North East Lincolnshire Carelink

	Page
Trustees' Report	1—8
Independent Examiner's Report	9
Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account)	10
Comparative Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account)	11
Balance Sheet	12
Statement of Cash Flows	13
Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows	14
Notes to the Financial Statements	15—23

The trustees present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026.

Objectives and Activities

Aims and Objectives

NEL Carelink’s purpose is:

Keeping vulnerable people safe and well through innovative practices and technological approaches by providing a link to their wider community.

Our Charitable Objects are:

Carelink uses practical and technological solutions to support vulnerable people to lead independent lives, feeling safe and well in their community.

Significant Activities

Carelink’s Strategic overriding activities and priorities were reviewed by the Trustees in February 2026 and comprise of -

1. Ensure sound governance –

Trustee active involvement

Robust operational and strategic management in place

Financial and Management Information in place

Staff supervised, trained and supported

A positive environment for staff to work in.

2. Maintain the current service - meeting regulatory and contractual requirements

TSA requirements including response times

ICB, NELC and Legrande.

3. Embed the impact of the digital transformation with mitigation / risk plans in place

Replace 2G with 4G units as soon as is financially possible, relying upon any surpluses to fund.

4. Develop effective marketing of the service to gain customers and achieve donations

Trial Google analytics as tool to gain new customers – measuring against the high cost

Access local/national grants for core work, added value and future business ventures if it does not divert us from our core work.

Respond to business opportunities including tendering for existing telecare monitoring services once we have replaced 2G and stabilised staffing

Seek out markets e.g., family reassurance, Learning Disability, lone working, young people.

5. Work towards maintaining an ongoing surplus to ensure long-term equipment/platform replacement programme

Ensuring costs are reduced and income maximised

Reduced cost through Lincare partnership and making ongoing savings

Explore possible future alarm provider partnerships.

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Trustees' Report (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Significant Activities - continued

6. Establish meaningful partnerships which meet our business and chartable aims, creating greater independence from commissioned contracts - in order of importance -

Lincare shared telecare service - financial security through shared resources and seeking joint monitoring contracts

Seek partnerships with other telecare services to share resource and enable a local service like whilst managing economies of scale.

Hospital Discharge Home from Hospital scheme supports customers numbers.

Later Life Partnership - promoting our service with older people through initiatives as a deliverer within this partnership with focus on engagement/marketing.

Public Benefit

The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

Achievements and Performance

Main Achievements

NEL Carelink Review of Year April 25 to March 26

After a calm 24/25 which ended with us rewinning our ICB contract and a small Legrande contract with our partners Lincare, we went into 25/26 focusing upon having better funding, settling in our 2 new contracts and exploring how to develop the service using AI. However, sudden changes to our ICB contract which led to them reducing the referrals they made by 2/3rds, led to a period of financial unrest which took up most of the year. Our forecast showed that we would lose £100K by the end of 26/27 with further losses likely to continue as customer numbers fell. We needed to lose 130hrs of staffing to save £100K which for a small team had a significant impact. The Trustees decided the fairest way was to offer voluntary redundancy to minimise the anxiety for all staff. We were grateful to the 3 staff who were happy to take it but sad we lost the expertise of those long serving individuals. We also restructured the management team as we could no longer have as many back-office hours with the loss of frontline staff. We now have our CEO, and a new deputy role managing all staff and day to day functions such as rotas, with a team leader on rota who oversees call quality, which we are still settling into. Although upsetting, our staff survey and appraisal feedback showed that staff were grateful for the approach we took. Sadly, anxiety about redundancy led to 2 further staff leaving and quarter 4 was a very difficult time for us as lost a further 64hrs of staffing we had not anticipated. All focus was on undertaking the frontline tasks of admin and operating which meant managers had little time to focus on the overall service. However, we managed to recruit new staff who are currently being trained and hope 26/27 will be more stable.

Despite the major impact of redundancy, we also undertook the following:

We purchased and are in the process of replacing over half our 2G units with 4G. Being an early adopter of digital, we used 2G units with the expectation they would last until 2030, sadly this has not been the case. Network issues which we cannot control has meant that we have had to use our growing capital replacement programme to purchase over 1500 / £230K of 4G units. We are currently in the process of replacing our 2G units with them and we expect that in the next financial year, our focus will be on replacing the remainder.

