2022-03-31-accounts

Creating lasting improvement

Our annual report and statutory accounts 2021/22

1 | With You Annual Report 2021/2022

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Contents

Impact and service delivery	06
A last welcome from Alex	08
Belinda’s welcome	10
Our impact in numbers	12
The case for change	14
Stop the cycle of trauma	16
Changing direction for young people	20
Targeting services to boost engagement	24
Engaging Liverpool sex workers	28
Supporting veterans	32
Reducing harm	34
Expanding our reach	38
Our work in Scotland	42
Creating space for change	44
Looking forward - our work in 2022/2023	48
Structure, governance and management	52
Financial overview	54
Governance overview	57
Fundraising in 2021/2022	68
Reference and administrative details	70
Independent auditor's report	74
Financial statements	78

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We provide

Everyone should feel comfortable getting the support they need for issues with drugs, alcohol or mental health.

We work with people on their own goals, whether that’s staying safe and healthy, making small changes or stopping an unwanted habit. We give people support in a way that’s right for them either face to face in their local service, community or online.

We provide a free and confidential service without judgement to more than 100,000 people a year. We use our expertise to improve the help available and raise awareness around drugs, alcohol and mental health so that more people can get support.

Drug and alcohol adult's services

We are commissioned to run drug and alcohol services across England and Scotland. This includes many different services from engagement and advice, to harm reduction, treatment (including clinical interventions), recovery/community support, to supporting the Armed Forces communities with funding from service charities. As our core work, this is our largest source of income and the majority of our staff are employed in drug and alcohol services.

Young people’s services

We run 13 stand alone young people’s services and a number of others that are integrated within the adults’ services, across the country. Services are developed locally around the needs of the young people and provide a holistic approach to support, focusing on reducing risk-taking behaviour, building resilience, self-esteem and well being in order to make positive change.

We Are With You.

Mental health support

We run IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) in Surrey and Kent. This is talking therapies for adult anxiety disorders and depression. We also provide tailored mental health support to frontline organisations to support them with the demands of their roles.

Webchat

Webchat is our free award-winning and confidential online chat service for anyone in the UK. Webchat allows people to instantly connect with a trained recovery worker online. This service helps us to reach thousands of people who are not able to access traditional treatment services (including women, carers and people seeking support anonymously due to fears around safety).

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Impact and service delivery

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A last welcome from Alex

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This will be my last statement as Chair of We Are With You. After six demanding, stimulating and inspiring years, I will be vacating my role in October.

It’s been a great honour to be part of this highly effective charity. I’ve personally seen the difference it makes to people affected by mental health issues and substance misuse. How it helps them to rebuild and gain a sense of purpose in their lives.

causing unprecedented strain on existing services. Meanwhile deaths from drug and alcohol use are at the highest levels since records began. In Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs report, she was damning about the impact funding cuts have had on treatment and recovery services.

The scale of the issues we exist to tackle are both significant and growing. Mental health problems are increasing at an alarming rate,

We welcomed the findings of the report and echoed her call for urgent investment and

change in how services are delivered. The Black recommendations are a catalyst for bringing about much needed longer-term change in the sector. As one of the leading service providers in England and Scotland, we recognised that we too needed to change how we work.

During the six years I’ve chaired this charity I have witnessed the impact of funding cuts, the increased competition for less well funded contracts and the demands placed on overstretched frontline staff. I also very quickly learned the importance of managing the delicate balance of retaining existing contracts while gaining new ones.

To maintain this balance and ensure the financial stability of the charity, we have greatly improved our decision making around the contracts we bid for, and we’ve sharpened up how our bids are presented. I’m heartened to see the difference this has made and how it has greatly improved our relationships with Commissioners. It’s also enabled our turnover to reach a very satisfactory level, with good prospects and stability for the future.

Over the past year we have continued with our change programme to radically improve the impact we make to service users. We’ve invested in our staff, created services around the specific needs of service users and we’re developing an innovative new approach to drug and alcohol treatment.

Measuring our effectiveness and impact has become the golden thread running through our work. Through a combination of evidence-based decision making, professional competence and prudent judgement, We Are With You is in a good position to be at the forefront of driving up the performance and impact of our sector.

I’m proud of how agile We Are With You was in very quickly adapting to the online digital space during the pandemic and beyond. By growing our digital capabilities to provide online support through our webchat, we have extended our

reach by appealing to those who are more likely to engage in digital services, like women and those who wish to stay anonymous.

Despite the magnitude of the challenges we faced, our staff showed resilience and tenacity. I particularly want to thank Belinda, who has managed the charity so well, and the Board of Trustees, for their dedication, professionalism and the support they have given me.

Reflecting on my time at We Are With You, nothing can match the satisfaction of seeing service users become much happier in their lives as a direct result of the charity’s work. I’ll never forget hearing from one service user who shared with me the change in their own life after receiving support from We Are With You. Their home life was happier, they felt more confident in their everyday actions and felt much better able to manage their issues with alcohol and drugs.

It’s heartening to leave this charity in a good place. But we don’t want to just maintain our momentum, we want to accelerate it. We want to transform treatment and recovery services. The charity is in a good place to do this and I look forward to watching the charity deliver lasting change for the sector.

Alex Carlile

Lord Carlile of Berriew CBE QC Chair of Trustees

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Belinda’s welcome

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At the start of this review period, lockdown restrictions began to ease. Since then life has gradually returned to ‘normal’ though normal now is very different. The scars of the Covid-19 pandemic for those with substance misuse and mental health issues, are still surfacing.

services specifically for them. Crucially, to do this, we must overcome the barriers preventing them from accessing treatment, while at the same time address the multiple needs and inequalities many face. This past year we have focused on developing services for specific service user groups, such as

Trauma can take time to reveal itself and we need to be equipped and ready to respond to the ongoing increase in demand for our services.

As we continue to emerge, we are determined to adapt and evolve to better meet the needs of our service users. This means developing

women and veterans, and gathering evidence on their needs.

The publication of Dame Carol Black’s report shone a light on the impact of funding cuts and failings that have plagued the sector over the past 10 years. Three years ago we undertook a thorough review of our own impact. That led to the creation of our strategy, focused on radically improving outcomes for people and extending our reach so we can help many more people. We recognised we, along with other service providers, had not made enough significant progress in helping people to recover from issues with drugs and alcohol, or in driving down the number of drug and alcohol-related deaths.

While the findings in the Black report didn’t come as a surprise, the recommendations were certainly reassuring. That’s because so many closely relate to our strategy focused on creating lasting change for service users by offering the very best evidence-based recovery support. We also very much welcome the call for greater investment, because, like everyone in the sector, we’ve seen and experienced the damaging impact of insufficient funding.

This past year local authorities have been provided with an additional £80 million government funding for drug treatment. This is the biggest increase in drug funding for over 15 years. It has paid for much-needed improvements to treatment for people in the criminal justice system and for additional harm reduction and recovery activity, such as the roll out of our successful peer-to-peer naloxone programme. This boost in funding has also enabled us to be more ambitious in our plans and begin a sector-leading project to develop treatment pathways that will revolutionise the care service users receive.

Of course we can’t achieve lasting sector leading change alone. Recognition of the complex needs of many of our service users has driven an even greater focus on partnership working. This past year we have built meaningful partnerships that recognise

the interconnections between substance use, mental health, housing services and the criminal justice system. I’m proud of the partnerships we’ve developed and sustained this year with the police, justice system, NHS, social services and other agencies to strengthen our impact and effectiveness.

We have continued to exploit the advantages and possibilities of technology to expand our reach. We know for some groups of service users, digital and remote support is more accessible than many of the more traditional in-person forms of support. We’ve expanded our digital offer for LGBTQ+ communities and we’ve developed Europe’s first ever phone line for people who are using drugs alone to ensure their safety.

Every day I’m constantly inspired by the generosity, commitment and dedication of our people. It is thanks to them and their tireless determination to affect real change for those struggling with their mental health and substance use, that we are able to achieve so much.

I’d like to thank all the service users who courageously shared their stories of trauma in this report. They took a big step in asking for help and by doing so, they’ve changed their lives. Every story shows the trusted, compassionate relationship the service users have with We Are With You staff. I’m proud of how our people live up to our name We Are With You every single day.

Belinda Phipps Chief Executive Officer

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Our impact in numbers

We worked with

adults 75,027 in England and Scotland to overcome issues with drugs and alcohol

We supported 5,175 young people aged 11 – 24 with drug, alcohol and mental health issues

167 volunteers gave more than

hours 12,789 to support our work and role model recovery

We received

£2.4m in grants and donations from supporters, donors and trusts and foundations

13,759 people began treatment with us in our mental health programme

18,000 people chatted with a trained advisor on our award winning webchat service

visits 1,225,000

to our information and advice website

Trained

185 and distributed peers 5,500 naloxone kits as part of our harm reduction programme

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The case for change

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“Funding cuts have left treatment and recovery services on their knees.”

In July 2021, Dame Carol Black published part two of her Independent review of drugs, focusing on drug and alcohol prevention and recovery services. It was powerful. It was damning. It was accurate.

to £750m, and services not accessible to everyone who needs them are just some of the reasons why our sector has struggled to affect real change.

We know only a fraction of people who experience problems with mental health, drugs or alcohol are in touch with services. Most don’t know where to go to get help, or who to ask. For those who are in treatment, the outcomes aren’t good enough.

The stark truth is that services have not delivered for the majority of people living with substance misuse or mental health issues. Ten years of austerity, sector-wide funding reductions of circa 25% from £100bn

The reason for hope

When services do work, they change lives. Across England and Scotland, we’ve seen and delivered this change, working in close partnership with local authorities, police, the NHS and other agencies.

accessing treatment and developed ways to overcome them.

This includes our work this year to provide veterans with veteran-specific services, offering women-only drop-in times and female keyworkers, webchat services for LGBTQ+ and an alcohol helpline specifically for over 50s.

Dame Carol Black’s recommendations have driven us to closely examine our own work in the sector, and what changes we can make to improve the recovery and life chances of all those living with substance misuse and mental health issues.

Through offering these specifically targeted services, we’ve made considerable progress in improving access and engagement in treatment. But, we need to do more. We need to continue to develop our services to become more flexible and meet people where they are at, and go far beyond the confines of fixed buildings.

This includes a focus on trauma-informed service delivery, stronger partnership working with the NHS, police, housing services, specialist organisations and other agencies, and investment in the skills of staff. The changes and developments we have made this past year respond and relate to many of the Black recommendations, and show how we are working to improve the outcomes for service users. In this report we’ve highlighted just some of the work we did over the year to create change.

Recovery takes many forms and keeping people alive through harm reduction is vital so they are not denied the opportunity to get better. During the pandemic, Covid restrictions changed a lot of our service delivery. Over the past year, as restrictions have lifted, we have re-established and refreshed our harm reduction work. Our successful peer-to-peer naloxone programme was expanded beyond Redcar and Cleveland and is now in six new areas enabling us to reach thousands of people not in active treatment.

There’s no one-size fits all. That’s why we have designed services tailored to the needs of specific groups. We’ve sought to find out what the barriers are preventing them from

Those who inspire hope

A special thank you to Tom, Lesley, Bill, Penny, Jason and Steve who all courageously shared their stories with us for this annual report. Their stories show that it’s not an easy journey, but it is possible to create lasting change.

They, and the thousands of others we work with every day, continue to inspire us to be better, to do more and, ultimately, to create more opportunities for lasting change. Many lives depend on it.

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Goal 1: Radically improve people’s chances of getting better

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“There were days I was so depressed, I couldn’t put on my trousers”

Stop the cycle of trauma

Many of our service users have unhealed trauma from their own childhood. They arrive with us only after they’ve reached a place of despair, when the pain is so unbearable self-medication is one of the only ways out.

majorly depressed. Two years of being my wife’s full time carer left me a broken man.

“We were both using. Our recreational use of alcohol and coke was our way of brushing our problems under the carpet. Drugs made life doable and covered over all the emotional trauma.

To support people to make lasting changes and stop the cycle of trauma we deliver services using a trauma informed approach and interventions. We enable parents to become the parents they really want to be. When Bill Banks came to We Are With You, his focus was on creating a better life for his children. Bill faced the prospect of losing his four children unless he made a major change. We Are With You worked with Bill to ‘treat his trauma’, overcome his issues with drugs and build a home for his children.

“After a huge argument we separated, but it was

complicated because our two oldest children aren’t biologically mine, meaning I couldn’t take them with me. I was desperate to keep the kids safe so I called social services. The children were put on a child protection plan.

“Both social services and the children’s school said it would be better if I returned home, so I did. It was then that I buckled. There were days I was so depressed I couldn’t put on my trousers. This is when I found heroin. It helped me to keep my despair in-check. It kept me functioning just about enough to get the kids dressed and take them to school.

“There were days I was so depressed, I couldn’t put on my trousers”

“I was a heavy lift rigger working in shipyards, a husband and father, a musician. But gradually they all faded away to make room for what I had become – a user.

