2021-03-31-accounts

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ESCAPE Familysupport Annual Report 2020/21 I nvestors in People Health & Wellbeing Award INVESTORS IN PEOPLE Gold Until 2022 Un5Ull9heKE5

Chair’s Report ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Our Objectives and Aims ........................................................................................................................ 4 The Need for Our Services ..................................................................................................................... 4 ESCAPE Family Support .......................................................................................................................... 6 Recognition ............................................................................................................................................. 7 ESCAPE Impact 2020 – 2021 ................................................................................................................... 8 Family and Carer Support Services ........................................................................................................ 8 Caseload Statistics .................................................................................................................................. 9 Covid 19: Pandemic Response & Service Adaptation ......................................................................... 11 Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training ............................................................... 12 Teen Triple P Programmes ................................................................................................................... 13 Carer Respite and Diversionary Activities ........................................................................................... 15 New Services & Programmes ............................................................................................................... 19 Family Champions, Volunteering and Peer Mentoring ....................................................................... 20 Quotes from Family Champions 2020/21 ............................................................................................ 22 Quotes from carers who received support from Family Champions ................................................. 22 Journey of a Kinship carer .................................................................................................................... 23 Carer Quotes on our Family Support Services ..................................................................................... 24 Young People Pilot Project ................................................................................................................... 25 Artwork & Quote from teenagers who accessed Young Project Project ........................................... 27 Quote from another Young Person ..................................................................................................... 28 Quote from the Parent of a young person .......................................................................................... 28 Partnership Work ................................................................................................................................. 29 The Future ............................................................................................................................................. 29 Thanks to our Funders: ........................................................................................................................ 30 Summary Accounts ............................................................................................................................... 31 Contact .................................................................................................................................................. 31

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Chair’s Report

Chair’s Report 2020/2021

2020/2021 has been a year none of us at ESCAPE Family Support will forget. A truly memorable 12 months, with one word which drove much of everyone’s actions, behaviours, worries and fears: COVID-19. Whilst ESCAPE has had its share of ups and downs since its inception in the 1990’s, never before have we had to cope with the impact of an international health issue on the scale of this pandemic with its devastating death toll and disruption to normal family and working life. The longer -term effects on people’s mental and physical health have yet to be fully realised and will no doubt feature prominently in ESCAPE’s caseload in 2021/2022.

The last year then has been somewhat different to previous years for ESCAPE’s staff, volunteers, and carers. Although our headquarters at Susan Kennedy Centre closed in March 2020, services continued with staff working from home. No staff were furloughed or let go, indeed new staff were appointed. Our usual face-to-face contacts, meetings and events were replaced with virtual experiences by telephone, e-mail, newsletters, the website, Facebook, WhatsApp, Zoom and Teams. The new arrangements enabled us to keep in contact with people and maintain service delivery. Innovation, ingenuity, and flexibility have been the order of the day.

I am immensely proud of our Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive and all staff and volunteers for finding ways through such challenging circumstances to not only keep ESCAPE afloat, but to see the charity thrive and deliver so well against the year’s objectives and targets. During the year we recruited additional trustees who have brought new ideas, enthusiasm, and expertise into the charity. Due to the need for remote working, I have not met them in person yet and look forward to doing so soon.

I am very grateful to our funders who have been generous and supportive during the year, understanding the changed environment we have been working within and providing opportunities and flexibility to fit the new circumstances. Special thanks go to the BIG Lottery, our major benefactor in 2020/2021, which has enabled our innovative Family Champions project to be launched and which will run for another two years. ESCAPE would not be able to survive without the financial support from our many funders and partners in the statutory and non-statutory sectors and I am pleased to take this opportunity to publicly thank them.

I hope you enjoy reading this Annual Report and finding out what has been happening.

Jackie L M Axelby

Chair

ESCAPE Family Support Ltd

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Our Objectives and Aims

Our aims and objectives as set out in the objects contained in the company's memorandum of association are now:

i. to provide support, counselling, mediation to relieve the poverty, sickness and distress of drug, alcohol and solvent users and their families who are or have been suffering from the misuse of substances being any substance which is misused to the detriment of the health of the individual in the community of Northumberland and elsewhere as the Association may determine;
ii. to advance education and training of the community of Northumberland and elsewhere as the Association may determine in the problems resulting from nonmedical use and abuse of drugs and associated problems; and
iii. to provide support, counselling, mediation and accommodation to relieve the poverty, sickness and distress of vulnerable adults in the community of Northumberland and elsewhere as the Association may determine.

The Need for Our Services

The following information is from Northumberland Substance Misuse Health Needs Assessment, 2020 unless otherwise stated.