We moved back to Centre 4 after exploring our options for an office move after our fire in 2023 took us to the innovation centre. We decided that returning to Centre4 was our best option. We are pleased to be back in the community hub with its wide range of voluntary organisations which has thrived since the fire.

We gained an understanding about proactive telecare exploring Lille and MIIcare although our plans to undertake a pilot were put on hold due to lack of interest from the ICB and our own situation. We are keen to refocus upon this in future years.

By making the difficult decision around our long-term financial situation promptly, we ended the year financially sound and ready to continue to as a telecare service.

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Trustees' Report (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Main Achievements - continued

We continued to provide a high quality and locally responsive service which has been as busy as ever, working with partners to actively support and be a part of our local community response. We supported 2994 vulnerable customers (61 less than last year). Our installers provided 591 installations - 129 less than last year due to reductions in our ICB contract and we had 803 disconnections. Despite these lower customers numbers, staff are busier than ever before, with 253,183 incoming calls - 18K more than last year. Our calls continue to go up every year and more concerningly, are becoming more complex in nature, with more falls and need for ambulances and support. 433 customers contacted us to say they were fallen and hurt (231 last year) with 1,807 falls but not hurt (1548 last year). We dealt with 954 ambulance calls – 400 MORE than last year. Medication prompts have risen fivefold at 4568 prompts and staff provide 9376 general medication calls (rising sevenfold). This is an area we will need to explore to help us understand how we can work with partners to better manage this increase.

We are also dealing with more suicidal and mental health issues than in previous years – a trend that has been happening over the last 2 years.

We undertook 2,295 wellbeing calls, and 1,390 birthday calls like previous years.

Luckily, fire engine calls have reduced by 17 from last year to 57, as have smoke alarm activations, down 350 to 1130.

We continue to meet and exceed our regulator TSA targets despite how busy we are, achieving:

98.83% for answering calls within 60 seconds (target 97.5%)

99.7% for calls answered within 180 seconds (target 99%)

98.89% for fire calls answered within 60 seconds (target 96.5%)

We are forever grateful to our wonderful staff, including new starters in the last year, who continue to go that extra mile to ensure we provide a high response, high-quality service, despite the uncertainty this year brought.

Lincare partnership

Our partnership continues as 2 small independent telecare control centres sharing the same platform and acting as disaster recovery for each other. Our staff act as back-up during busy periods or if we have staff issues, providing a seamless service which customers are unaware of being different. We won a small project to support Legrande out of hours engineers which we successfully delivered and is continuing with increased income for 26/27. More established senior management within Lincoln City Council in 25/26 has resulted in an updated formal partnership agreement to further cement and clarify our working relationship which we plan to continue.

Partnership working

Locally, our continual attendance at local strategic and voluntary sector events has meant we are established partners within the local community at local authority and voluntary sector level, although we have had changes to how these are delivered this year including:

Our Later Life Partnership created with AgeUK and Friendship at Home continues but has altered as they decided to create a formal CIC structure which we felt was not the right thing for Carelink without more due diligence. However, we were keen to remain a formal delivery agent and have continued to support the Million-Pound Challenge and attending Older People days this year, the former will no longer receive any funding in future years from the Council. The Later Life CIC are focusing upon engagement activity which we will happily support.

Empower we have fully taken on the role of installing keysafe’s for our customers after many years Empower supporting us to do this.

Hospital discharge funding we continue to receive funding to instal and monitor units for people coming out of hospital and supported more individuals than ever before at 191, with just under half staying with Carelink as long term customers.

We continue to attend local strategic groups and attend various awareness days to raise our work. The ending of the ICB led to a period of great uncertainty and lack of movement within adult social care whilst the team were returned to the Council which impacted plans we had hoped to develop around using AI.