“When I was using, everything was okay. It was when I couldn’t get hold of heroin that things went downhill very quickly. Having had a full life before using, I knew that I didn’t start at

“My wife had been ill for a number of years. I left work to look after her and the children. Our relationship was troubled and chaotic and I was

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the bottom, but I ended up there. I wanted to get back to the man I used to be, the one who played in gigs and loved music and laughter, but I didn’t know how to do it.

almost a year they worked so hard. But it was complicated. Both my wife and I had our own issues. I relapsed in a major way.

“It was crunch time. I was told social services were going to take the children. It was clear my wife and I couldn’t continue as we were. Natalie and Lucia talked me through my options. I could put the children into respite care while I went into rehab. Or, I could leave my wife, stop using drugs and keep the children.

“I’d heard We Are With You was the place to go if you wanted to stop using drugs. Lucia, my support worker, did an assessment and I was given a script for buprenorphine. Lucia introduced me to her colleague Natalie, a family worker.

“Both Natalie and Lucia worked with me and my wife to get us to a place where we could improve the lives of our children. Natalie helped me to organise myself and structure my time. She worked closely with our social worker and made sure there was clear communication between all the professionals who were involved with our family.

“I’ll never forget Natalie telling me that it was going to be difficult, but she’d be there for me, and once I stop using drugs we’d be able to work towards my future with the children. Natalie and Lucia worked so well with social services and that made a huge difference to my relationship with them. They made sure all my paperwork was correct and advocated for me at every turn.

“My brain was broken with depression and anxiety so I couldn’t think straight. Natalie and Lucia facilitated my recovery, not just from the drugs, but from the trauma I’d suffered. For

“Natalie gave me strategies to improve my mental health. She told me that to do the best for my family I had to treat my own trauma and

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focus on my recovery. Only then would I be in a position to help my children to heal.

“Then, on 29 May 2021, I got a call from social services to pick up the children from school. social services had removed my wife from the home and I was able to move back in. There’s no way this would have happened without We Are With You. I consider myself very lucky. I was gifted a team of people who are remarkably good at their jobs.

“Without Natalie and Lucia, and my wonderful social worker, I’d never have been able to put everything back together. I’ve been supported every step of the way. Even when I relapsed there was no judgement – just a focus on getting back on track.

“Music now fills our home. We laugh. We dance. We sing. I’ve started a guitar building business and I’m volunteering for a local charity mentoring young people. The kids are happy and I’m so grateful I get to watch them grow up and support them with whatever life throws their way.”

Cornwall Family Team

Bill and his family were supported by the Cornwall Family Team. The team take a trauma informed approach to inform care plans and interventions. They work closely with the local authority, maternity safeguarding and other agencies to provide a holistic approach to achieving the best possible outcomes for families.

At a glance, in 21/22 the team worked with:

99 families

165 children

“Music now fills our home. We laugh. We dance. We sing.”

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Changing direction for young people

Black recommends:

substance, the young person is given the option to join the diversion scheme and if they engage, they avoid a formal charge.

Action to be taken to divert drug users from the criminal justice system into treatment.

We Are With You has partnered with the University of Kent who are undertaking a randomised control trial. There is currently a lack of robust evidence in the UK to understand what works when diverting young people from violence and the criminal justice system. ReFrame will help plug this gap, enabling not only We Are With You, but also other providers in the sector, to understand what works and use this evidence to build impact-led services across the UK in the future.

What we did in 2021/22:

Set up a multi-site three year pilot to divert young people from the criminal justice system by connecting them with a trained drug and alcohol worker for restorative sessions.

Building on what works

Building on our knowledge from our Kent Youth Drug Intervention Scheme, in February we launched Re-Frame, a trial of a new approach to supporting young people in possession of drugs in Cornwall, Kent and Sefton.

Re-Frame started towards the end of 2021/22, but we are already seeing positive results.

In the first six months, Re-Frame has:

Funded by the Youth Endowment Fund, ReFrame is a three year project that aims to divert young people from the criminal justice system by connecting them with a trained drug and alcohol worker for restorative sessions. The programme is delivered in partnership with the police and crime commissioners, treatment providers and other local partners. At the point of arrest for possession of a Class B or C

• reached 112 young people

• 76 of those are taking part in the trial

• achieved 90% attendance rate

• by the end of the three years, we aim to have worked with 400 young people.

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“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad I was stopped.”

“It changed things for me in a good way”

Tom* was out with his friends when he was stopped by the police who found cannabis on him. This one moment could have led to Tom entering the criminal justice system at just 14. But Tom was diverted and avoided a formal charge by agreeing to a referral to Re-Frame, where he had two meetings with Re-Frame worker Jenny Nash.

Over the course of the two meetings Jenny and Tom discussed the law, relationships and being safer in places where drugs and alcohol are being used. Tom explains why he’s grateful he got caught, and how thanks to Re-Frame, his approach to drugs has diverted him away from getting in trouble in the future.

“I tried not to look suspicious when I spotted the two police officers. As they approached us I felt my heart beating. Before they could find it themselves, I admitted I had some weed on me.

“I feared the counsellor would be rude and condescending. But as soon as I met her I felt so much better. She was really nice, fun to talk to and made me feel way more relaxed. I thought I was going to get moaned at, but instead I learnt so much.

“Straight away I felt I could trust her and I could see she knew what she was talking about. We chatted about how I used drugs with friends and she explained how to do them more safely if I was going to do them. It was fascinating to hear about the chemical compounds and what they do to the brain and the heart.

“Those two meetings with my counsellor totally changed my approach to drugs. It’s made me act more mature and be careful with what I’m doing. I’m very aware of how safe I’m going to be and I’ve since talked to my friends about taking drugs safely.

“It’s also made me aware of how much I was smoking. I don’t want to be unfit so I’ve scaled back. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m glad I was stopped. If I hadn’t I’d probably be sitting somewhere munged out in public and acting embarrassingly.

“The day the police caught me turned out to be a pretty major event for me. It totally changed things for me in a good way. I’ve got just two more years at school and then hopefully university. As for after that, who knows, maybe I might become a drugs counsellor and help people change direction like me.”

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*name changed to protect identity

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Targeting services to boost engagement

“What I want more than anything in the world is to get out of the refuge and into a home of my own."

Black recommends:

Investment to increase capacity and services for under-served groups, including non-opiate users and young people.

What we did in 2021/22:

Published a report into how treatments and services can be improved for women. Created a new specialist clinic for sex workers and provided targeted support to veterans, and LGBTQ+ community.

To radically improve people’s chances of getting better, we have to create services that work for them - to meet them where they are at. Over the past 12 months we’ve sought to better understand barriers preventing specific groups from accessing our services and adapted them.

Catching women who are falling through the cracks

Shame, stigma, fear, trauma, abuse - there are many barriers preventing women from engaging with drug and alcohol treatment. The impact of this is grave. In England and Wales, the rate of drug-related deaths among women has been increasing for over ten years. There is a similar picture in Scotland, where drug-related deaths among women have been increasing at a much faster rate compared to men. Men make up the vast majority of people who attend drug services and services are often based on their needs. This can make services daunting and intimidating places for women.

To shine a light on the thousands of women who are falling through the cracks, we researched the type of support available to

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women and their specific needs in mind, they make a big difference.

women who use drugs, their experiences of treatment and how services can be improved to support these women.

In November, we published the research findings in our report, A system designed for women? It sets out a series of recommendations for services, Commissioners and policymakers to create more accessible and welcoming environments for women. Well received by policy makers and Commissioners, it is already being used to build more appropriate services for women.

We spoke to women from across the UK, to better understand their experiences of seeking support for their drug use. We heard how women who have already faced traumatic experiences and setbacks throughout their lives – such as abuse, domestic violence, cultural stigma and family breakdown – are held back from getting support by services unable to cater for their needs. For women from different and diverse communities, the barriers are amplified by services that lack cultural sensitivity and often employ a universal approach to women. We also heard when services have been designed with

“I’m changing my life”

Lesley has smoked cannabis since she was 12, but it was when Lesley was hit hard by a number of devastating setbacks, her smoking

spiralled. Lesley, a domestic abuse survivor, lost her home, was separated from her children and could no longer work. A visit to We Are With You gave her the tools she needed to change her life.

“Whenever things got bad, weed was the thing I turned to. It got to the point where my body couldn’t sleep without it. My ex was always in and out of prison. When he was home he was abusive, aggressive and a big smoker. My smoking soon followed his and spiralled from there.

“The last five months have been the most horrible of my life. Everything got turned on its head. I lost my home, got separated from my kids, my dad died and I had to leave my job and move into a refuge. My whole identity went. Smoking was all I had left.

“At the refuge I smoked all day long - usually eight or nine spliffs a day. I no longer had a job, or children or a home to focus on. I was so unhappy and hated the way my life has turned out. The refuge staff suggested I contact We Are With You to help me get better. I thought if there was ever a time to do it, it’s now. I can’t live my life in a haze. I was so ready for something new.

“I spoke to a lovely lady from the charity. She invited me to the office. I felt a mixture of nerves and relief. It took a lot for me to take this step. Weed has been part of my life for so long, it was hard to imagine life without it.

“The lady from We Are With You gave me lots of tips to help manage my smoking. They

“I can’t live my life in a haze. I was so ready for something new.”

also put me on some courses. I did the drug and alcohol course and the intuitive thinking course to help me control my thoughts. The courses made me aware that whatever addiction I have, I’m in control of it.

“We Are With You helped me in a major way. The advice they gave me and the respect they showed me made me feel strong enough to stop smoking. Everyone from We Are With You spoke to me really decently. By not judging me they made me feel comfortable with them.

“I’m really trying. Every day I focus on keeping myself distracted. What I want more than anything in the world is to get out of the refuge and into a home of my own. I want my children back. I want my job back. I want my life back. I want to feel normal.

“This year my life has been turned upside down, so now is the time for me to make a new one. I have so much life to live for, but I don’t want to do it in a cloud of smoke. We Are With You helped me to make a change and make something of myself. I’m going to grab it.”

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“Since I’ve been with We Are With You I’ve not committed an offence in five years, I’ve not taken any drugs in nine months and I’m over six years sober”

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Engaging Liverpool sex workers

Women who use drugs and are sex workers are subject to even greater stigma, and are often at more risk of drug-related harms. These women are more likely to experience violence and higher-risk sex and often find it difficult to engage with a drug service.

service was created to meet the needs of this high risk and hard to reach group.

“Through our outreach work we had a cohort of 40 women we simply couldn’t get into the office, there were too many barriers. The ADDER funding gave us an opportunity to develop a service that overcame these barriers and provided the women with reasons to engage with us. Many of the women have chaotic lives, so it was important we were based in a location close to them. We chose a location in the heart of the red light area for our weekly clinic.

Funding from the Government’s ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) programme enabled We Are With You to develop a service specifically for sex workers in Liverpool. Through our research we heard how women-only spaces helped the women to engage with drug treatment. We also understood the importance of being able to meet women’s various needs in one appointment, within the community, to limit the need for them to attend multiple appointments with different organisations.

“Importantly, the service had to be traumainformed. It had to be a safe space, and one that could meet their many and varied needs. We worked with a number of organisations so the women could access different services in one visit. This has grown in the six months we’ve been open and they’re now able to see the sexual health nurse, obtain STI tests and contraception, talk to someone about housing

Guided by this knowledge and insight, working with Liverpool City Council, we set up a sex workers healthcare hub in Liverpool in November. Kellie Hendley, Service Manager explains how the

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issues, harm reduction, safety and access clothes, toiletries and food parcels.

reach women who would have typically never engaged with us. During the six months we’ve been open, 20 women unknown to us attended the clinic and started opiate substitute treatment on their first visit.

“We’re piloting the use of Buvidal, an long-acting injection to help prevent withdrawal symptoms and reduce the urge to misuse other opioids. The women have a lot going on so it can be quite typical that they fall in and out of getting their prescriptions, so a monthly injection can work well for them.

“We support the women in a holistic way. I’m proud of the service and how it has removed barriers and enabled us to reach women we never were able to during outreach. Our ultimate goal is to get them out of the cycle they are in and work alongside them to put them in a position where they can build a brighter future.”

“Gradually, as the women told their friends about the clinic, more came through our doors. This word of mouth referral has enabled us to

“We support women in a holistic way.”

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ADDER accelerator programme in Liverpool

Black recommends:

The government invests, by the end of year 5, an additional £552 million in the treatment system.

What we did in 2021/22:

Using £1.7 million from Liverpool City Council, we set up a specialised team to deliver interventions.

We Are With You is the lead provider in delivering ADDER for Liverpool City Council. Project ADDER aims to ensure people are offered a health based approach to tackling their drug use and turning their lives around, diverting them away from the criminal justice system.

Meet Penny

“I had quite a good upbringing but dad was a big drinker. As I got older I fell in with the wrong crowd. It escalated when I came to Liverpool. I ran away from a violent relationship. Then crack came into play and my life went downhill. I was sleeping at the front of the Albert Dock. I stole off anyone. My life was just downtrodden. Then I met Julie from We Are With You, and Julie said I’m going to get you to a safe place.

