Strong foundations, future challenges

The resumption of normal activities after the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the refurbishment of the staging area at the club, saw an anticipated increase in our expenditure. Generous levels of personal donations, combined with sizeable grants from Urban Health (Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charitable Trust) and Garfield Weston, enabled us to meet all our operational costs, despite the lack of ongoing funding from BBC Children in Need.

It was disappointing however that we were unable to realise our ambition to find £50,000 of funding to support the staging area redevelopment. This has made inroads into our property redevelopment reserves and will mean a re-think of future plans.

Looking ahead

Although our position at the end of 2022 was broadly in line with our targets, this reflected securing funding for 2023 in advance. More worryingly, we’re conscious that the outlook for 2023 carries greater income challenges.

It’s clear from our experience that the priorities for grant providers are changing significantly.

Funders, perhaps driven by political direction, seem more inclined to favour COVID-19 recovery and the more northerly regions associated with ‘levelling up’. While targeting funding in these areas is undoubtedly important and much-needed, it does have consequences for areas of deprivation in the southeast. Replacing income streams is becoming increasingly challenging for us, and we are being less successful with grant applications.

The full accounts are, as ever, available from us or the Charity Commission.