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Trustees' Report (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Main Achievements - continued

Operational Support & development

The changes to our ICB contract and funding led to us having to rethink our entire team’s structure which was a difficult decision for the Trustees and CEO to take in Oct 25. We reduced overall staff hours by 130 to help reduce our staff costs by £100K. This was managed through offering voluntary redundancy which 3 long serving staff took, leaving in quarter 4 25/26. The loss of frontline hours meant we had to relook at our management structure, moving from a CEO and 2 team leaders in the office to a CEO, deputy with a team leader Clark on shift with reduced responsibility for staffing and a focus on call quality management. The new Deputy CEO role undertaken by Leighanne now manages all day-to-day team operations from rota management and supervising installers to control room operators with support from the CEO who oversees strategic decisions. We lost 6 staff this year, 3 to redundancy, 1 to retirement and 2 due to the redundancy situation. This year was intense training and probation wise with us taking on 6 new staff, 5 of which have settled in well.

Contracts

Carelink continues to maintain its contracts with the following:

ICB contract re-won in Dec 24 led to us receiving higher installation / monitoring fees after many years being paid the same but from May 25, the ICB made the decision to no longer fund free units for those who do not meet the Care Act. This led to using losing 2/3rds of our typical referrals – see above for impact to Carelink. The contract is for 2 years with the possibility of a further 3-year extension.

NELC ex Supporting People customers who were classed as vulnerable, the contract is reducing as people no longer need an alarm, standing at 191 at the end of the year - a reduction of 45 people.

Legrand engineers out of hours contract was successfully undertaken in 25/26, and we continue to manage it jointly with Lincare, with increased funds in acknowledgement of the extra work involved.

Marketing

We moved to using a local website developer Urban Feather who supported our successful website redesign. They are working with us to explore using google analytics to ensure when website searches take place that we are the first telecare centre found for northeast Lincolnshire. We continue to use social media including Facebook to raise awareness about our service as well as attending many events, talks and working with statutory / voluntary organisations to refer/signpost to us.

Progress on specific project plans we had in 2025-26

Activities for 25/26	Progress
Continue to ensure digital works effectively - mitigating its many failures and implement communication plan to inform individuals when there are faults – updating BCP	Completed - managed many digital challenges from network, internet and platform failures and updated BCP when required. Purchased and replacing over half of the 2G with 4G.
Update working processes - BCP, Employee Handbook, policies, Compliance workbook, document online folders, Installer/Operator/Equipment Manuals	Ongoing – updated as required
Clarifying our working relationship with Lincare long term– putting in place clear processes to ensure a shared approach.	Ongoing – Lincare has new senior management team who developed a formal partnership arrangement
Seek alternative office space which better meets our needs either through renting cheaper space or looking to purchase a building.	Completed - returned to Centre4 Nov 25 after exploring various alternatives. Staff survey found staff very happy with move.
Improve our stakeholder relationships to improve direct working and explore new areas of joint working meeting Focus, CarePlus CEO’s and specifically SPA, CUCT to find areas of common interest.	Ongoing – informal chats at events although not fully pursued due to internal issues.
Implementing the new ICB tender consultation - understanding its opportunities and threats	Completed – change to contract from May 25 led to significant reduction in referrals from ICB – which had a knock-on effect on our budgeted income leading to a formal consultation with staff Oct 25 to reduce our staff numbers through voluntary redundancy to manage reduced income. Completed by Q4 25/26.

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Trustees' Report (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Seeking other control centre partnerships to expand our Lincare partnership. Engage with TSA and Jontek to help make links.	Not undertaken due to issues with ICB contract leading to reduction in income which became the priority.
Using our Lincare partnership shared platform to bid for monitoring contracts, broadening our income streams	Not undertaken due to issues with ICB contract leading to reduction in income which became the priority.
Exploring telecare and telehealth equipment to broaden our range. Producing a report providing a road map/ business case for moving to providing equipment to support independence meeting ICB/Council areas of concern.	Paper developed and approach agreed but no interest from ICB. Put on hold due to ICB contract changes.

Financial Review

Financial Position

Despite the serious turbulence due to the ICB contract from this year, we have made a £62,510 working / EBITDA surplus - this also covers the £25.5K redundancy payments made Feb/March 26. However, this translates after depreciation as a £22,316 loss. This was not helped by the extra cost of £22,109 disposal of fixed assets caused by moving from 2G to 4G and writing off relatively new 2G units due to poor network support. The positive working surplus does hide within it a more complex picture for the year, including an £18.8K overspend in our overall costs of £1,013,562. As mentioned, there is the £25.5K redundancy payment which has come out of general’s staff costs and extra staff employed at the start of the year to manage long term sickness.

