REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 08429159 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1159377

Report of the Trustees and

Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2025

for

HEALTHWATCH KINGSTON UPON THAMES

Page

Reference and Administrative Details

1

Report of the Trustees

2

to

6

Independent Examiner's Report

7

Statement of Financial Activities

8

Balance Sheet

9

Notes to the Financial Statements

10

to

14

TRUSTEES

James David Waugh (resigned 10.4.24)

Elizabeth Meerabeau (resigned 13.2.25)

Scotty McLeod

Richard Charles Allen

Justina Jang (resigned 12.8.24)

Eeva Crawley Treasurer (resigned 20.3.25)

Kathryn Yates Chair

Victoria Helen Priest

David Linton (appointed 11.3.25)

Luke Washington (appointed 7.3.25)

Virginia Stella Daisy Collins (appointed 21.2.25)

Karen Dempster (appointed 9.4.25)

REGISTERED OFFICE

Siddeley House Suite 3

2nd Floor

50 Canbury Park Road

Kingston upon Thames

Surrey

KT2 6LX

REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER

08429159 (England and Wales)

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER

1159377

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Ark Accountancy Limited

Chartered Certified Accountant

56-58 High Street

Ewell

Epsom

Surrey

KT17 1RW

TREASURER

Eeva Crawley (appointed 28.8.22)

Richard Charles Allen (resigned 28.8.22)

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Objectives and Aims

The charity's primary objectives are:

- Providing information and advice about local health and social care services.

- Representing the views and experiences of the public to health and care providers.

- Enabling local people to participate in the development and delivery of health and care services.

- Training volunteers and the wider community to scrutinise and monitor these services.

Public Benefit

- All activities focus on improving health and social care services for Kingston residents and signposting them to appropriate resources.

- Efforts aim to mitigate the effects of service reductions and provide reliable information.

Grantmaking

No grants were made during the financial year.

Volunteers

- 66 volunteers contributed 294 days to support the charity's objectives.

- Volunteer contributions included:

- Visited communities to promote our work

- Collected experiences and supported their communities to share their views

- Carried out Enter and View visits to local services to help them improve.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Charitable Activities

Key work areas for 2024-25 included:

NHS and social care transformation:

- Continue to monitor the commissioning, provision and transformation of NHS and social care in Kingston and the South West London Integrated Care System.

Promoting positive health and reducing health and care inequalities:

- Continue to monitor inequalities, in particular the health and care needs of children (0-5 years), women, and people with short, intermittent and long-term medical conditions.

Learning disability, autism and neurodiversity:

- Continue to support meaningful engagement with local people with a learning disability, autism, and neurodiversity in the work of Healthwatch Kingston, including Enter and View training and visits.

- Continue to provide chair and administrative support for the 'Kingston All Age Learning Disability Partnership Board'.

Mental health and wellbeing:

- Continue to provide independent chair and administrative support for the 'Kingston Mental Health and Wellbeing Group'.

- Continue to collaborate with Kingston Voluntary Action to support community engagement about bereavement services.

Young people (13-17 years):

- Continue to support Youth Out Loud! (YOL!) to review health and care services.

- Continue to support delivery of the Digital Youth Project to add to the library of short health and care films and podcasts by young people for young people.

- Continue to support YOL! to develop its online and social media.

Residential care, nursing home and supportive living:

- Continue membership of the 'Kingston Care Governance Board'.

- Enter and View a series of Kingston based care and nursing homes, focusing on living environment, mealtime experiences, and meaningful activities for residents.

Safeguarding and the prevention of harm:

- Continue membership of the 'Kingston Safeguarding Adults Board'.

- Continue to deliver the Kingston Making Safeguarding Personal project, including 'Kingston Safeguarding Voices'. - Continue support for the London Safeguarding Adults Board, London Safeguarding Voices and Conference

Planning Groups to ensure people with lived experience of safeguarding are integral to safeguarding systems and processes across London.

Open Meetings

- Hosted opportunities for public discussion on health and care services with service providers.

Reaching Out

- 1,048 people shared their experiences of health and social care services with us, helping to raise awareness of issues and improve care.

- 5,774 people came to us for clear advice and information on topics such as General Practice (GPs, nurses etc.), NHS dentists, mental health support and safeguarding.

Championing local voices

- We published 17 reports, 5 podcasts, 1 short film about the improvements people would like to see in areas like;

Bereavement support, care for Disabled people, hospital food, and community services.

- Our most popular reports this year were our series of our 11 Enter and View reports on residential care.

Our Impact

Healthwatch Kingston made significant strides throughout the year by focusing on key issues that matter to local communities. Impact included:

- Engaging more broadly with people about safeguarding, we launched our Kingston Safeguarding Voices Group. This group became a new subgroup of the Kingston Safeguarding Adults Board.

- Empowering local people to take part in some of our Enter and View visits, through a refreshed training programme, our group of 'Authorised Representative' volunteers continued to grow.

- Asking decision-makers for greater visibility at the Kingston Place Committee, we now have quarterly agenda time slots to review our report recommendations.