Mortality related to substance misuse has been increasing in Northumberland. From 2008 to 2018 there was an average of 166 alcohol related deaths every year in the county. In 2018, there were 180 alcohol related deaths, this equates to a rate of 51.2 deaths per 100,000 population and is the highest annual rate of alcohol related deaths since 2012. Since 2008, the rate of alcohol related deaths has remained relatively stable and has not been significantly higher than England.

Drug related mortality is the third most common cause of death among people aged 15-49 in the UK. Drug related deaths are significantly higher in the North East than all other English regions. The rate of deaths due to drug misuse has increased in Northumberland since the 1990s. This is primarily due to increases in deaths related to opiate misuse, though deaths related to other substances have also increased, most notably cocaine. Over a 10 year period, the rate of deaths attributable to drug misuse increased by 46% among 15-49 year olds, and in 2017 drug use became the second leading risk factor for all-cause mortality after Alcohol in Northumberland.

There were 43 drug related deaths in Northumberland in 2019, 28 were from drug poisoning and 15 from drug misuse (Office of National Statistics).

Substance misuse is associated with many social impacts including crime, domestic abuse and adverse childhood experiences.

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Children living with a parent or carer dependant on alcohol

Between 2014/15 to 2016/17 there were an estimated 653 adults with alcohol dependency who lived with children in Northumberland and an estimated 1153 children living with alcohol dependent adults. Comparing this with the numbers of people in treatment, 22% of those living with children are accessing treatment, indicating significant unmet need.

Children living with a parent or carer dependant on opioids

There were an estimated 299 adults with opioid dependency living with children from 2014/15 to 2016/17 in Northumberland, and an estimated 557 children living with opioid dependent adults. Compared to alcohol, a higher proportion of those with opioid dependency living with children are in treatment, though there is variation between males (63%) and females (88%).

Alcohol and drugs as a factor in children’s social care assessments

Of 3002 referrals to children's social care that went onto assessment in 2018-19, alcohol misuse was identified as a factor in 25% and drugs in 26% of assessments. In the 12 month period there were 752 assessments where alcohol misuse and 789 where drug misuse were identified as factors. This is similar to the regional level but higher than the national level.

Numbers in treatment in Northumberland

Alcohol (Adults)

In 2018/19 there were a total of 530 people over 18, in substance misuse treatment services for alcohol. The latest estimated prevalence figures for alcohol (2017/18) suggest that 84% of need in relation to alcohol dependency is unmet by the current numbers of people in treatment.

Drugs (Adults)

In 2018/19 there were a total of 1035 people over 18, in substance misuse treatment services for drug misuse (excluding those with concurrent alcohol misuse), of those 90% accessed treatment primarily due to opiates. In Northumberland it is estimated that 27% of need in relation to opiate use is not met. Unmet need for crack cocaine use is higher at 86% in Northumberland based on 2016/17 prevalence estimates.

Young People

In 2018/19 there were 98 people under the age of 18 in substance misuse treatment services in Northumberland.

In 2018/19 67% of young people in treatment services in Northumberland were using at least two substances, this is higher than the 57% of young people nationally. Less than half of young people started using substances before the age of 15 (44%) which is much lower than the proportion that began using substances at an earlier age nationally (77%).

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With at least three family members affected by a loved one’s drug or alcohol use (Adfam) this means that there are at least 4989 people significantly affected by a loved one’s substance use who are resident in Northumberland. It is therefore essential that ESCAPE Family Support continues to provide specialist family support services to those affected by addiction in Northumberland.

ESCAPE Family Support

Since 1995, ESCAPE Family Support has been supporting people in Northumberland who have been affected by substance use. ESCAPE continues to provide Northumberland’s only specialist support services for families and carers of substance users, without which beneficiaries are left isolated and unsupported.

ESCAPE’s confidential support services are person-centred, tailored to the needs of each individual to help them identify their priorities, achieve their goals and improve their own lives. Wherever possible and appropriate, we mediate between the family and substance user to reduce conflict and alleviate the problems experienced and distress caused by drug and alcohol use. We deliver impartial and stand-alone services but also work in partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies and groups.

ESCAPE’s Family Team delivers a range of services to the families and carers of substance users who include parents, grandparents, partners, siblings and children including 24/7 helpline, crisis support, telephone support, advice, information, advocacy, comprehensive carer assessments, personalised care plans, 1-1 support, counselling, befriending, family therapy, support groups, personal learning opportunities, arts and respite opportunities and support to help family members work together. The team also provides specific support for kinship carers; for those with a family member involved in the criminal justice system; and for those bereaved by substance use. We continue to work with family members whether their loved one is in treatment or not. The Family Team continue to offer a range of support where multiple complex issues occur, including children's safeguarding, domestic violence and offending.