The final reserves picture is low but positive with our current cash ending at £240k, and net current assets at £285k - only just covering our required 3 month closing reserves. This is due to spending £220.5K on 1465 4G units in this financial year (that's over half of all our units). At the start of the new financial year, we will have enough to cover our updated 3-month operating costs (£260K) and be at £0 with our capital replacement programme.

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Trustees' Report (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Future Developments

Specific activities to be undertaken 2026-27

Stabilising Carelink’s staff team considering cost savings / restructure –

Operating with new staff to meet new core hours – 598hrs

Establishing new managerial roles and responsibilities – CEO / Deputy

Streamlining activities and understanding how many hours we need to function

2G ongoing failures – replacing ALL 2G units with 4G over the coming year

Replacing first tranche of 1315 4G units bought by the end of Sept 26 through new customers and replacements.

If our finances allow – explore extending our current 4G SIM deal or another deal to purchase more units to ensure full replacement of all units by end of financial year

Monitor impact of using google analytics to increase customers. Continue if successful or look at alternative advertising / marketing strategies.

Continue to ensure digital works effectively – mitigating its many failures and implement communication plan to inform individuals when there are faults – updating BCP

Clarifying our working relationship with Lincare to see if we move forward together long term. If ending – agree an exit strategy. If continue, agree –

Tender for shared cloud platform ready for 27/28

Explore LCC involvement in Carelink strategic management

Explore sharing staff resource

Bid for telecare monitoring contracts

See clarity about Lincolnshire authority landscape to help clarify direction and whether to establish links with N Lincs and LHP.

Seeking other control centre partnerships to expand (or replace) our Lincare partnership. Engage with TSA and Jontek to help make links.

Improve our stakeholder relationships to improve direct working and explore new areas of joint working meeting Focus, CarePlus CEO’s and specifically SPA, CUCT to find areas of common interest.

Revisit ICB / NELC meeting Katie Brown to understand how they are moving forward and see where we can support them – after ICB restructure.

Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document

North East Lincolnshire Carelink is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 20 April 1995. It is registered as a Charity with the Charity Commission.

Trustee Selection Methods

Carelink currently has 5 Trustees, and we recruit through word of mouth. Previously, we would recruit based upon specific roles individuals had within the local area e.g. working with the local authority, fire brigade. However, as it has become more difficult to recruit, we have focused upon Trustees who have the skills and abilities to provide good governance and can use their abilities to provide guidance in how Carelink operates, supporting it in the local area to grow and develop. Potential Trustees are invited to attend several meetings before being voted in by other Trustees as a Trustee with voting rights – typically at the AGM. Skills and training are discussed within meetings with support provided if specific training is required. Annually, we check all Trustees are wishing to stay members, have no conflict of interest and that the Chair and Vice Chair are voted in.

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Trustees' Report (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Trustee Selection Methods - continued

The Trustees meet 7 times a year covering 4 quarterly meetings, a budget setting meeting, an AGM and review of the annual accounts meeting. Decisions about strategic direction are decided by a vote at the meetings or if a decision is required quickly, agreed through confirmation within e-mail & telephone calls.

Reference and Administrative Details

Trustees

D R Batty

M Cracknell

C I Etheridge (resigned 14/11/2025)

J Horton

S Smith

S Wakefield

J Cowling (appointed 01/06/2026)

Other Personnel

S Wakefield - Chair

Vickie Fisher - CEO

Charity Number

1046115

Company Number

03047967

Registered Office

Centre4 17a Wootton Road

Grimsby

North East Lincolnshire

DN33 1HE

Independent Examiner

A G Smith FCCA

A G Smith & Co Ltd

Chartered Certified Accountants

Unit 8 Laceby Busines Park
Laceby
Grimsby
North East Lincolnshire
DN37 7DP

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Trustees' Report (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Small Company Rules

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to companies subject to the small companies regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees' report was approved by the board of trustees and signed on its behalf by:

S Wakefield

Trustee

14/09/2026

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of North East Lincolnshire Carelink

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of North East Lincolnshire Carelink

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2026.