- Engaging young people about social media and health, supported them to talk about the pressures, doubt, and anxiety they felt about using social media.

- Contributing to the Care Quality Commission review of Kingston Council's adult social care provision, which spotlighted the robustness of our quality assurance work in care homes in Kingston.

- Membership of the Kingston Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2025 Steering Group ensured more vulnerable people had their say about their pharmacy needs in our borough.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Principal Funding Sources

- Core funding of £122,000 from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.

- Additional income from project-specific funding.

Reserves Policy

The reserves requirement for 2024/25 was set at £42,277.88.

FUTURE PLANS

The following work areas were prioritised for 2025-26:

NHS and social care transformation

- Continue to monitor the commissioning, provision and transformation of NHS and Social Care in Kingston and the 'SWL Integrated Care System'.

Promoting positive health and reducing health and care inequalities

- Continue to monitor inequalities, in particular, the health and care needs of people living with short, intermittent and long-term conditions.

- Review Healthwatch Kingston community engagement data from the past 5-years to explore what insights and cross-cutting themes exist.

- Learning disability, autism, and neurodiversity

- Continue to support meaningful engagement with local people with a learning disability in the work of Healthwatch Kingston, including Enter and View training.

- Continue to provide independent chair and administrative support for the 'Kingston All Age Learning Disability Partnership Board'.

- Continue membership of the 'Kingston Autism and ADHD Partnership Board'.

Mental health and wellbeing

- Continue to provide independent chair and support for the 'Kingston Mental Health and Wellbeing Group' and the Kingston & Richmond Place Mental Health Committee.

- Continue to collaborate with Kingston Voluntary Action to support community engagement about bereavement services, in particular autistic people and children and young people with a learning disability.

Young People (13-17 years)

- Continue to support Youth Out Loud! (YOL!) to review health and care services.

- Continue to support delivery of the Digital Youth Project to add to the library of health and care films and podcasts by young people for young people.

- Continue to support YOL! to develop its online and social media.

Residential care, nursing home and supportive living

- Continue membership of the 'Kingston Care Governance Board'.

- Enter and View a series of Kingston based care, nursing and supported living homes, focusing on mealtime experiences, meaningful activities for residents and living environments.

Safeguarding and prevention of harm

- Continue membership of the 'Kingston Safeguarding Adults Board'.

- Continue to deliver the Kingston Making Safeguarding Personal project, including Kingston Safeguarding Voices.

- Continue support for the London Safeguarding Adults Board, London Safeguarding Voices and Conference

Planning Groups to ensure people with lived experience of safeguarding are integral to safeguarding systems and processes across London.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing Document

The charity is controlled by its governing document, the Articles of Association, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, as defined by the Companies Act 2006.

Recruitment, Appointment, Induction and Training of New Trustees

New appointments in the year:

- David Linton (Treasurer, appointed 11.03.25)

- Virginia Stella Daisy Collins (appointed 21.02.25)

- Luke Washington (appointed 07.03.25)

- Karen Dempster (appointed 09.04.25)

Organisational Structure

- The Board determines priorities and oversees the operational work carried out by the staff.

- The CEO provides regular updates and makes recommendations to the Board.

Statutory Statements

- Healthwatch Kingston upon Thames operates as an independent entity, licensed to use the Healthwatch trademark for statutory activities.

- The Healthwatch Kingston upon Thames Board, comprising eight voluntary members, provides oversight and strategic direction. The Board met four times in 2024-25 to review budgets, approve projects, and manage risks.

Volunteer Involvement

- Volunteers provide governance and participate in decision-making.

Obtaining People's Experiences

- We ensure the public's voice is heard through phone, email, social media, and community forums.

Responses to Recommendations

- We had one provider who did not respond to requests for information or recommendations. South West London Healthwatch organisations submitted a joint request for dentistry commissioning data on 11 December 2023 to the North East London ICB (Dr Penny Dash, Chair). Despite multiple follow-up requests from ourselves and the South West London ICB, we still had not received an adequate response as of October 2024. At that point, we independently identified another source for the data. There were no issues or recommendations escalated by us to the Healthwatch England Committee, so there were no resulting reviews or investigations.

Engagement with Decision Makers

- Regular discussions with Kingston Adult Social Services, the Health Overview Panel, and Integrated Care System stakeholders.

Enter and View

- 12 Enter and Views took place (and/or reported on) during 2024-25.

Healthwatch Representatives

- Healthwatch Kingston actively represented the public at various boards, including:

-Royal Borough of Kingston Partnership Board.

-Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Patient and Engagement Committee.

-Kingston Place-Based Partnership Committee.

.

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 4 November 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

Kathryn Yates - Trustee

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of HEALTHWATCH KINGSTON UPON THAMES ('the Company')

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2025.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act').

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

1.	accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by Section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

2.	the accounts do not accord with those records; or

3.	the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of Section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

4.

the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities (applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)).

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.