In August we were provided with £1.7m in funding to set up a specialised team to deliver a number of services and interventions for specific service user groups. The funding has enabled us to recruit 43 people in roles such as group workers, youth workers, domestic abuse workers and a mother and baby worker. From county lines, to cannabis cafés, to youth diversions schemes we are across all aspects of drug use in Liverpool.

“Since I’ve been with We Are With You I’ve not committed an offence in five years, I’ve not taken any drugs in nine months and I’m over six years sober. I’ve become a recovery community champion and that lets me work with girls in the red light district, where I was once a part of. I wake in the morning, I smile, I pay my bills. It makes me feel amazing. I know I’m a strong person. We Are With You told me so years ago, I didn’t believe them then, but I believe them now.”

At a glance, since July 2021:

311 people are in active treatment

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Supporting veterans

“I was thrown on the scrapheap with no purpose”

“I’d hammered alcohol and drugs for the best part of 25 years. I started when I was medically discharged from the army. I’d been in a massive car crash that shattered my pelvis. So, at the age of just 25, I was thrown on the scrapheap with no means or purpose. I felt abandoned by the service I signed my life for.

When Steve McDonald was medically discharged from the army, he was left with no sense of purpose. Alcohol and drugs helped to fill the gap. Six years ago Steve was supported by We Are With You to overcome his issues with drugs and alcohol. Steve then went on to volunteer for the charity, setting up a veteran’s online support group. He is now employed by We Are With You as a Recovery Worker.

“Those years just ebbed away in a blur. In that time I had four children but I wasn’t a dad to any of them. I couldn’t maintain relationships, except the one I had with drugs. Drugs came before anyone and anything.

“I tried to end my life. That was my rock bottom. I couldn’t see a way out of my addiction. I was taking ten bags of heroin a day. I thought I was a lost cause and that dying was the only way I could free myself. My little dog saved me by bringing me round, and We Are With You picked things up from there.

“I spoke to Gemma, who became my key worker. Gemma was such a big support. To have someone believe in me when I didn’t believe in myself was monumental. I was given a script of buprenorphine and didn’t look back.

“The first year of recovery was difficult, but gradually, over time it got easier and easier. I did the recovery champion training when With You for the Armed Forces Community got in touch and asked if I would help run the mutual aid veteran support sessions. The sessions were to provide support to veterans who were struggling with drug and alcohol issues.

“We’d just set up the first group when Covid struck. It was disappointing but we moved the group online. I was worried it wouldn’t be as effective as an in person meeting, but we had veterans from all over the country. I couldn’t believe how many attended. It showed the scale of the issue of substance misuse with veterans.

“For some veterans making the transition to civilian life is hard. At the group we heard how many of them were struggling with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder and how that had led to their addictions. I’ve done three tours of Northern Ireland. I never processed what I’d seen and experienced there, so once back home drugs and alcohol blocked out the trauma.

“Volunteering gave me a purpose. I volunteered for three years in a number of roles. When I saw the job advert for a Recovery Worker I decided to apply. The job was Gemma’s replacement. I hadn’t had a job since the army, but I felt my experience could help others.

“I’ve been in the job for just over a month but I still have to pinch myself. I absolutely love it. It’s funny to think I’m now doing Gemma’s old job, after she did so much to help me. I’ve thrown my life away for 25 years, but I’m making up for it now.

“If it wasn’t for We Are With You I’d be dead now, no question. We Are With You gave me the tools, information and knowledge to change my life. Now, I want to give back to the service and help others to make the same change.”

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The Armed Forces Mutual Aid Partnership support groups run every Thursday morning. As well as offering support to veterans, this group also acts as an access into treatment.

Through our Armed Forces Community Specialist Support Service, we helped over 500 veterans in 2021/22. The programme is specifically tailored to veterans’ needs and encompasses one-to-one treatment, peer group support, medical referral and social activities.

In 2021/22 we developed plans to expand our reach and effectiveness in supporting veterans. Across our services we have 38 Armed Forces Leads who provide veterans with a holistic treatment plan. This number will be boosted to 43 this year, meaning that in areas of high need, including Liverpool and Cornwall, we now have additional dedicated staff resource to meet demand.

We continue to develop ways to digitally support veterans and launched a weekly Armed Forces Webchat, where one of our specialist coordinators is on hand to offer information and support.

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“We Are With You helped me to get back on my feet when I was ready ” . to make the change

Goal 2: Help many more people

Reducing harm

Black recommends:

and Cleveland in 2020. The programme is now established in six new areas (North and North East Lincolnshire; North Somerset; Liverpool; Wigan; Shropshire and Fife in Scotland).

We recommend that local authorities commission a full range of evidence-based harm reduction and treatment services to meet the needs of their local population

Meet Nathan - "Everyday I wake up I'm grateful"

What we did in 2021/22:

We rolled out of peer-to-peer naloxone programme, developed partnerships with community pharmacists and launched Europe’s first ever helpline for people who use drugs alone.

Millions of people go without treatment for drugs, alcohol and mental health, depriving them of the opportunity to get better. They are hidden from service providers, professionals and possibly even their own family.

For those who are hidden from professionals and not engaged in structured treatment our focus continues to be on harm reduction. We remain committed to driving down the number of drug and alcohol related deaths and keep the opportunity open for them to get better, when the time is right for them.

Additional investment in services over the past year has enabled us to scale up the peer-topeer naloxone programme we piloted in Redcar

“I’ve lost five friends to heroin overdoses. They were good people with their own struggles. In the 20 years I’ve been using, I’ve heard of another ten people I knew from the streets who died suddenly. They never had a chance to get better. To create a new life.

“I’m lucky. I did get the chance to get better. Twice I nearly died because of drugs. We Are With You helped me to get back on my feet when I was ready to make the change. My recovery worker asked if I’d be interested in becoming a naloxone peer. Straight away I knew I wanted to do it. There was nothing around like naloxone when I was using. So many people I know could have been saved by it.

“After I was trained I started going out once a week to places like Nomad, the YMCA, the church – basically anywhere who comes into contact with people who use. I talk to them about my experience and I train them in how to use naloxone. Many of the people know me from years ago so it’s easy to talk to them.

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“I’m really proud that between all the peers we’ve handed out over 1,000 kits. I think in eight months I’ve given out over 100. It’s nice to do something that will help. With my heart condition, I don’t know how long I’ve left to live. I take each day as it comes. That’s why every day I wake up grateful.

Lincolnshire is working with over 100 community pharmacists to help them in supporting people who are actively using and most at risk of harm. The team provided training and refresher sessions for the use of naloxone kits, answered questions and informed the pharmacists about all We Are With You services.

“I’ll continue to volunteer for We Are With You for as long as they’ll have me. I owe them my life. Without them there’s no way I’d still be here.”

New funding will turn our ambition into action Increased government funding following the Black report means we can be more ambitious in developing and delivering our harm reduction work. Our goal is to have a peerto-peer naloxone programme across all We Are With You services. We are also developing plans to train the peers in other harm reduction interventions, including cleaning injection equipment and talking to people about safer injecting.

Focus on Lincolnshire

In Lincolnshire the team issued over 1,000 naloxone kits between January 2021 and December 2021. This was achieved by extensive outreach activity including getting them in custody suites and conducting an audit of kits given to service users in structured treatment. The audit provided an opportunity to check-in with all service users and provide naloxone kits to everyone who no longer had one.

Community pharmacies are uniquely positioned to reach those who are actively using and not

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engaged with structured treatment. By working closely with them we can reach more people, potentially by providing wound packs for people who inject but don’t seek help for abscesses, hepatitis C testing, hepatitis B vaccination and Buvidal, along with commissioning them to give out naloxone kits on our behalf.

At a glance, in 2021/22 we

Trained 185 peers

Distributed 5,500 naloxone kits

Never use alone

More than 1,330 people died of drug misuse in Scotland last year, with the country seeing a record number of deaths for the seventh year in a row. Many of those who died while using drugs were alone at the time.

In November we launched a phone helpline in Scotland where people can contact We Are With You staff while they are using. By having staff on the end of the line, if they become unresponsive, staff can alert the ambulance service. This is the first phone service of its kind in Europe. We are trialling the phone line in Glasgow, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. Following the trial we hope to roll it out across the rest of Scotland.

Steph Keenan, Operations Digital Contract Manager explains the purpose of this new service.

“We’re not expecting to answer hundreds of calls every week. This service is unique and forms one part of a range of harm prevention initiatives. We know people are at risk if they use alone, so this provides them with the option of having a spotter to ensure they don’t come to harm. If we can prevent just one death, it’s worth it.

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“It was heartening when one of our coordinators was giving a talk about Never Use Alone at a crisis centre in Glasgow recently. Someone in the audience said they’d used the service and shared how beneficial he found it. He explained how he is now in residential rehab and that he was given the opportunity to get better because he is still alive.

“It was very powerful and goes to the heart of what we are trying to achieve. This isn’t a numbers game. This is simply about keeping people safe and helping us to provide a package of support to bring down Scotland’s staggeringly high rates of drug-related deaths.”

At a glance

Never Use Alone received 23 calls in the first six months

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Expanding our reach

“What was a low point in my life was actually the start of me dealing with my mental health issues.”

Black recommends:

Ensure opportunities for integrated commissioning of mental health and substance misuse services are explored proactively and articulated as part of the next stages of integrated care system development.

What we did in 2021/22:

In Cornwall we were commissioned to deliver Mental Health Treatment Requirements (MHTRs), in addition to Drug Rehabilitation Requirements (DRRs) and Alcohol Treatment Requirements (ATRs) to low level offenders.

We Are With You is the only drug and alcohol service provider in the country that delivers MHTRs, DRRs and ATRs.

Offenders with low-level mental health issues, but who have not been readily able to access mental health services can be eligible for a MHTR. The requirements are used as an alternative to short-term prison sentences. They can help reduce re-offending by providing access to programmes which can help with the issues that contribute towards their offending behaviour such as drug, alcohol and/or mental health issues.

Jason* struggled with his mental health for many years, however it wasn’t until he was given a MHTR did he receive support for it.

“I took a deep breath in. Counted. Relaxed my muscles. Then repeated it again. And again. As I walked into town, a place I’d usually avoid at all costs, I continued to focus on my breathing. Before I knew it I was stood in the middle of town, surrounded by people, and feeling okay. I didn’t feel paralysed by my anxiety.

“I’d finally managed something that had plagued me for most of my life. A burden I’d been carrying around for so long was lifted from my shoulders. I realised then I didn’t need to limit myself to a life locked away inside my home. How funny that what got me to this point was getting arrested for being drunk and disorderly. What was a low point in my life was actually the start of me dealing with my mental health issues.

“Anxiety and stress have been constant companions of mine ever since I was a teenager. I coped with them in pretty unhealthy ways and didn’t look after myself. Everything came to a head a couple of years ago when my anxiety got so bad I didn’t want to leave the house.

“Except there was one night when I did leave the house. It ended badly. I had a few too many.

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*name changed to protect identity

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Drinking gave me an escape from the anxiety and stress I felt. I’ve no recollection of that night, but it ended with an arrest for being drunk and disorderly.

“I felt so much shame. I didn’t recognise at the time that what happened wasn’t simply caused by excessive drinking, but because of my inability to handle my anxiety and stress. The court issued a MHTR and requested I did a 12 month course with We Are With You.

“I had no idea what to expect. I met We Are With You support worker Robbie. We talked through what led to my arrest. It was easy to chat to Robbie and I shared how I struggled with my mental health.

“Talking to Robbie helped me to better understand my issues. I explained to Robbie that I struggled to leave the house and how anxious I felt in busy and crowded areas. Robbie gave me some techniques to use when I was out in public, including the breathing exercise.

“Robbie gave me some ideas on how to improve my social life to stop me feeling isolated and get me out the house. I listened and acted on everything she said. I joined a gym and started going out for daily walks. It was a massive boost to my body and mind.

“I’m so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to do this course. Getting arrested turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I completed the course over a year ago, but I’m still doing everything Robbie recommended. It’s made me feel so much more in control of my life.

“I’ve lived with my mental health issues for so long I never thought I’d be able to manage them. I feel much more resilient now to deal with things. It lifted my mood and improved my relationships with friends and family. I’ve learnt to share my emotions and not keep them locked inside.”

In Cornwall, of the 54 people who completed MHTR orders this past year, 50 have shown mental health improvements following pre and post clinical assessment. The treatment plans produced for people on MHTRs entails 12 one-to-one sessions. The requirements are provided by or under the direction of our clinician who is a registered psychiatrist. The sessions are designed to provide guidance, support, tools and strategies using a broad range of therapeutic techniques and the appropriate evidence-based structured psychosocial interventions to address the issues and problems identified through the assessment process.