Responsibilities and Basis of Report

As the charity 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

Since the Company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, which is one of the listed bodies.

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:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
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
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.

A G Smith FCCA

16/09/2026

Unit 8 Laceby Busines Park
Laceby
Grimsby
North East Lincolnshire
DN37 7DP

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account)

				2026	2025
		Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Total funds	Total funds
	Notes	£	£	£	£
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM:
Donations and legacies	3	288	21,797	22,085	29,648
Charitable activities	4	906,441	46,578	953,019	881,093
Investments	5	11,808	-	11,808	10,444
Other	6	4,334	-	4,334	6,350

		922,871	68,375	991,246	927,535

EXPENDITURE ON:
Charitable activities	8	(927,932 )	(85,630 )	(1,013,562 )	(905,293 )

NET (EXPENDITURE)/INCOME		(5,061 )	(17,255 )	(22,316 )	22,242

Transfers between funds	18	(12 )	12	-	-

NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS		(5,073 )	(17,243 )	(22,316 )	22,242
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS:
Total funds brought forward		666,237	48,831	715,068	692,826

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD	18	661,164	31,588	692,752	715,068

The notes on pages 14 to 23 form part of these financial statements.

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Comparative Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Comparative Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account)

				2025
		Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Total funds
	Notes	£	£	£
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM:
Donations and legacies	3	648	29,000	29,648
Charitable activities	4	842,073	39,020	881,093
Investments	5	10,444	-	10,444
Other	6	6,350	-	6,350

		859,515	68,020	927,535

EXPENDITURE ON:
Charitable activities	8	(831,421 )	(73,872 )	(905,293 )

NET INCOME		28,094	(5,852 )	22,242

Transfers between funds	18	768	(768 )	-

NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS		28,862	(6,620 )	22,242
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS:
Total funds brought forward		637,375	55,451	692,826

TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD	18	666,237	48,831	715,068

The notes on pages 14 to 23 form part of these financial statements.

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Balance Sheet

As At 31 March 2026

Balance Sheet

				2026	2025
		Unrestricted funds	Restricted funds	Total funds	Total funds
	Notes	£	£	£	£
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible Assets	13	379,957	27,741	407,698	266,223

		379,957	27,741	407,698	266,223
CURRENT ASSETS
Stocks	14	5,171	-	5,171	6,994
Debtors	15	88,290	1,999	90,289	67,660
Cash at bank and in hand		238,150	1,848	239,998	463,989

		331,611	3,847	335,458	538,643
Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year	16	(50,404 )	-	(50,404 )	(89,798 )

NET CURRENT ASSETS (LIABILITIES)		281,207	3,847	285,054	448,845

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES		661,164	31,588	692,752	715,068

NET ASSETS		661,164	31,588	692,752	715,068

FUNDS OF THE CHARITY
Restricted Funds				31,588	48,831
Unrestricted Funds				661,164	666,237

TOTAL FUNDS	18			692,752	715,068

For the year ending 31 March 2026 the charitable company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

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

On behalf of the board

S Wakefield

Trustee

14/09/2026

The notes on pages 14 to 23 form part of these financial statements.

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Statement of Cash Flows

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Statement of Cash Flows

		2026	2025
	Notes	£	£
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash (used in)/generated from operations	1	(9,498 )	94,366

Net cash (used in)/generated from operating activities		(9,498 )	94,366

Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of tangible assets		(226,897 )	(28,782 )
Proceeds from disposal of tangible assets		596	-
Interest received		11,808	10,444

Net cash used in investing activities		(214,493 )	(18,338 )



(Decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents		(223,991 )	76,028
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year	2	463,989	387,961

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year	2	239,998	463,989

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Notes to the Statement of Cash Flows

1. Reconciliation of (expenditure)/income to cash (used in)/generated from operations

	2026	2025
	£	£
Net (expenditure)/income	(22,316 )	22,242
Adjustments for:
Interest income	(11,808 )	(10,444 )
Depreciation of tangible assets	62,717	58,293
Loss on disposal of tangible assets	22,109	6,357
Movements in working capital:
Decrease in stocks	1,823	2,135
Increase in trade and other debtors	(22,629 )	(22,382 )
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other creditors	(39,394 )	38,165

