Finance Score: 2
Governance Score: 9
Support Score: 14
  • Strong growth: +2
  • No PartB
  • Good trustee age range: +3
  • Dynamic board: +3
  • Gender balanced board: +3
  • Large volunteer base +5
  • Overall weighted support: +9
Overall GiG Score: 25 ?

LINK VISITING SCHEME

Our aim is to tackle the serious impact of loneliness and isolation among older people living in Wokingham Borough. This is primarily achieved through regular home visits from volunteers. We also coordinate social events and activities which enables our clients to build relationships with others in similar circumstances.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • This charity has been very successful in attracting volunteers relative to its size
  • There has been strong growth in spending over the last 5 years
  • A significant proportion of recent income was derived from major grant makers including the Government
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and gender and dynamic in terms of composition

Financial issues to consider:

  • A PartB annual return has not been required and so detailed financial information is not available from the online data

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?
Sources of Income ?
Y/E Income
£k
Spending
£k
Surplus/
Deficit £k
Fundraising
Cost £k
Total
Funds £k
Unrestricted
Funds £k
Mths
Rsrvs
Staff Volun-
teers
31/03/23£433£363£70n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/22£287£280£7n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/21£329£242£86n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/20£183£128£55n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/19£262£118£144n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/18£122£92£30n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/17£122£113£9n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/16£97£113£-16n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/15£90£91£-2n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/14£111£87£24n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/13£78£65£13n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/12£58£40£18n/an/an/an/an/an/a

Highest pay bracket: less than £60,000
Established: 14 years

http://www.linkvisiting.org

Admin@linkvisiting.org

01189798019

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies House
UN SDGs
?
Listed activities
  • Other Charitable Purposes
GiG Classification
  • Practical support, advice & companionship
How it operates
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides human resources
Where it operates
  • Wokingham,
Who it helps
  • Elderly/Old People
  • People With Disabilities

Who supports them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Major supporters in last 5 years
National Lottery Community Fund£113,368
Postcode Society Trust£50,000
Garfield Weston Foundation£30,000
Masonic Trust£14,400
Charles Hayward Foundation£5,000
McCarthy Stone Foundation£4,750
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
Postcode Society Trust - Millionaire Street 2023 12w4
£35,000 18/12/2023
Funding gave them a game-changing financial boost to their recruitment drive, helping to rapidly build their network of essential volunteer befrienders.
Co-Operative Group - Grant to The Link Visiting Scheme
£2,602 21/10/2023
We would like to employ a part-time project coordinator, continue to provide food in our sessions, and we require funding for venue hire, volunteer training and transport.
Garfield Weston Foundation - Multi-Year Grant (3 Years) award
£15,000 07/07/2023
36
Bringing the Gift of Friendship
McCarthy Stone Foundation - 2023 Spring Community Grants
£4,000 02/05/2023
Grants up to £7,500 to support programmes that connect and engage older people through befriending and social inclusion
Postcode Society Trust - Unrestricted Funding
£15,000 03/04/2023
Funding activities to reduce loneliness and social isolation amongst older people by bringing generations together in friendship.
McCarthy Stone Foundation - 2022 Christmas Connections
£750 05/12/2022
Small grants up to £1,000 to support activities connecting older people in the community at Christmas
Garfield Weston Foundation - Main Grants award
£15,000 12/11/2021
Operating a Pathway From Loneliness to Social Well-Being
National Lottery Community Fund - Learning from Covid-19: re-shaping and improving a great small charity
£59,818 11/06/2020
Link Visiting Scheme will use funding to reduce loneliness and isolation amongst older people promote friendship improve health and wellbeing and allow people to be more independent during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The group will run a ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Extra help for vulnerable residents during Covid-19 crisis
£9,300 07/05/2020
6
The funding will be used to deliver wellbeing parcels to older people and families during the coronavirus pandemic as well as provide regular contact with vulnerable people at risk of isolation. The project aims to reduce the feeling of isolation ....more
Charles Hayward Foundation - Grant to Link Visiting Scheme
£5,000 18/03/2020
Link Express and Friendship Groups for older people
Masonic Trust - MCF Small Grant
£14,400 10/02/2020
Unrestricted core funding for small charities
National Lottery Community Fund - Friendship Gardens: Building on our Success in Confronting Loneliness
£44,250 31/01/2020
The funding will be used to develop Link Visiting Scheme's current core offering of services by setting up a Friendship Garden project to increase the number of people benefiting per year and appeal to a wider, harder-to-reach audience of both older ....more
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Grant to Link Visiting Scheme
£25,000 28/03/2014
This charity provides a volunteer based home visiting scheme for isolated residents of Wokingham together with social activities aimed at combating isolation, improving quality of life and encouraging community involvement
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (5)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 28-72
  • ALLYSON GAYLE MANICOM Appointed: 2017, Occupation: Trustee
  • ANTONY CHARLES SAMUEL SWEET Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Retired
  • JOHN MALLAGHAN (Chair) Appointed: 2017, Occupation: Trustee
  • KULDIP SINGH ATHWAL Appointed: 2022, Occupation: None
  • LAURA KIM MITCHELL Appointed: 2020, Occupation: Ceo Berkshire Vision
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 02/12/2010, number: 1139248
  • Registered at Companies House on 18/08/2010, number: 07349468
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Complaints policy and procedures
  • Conflicting interests
  • Financial reserves policy and procedures
  • Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
  • Internal risk management policy and procedures
  • Investment
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding policy and procedures
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
  • Social media policy and procedures
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
  • Volunteer management
Filing Record
12 returns made; all on time
Main office

The Link Visiting Scheme
The Charity and Community Hub
Waterford House
Erftstadt Court
Wokingham
RG40 2YF

Objectives

1.1.1TO COMBAT SOCIAL ISOLATION AND TO PROMOTE THE WELFARE OF PRIMARILY ELDERLY PERSONS AND ANY OTHER PERSONS WHO ARE ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY BY THE PROVISION OF REGULAR HOME VISITS, SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AND TELEPHONE SUPPORT1.1.2 TO RELIEVE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN CHARITABLE NEED BECAUSE OF AGE SICKNESS OR POOR HEALTH BY ANY PROPER MEANS AS THE TRUSTEES THINK FIT AND INCLUDING (WHERE APPROPRIATE BUT NOT BY WAY OF LIMITATION) THE PROVISION OF ADVICE; THE PROMOTION OF GOOD PRACTICES TO COMBAT SUCH CONDITIONS AND THE PROVISION OF RESOURCES TO ALLEVIATE OR PREVENT SUCH NEED

Defined Area of Benefit:

WOKINGHAM BOROUGH AND SURROUNDING AREA

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving

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