CRO 2JH
[e-mail]
CAYSH(Croydon Association for the Young Single Homeless)	0208 683 0227
Croydon Turn around(14-21 year olds)	020 8760 5530
	www.croydondropin.org.uk
	51-55 South End, Croydon, CR0 1BF
Crisis Skylight	0203 848 1700
	12 Surrey Street, CR0 1RG
Rape Crisis South London	020 8683 3311
Freephone Helpline	0808 802 9999
MIND in Croydon	020 8668 2210
	[e-mail]
Albert Kennedy Trusthomelessness among LGBT+ young people:	020 7831 6562
[e-mail]	www.AKT.org.uk
Citizens Advice Bureau Adviceline	0800 144 88 48
For help claiming Universal Credit	Freephone: 0800 144 8444
	www.citizensadvicecroydon.org

www.croydonnightwatch.org.uk

Nightwatch - Homeless Charity

@WeAreNightwatch

@WeAreNightwatch

Financial donations can be sent via www.justgiving.com/nightwatchuk

PO Box 9576, London, SE23 3ZH

Email: [e-mail]

Trustees: Jad Adams MA FRHistS; Roger Davies MSc; Nicky Edwards Cover picture: Night Flowers (detail) by Matt Bannister. 2019. www.bannisterimages.com Registered Charity No 274925.

Registered Charity No 274925.

Cover pictures: Nightwatch volunteers out during 2020 by Thelma Gossel Trustees: Jad Adams MA FRHistS; Roger Davies MSc; Nicky Edwards; Nana Acquah MSc; Fiona Satiro MCIPD FRSA