Net cash (used in)/generated from operations	(9,498 )	94,366

2. Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents, as stated in the Statement of Cash Flows, relates to the following items in the Balance Sheet:

	2026	2025
	£	£
Cash at bank and in hand	239,998	463,989

3. Analysis of changes in net funds

	As at 1 April 2025	Cash flows	As at 31 March 2026
	£	£	£
Cash at bank and in hand	463,989	(223,991)	239,998

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North East Lincolnshire Carelink

Notes to the Financial Statements

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Notes to the Financial Statements

1. General Information

North East Lincolnshire Carelink is a private company limited by guarantee, incorporated in England & Wales, registered number 03047967 and registered charity number 1046115 . The registered office is Centre4 17a Wootton Road, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, DN33 1HE.

2. Accounting Policies

2.1. Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements

The financial statements 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 charitable company is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention. The financial statements are presented in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity.

2.2. Fund Accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for a specific purpose.

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor.

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

2.3. Incoming Resources

Recognition of income	Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity becomes entitled to, and virtually certain to receive, the income and the amount of the income can be measured with sufficient reliability.
Income with related expenditure	Where income has related expenditure the income and related expenditure is reported gross in the SoFA.
Donations and legacies	Voluntary income received by way of grants, donations and gifts is included in the SoFA when receivable and only when the Charity has unconditional entitlement to the income.
Government grants	Grants are included in the SoFA when the charity has met all performance criteria and the amount of the income can be measured with sufficient reliability.
Volunteer help	The value of any volunteer help received is not included in the accounts.
Investment income	This is included in the accounts when receivable.

2.4. Donated Goods and Services

All donated goods, facilities and services received are recognised within incoming resources and expenditure at an estimate of the value to the Charity.

2.5. Resources Expended

Recognition of expenditure	Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis. Expenditure includes any VAT that cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates.
Espenditure on raising funds	These comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income, fundraising trading costs and investment management costs.
Expenditure on charitable activities	These comprise the costs incurred by the Charity in the delivery of its activities and services in the furtherance of its objectives, including the making of grants and governance costs.
Governance costs	These include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the Charity, including any audit/independent examination fees, costs linked to the strategic management of the Charity, together with a share of other administration costs.
Other ependiture	These are support costs not allocated to a particular activity.

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Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

2.6. Tangible Fixed Assets and Depreciation

Tangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of the fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on the following bases:

Leasehold	10% straight line
Units/Control Centre Equipment	3-7 years straight line
Fixtures & Fittings	3-7 years straight line

2.7. Leasing and Hire Purchase Contracts

Assets obtained under finance leases are capitalised as tangible fixed assets. Assets acquired under finance leases are depreciated over the shorter of the lease term and their useful lives. Assets acquired under hire purchase contracts are depreciated over their useful lives. Finance leases are those where substantially all of the benefits and risks of ownership are assumed by the charitable company. Obligations under such agreements are included in the creditors net of the finance charge allocated to future periods. The finance element of the rental payment is charged to the statement of financial activities so as to produce a constant periodic rate of charge on the net obligation outstanding in each period.

Rentals applicable to operating leases where substantially all of the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor are charged to the statement of financial activities as incurred.

2.8. Stocks and Work in Progress

Stocks and work in progress are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value after making due allowance for obsolete and slow-moving stocks.

Donated items of stock are recognised at fair value which is the amount the Charity would have been willing to pay for the items on the open market.

2.9. Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and include cash in hand and deposits held at call with banks, other short-term highly liquid investments that mature in no more than three months from the date of acquisition and are readily convertible to a known amount of cash with insignificant risk of change in value, and bank overdrafts.

2.10. Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax as all its income is charitable and applied for charitable purposes.

2.11. Pensions

The charitable company operates a defined pension contribution scheme. Contributions are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities as they fall due. Amounts not paid are shown in accruals in the Statement of Financial Position. The assets of the plan are held separately from the company in independently administered funds.

2.12. Trade and other debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlment amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepared net of any trade discounts.