At a glance, in 2021/22 we

Currently have 69 MHTR orders and 22 combined

orders (MHTR and ATR or DRR)

Completed 54 MHTR orders

Digital support to reach underserved communities

Through our website, web chat and out of hours service we are able to reach those who are less likely to engage in in-person support. For six in 10 users, accessing our digital support is the first time they have sought help. Women continue to be the biggest users of our digital support with six in ten users identifying as female.

LGBTQ+ communities

Alcohol and drug use among LGBTQ+ groups is higher than the general population. To reach communities across the country, we’ve expanded our web chat service to provide specialist sessions for the LGBTQ+ community where they can speak to a specialist expert advisor.

At a glance, in 2021/22

18,000 people contacted us for a live chat

3,500 people contacted us for out of hours support

83% of users said it was really easy to use the webchat service

66% of users said it was the first time they had sought help

60% of callers identify as female

16% identify as part of the LGBTQ+

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Find the Right Moment

In May we launched our Find the Right Moment educational and awareness campaign to provide advice on how to start a conversation about alcohol with a loved one. The campaign built on the previous year’s campaign highlighting binge drinking among the over 50’s. The campaign achieved good coverage across media and social media.

• Over 43,000 views of the campaign film

• 536 items of news coverage, with a media reach of almost 18 million

• 1.5 million combined social media reach

• 79% increase in alcohol related webchats following the campaign launch in May.

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Our work in Scotland

We’re the largest third sector provider of drug and alcohol services in Scotland. Every month we work with more than 12,000 people who have issues with drugs, alcohol and mental health, and their families and friends. Through our national network of 16 services our work is supported by more than 200 staff and volunteers.

service for Scotland. This provides us with opportunities to reach many more people not known to services. Know the Score is a well established brand and has existed for over 20 years. This makes us one of the 6 national commissioned organisations by the Scottish government and significantly increases our contact with both the Scottish government and all Scottish commissioners.

In the last year we’ve retained all of our services in Scotland, extended contracts and won new business. We’ve continued to grow our community links from GP practices across Scotland. Community link workers are assigned to a GP practice to connect isolated or distressed patients with resources in their neighbourhood.

We have also launched ‘Never Use Alone’—a new phone line again backed and funded by the Scottish government—to mitigate the often deadly risks associated with using drugs alone. In the first instance, the service will be available in Glasgow and the Ayrshires. The phone line has been developed in consultation with the Scottish Ambulance Service, including relevant local authorities and aims to help anyone who wants to stay safer when using drugs in the catchment area. The initial areas have been selected to understand how the service works in both urban and rural parts of the country.

However, drug death figures released in the summer revealed that drug-related deaths in Scotland are three and a half times that for the UK as a whole, and higher than that of any European country. We must take action and re-look at how we engage with our service users and improve outcomes.

We will continue to work closely with our stakeholders and the Scottish government and target further improvements to our services through 2022/23.

As part of our response, we have added to our virtual services, building on our work with the national Know the Score helpline and Webchat

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Goal 3: Transform our organisation to get the best from each other

Creating space for change

By expanding our online training modules, providing skills practice sessions, increasing the spread of learning resources and developing a new webinar programme, we’ve created a number of different ways to help staff build knowledge and skills so that our practice is safe and effective.

Black recommends:

We recommend HEE to devise a strategy to increase the number of professionally qualified drug treatment staff (psychiatrists and other doctors, psychologists and other therapists, nurses and social workers), and set occupational standards, competency and training requirements for drug workers and peer recovery workers.

We have seen a significant increase in the numbers of staff accessing learning opportunities and development time, with a large percentage of staff reporting how this has contributed to increased job satisfaction.

What we did in 2021/22:

We implemented a programme of webinars, new learning events and resources to share best practice, and supported staff to work safely and effectively to build resilience and ability to meet the demands of their roles.

Focus on training

A key focus of the past year has been to develop opportunities for staff and volunteers to work safely and effectively. In 2021/22 we updated many of the mandatory training courses for both new and existing staff to ensure they remain equipped and up-todate with the knowledge necessary for their roles. We made our compliance training more scenario based and relevant to the everyday realities of working at We Are With You, moving it away from just a tick-box exercise.

People make change happen

Through trusted, supportive relationships our staff work alongside service users to change their lives. The personal experiences in this report demonstrate the importance of this support to their recovery.

Taking into account how busy our frontline workers are, we also introduced a ‘refresher’, shortened version of our core mandatory modules - to deliver and refresh the key learning points in a concise way for existing staff. The compliance rate for our mandatory training is over 96%, well ahead of our 90% target.

Both in our organisation and across the sector there have been challenges with high staff turnover. In 2021/22 we invested in learning and development to support staff, equip them to deliver the best care to service users, boost their resilience and improve their wellbeing.

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“Our fantastic mandatory training equips our new starters with the key knowledge and learning they need to deliver the best support to the people we serve.” Sharon Singh, Contracts Manager, London and South East

and social care. Our Delivering Quality Care package is our way of making sure our staff are supported and assessed as competent to be working with people accessing our services.

Always learning

Sharing best practice

We have developed a learning model that places learning at the heart of staff’s work, so they are able to develop the attributes, skills and knowledge to thrive in their roles. Back in 2020 all staff and volunteers were given protected ‘development time’ for learning. This included time for placements, shadowing or observations. In 2021/22 we further embedded development time and reflective practice in our services.

We’ve continued to develop our monthly webinar programme to share best practice on specific themes with staff and volunteers. This has proven popular and we will regularly have over 100 people booked to attend live, with many others accessing recordings of the sessions afterwards.

The webinars have also provided opportunities for staff and volunteers to hear directly from leading experts including Owen BowdenJones and Harry Sumnall, on a range of topics including synthetic cannabis, psychedelics, end of life care for people who use drugs, foetal alcohol syndrome disorder and Chemsex.

New conversation tool

Recognising the importance of the relationship between front line workers and service users, we launched our ‘conversation tool’. The conversation tool supports frontline workers to get to know a new client and understand their needs by focusing on asking the right questions. Ultimately this tool prepares frontline workers to build rapport with the service user and reassure them.

Delivering quality care

We’re putting the Care Certificate at the heart of our induction, making sure we meet the agreed standard for anyone working in health

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“We have developed a learning model that places learning at the heart of staff’s work.”

The impact

At a glance, in 2021/22

Thank you!

Over 1,500 staff and volunteers engaged with our in-house learning

Good morning,

I wanted to share some feedback regarding responding to suicidality training. As a new worker, I didn't have the confidence to ask someone if they were considering suicide. I didn't understand the urgency that information needed to be gathered. After the training I have since asked two individuals and both have responded that they had made plans to end their lives. Both were desperate to get that information off their chests before they had followed through with their plans.

175,000 views of our in house learning resources

15 webinars

This training has allowed me to save two lives. Being able to confidently ask the question, and follow through in a way that shows them that support is available and willingly given has helped these two people to begin keeping themselves safe.

Achieved 96.9% training compliance

We utilised our apprenticeship levy to support 35 managers onto leadership and management qualifications

So thank you! Hero behind the scenes (which is you!)

All the Best

Tammy Woodward , Recovery Worker, Bournemouth

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Looking forward - our work in 2022/2023

For 2022/23, we plan to build on the work of the past year to develop impactful services that respond to the needs of service users and support them to lead healthier and happier lives.

Treatment pathway

Developing a treatment pathway will be a significant programme for We Are With You during 2022/23. Through our treatment pathway we aim to build systems that enable services to operate in a much more consistent way. Improving our data collection will enable us to be clearer around the journey to recovery and what interventions make the biggest impact.

We begin the initial discovery and scoping stage of this project in 2022. Affecting all parts of the charity, through this new pathway, we will build systems to operate in a much more consistent way, delivering better services for

service users. By the autumn of 2023 we aim to have the system infrastructure in place to support the pathway.

Early Intervention

Working in partnership with the police and crime commissioners, we will continue to deliver our pilot Re-Frame youth diversion project in Cornwall, Kent and Sefton. This work will be evaluated through a randomised control trial, conducted by the University of Kent. In early 2022 we will progress to the efficacy stage of the trial, building on findings from the pilot and contributing towards building up an evidence base on the effectiveness of youth diversion schemes.

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Overcoming barriers

ways to expand this service. The hub will open an extra day every week for group work and other group-focused activity. We will also expand beyond our sex workers healthcare hub to meet service users where they are by holding group work at a nearby hostel, where many of the women are temporarily housed.

We will continue to find ways to overcome barriers preventing service users from accessing treatment, alongside developing services around their specific needs. Following the publication of our report A system designed for women , we will use this insight to develop evidence-informed services for women.

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Harm reduction

A new domestic abuse survivors service in Redcar

We will launch this service in 2022, to provide holistic support to domestic abuse survivors by integrating domestic abuse support and drug and alcohol support under one roof. We’ll closely monitor the effectiveness of this approach and use it to inform future programmes for domestic abuse survivors

We will continue to roll out our successful peer-to-peer naloxone programme to other We Are With You services. In 2022/23 we aim to train the peers in other harm reduction interventions, including cleaning injection equipment and talking to people about safer injecting. Our work with community pharmacies will be strengthened to enable us to reach more people and provide a number of harm reduction services to those who need it.

Expansion of the Sex workers healthcare hub Clinic

Building on the success of the sex workers healthcare hub in Liverpool, we will develop

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Structure, Governance and Management

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Financial overview

2020/21 has seen a continuation of the trends from the pandemic with a challenging working environment. Cost reductions have reduced as we have adapted to a more hybrid way of working, utilising virtual support more effectively in some functions whilst increasing face to face contact within our services.

receiving additional restricted funding via new Government funding sources - Section 31 and ADDER. Our restricted funds increased from £0.7 million to £3.5 million.

A high proportion of our reserves are represented by cash and other assets that can be quickly realised. Our cash balances at the end of the year were £12.8 million, significantly more than we need for working capital. Looking ahead to 2022/23, our financial outlook continues to reflect the environment within which we operate and strategic decisions we take about our work (see “Plans for future periods” on page 48).

We have been able to continue to build on our core offering and consolidate our financial position through the year, ensuring our reserves and cash positions are above our minimum requirements.

Our budgets are planned to achieve breakeven as a minimum to ensure we maintain financial stability. Our results for the year are in line with those expectations. Our income was £64.5million and our expenditure was £60.1m.

Over the last 12 months we were successful in our efforts to raise funds through trusts and grant making bodies, some of which will impact on our income for 2022/23. We also had success with a range of new contracts and retentions, while we safely transferred a small number of contracts that ended or moved to other providers.

As a result of this position, our unrestricted reserves increased from £8.2 million to £9.8 million. Free reserves at £8.2 million were above the minimum level required by our reserves policy (see page 54). In 2021/22 we established and used a designated reserved fund to continue the development of our technology strategy, to reinvest in our staff training and development programmes and to build on our performance to directly improve people’s chances of getting better. We will be continuing this strategy into 2022/23.

We continue to consolidate towards our core business and charitable purpose, and expect to see our overall income increase in the year ahead. We will continue to develop our service model in line with our strategic goals. In turn this will support the continuation of a targeted approach to business development in the year ahead, focussing on areas that are aligned to our wider strategic plan and goals.

We continued to spend down our existing restricted grants brought forward, also

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Funding sources

We Are With You seeks and obtains funding from a number of sources to support our activities and key objectives. The principal sources are set out in the following table.

Funding source

How it supports our work

Contracts from local authorities, These fund: NHS Trusts or similar institutions Work with adults in relation to drug or alcohol misuse Specialist drug and alcohol support to young people Mental health services Work with families Primary care services Work in the criminal justice system Grants from funding institutions See Note 2 “Grant income” on page 87 Individual giving Allocated to where it is needed most to help people to get treatment, support and enter recovery.

Reserves

To meet its objectives, We Are With You has agreed a budgeting and reserves policy that enables us to make appropriate strategic allocations of funds, while at the same time securing a sound financial base for our future needs. Decisions on the resources necessary, both to deliver new activities and to sustain continuing commitments, are based on our overall strategic requirements.

• To supply working capital, enabling us to manage fluctuations in our cash flow

• To enable us to invest in implementation and other start-up costs for new services

• To provide protection against the contractual and operating risks that we face in our work, including potential costs arising on the termination of services

We hold several types of financial reserves. Some of these are restricted, meaning that they have been given or provided for specific purposes or with specific conditions and cannot be expended in any other way.

• To invest in initiatives designed to improve efficiency and the quality of services

The reserves policy adopted by the Trustees has established that, at the current activity level, the appropriate target range for free reserves is between £6.5 million and £8.5 million.

Some reserves are in the form of designated funds that are earmarked by the Trustees to represent fixed and other assets which cannot be readily converted into cash.

Finally, we hold general charitable funds or free reserves for four principal reasons:

Total funds at the end of the financial year were £13.4 million. Of these, £3.5 million were restricted and not available for the general purposes of the charity, while £1.6 million were designated, representing the carrying amount of functional assets which the

Trustees consider to represent a commitment of reserves and our designated investment fund. The level of general charitable funds was £8.2 million, which is within the target range established by the reserves policy.