Mary E Ryan

Ark Accountancy Limited

Chartered Certified Accountant

56-58 High Street

Ewell

Epsom

Surrey

KT17 1RW

5 November 2025

31.3.25

31.3.24

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

funds

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

-

136,000

136,000

135,000

Charitable activities

Charitable activities

-

52,716

52,716

75,024

Total

-

188,716

188,716

210,024

EXPENDITURE ON

Charitable activities

Charitable activities

-

199,081

199,081

185,688

Administration costs

-

-

-

(632

)

Total

-

199,081

199,081

185,056

NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

-

(10,365

)

(10,365

)

24,968

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

-

90,334

90,334

65,366

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

-

79,969

79,969

90,334

31.3.25

31.3.24

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

Total

funds

funds

funds

funds

Notes

£

£

£

£

CURRENT ASSETS

Debtors

7

-

2,100

2,100

29,982

Cash at bank

-

79,882

79,882

64,161

-

81,982

81,982

94,143

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year

8

-

(2,013

)

(2,013

)

(3,809

)

NET CURRENT ASSETS

-

79,969

79,969

90,334

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES

-

79,969

79,969

90,334

NET ASSETS

-

79,969

79,969

90,334

FUNDS

9

Restricted funds

79,969

90,334

TOTAL FUNDS

79,969

90,334

The charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 31 March 2025.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for

(a)	ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records that comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and

(b)

preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of each financial year and of its surplus or deficit for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as applicable to the charitable company.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to charitable companies subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 4 November 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

Kathryn Yates - Trustee

1.	ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Fixtures and fittings

-

33% on cost

Computer equipment

-

50% on cost

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

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.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Hire purchase and leasing commitments

Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

2.	NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):

31.3.25

31.3.24

£

£

Other operating leases

12,550

10,408

3.	TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31 March 2025 nor for the year ended 31 March 2024.

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2025 nor for the year ended 31 March 2024.

4.	STAFF COSTS

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

31.3.25

31.3.24

Charitable activity staff

7

4

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000.

5.	COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted

Restricted

Total

funds

funds

funds

£

£

£

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM

Donations and legacies

-

135,000

135,000

Charitable activities

Charitable activities

62,524

12,500

75,024

Total

62,524

147,500

210,024

EXPENDITURE ON

Charitable activities

Charitable activities

62,524

123,164

185,688

Administration costs

-

(632

)

(632

)

Total

62,524

122,532

185,056

NET INCOME

-

24,968

24,968

Transfers between funds

(12,093

)

12,093

-

Net movement in funds

(12,093

)

37,061

24,968

RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS

Total funds brought forward

12,093

53,273

65,366

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD

-

90,334

90,334

6.	TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

Fixtures

and

Computer

fittings

equipment

Totals

£

£

£

COST

At 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025

786

3,527

4,313

DEPRECIATION

At 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025

786

3,527

4,313

NET BOOK VALUE

At 31 March 2025

-

-

-

At 31 March 2024

-

-

-

7.	DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

31.3.25

31.3.24

£

£

Trade debtors

-

27,250

Other debtors

2,100

2,100

Prepayments

-

632

2,100

29,982

8.	CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

31.3.25

31.3.24

£

£

Other creditors

1,065

-

Accrued expenses

948

3,809

2,013

3,809

9.	MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

Net

movement

At

At 1.4.24

in funds

31.3.25

£

£

£

Restricted funds

RB Kingston

87,863

(8,924

)

78,939

Youth out Loud

2,471

(1,441

)

1,030

90,334

(10,365

)

79,969

TOTAL FUNDS

90,334

(10,365

)

79,969

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming

Resources

Movement

resources

expended

in funds

£

£

£

Restricted funds

RB Kingston

136,000

(144,924

)

(8,924

)

Youth out Loud

-

(1,441

)

(1,441

)

SWL ICB

6,034

(6,034

)

-

LSV

26,100

(26,100

)

-

SWL Community Services

3,582

(3,582

)

-

RBK Enter & View

17,000

(17,000

)

-

188,716

(199,081

)

(10,365

)

TOTAL FUNDS

188,716

(199,081

)

(10,365

)

Comparatives for movement in funds

Net

Transfers

movement

between

At

At 1.4.23

in funds

funds

31.3.24

£

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

General fund

12,093

-

(12,093

)

-

Restricted funds

RB Kingston

50,505

25,265

12,093

87,863

Youth out Loud

2,768

(297

)

-

2,471

53,273

24,968

12,093

90,334

TOTAL FUNDS

65,366

24,968

-

90,334

Comparative net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Incoming

Resources

Movement

resources

expended

in funds

£

£

£

Unrestricted funds

SW London & St George's MH Trust

5,000

(5,000

)

-

LSAB/HWE

25,525

(25,525

)

-

Kingston Voluntary Action

7,000

(7,000

)

-

SLAM /CMHT

24,999

(24,999

)

-

62,524

(62,524

)

-

Restricted funds

RB Kingston

135,000

(109,735

)

25,265

Youth out Loud

-

(297

)

(297

)

RBK Safeguarding Care Worker

3,500

(3,500

)

-

SWL ICS

4,000

(4,000

)

-

RBK Resilience

5,000

(5,000

)

-

147,500

(122,532

)

24,968

TOTAL FUNDS

210,024

(185,056

)

24,968

10.	RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2025.