Finance Score: 2

Governance Score: 9

Support Score: 11

Strong growth: +2
No PartB

Good trustee age range: +3
Dynamic board: +3
Gender balanced board: +3

Large volunteers +5
Grant maker support: +6

Overall GiG Score: 22

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
There have been no material income shortfalls in recent 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	Fundraising Cost £k	Total Funds £k	Unrestricted Funds £k	Mths Rsrvs	Staff	Volun- teers
31/03/23	£433	£363	£70	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	414
31/03/22	£287	£280	£7	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	397
31/03/21	£329	£242	£86	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	380
31/03/20	£183	£128	£55	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	306
31/03/19	£262	£118	£144	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	279
31/03/18	£122	£92	£30	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/03/17	£122	£113	£9	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/03/16	£97	£113	£-16	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/03/15	£90	£91	£-2	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/03/14	£111	£87	£24	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/03/13	£78	£65	£13	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0
31/03/12	£58	£40	£18	£0	£0	£0	n/a	0	0

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Highest pay bracket: less than £60,000

Established: 13 years

http://www.linkvisiting.org

Admin@linkvisiting.org

01189798019

Charity Commission for England and Wales

Listed activities

Other Charitable Purposes

GiG Classification

Services for the elderly

How it operates

Provides advocacy/advice/information
Provides human resources

Where it operates

Wokingham,

Who it helps

Elderly/Old People
People With Disabilities

Who works here?

Unknown number of employees
414 volunteers

Who's supporting them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following significant 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
Garfield Weston Foundation	£15,000
Masonic Trust	£14,400
Charles Hayward Foundation	£5,000

Specific Donations

Amount	When Months	To be used for
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 - 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 ....more 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 digital pilot that will include the setting up of online friendship groups for older isolated members of the community to interact as well as create more capacity within the team. Link Visiting Scheme will also use the funding to improve IT equipment run training and revise its business plan.
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 ....more 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 and loneliness.
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 ....more 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 people and volunteers. They aim to reduce loneliness and social isolation in the Wokingham Borough, to promote friendship and improve the health, well-being and independence of their clients.
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 ....more 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

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Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (5)

Current Trustees appointed

Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 28-71

ANTONY CHARLES SAMUEL SWEET Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Retired

KULDIP SINGH ATHWAL Appointed: 2022, Occupation: None

LAURA KIM MITCHELL Appointed: 2020, Occupation: Ceo Berkshire Vision

ALLYSON GAYLE MANICOM Appointed: 2017, Occupation: Trustee

JOHN MALLAGHAN (Chair) Appointed: 2017, Occupation: Trustee

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