Going concern

We Are With You’s activities, together with the factors likely to affect our future development, performance and financial position, are set out on pages 14 to 51. The evaluation of going concern covers the period up to the end of March 2024. The financial position of the Charity, its cash flows, liquidity position and reserves are described in the financial statements on pages 78 to 95. In addition, Note 1 to the financial statements includes our policies for managing funds. The management of financial and other risks is described on page 84.

We Are With You has significant liquid financial resources, comprising short-term cash deposits and balances totalling £12.8 million, which is more than our free reserves. In addition, we obtain funding from a wide range of sources.

2021/22 has continued to see an impact from the global pandemic, although by the end of the year this had lessened significantly and working practices had settled. Over the last year our income has grown both organically from our existing contracts and also from additional and much needed investment by the Government into the sector.

As a consequence, the Trustees belive there are no material uncertainties relating to going concern and that We Are With You is well placed to manage business risks successfully.

The Trustees consider that We Are With You has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the annual financial statements.

Guarantees

Members of the charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2022 was 12 (2021: 11). The Trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The Trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditors

BDO LLP have indicated their willingness to be re-appointed as statutory auditors. A proposal to reappoint BDO LLP will be put forward at the AGM.

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Goverance overview

Our Trustees (who are also the directors of the charity for the purposes of company law) comply with their duties under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006, and, in doing so, Trustees have regard to some factors to ensure they act in a way that, in their good faith, promotes the success of the company, including:

We Are With You is a company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales on 6 February 1991, and a registered charity since 19 February 1991, operating in both England and Scotland. It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association that determine the legal framework within which we operate, and which set out its charitable objects.

• the likely consequences of long-term decisions

Our Board of Trustees embraces and promotes the principles of the Charity Governance Code setting out principles and recommended practice for good governance in the not-forprofit sector. The Board of Trustees is satisfied that We Are With You applies the principles of the Code within its governance arrangements, which are regularly reviewed.

Good governance is fundamental to our sustained success, it ensures we are best placed to deliver on our strategy, achieve our goals and promote the sustainable and long term success of our charity for the benefit of the communities we serve.

• the interests of employees

• the need to foster the company’s relationships with its stakeholders, to include our service users, our funders, our supporters and community, key opinion leaders and other influencers

• the impact of the company’s operations in the communities we serve

• the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct.

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Stakeholder Group Key Considerations How we engage
Service Users Everyone should feel comfortable We work with people on their own
getting the support they need for goals, whether that’s staying safe
issues with drugs, alcohol or mental and healthy, making small changes
health. or stopping unwanted behaviours
altogether.
Two key goals of our strategy are
based directly on our service users: We give people support in a way
improving people’s chance of getting that’s right for them either face to
better and helping many more face, in their local service, community
people. or online.
Building existing and new Through our digital programme we
partnerships around shared have built new tools to help people
challenges to help us reach more direct and shape their own care, and
people. designed new self-help advice to
reach more people.
Our funders We Are With You seeks and obtains 1-2-1 engagement on relevant issues.
funding from a number of sources
Round table events by regions and
to support our activities and key
service type.
objectives, including:
Stakeholders' surveys
• Local authorities
Feedback and insights on
• NHS Trusts
performance and issues relevant to
• Funding institutions our funders.
• Individual giving As appropriate via the projects our
funders support.
Regulators Maintaining governance procedures Timely submissions of all necessary
to ensure compliance with all filings and returns.
application regulatory regimes.
Self-reporting and engagement
where appropriate.
Prompt and comprehensive response
to requests for information if
requested.
Employees Transform our organisation to get the We have introduced improved online
best from each other. training materials and in person
programmes in areas such as trauma
Growth training and development.
informed care, running and facilitating
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. groups, prescribing best practice and
supervision.
Improving the quality of our internal
information to support our staff to do Relying on innovative Google
their jobs. technology, we created a more
dynamic environment for staff to stay
connected and work collaboratively
without the need to travel, also
reducing our carbon footprint.
Intranet, all staff meetings and
newsletters.
Employee engagement survey.
Annual employee awards programme.
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Leadership

The Board of Trustees responsibilities are wideranging. The Board is responsible for setting the charity’s objectives and strategy, monitoring delivery of that strategy by management, and identifying and managing risk.

The Board is led by a Chair and a Vice-Chair of Trustees. The role of the Chair is a crucial one. The Chair leads the Board in setting the charity’s strategy and in achieving its objectives and works closely with the Chief Executive to meet these aims. They also set the tone and culture for the Board which permeates throughout the charity.

The Board of Trustees receives a regular set of information to ensure it can monitor the charity’s activity and performance with an appropriate level of scrutiny. At each of its meetings it receives reports from management on income, performance, quality of service delivery and other matters, reviews the performance of the charity and considers papers presented for decision or information. In addition, the Board discusses and approves the charity’s strategy and annual budgets at appropriate points during the year.

The charity’s governing document includes certain duties and responsibilities that are the sole preserve of the Board. In addition, the Board has a formal schedule of matters reserved for its decision. The schedule is reviewed on an annual basis. The governing document and the schedule include, for example, all matters concerning the determination and general operation of the charity’s work and decision-making (subject to the Charity Commission’s approval in certain cases), the appointment and removal of directors, the Chief Executive and the Company Secretary, and the approval of all funding arrangements, property acquisitions and capital spend of the charity.

The Board of Trustees delegates matters not reserved for decision by the Trustees and the

day-to-day management of the charity to the Chief Executive who is responsible for the execution of the charity’s strategy within the framework laid down by the Board. The Board recognises and appreciates the key role played by the Chief Executive and is clear that their relationship with the Board is fundamental to the success of the charity. The Board also recognises the role played by the Company Secretary, who helps the Board meet its governance objectives and acts as a fulcrum between management and the Board. The Company Secretary is appointed by the Board and all Trustees have access to their advice, as well as access to independent advice for legal, commercial, staff relations and other matters.

The Chief Executive leads a team of Executive Directors with functional areas of responsibility. The Company Secretary is also a member of the Executive team.

The Board delegates matters to its six Committees: Resources, Income & Profile, Service Delivery and Clinical Governance, Remuneration, Nomination, and Council for Scotland.

To help support and deliver its aspirations, the Board of Trustees has approved a three-year strategic plan which reflects and supports the charity’s charitable objects, and ensures the charity has in place sound financial management, adequate internal control and robust risk management.

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The likely consequences of any decision in the long term

The charity’s strategy based on achieving our three core goals as part of our 3 year business plan as outlines in our strategy management on the opposite page. The current strategy was set in 2018/19 and extended to the end of 2022/23 due to the pandemic. During the year the Trustees reviewed progress and performance of the plan against the broader backdrop of service needs and outcomes. The impact and achievements to date against this strategy are included on pages 12 to 47. The Trustees’ discussion of all aspects of the future direction of the charity’s work was informed by the feedback received through service user and staff engagement.

Our Trustee Board and its Committees keep under review the charity’s principal risks and its risk appetite, considering emerging risks and reviewing changes in the charity’s risk profile and responses quarterly.

The charity has in place a range of policies and processes that promote corporate responsibility and ethical behaviour. All the charity’s policies are reviewed periodically.

Key decisions in 2021/2022

The table overleaf sets out the key decisions taken by the Trustee Board during the year and how the interests of our stakeholders and the wider factors set out in section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 were taken into account.

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Our strategy management
2021/22 is the third year of our three-year Key considerations:
strategy approved by the Board in 2018/19. This
• Our strategy has evolved through extensive and
year has been aimed at building on our key goals:
on-going engagement and research with all our
• Radically improve people’s chance of getting stakeholders.
better
• The Board received updates covering all clinical
• Help many more people and non-clinical areas through monthly updates,
quarterly Committee and Board meetings as well
• Transform our organisation to get the best
as additional strategy and development days
from each other
throughout the year.
This year we have specifically focussed on the • Day to day contractual and organisational
following areas: decision are taken in line with the Delegated
• Building on our work for clearer service design Authorities set out by our Trustees, to include
how we use our charitable funds and our wider
and model, segmenting and understanding
impact through grants and fundraising activities
people who use our services with more
opportunities for digital support (online • We continually assess, audit and monitor our
journeys, treatment tools) activities against our strategic objectives, to
• Focus on planning and managing our longer ensure alignment
term technology infrastructure and improve • Compliance with our statutory and regulatory
how we use and operate with Google obligations is supervised by the Charity
Commission, the Scottish Charity Regulator, the
Information Commissioner’s Office, the Care
Quality Commission, the Care Inspectorate in
Scotland and the Fundraising Regulator.
Key decisions for 2021/22
The Board agreed to the continuation of the use of Key considerations:
a designated reserve to support the acceleration
Continued investment into our IT architecture and
of investment and development projects.
infrastructure for both equipment and upgraded
These projects were established as part of the
systems. Consideration was given to all relevant
organisational strategy to support organisation
stakeholders including:
wider developments and ensure we are able to
support continuous improvement in our service • Change management and the impact on our
delivery. The projects for 2021/22 included IT & staff and service users
systems development, staff wellbeing and workforce • Our external stakeholders and suppliers, as well
development. as our commissioners and other stakeholders.
Continuation of our current strategy into a fourth
year
• Our strategy remains relevant to our
organisation, stakeholders and staff, the
pandemic has slowed some aspects and our
Trustees have determined to continue with our
strategy into a fourth year.
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Trustee recruitment, induction and training

We recruit and appoint Trustees by advertising vacancies and looking for particular skill sets which enhance the work of our Board of Trustees and encourage diversity. All applications are considered by the Nomination Committee and suitable candidates are interviewed. Recommendations are then made to the Board of Trustees and successful applicants are appointed. The Board may also rely on specialised non-executive recruitment partners where specific skills and expertise are sought.

New Trustees are provided with an induction programme to help them get acquainted with their role. As part of their induction, new Trustees meet with the Chief Executive, members of the Executive and Senior Leadership teams and they visit a number of services during the first few months of their tenure. They also receive briefings from key members of staff on We Are With You’s work and mandatory training on safeguarding, information governance and health & safety, as well as support and training to help them perform their legal responsibilities as Trustees.

New Trustees must comply with the Care Quality Commission’s Fit and Proper Persons Test and also sign an agreement that sets out We Are With You’s expectations of their role and responsibilities. Trustees do not receive any remuneration but may be reimbursed for general expenses.

Trustees serve a three-year fixed term with the possibility of re-election for a further two terms dependent on performance. At each Annual General Meeting, one third of the Trustees retire by rotation and are eligible for re-appointment. During the year, one new Trustee was appointed to ensure the Board is equipped to support the work of the charity in the constantly changing environment within which we operate.

Statement of staff and volunteer engagement

The success of our organisation is intrinsically linked to the work of our staff and volunteers. Staff and volunteer engagement is a key part in how our three year strategy was designed and is the focus of one of our key goals:

• transform our organisation to get the best from each other

Our internal communications strategy has been designed in conjunction with our wider organisation business plan to meet three clear staff priorities:

• I am clear about who we are as an organisation and where we’re going

• I can easily find the information I need to do my job

• I can receive and share knowledge with colleagues across the organisation

We undertake regular staff, volunteer and service user survey's and forums to ensure there is a continuous process of engagement and feedback. Supported by an ongoing programme of inperson and virtual Trustee service visits.

Risk management

We Are With You operates in an uncertain and challenging service delivery environment. We are focussed on ensuring we respond to the changing demands of our work and continue to fulfil the stringent requirements of our commissioners and regulatory bodies, against ongoing reductions in funding. Delivering our services both clinical and non-clinical requires vigilance to support continuous review of our systems and processes against the highest standards to ensure they are safe and effective.

We Are With You works with some of the most vulnerable people in society and safeguarding is at the core of our work. We have a welldeveloped and coherent approach to risk management in accordance with best practice and the Charity Commission guidelines. We use a bespoke risk management tool to record and manage all risks across the organisation. We record, review and mitigate risks across clinical, operational, contractual, financial, information governance, health and safety, and reputational areas.

Every service has a risk register which is reviewed at team meetings and also at the relevant business hub meeting. Risks that can be managed and mitigated at service level remain with the regional team. Where we are unable to mitigate risks we raise them to the next level within the organisation. This means some service-level risks may be escalated to the corporate risk register, which is reviewed and action taken as necessary by the Executive on a monthly basis. The Executive presents the corporate risk register to the Resources Committee and to the Board of Trustees every quarter, providing assurance on the management of operational risks and highlighting emerging or unforeseen risks that require Trustees’ scrutiny and strategic direction.

We are fully compliant with the regulations of, and registered with, the Care Quality Commission in England and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland. The CQC carries out

independent inspections of regulated activity within our services, publishing the outcome on the CQC website. We have clear policies on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults with access to training for all staff across We Are With You.

