Our Money, as at 31 December 2023

In addition to its almshouses at Croydon and Mitcham, the Croydon Almshouses Charities and Croydon Relief in Need have financial investments amounting to just under £23 million. It also owns eight commercial and sixteen residential properties which it lets.

These financial investments and property holdings have been built up over many years. The Board's duty is to ensure that the Charities' money is invested wisely and safely, so that we make enough money to support the running of the Charities now and in the future.

The majority of our financial investments are held in funds managed by Newton Investment Management Limited and a smaller amount are with M&G Investments UK.

Where we get our money from

The charities' money comes mainly from the interest and dividends we get on our investments and the rent from our property portfolio.

The Board aims to generate enough money from these investments to support the running of the almshouses and enable it to transfer money each year to the Croydon Relief in Need charity.

The rest of our money comes mainly from the residents, who pay a ‘monthly maintenance contribution’ to live in the almshouses as part of the community.

In 2023 the total income of the Croydon Almshouse Charities was just under £1.7 million. Chart 1 shows where the money came from.

How we spend our money

Our main spending is on the costs of running the almshouses including staffing, repairs and maintenance, and gas and electricity.

Funds are transferred from Croydon Almshouse Charities to the Croydon Relief in Need charity, which is then used to make grants to the Croydon voluntary and community sector, and a small number of individual grants.

We also incur costs in managing our investments and property portfolio, and in the running of the charities (our administration costs).

In 2023 the total charitable spending of Croydon Almshouse Charities was £1,683,306), which includes the grant to Croydon Relief in Need of £256,163.

Chart 2 summarises what we spent it on. In addition we spent £266,025 on managing our property portfolio and funds in order to generate £1,022,994 of investment income.

Any income that is not spent during the year is carried forward to support the running of both the Charities in future years thorough our Reserves Policy and Strategy Delivery Fund. In 2022 there was a planned loss of £261,757 of unrestricted funds (before planned transfers from reserves and changes in the capital value of listed investments). This loss was primarily because of essential building works.

The Charities' accounts

For reports and financial statements for Croydon Almshouse Charities and Croydon Relief in Need see the Charity Commission website.

The accounts for Croydon Almshouse Charities are audited independently by Bryden Johnson Limited and are then sent to the Charity Commission. Croydon Relief in Need accounts are independently examined by Bryden Johnson Limited. Both sets of accounts received unmodified audit reports for the period.

The Croydon Almshouse Charities Trustee Company Limited also produces accounts. The dormant company had no activity in the year other than holding the title to the assets of the charities and is therefore not required to have an audit. The accounts have been filed as required at Companies House.