2.13. Trade and other creditors

Short term creditors are measured at the transaction prie. Other creditors and provision are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measure or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

3. Income from Donations and Legacies

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Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

			2026
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	funds	funds	funds
	£	£	£
Donations and gifts	288	-	288
Grants	-	21,797	21,797

	288	21,797	22,085

			2025
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	funds	funds	funds
	£	£	£
Donations and gifts	648	-	648
Grants	-	29,000	29,000

	648	29,000	29,648

4. Income from Charitable Activities

			2026
	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	Total funds £
Equipment rental and monitoring service	869,914	-	869,914
Sale of equipment	36,525	-	36,525
Contracts	-	46,579	46,579

	906,441	46,578	953,019

			2025
	Unrestricted funds £	Restricted funds £	Total funds £
Equipment rental and monitoring service	790,247	-	790,247
Sale of equipment	51,826	-	51,826
Contracts	-	39,020	39,020

	842,073	39,020	881,093

5. Investment Income

	2026	2025
	Unrestricted	Unrestricted
	funds	funds
	£	£
Bank interest receivable	11,808	10,444

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Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

6. Other Income

	2026	2025
	Unrestricted funds	Unrestricted funds
	£	£
Other income	4,334	6,350

7. Net Income/(Expenditure)

The net (expenditure)/income is stated after charging/(crediting):

	2026	2025
	£	£
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets - owned	62,717	58,293
Gain/Loss on disposal of tangible fixed assets	22,109	6,358

8. Analysis of Expenditure

			2026
	Activities undertaken directly	Support costs (see note 9 )	Total
	£	£	£
Equipment rental and monitoring service	187,652	-	187,652
Sale of equipment	24,587	-	24,587
Staff costs	586,463	-	586,463
Unallocated support costs	87,096	127,764	214,860

	885,798	127,764	1,013,562

			2025
	Activities undertaken directly	Support costs (see note 9 )	Total
	£	£	£
Equipment rental and monitoring service	184,476	-	184,476
Sale of equipment	37,709	-	37,709
Staff costs	501,402	-	501,402
Unallocated support costs	65,841	115,865	181,706

	789,428	115,865	905,293

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Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

9. Support Costs

	2026
	Unallocated support costs
	£
Employee costs	11,723
Premises expenses	23,463
General administration	63,927
Governance costs	28,651

	127,764

	2025
	Unallocated support costs
	£
Employee costs	7,762
Premises expenses	19,630
General administration	51,234
Governance costs	37,239

	115,865

10. Independent Examiner's Remuneration

	2026	2025
	£	£
Independent examination of the financial statements	2,431	2,633

11. Staff Costs

Staff costs were as follows:

	2026	2025
	£	£
Wages and salaries	528,020	461,147
Social security costs	48,519	31,987
Other pension costs	9,924	8,268

	586,463	501,402

No employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) for the reporting period of more than £60,000.

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Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

12. Average Number of Employees

Average number of full time equivalent employees during the year was a follows:

	2026	2025
	Number	Number
Charitable Activities	13	13
Administration	2	2
	15	15

Average number of employees (headcount) during the year was as follows:

	2026	2025
Charitable Activities	21	21
Administration	2	2

	23	23

13. Tangible Assets

	Units/Control Centre Equipment	Fixtures & Fittings	Total
	£	£	£
Cost
As at 1 April 2025	385,046	17,033	402,079
Additions	222,519	4,378	226,897
Disposals	(39,351 )	-	(39,351 )

As at 31 March 2026	568,214	21,411	589,625

Depreciation
As at 1 April 2025	125,906	9,950	135,856
Provided during the period	58,595	4,122	62,717
Disposals	(16,646 )	-	(16,646 )

As at 31 March 2026	167,855	14,072	181,927

Net Book Value
As at 31 March 2026	400,359	7,339	407,698

As at 1 April 2025	259,140	7,083	266,223

14. Stocks

	2026	2025
	£	£
Finished goods	5,171	6,994

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Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

15. Debtors

	2026	2025
	£	£
Due within one year
Trade debtors	65,393	63,574
Other debtors	24,896	4,086

	90,289	67,660

16. Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year

	2026	2025
	£	£
Trade creditors	34,187	29,134
Other creditors	1,803	1,697
Taxation and social security	10,061	21,481
Accruals and deferred income	4,353	37,486

	50,404	89,798

17. Pension Commitments

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charitable company in an independently administered fund.