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Principle Risks

• Risk Area Mitigation and management Failure to safeguard the people who • Safeguarding and quality assurance processes developed use our services effectively with a clear training strategy. • Clinical governance and supervisory plans in place with practice supervision in development.

• • Effective complaint and incident management reporting and review.

• Informing and influencing - Impact of • Engaging with key decision-makers and influencers in Government policy, Brexit, the NHS Government, local authorities and the NHS. and charity sector regulatory reform • Senior level representation on many influential fora and key

• on our objectives in this area decision-making bodies, eg Collective Voice and PHE.

• Contract performance • Key performance indicators are set and monitored through refreshed meeting structures across all contracts.

• • New quarterly reporting systems implemented. • Clear and accountable performance management structure, including clinical audit team and data driven performance management.

• Failure to retain or secure new income • New business strategy and work plan streams - as a result of general • Review of market trends and investment in digital platforms.

• economic conditions, changes in public procurement rules, governmental new • Prudent reserves management and contingency planning economic and social directives Financial performance • Robust financial planning covering income, expenditure and reserves projections, budgeting and the monitoring of actual expenditure.

• • Continuous performance review for financial controls, internal and external audit processes.

• • Regular budget reviews and oversight via Trustee subcommittee. • Contract reviews with commissioners to monitor and manage external pressures including inflation

• Reputation • Safe and effective quality assurance framework • Clear systems which focus on organisational performance, transparency and accountability.

• • Clear systems and processes within the media team with oversight from the Executive team and, where necessary, the Board of Trustees.

• Attract, retain and recruit staff • Recruitment and retention plans. • Improved staff communications systems. • Learning and talent development plans. • People and culture directorate plans. • Oversight from the Executive team and scrutiny by Trustees at relevant Board Committee meetings.

• Continuous performance review for financial controls, internal and external audit processes.

• Regular budget reviews and oversight via Trustee subcommittee.

• Contract reviews with commissioners to monitor and manage external pressures including inflation

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

We believe the inherent benefits of a diverse, inclusive organisation enhance our impact and performance.

We Are With You reaches a diverse audience across the UK and we want to reflect this in the people we employ. We Are With You is committed to being a diverse and inclusive employer of choice by engaging, enabling and empowering our people. We recognise that inclusion sets us all up for success and we welcome the unique contributions that staff bring, encouraging people from underrepresented communities and backgrounds to join our organisation to help develop our diverse and inclusive organisational culture, as well as appropriately reflect and serve the needs of our service users.

As part of our ongoing commitment to diversity, we have invested in the external verification for equality, diversity and inclusion and are working towards achieving the National Equality Standard (NES) in 2023.

We value, celebrate and embrace EDI and we have set ourselves ambitious objectives to:

• Measure diversity and inclusion among staff and service users.

• Identify and correct the structural and systemic causes which are preventing or limiting diversity in our organisation.

• Ensure all our staff understand how to make colleagues and service users feel included.

Our EDI Advisory Group has Terms of Reference which have been agreed by the Executive and the Board of Trustees. The Group’s work is aligned with, and supportive of, We Are With You’s strategic objective to help more people and radically improve their chance of getting better, by creating a more diverse workforce which feels included and is reaching the full range of people with similar penetration to the most easily reached communities.

Over the last year we have embarked on a number of service-led initiatives to help understand, develop and improve the equality, diversity and inclusion within the organisation. We have highlighted the impact from the outcome reports within the main body of this annual report.

Gender Pay Gap 2021

Hourly pay gap

At We Are With You, women earn 98p for every £1 that men earn when comparing median hourly pay. Their median hourly pay is 2% lower than men’s.

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WOMEN MEN
2p less
98p £1
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When comparing mean (average) hourly pay, women’s mean hourly pay is 4.4% lower than men’s.

The pandemic led to a slight widening of the difference between men and women’s national average hourly earnings, although this does not necessarily suggest a reversal of the decline in the gender pay gap over the past decade. In 2021, the UK's gender pay gap rose from 14.9% to 15.4% (Office for National Statistics (ONS) 2021). This means that, on average, women earn just over 15% less than men per hour.

We Are With You’s gender pay gap remains significantly better than the national average, and we are committed to narrowing the gap even further.

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Environment

Sustainability

The work we do has an impact on the environment and therefore we have a duty to ensure we proactively manage this in a responsible and ethical manner. Our sustainability approach is overseen by our Corporate Governance directorate and managed through our Business Support Hub. This includes evaluating the ethics of our supply chains, reporting and managing our energy use and carbon footprint, and finding ways to reuse and reduce our waste. Through the work of our Green Team, supervised by the Health & Safety Steering Group, and the principles outlined in our Sustainability Policy, we challenge the whole charity to find innovative ways of reducing our environmental impact across all our activities.

We have introduced a number of new ways of working this year focussed on sustainable development to help reduce our impact on the environment. In practice, we look after our physical, social and economic environment by:

• Continuing to use, in all our services, SSE’s 100% renewable electricity and 25% certified renewable gas and 75% carbon-neutral gas backed by carbon offset projects to develop wind and hydro power generation abroad, cutting global Co2 emissions.

• Reducing our carbon footprint by switching travel with remote and online working and encouraging car sharing and cycling.

• Reducing the need for physical storage and archiving, using less paper with more intuitive digital forms and self-service tools.

• Making better use of mobile and reducing hardware costs while reaching more people.

• Championing energy efficient products and practices across our services.

• Developing use of green space in our services.

Our Green Team supports the organisation’s environmental commitment to provide value for the environment, our organisation, and our interested parties; enhance our environmental performance; fulfil our compliance obligations;

and achieve our environmental objectives. The Team has set Terms of Reference agreed by the Executive Team and reviewed yearly by the Health & Safety Steering Group.

Specifically, the Green Team’s aims to consider ways to:

• Implement ‘green’ ideas in our services, raising awareness of our environmental commitment.

• Reduce waste and water consumption in all our services.

• Help in reducing pollution.

We have reviewed our meeting structures to increase the use of online collaboration tools and video conferencing to further reduce the travel footprint for our workforce. We continue to retain ISO 14001 certification, which sets out stringent requirements within our environmental management systems.

ENERGY SAVINGS OPPORTUNITY SCHEME (ESOS)

We notified the Environment Agency in December 2019 of our compliance with ESOS Phase 2. The Lead Assessor determined that our assessment met the requirements of ESOS.

STREAMLINED ENERGY AND CARBON REPORTING (SECR)

We Are With You is reporting energy and carbon emissions in compliance with The Companies (Directors’ Report) and Limited Liability Partnerships (Energy and Carbon Report) Regulations 2018.

We calculate our associated greenhouse gas emissions using the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Protocol, and following the UK Government’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines.

We take an operational control approach meaning that 100% of emissions from operations over which we have control have been reported. Additionally, we have excluded all managed services or offices where we do not receive a separate charge for energy.

Our mileage is based on data submission via our expenses system which includes staff and volunteers driving their own vehicles for We Are With You business. The primary sources used for energy and fuel are billing data and meter reads are only used where there is no billing data.

Through 2021/22 we continued to see reduced indirect emissions from electricity and gas in our services mainly from the continued impact of the pandemic in the first half of the year. As the year progressed and restrictions eased, our business travel mileage returned to a more business as usual model especially for our outreach services.

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Energy Type Period Units Period Units
Indirect Emissions 1st April 2020 – 31st 423.4 tCo²e 1st April 2021 – 31st 392.4 tCo²e
- purchased March 2021 March 2022
electricity & gas -
heating/cooling
Indirect Emissions 1st April 2020 – 31st 144.5 tCo²e 1st April 2021 – 31st 243.4 tCo²e
- business travel, March 2021 March 2022
mileage
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Fundraising in 2021/2022

In 2021-22 we received £2.4 million in grants and donations from Government, Local Authorities, the National Lottery, Charitable Trusts, Foundations, Corporates and individuals. As anticipated with the end of two longer term community projects, Drink Wise Age Well and Blackpool Fulfilling Lives, our fundraising income declined when compared to 2020/21.

contacted on a legitimate interest basis and have the opportunity to opt out of our communications at any time. We do not sell or exchange donor details to third parties. We may use third parties to process donations but ensure all partners are complaint with Data Protection regulations. We do not place individuals under pressure to give. We have clear ethical guidelines for staff and volunteers about what this means in practical terms.

We were grateful for the support of the Youth Endowment Fund this year enabling us to support our Youth Diversion work in Kent, Cornwall, Lancashire and Liverpool and are also grateful to the Veterans Foundation, ABF Soldiers Charity, the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and the RAF Benevolent Fund for their generosity in continuing to support our programme for veterans.

Our main methods of fundraising communication to individuals are by email and post, limited to a handful of times each year. At every opportunity, donors have the option of opting out. Our Vulnerable Supporters Policy provides all staff, volunteers, Trustees and anyone engaging with supporters on behalf of We Are With You, with clear guidance on how we can recognise a vulnerable supporter and ensure appropriate actions are taken to treat them fairly and put their needs first.

Our approach to fundraising is underpinned by our ethos and values. We ensure the trust of our supporters and our responsibility to clients is not compromised. We apply this approach to all of our funding streams, with our staff and suppliers adhering to a range of policies and processes. Prospective corporate partnerships are assessed through our Corporate Engagement Procedure which ensures the partnership fits our values and ethos, organisational strategy, the dignity or rights of our beneficiaries and the pursuit of our purposes. We do not conduct general solicitations through street or door-to-door fundraising, or cold calling. Supporters are

We are members of the Institute of Fundraising and Fundraising Regulator. We also expect the same standards from any third party suppliers we employ to carry out fundraising on our behalf. This is subject to regular review. No fundraising complaints were received in 2021/22 (2020/21 prior year comparison, zero complaints).

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PHOTO: SAM DIXON
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Reference and administrative details

Registered office and operational address

Company number

Lower Ground Floor Gate House 1-3 St John’s Square London, EC1M 4DH

02580377

Charity number 1001957 (England) and SCO40009 (Scotland)

The Trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

Trustees

Lord Carlile of Berriew (Chair) Anne Lesley Chapman (Vice Chair) Lynne Clow Dr Neera Dholakia (resigned 28 February 2022) Ronald Adrian Finlay Jeremy Peter Fish Richard Alan Gould

Henry Nigel Pakenham McCorkell Nicola Margaret Roseman (appointed 18 January 2022) Mehul Tank (resigned 29 April 2021) Sarah Drummond (resigned 10 November 2021)

Chief executive

Belinda Phipps

Alexandra Borghesi

Company secretary

Lloyds Bank 4th Floor Gresham St London EC2 7HN

Bankers

Womble Bond Dickinson LLP The Spark, Draymans Way Newcastle Helix Newcastle Upon Tyne NE4 5DE

Solicitors

Auditors

BDO LLP 55 Baker Street London W1U 7EU

Statement of Trustees responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also the directors of the charity for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Strategic Report, the Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law, the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charity’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

About this report

This report provides information about our aims, objectives and activities, and about this year’s performance and financial results. In publishing this report, we want to give a clear picture of what we do, what we have achieved and how we use the money we receive to meet our charitable aims. The report also fulfils legal requirements placed on us by laws and regulations to provide information publicly about the work we do.

We Are With You is registered both as a charity and a company (see page 70), and this charitable company is what we mean when we refer to “the charity”.

The report includes the activities of the charity, all of which are charitable, for the benefit of the public and carried out on a not-for-profit basis. The objects of the charity relate to the promotion of health and social inclusion and the prevention and reduction of ill health and poverty, particularly by seeking to relieve and prevent the harmful use of substances including alcohol; relieving and preventing mental health problems; and providing employability and training opportunities.

The report is presented by the members of the Board, who are the Trustees of the charity under UK charity law and its directors under UK company law. In this report we refer to the members of the Board as “the Trustees”.

The report as a whole includes the reference and administrative details on page 70, the Statement of Trustees responsibilities on page 71 and the financial statements on pages 78 to 95.

In preparing the report, we seek to meet our overall obligations under the rules and regulations in these ways:

• The document provides the trustees’ annual report as required under charity law and a strategic report and directors’ report as required by company law.

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• It also fulfils the requirements of the reporting and accounting regulations

• Set out in ‘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)’ issued by the Charity Commission in October 2019 (“SORP 2019”).

• The financial statements have been prepared following the accounting policies set out on pages 83 to 88 and comply with the charity’s Memorandum and Articles of Association and the relevant laws that apply.

Acknowledgements

The Trustees wish to record their gratitude to all those who contribute to We Are With You’s work: the people who use our services, our volun teers, staff, donors, commissioners, partners, funders and managers. We are hugely grate ful for your dedication and support for our work.

The Trustees’ Annual Report, incorporating the Strategic Report, was approved by the Trustees on 28 October 2022 and signed on their behalf by:

Lord Alex Carlile

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Chair of the Board of Trustees

As far as the Trustees are aware there is no relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware and the Trustees have taken all reasonable steps to ensure themselves that all relevant information has been disclosed appropriately to the auditors.

Public benefit statement

We Are With You exists entirely for the public’s benefit. The services we offer are avail able free of charge where we are contracted to provide services. This work benefits not only individuals and their families but also the wider community, by reducing the harm and related costs caused to society by drug and alcohol misuse, and improving the public’s physical and mental health and other related issues.

In setting plans and priorities for areas of work, the Trustees of We Are With You have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. In particular, the Board of Trustees considers how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives it has set. More information about the responsibilities of the Trustees can be found on page 71.

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Independent auditor’s report to the members and trustees of We Are With You

Opinion on the financial statements

In our opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the Charitable Company’s affairs as at 31 March 2022 and of its incoming resources and application of resources for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

We have audited the financial statements of We Are With You (“the Charitable Company”) for the year ended 31 March 2022 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

BASIS FOR OPINION

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities

under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

INDEPENDENCE

We remain independent of the Charitable Company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.

Conclusions related to going concern In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the Charitable Company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

OTHER INFORMATION

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Annual Report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Other Companies Act 2006 reporting

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

• the information given in the Trustees’ Report, which includes the Directors’ Report and the Strategic report prepared for the purposes of Company Law, for the financial

year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the Strategic report and the Directors’ Report, which are included in the Trustees’ Report, have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charitable Company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatement in the Strategic report or the Trustees’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of Directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the Charitable

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Company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the Charitable Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the Charitable Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

AUDITOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE AUDIT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

We have been appointed as auditor under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Extent to which the audit was capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our

responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

As part of the audit, we gained understanding of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to the Charitable Company and the sector in which it operates and considered the risk of acts by the Charitable Company that were contrary to applicable laws and regulation including fraud. We considered the Charitable Company’s own assessment of the risks that irregularities may occur either as a result of fraud or error. We considered the Charitable Company’s compliance with laws and regulations that have direct impact on the financial statements such as the Charities Act 2011, Companies Act 2006 and other laws and regulations applicable to the company such as employment law, taxation legislation, data protection, and health and safety legislation.

We considered the risks of non-compliance with requirements imposed by the Charity Commission, and other regulators, and we considered the extent to which noncompliance might have a material effect on the financial statements.

We considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud and identified the greatest potential for fraud in the following areas – income recognition and management override of controls.

Our tests included:

• agreeing the financial statement disclosures complied with applicable legislation

• review of minutes of meetings of those charged with governance

• reviewing correspondence with HMRC

• audit testing of sample of contract income to ensure they are in line with signed agreements and milestones

• challenging assumptions made by management in their significant accounting estimates in particular in relations to accruals and performance related contracts

• compared the results of estimates made in prior years and ensured that the basis of estimation was reasonable and did not lead to material differences to actuals, particularly in relation to dilapidation provisions.

• performed audit procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatements due to fraud.

Our audit procedures were designed to respond to risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we are to become aware of it.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located at the Financial Reporting Council’s (“FRC’s”) website at:

www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

USE OF OUR REPORT

This report is made solely to the Charitable Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Charitable Company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone

other than the Charitable Company and the Charitable Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Fiona Condron (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of BDO LLP, statutory auditor Baker Street, London, UK

BDO LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales (with registered number OC305127).

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Financial Statements

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We Are With You

Statement of Financial Activities

(incorporating an income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2022 Company number 2580377

Notes INCOME FROM: Grants & Fundraising 2 Investment income Other income 3 Charitable activities Adult services Mental health services Young people and family services TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE ON: Raising funds Fundraising Charitable activities Adult services Mental health services Young people and family services Profle and infuence TOTAL EXPENDITURE 4 NET INCOME FOR THE YEAR NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Funds brought forward at 1 April FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD AT 31 MARCH	Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds 2022 Total funds 2021 £000 £000 £000 £000 128 2,378 2,506 4,878 - - - 7 88 - 88 55
	216 2,378 2,594 4,940
	44,717 6,444 51,161 42,802 6,267 68 6,335 5,779 3,417 1,010 4,427 5,698
	54,401 7,522 61,923 54,279
	54,617 9,900 64,517 59,219
	170 - 170 156
	170 - 170 156
	43,880 5,902 49,782 45,962 5,635 69 5,704 5,209 2,964 1,075 4,039 5,483 367 - 367 410
	52,846 7,046 59,892 57,064
	53,016 7,046 60,062 57,220
	1,601 2,854 4,455 1,999
	1,601 2,854 4,455 1,999 8,231 665 8,896 6,897
	9,832 3,519 13,351 8,896

We Are With You Balance Sheet

As at 31 March 2022

Notes Fixed assets Tangible assets 9 Current assets Debtors 10 Cash at bank and in hand Creditors Amounts falling due within one year 11 Net current assets Creditors Amount falling due after more than one year Net assets Represented by FUNDS Unrestricted: Designated funds General charitable funds Restricted 13 Total funds 12	2022 2021 £000 £000 556 679
	556 679
	9,494 6,218 12,827 10,353
	22,321 16,571
	(9,414) (8,246)
	12,907 8,325
	(112) (108)
	13,351 8,896
	1,641 1,679 8,191 6,552
	9,832 8,231
	3,519 665
	13,351 8,896

The notes on pages 83 to 88 form part of these financial statements.

The Financial Statements were approved by the Trustees on 27 October 2022 and signed on their behalf by:

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds and transfers between funds are disclosed above and in Note 13 to the financial statements. The notes on pages 83 to 88 form part of these financial statements.

Nigel Mccorkell Chair, Resources Committee

The detail of comparative figures for the previous year is shown in Note 15.

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We Are With You Statement of Cash Flows

for the year ended 31 March 2022

Cash fows from operating activities: Net cash provided by operating activities Cash fows from investing activities: Payments to acquire tangible fxed assets Net cash used by investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period Cash and cash and equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period Cash and cash and equivalents at the end of the reporting period Reconciliation of net income to net cash fow from operating activities Net income for the reporting period (as per the statement of fnancial activities) Adjustments for: Depreciation charges Loss on disposal of fxed assets (Increase)/ Decrease in debtors Increase in creditors Net cash provided by operating activities Analysis of changes in cash and short-term deposits Cash at bank and in hand	2022 £000 £000 2,485 (11) (11) 2,474 10,353 12,827 4,455 134 - (3,276) 1,172 (1,970) 2,485 As at 31 Mar 2021 £000 10,353	2022 £000 £000 2,485 (11) (11) 2,474 10,353 12,827 4,455 134 - (3,276) 1,172 (1,970) 2,485 As at 31 Mar 2021 £000 10,353	2021 £000 £000 3,759 (81) (81) 3,678 6,675 10,353 1,999 409 46 655 650 1,760 3,759 Cash As at fows 31 Mar 2022 £000 £000 2,474 12,827	2021 £000 £000 3,759 (81) (81) 3,678 6,675 10,353 1,999 409 46 655 650 1,760 3,759 Cash As at fows 31 Mar 2022 £000 £000 2,474 12,827
	134 - (3,276) 1,172		409 46 655 650
		12,827 4,455 (1,970)		10,353 1,999 1,760
			Cash fows £000 2,474
		2,485 As at 31 Mar 2021 £000 10,353		3,759 As at 31 Mar 2022 £000 12,827

The notes on pages 83 to 88 form part of these financial statements.

We Are With You Notes to the financial statements

for the year ended 31 March 2022

1 Accounting policies

• a) The financial statements of We Are With You are prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, SORP 2019, and in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS102). The financial statements are drawn up on the historic cost accounting basis.

b) Going concern

We Are With You's activities, together with the factors likely to affect our future development, performance and financial position, are set out on pages 12 to 51. The financial position of the charity, its cash flows, liquidity position and reserves are described in the financial statements on pages 78 to 95. The management of financial and other risks is described on page 64.

2021/22 continued to see the impact of the global pandemic although to a lesser extent than in 2020/21. Whilst the impact has been significant in terms of changing how we physically operate our services, we do not feel that this has adversely impacted on our going concern outlook.

We Are With You has significant liquid financial resources, comprising short-term cash deposits and balances totalling £12.8 million, which is more than our free reserves. In addition, we obtain funding from a wide range of sources. As a consequence, the Trustees believe that We Are With You is well placed to manage business risks successfully.

The Trustees consider that We Are With You has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the annual financial statements.

• c) Critical accounting estimates and judgements

To be able to prepare financial statements in accordance with FRS102, We Are With You must make certain estimates and judgements that have an impact on the policies and the amounts reported in the annual accounts. The estimates and judgments are based on historical experience and other factors including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable at the time such estimates and judgements are made. None of the estimates and judgements made create a significant risk of causing material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities in subsequent financial years.

Dilapidations

Based on average historical cost per sq ft

Support cost allocation

Allocated to each of the activities in proportion to the total of direct expenditure

Actual debt over 365 days old unless specifics have been identified

Bad Debt

Contract income is recognised when there is sufficient evidence that it has been earned. Income from some contracts is subject to a 'payment by results' element, which is calculated in relation to set criteria, the results of which may not be finalised until after the end of this accounting period.

Income recognition / Payment by Results

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We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

for the year ended 31 March 2022

d) Income

Income received by way of donations and gifts to the charity is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when receivable.

Where unconditional entitlement to grants receivable is dependent upon fulfilment of conditions within the charity's control, the income is recognised when there is sufficient evidence that conditions will be met. Where grants are received but there is uncertainty as to whether the charity can meet such conditions the income is deferred.

Contract income is recognised when there is sufficient evidence that it has been earned. Income from some contracts is subject to a ‘payment by results’ element, which is calculated in relation to set criteria, the results of which may not be determined until some time after the accounting period. In these cases, income is recognised or deferred on the basis of the evidence available up to the date of this report.

We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

for the year ended 31 March 2022

g)

Investments

We Are With You does not invest in stocks, shares or other financial assets. The investments of the charity consist solely of investment properties. Investments are stated at market value at the balance sheet date and the SOFA shows net investment gains and losses arising from revaluations and disposals during the year.

Investment properties are valued by a RICS Registered Valuer, either on the basis of RICS Valuation Professional Standards, or where properties have been marketed for sale, at accepted offer price.

h) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and liabilities of a kind that qualify as 'basic financial instruments' under FRS102. These are initially recognised at cash or transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value if different.

e) Expenditure

All expenditure is accounted for under the accruals concept and stated gross of irrecoverable VAT. Expenditure is allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity.

The support costs of We Are With You are allocated to each of the activities in proportion to the total of direct expenditure as it reflects the best estimate of the allocation of those support costs.

Governance costs comprise the costs incurred which are directly attributable to the constitutional activities of We Are With You, and the necessary procedures for compliance with statutory requirements.

Rentals for leased assets held under the terms of operating leases are charged directly to the SOFA over the term of the lease.

f) Tangible fixed assets

Freehold property is held at cost or fair value at acquisition. Improvements to leasehold premises and fixtures, fittings and equipment are capitalised where the total cost of the asset or combined cost of the project exceeds £10,000. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Freehold property 2% on cost or valuation at acquisition Improvements to short leasehold premises 5% - 50% on cost Fixtures, fittings and equipment 10% - 33% on cost Computers and IT equipment 20% - 33% on cost Motor vehicles 20% - 25% on cost

i) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due less a provision for any impairment losses. A provision is established for impairment when there is objective evidence that amounts due under the original payment terms will not be collected or the debt is over 365 days old.

j)

Creditors

Creditors and provisions are recognised where We Are With You 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 measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their expected settlement amount.

k) Taxation

We Are With You is eligible for the tax exemptions available for charitable activities.

We Are With You is a charity within the meaning of Para 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010. Accordingly the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains within categories covered by Chapter 3 of Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

No tax charge arose in the current or prior period

l) Unrestricted funds

These funds are received and applied to achieve the general objectives of We Are With You.

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We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

for the year ended 31 March 2022

m) Designated funds

In accordance with We Are With You's reserves policy, the designated fund represents fixed and other assets that cannot be readily converted into cash. At 31 March 2022 this was made up of £0.6m, representing the net book value of unrestricted assets. As part of the 2021/22 annual accounts the Trustees have approved the establishment of a designated reserve fund of £1.1m to support organisation wide projects.

The projects included:

Service delivery and technical infrastructure

Investment in workforce development platforms

The investments will be utilised through 2022/23

n) Restricted funds

These are to be used for specified purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is identified to the fund, together with a fair allocation of management and support costs.

o) Operating leases

Rentals payable under operating leases, where substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to the SOFA on a straight line basis over the minimum lease term.

We Are With You strives to ensure that its property leases are co-terminus with its contracts. Where a property lease is longer than the initial contract we strive to ensure that break clauses are in place.

p) Termination payments

All costs involved in terminating employee contracts are accounted for on an accruals basis and disclosed in aggregate in Note 8. Termination benefits are measured at the best estimate of the expenditure required to settle the obligation at the reporting date.

q) Pension schemes

The Charity operates or contributes to both defined contributions and defined benefit schemes for its employees. All defined benefit schemes are closed to new entrants and the numbers of active members can only grow as a result of the transfer of staff from other organisations.