During the year the charge to the statement of financial activities in respect of defined contribution schemes was £9,924 (2025: £8,268).

At the balance sheet date contributions of £1,803 (2025: £1,697) were due to the fund and are included in creditors.

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Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

18. Movement in Funds

	As at 1 April 2025	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	As at 31 March 2026
	£	£	£	£	£
Unrestricted funds
General:
General unrestricted fund	256,237	922,871	(927,932 )	149,988	401,164
Designated:
Shutdown Costs	230,000	-	-	30,000	260,000
Digital Upgrade	180,000	-	-	(180,000)	-

	410,000	-	-	(150,000 )	260,000


Total unrestricted funds	666,237	922,871	(927,932 )	(12 )	661,164


Restricted funds
COVID Digital Upgrade project	40,150	-	(12,409)	-	27,741
Later Life Partnership	8,681	(1)	(8,692)	12	-
Home First	-	46,579	(46,579)	-	-
Nutrio	-	4,000	(2,152)	-	1,848
Later Life Partnership 2026	-	13,115	(13,115)	-	-
Access to Work	-	4,682	(2,683)	-	1,999


Total restricted funds	48,831	68,375	(85,630 )	12	31,588




Total funds	715,068	991,246	(1,013,562 )	-	692,752

	As at 1 April 2024	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	As at 31 March 2025
	£	£	£	£	£
Unrestricted funds
General:
General unrestricted fund	307,375	859,515	(831,421 )	(79,232 )	256,237
Designated:
Shutdown Costs	180,000	-	-	50,000	230,000
Digital Upgrade	150,000	-	-	30,000	180,000

	330,000	-	-	80,000	410,000


Total unrestricted funds	637,375	859,515	(831,421 )	768	666,237


Restricted funds
COVID Digital Upgrade project	52,559	-	(12,409)	-	40,150
Hospital Discharge	2,047	-	(1,279)	(768)	-
Later Life Partnership	-	25,000	(16,319)	-	8,681
Winter Warmer	65	-	(65)	-	-
Lottery	780	-	(780)	-	-

...CONTINUED

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Notes to the Financial Statements (continued)

For The Year Ended 31 March 2026

Home First	-	39,020	(39,020)	-	-
Nutrio	-	4,000	(4,000)	-	-


Total restricted funds	55,451	68,020	(73,872 )	(768 )	48,831




Total funds	692,826	927,535	(905,293 )	-	715,068

Restricted funds:

COVID Digital Upgrade Project	Funding to upgrade the analogue operating system to a digital system.
Hospital Discharge	Funding to provide digital lifeline units to 80 patients being discharged from hospital.
Later Life Partnership	Funding to encourage and refer older persons for their full benefits.
Winter Warmer	To provide 40 vulnerable at risk individuals with hampers to include food, clothing and blankets.
Lottery	Funding for a full time member of staff for one year to carry out digital replacements and wellbeing checks.
Home First	To provide monitor and support to 160 people upon discharge with a Telecare Devide.
Nutrio	Funding to provide digital lifeline units to 40 patients being discharged.
Later Life Partnership 2026	Funding to provide entitlement/financial checks for 56 people, and health & wellbeing referalls for 24 people.
Access to Work	Funding for training & equipment to enable staff to work.

Designated funds:

Digital Upgrade	Ringfenced funds for the upgrate of the analogue operating system to a digital system.
Shutdown Costs	Ringfenced funds to cover costs of shutdown should the charity be no longer able to operate.

The transfer of funds from the Digital Upgrade fund to general funds was to fund the purchase of assets in the year due to increased technical requirements.

19. Transactions with Trustees

None of the trustees received any remuneration or any other benefits from an employment with the charity or a related entity during the current or previous year.

No trustee expenses have been incurred.

20. Related Party Disclosures

Key management personnel (including directors) received compensation of £54,956 (2025: £51,022)

21. Company limited by guarantee

The company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital.

Every Trustee of the Charity undertakes to contribute to the assets of the Charity, in the event of a winding up, such an amount as may be required not exceeding £10.

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