Employees who are members of defined benefit schemes are those who were part of a TUPE transfer for contracts awarded to the Charity. As per the contracts, the Charity is not liable for any defined benefit pension scheme liability and are only liable for a fixed pension contribution to the relevant schemes. As such no liability is recognised in the financial statements in relation to these schemes and the contributions are treated as if they were those payable to a defined contribution pension scheme.

2 Grant income National Lottery Community Fund - Fulflling Lives Multiple Needs - Blackpool (BLF Ref: 30114808) - Drink Wise, Age Well (BLF Ref: 31014853) - Young Start (Project ID 10356819) - Building Connections Fund (Ref: 10346058) - Life Chances Fund Grant (BLF Ref: 10298686) - Digital Project (BLF Ref: 0010357389 ) - Covid-19 Emergency Response (Ref: 20134486) - Covid Comm. Response-Individual Relief & Family Discretionary Fund (Ref: 20141958) - Community Navigator Gate Pick Up (Ref: 20142993) - Young Start (Project ID: 20153013) National Lottery Community Fund and ESF Building Better Opportunities Grant via: - Active Pluss Community Interest Company - Ixion Holdings (Contracts) Ltd - The Learning Partnership for Cornwall and Isle of Scilly Ltd - The Pluss Organisation CIC ABF The Soldiers' Charity Corra Foundation - North East Glasgow Pre-rehab The Hunter Foundation The Mickel Fund The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity The Scottish Government - South Lanarkshire Survivor Support The Scottish Government - Covid-19 Recovery and Response Fund The Scottish Government - Webchat The Scottish Government - Response to Covid-19 - Webchat The Youth Endowment Fund Charitable Trust Other grants Donations and gifts 3 Other income Court reports Training Rental Social placements Other	2022 2021 All restricted All restricted £000 £000 72 1,560 271 527 - 50 - 50 111 159 - 369 - 493 - 33 - 10 25 - 256 307 74 87 - 12 438 411 - 30 100 - - 21 10 - 15 15 85 75 - 5 277 229 - 30 119 - 500 274 25 20
	2,378 4,767
	2022 2021 All Unrestricted All Unrestricted £000 £000 2 1 22 6 33 20 23 23 8 5
	88 55

The assets of any pension schemes are held separately from those of the Charity.

Pension costs charged in the SOFA represent the contributions payable by the Charity for the year together with any material provision to record the Charity's liability in relation to a defined benefit pension scheme, where this can be identified, in accordance with the accounting standard incorporated in FRS102.

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We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

4 Expenditure Direct Staff costs Other direct costs Support costs £000 £000 £000 Costs of raising funds Fundraising 125 25 20 Charitable expenditure Adult services 32,107 11,546 6,129 Mental health services 4,632 369 703 Young people’s and transitional services 3,132 408 499 Profle and infuence 209 1132 46 Total 40,205 12,462 7,397 Included in support costs are staff costs totalling £4,595k (2021; £3,889k) 5 Allocation of support costs Executive & Central Admin Finance, IT & HR Govern- ance Quality £000 £000 £000 £000 Fundraising 4 11 - 4 Adult services 1,254 3,227 119 1,091 Mental health services 144 370 14 125 Young people’s and transitional services 102 262 10 89 Profle and Infuence 9 24 1 8 Total 1,513 3,894 144 1,317 Support costs have been allocated in relation to direct costs. 6 Governance costs Staff costs Audit fees and other fees payable to auditor Trustees’ indemnity insurance Company secretariat 7 Net income for the year is stated after charging: Depreciation Trustees’ indemnity insurance Auditors’ remuneration: Audit of the charity accounts - current year Operating lease rentals: Property	Direct Staff costs Other direct costs Support costs £000 £000 £000 125 25 20 32,107 11,546 6,129 4,632 369 703 3,132 408 499 209 1132 46 40,205 12,462 7,397 totalling £4,595k (2021; £3,889k) Executive & Central Admin Finance, IT & HR Govern- ance Quality £000 £000 £000 £000 4 11 - 4 1,254 3,227 119 1,091 144 370 14 125 102 262 10 89 9 24 1 8	Direct Staff costs Other direct costs Support costs £000 £000 £000 125 25 20 32,107 11,546 6,129 4,632 369 703 3,132 408 499 209 1132 46	2022 Total 2021 Total £000 £000 170 156 49,782 45,962 5,704 5,209 4,039 5,483 367 410 60,062 57,220 Bidding for New Services 2022 Total 2021 Total £000 £000 £000 1 20 17 438 6,129 4,969 50 703 563 36 499 593 4 46 45
		40,205 12,462 7,397
	1,513 3,894 144 1,317		529 7,397 6,187
			2022 2021 £000 £000 43 43 59 59 2 1 39 34 143 137 2022 2021 £000 £000 133 409 2 1 59 59 1,403 1,424

We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

8 Employees The total costs of salaries and wages were as follows: Salaries and wages Social security costs Pension contributions Agency/support staff	2022 2021 £000 £000 37,612 34,912 3,386 3,170 2,219 2,116 1,412 885
	44,629 41,083

Redundancy and other termination costs included in expenditure during the year were £501k (2021: £487k)

The average number of employees was as follows: Fundraising Young people and family services Adult services Mental health services Profle and infuence Governance The number of employees whose emoluments exceeded £60,000 were: £60,001 - £70,000 £70,001 - £80,000 £80,001 - £90,000 £90,001 - £100,000 £100,001 - £110,000 £110,001 - £120,000 £140,001 - £150,000 £160,001 - £170,000 £201,000-£211,000	2022 2021 No. No. 2 3 123 120 947 973 143 145 5 6 2 2
	1,222 1,249
	2022 2021 No No. 12 13 6 6 3 2 3 4 1 - 2 - 1 1 1 1 1 -

All of these employees accrue benefits under the defined contribution pension scheme.

Total pension contributions paid for these employees were £112k (2021; £121k)

During the year 6 members of We Are With You's staff received a salary over £100k (2021: 2) the majority of whom were senior clinicians.

The total amount of remuneration and employee benefits received by key management personnel for their services during the year was £1,152k (2021: £939k). Key management personnel relates to the Executive Board members (2022:8, 2021:8).

No trustee received any remuneration or claimed expenses from We Are With You in the current or preceding years.

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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

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We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

9 Fixed assets Tangible fixed assets

Fixed assets
Tangible fxed assets The charity Cost at the start of the year Additions Cost at the end of the year Accumulated depreciation at the start of the year Depreciation for the year Accumulated depreciation at the end of the year Net book value at the end of the year Net book value at the start of the year	Freehold Land & Buildings Improve- ments to short leasehold premises Fixtures, fttings, equip- ment and vehicles Comput- ers and IT equip- ment Total 2022 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 411 1,616 94 315 2,436 - 11 - - 11
	411 1,627 94 315 2,447
	68 1,357 69 263 1,757 7 81 10 36 134
	75 1,438 79 299 1,891
	336 189 15 16 556
	343 259 25 52 679

10 Debtors

Debtors Trade debtors Accrued income Other debtors Prepayments	Charity 2022 2021 £000 £000 6,424 3,976 2,589 1,531 172 177 309 534
	9,494 6,218

11 Creditors and accrued expenses Trade creditors Social security and other taxes Deferred income Accruals Movement in deferred income Deferred due to timing of receipt	Balance b/f Released to SOFA £000 £000 1,599 (1,599)	Charity 2022 2021 £000 £000 1,848 1,903 1,220 1,016 1,351 1,599 4,995 3,728
		9,414 8,246
		Deferred Balance c/f in year £000 £000 1,351 1,351

We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

12 Movements in funds

Net Income for the year before transfers Transfers Net Movement in Funds Balance at the start of the year Balance at the end of the year 13 Restricted funds Revenue grants Fulflling Lives Multiple Needs - Blackpool Drink Wise, Age Well The Pluss Organisation CIC Ixion Holdings (Contracts) Ltd Active Pluss Community Interest Company Other funds Total restricted funds Restricted funds Revenue grants Fulflling Lives Multiple Needs - Blackpool Drink Wise, Age Well Recovery Pursuits SLanarkshire The Learning Partnership for Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Ltd The Pluss Organisation CIC Ixion Holdings (Contracts) Ltd Active Pluss Community Interest Company Other funds Capital grants Total restricted funds	General charitable funds Designat- ed fund Restricted funds Total 2022 £000 £000 £000 £000 1,601 - 2,854 4,455 38 (38) - - 1,639 (38) 2,854 4,455 6,552 1,679 665 8,896 8,191 1,641 3,519 13,351 Balance at 1 April 2021 Income Expendi- ture Balance at 31 March 2022 £000 £000 £000 £000 81 72 (127) 26 239 271 (381) 129 1 438 (429) 10 - 74 (74) - 7 256 (258) 5 337 8,789 (5,777) 3,349
	665 9,900 (7,046) 3,519
	665 9,900 (7,046) 3,519
	Balance at 1 April 2020 Income Expendi- ture Balance at 31 March 2021 £000 £000 £000 £000 4 1,555 (1,478) 81 454 527 (742) 239 7 50 (57) - - 14 (14) - 1 6 408 (423) 1 - 68 (68) - 8 284 (285) 7 289 2,452 (2,404) 337
	778 5,358 (5,471) 665
	18 - (18) -
	796 5,358 (5,489) 665

Included in accruals is a provision for dilapidations and other potential legal matters of £548k (2021: £344k) The estimated future costs of dilapidations and other legal matters are reviewed annually and adjusted as appropriate.

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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

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We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

SOFA Comparatives

14 Analysis of charity net assets between funds Fixed assets Current assets Current liabilities Long term liabilities Prior year analysis of charity net assets between funds Fixed assets Current assets Current liabilities Long term liabilities	General Charitable Designated Restricted Total funds fund funds 2022 £000 £000 £000 £000 - 556 - 556 17,717 1,085 3,519 22,321 (9,414) - - (9,414) (112) - - (112)
	8,191 1,641 3,519 13,351
	General Charitable Designated Restricted Total funds fund funds 2021 £000 £000 £000 £000 - 679 - 679 14,934 1,000 665 16,599 (8,274) - - (8,274) (108) - - (108)
	6,552 1,679 665 8,896

15 Statement of Financial Activities - detail of comparative figures

Notes INCOME FROM: Fundraising income Investment income Other income 3 Charitable activities Adult services Mental health services Young people’s and transitional services TOTAL INCOME EXPENDITURE ON: Raising funds Fundraising Charitable activities Adult services Mental health services Young people and family services Profle and infuence TOTAL EXPENDITURE 4 NET INCOME FOR THE YEAR NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Funds brought forward at 1 April FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD AT 31 MARCH	Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds 2021 £000 £000 £000 111 4,767 4,878 7 - 7 55 - 55
	173 4,767 4,940
	42,691 111 42,802 5,748 31 5,779 5,249 449 5,698
	53,688 591 54,279
	53,861 5,358 59,219
	156 - 156
	156 - 156
	40,979 4,983 45,962 5,178 31 5,209 5,008 475 5,483 410 - 410
	51,575 5,489 57,064
	51,731 5,489 57,220
	2,130 (131) 1,999 2,130 (131) 1,999 6,101 796 6,897
	8,231 665 8,896

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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

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We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

We Are With You Notes to the financial statements continued

17 Pension schemes

16 Lease obligations

2022	2021
£000	£000

The following payments are committed to be paid in the future in respect of leases:

Operating leases on land, buildings, vehicles and equipment, by expiry date:

Under one year Two to fve years Over fve years Total commitments	834 915 1,563 1,972 536 834
	2,933 3,721

The pension cost charge for the charity’s defined contributions schemes represents contributions payable under the schemes by the charity and amounted to £1,934k (2021: £1,792k).

We Are With You had Direction Employer status with the NHS Pension Scheme in relation to employees at a number of its projects during the year. The Scheme is an unfunded, defined benefit scheme, preparing its own statements, that covers NHS employers, general practices and other bodies, allowed under the direction of the Secretary of State, in England and Wales. The Scheme is not designed to be run in a way that would enable We Are With You to identify its share of the underlying Scheme assets and liabilities. Therefore, the Scheme is accounted for as if it were a defined contribution scheme and the cost of the Scheme is taken as being equal to the contributions payable to the Scheme for the accounting period. The total employer contributions payable in the year were £233k (2021: £262k). For both years employer contributions were paid at 14% of pensionable salary. Member contributions are between 5% - 14.5% of pensionable salary. At 31 March 2022 there were 56 (2021: 52) active members in the scheme employed by We Are With You.

We Are With You has Admitted Body status with the Local Government Pension Scheme in Shropshire, Hereford and Greater Manchester and Merseyside. The Scheme is a multi-employer defined benefit scheme. The total employer contributions payable in the year were £31k (2021: £46k).

18 Related party Transactions

Staff costs in note 8, include £66k in respect of salary and pension costs for 2 employees related to key management personnel.

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IMPACT & SERVICE DELIVERY

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