During 2020/21 ESCAPE’s services have been supported through grants from National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund; Northumbria Healthcare Trust, Public Health at Northumberland County Council, Blyth Town Council, Greggs Foundation, National Lottery Awards for All, Coalfields Regeneration Trust; Sir James Knott Trust; Barbour Foundation, Hospital of God at Greatham, Hadrian Trust, Joicey Trust, Percy Hedley 1990 Trust and the Freemasons of Northumberland. The Trustees are grateful to all of the funders who supported the work of the charity during 2020/21. Trustees would also like to thank individuals who have made personal donations this year.

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Recognition

ESCAPE is led by a strong board including people who have relevant personal experience and have encountered problems similar to our client group. ESCAPE employs dedicated staff, supported by volunteers, peer mentors and befrienders throughout Northumberland, who are all committed to supporting people who are suffering because of substance use.

Our strength lies in our people and our team; we invest in their training and development. We have worked with the Investor in People standard since 2004, first achieving Investor in People Gold in January 2010. We are proud to have retained the Gold standard ever since; this achievement includes successful joint assessment against the new more robust Gold standard along with the new Health and Wellbeing Award in February 2019 demonstrating that we meet the requirements of all three key components of employee health and wellbeing: physical, psychological and social.

A 24-month review of Investor in People Standard in February 2021 was very positive and reinforced that:

ESCAPE had inspirational leadership that built trust and commitment; there was a strong expression that leaders were inspiring trust and confidence.
A robust approach to measuring its progress in managing and developing people using survey data and other metrics to see how well processes were working.
There was a strong ‘value–base’ in the organisation which made people feel good about working at ESCAPE. Cultural values - those shared beliefs amongst ESCAPE’s people, were strong and built good teams and individual motivation.
Despite financial constraints, the organisation still invested in its people development and wellbeing using creative ways to support its people.
There was an open culture that let ideas thrive and people feel empowered. ESCAPE made its people feel respected and encouraged to put forward ideas and take on responsibilities.
Staff were particularly well supported in psychological and social wellbeing Given the nature of the work done by ESCAPE’s people these aspects of wellbeing were particularly important.

We are very proud of our people and the feedback from our 24-month Review report achieved during the pandemic.

Investor in People Insights Assessment and Health and Wellbeing Review Report February 2021.

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ESCAPE Impact 2020 – 2021

ESCAPE has supported 563 people during 2020/21 including 76 young people and

children. what you are going through and it’s not the people you would necessarily think would attend.”

every step of the way to help cope with anxiety and difficult situations”

Over 400 telephone reassessment calls were

We received 167 new referrals in 2020/21.

delivered to ensure carers received the support they needed during the pandemic.

what you are going through and it’s not the people you would necessarily think would attend.” Up 9.86% on 2019/20. received the support they

We closed 198 cases in 2020/21 following reassessment of need.

We were resilient and adapted our provision delivering services by telephone and online throughout the pandemic.

We did not furlough any staff.

We currently have 24 volunteers, family champions and peer mentors who have completed 4153 hours of work despite Covid restrictions and lockdowns.

This is equivalent to 2.33 full time workers and brings Family and Carer Support Services significant added value.

Many thanks go to all volunteers who have supported our work in 2020/21.

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Caseload Statistics

The team received 167 new referrals during 2020/21 (up 9.86% on 2019/20).

The team had an open caseload of 308 on 31st March 2021 (down 9.14 % on 31/03/20).

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Open Caseload at Year End
400
350
339
300
308
250 284
200
217
197
150
100
50
0
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21
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Of the 308 open cases, 38 have high level intensive Tier 3 support needs,

(down 77.38 % on 31/03/20)

(Keyworker Crisis support, Counselling and CRAFT, ACEs or Parenting Programmes).

There are 130 cases sitting within Tier 2 intermediate support, (up 31.31% on 31/03/20)

(1-1 support, advocacy, befriending, structured mutual aid groups such as Bereavement, Kinship or CRAFT Maintenance, Health and Wellbeing workshops and Respite activities).

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There were 140 cases sitting within Tier 1 support Low Level Informal Support, up by almost 100% on 2019/20

(Advice, Information, Newsletter, Art Groups, Coffee Morning)

We have expanded and enhanced our mutual aid offer through a pool of Family Champions. This has resulted in an expansion of what we can offer carers to address needs and move them through tiers of support. The above graphs are reflective of this and evidence the results of an opportunity to address needs through a variety of means. A caseload that was heavy in Tier 3 needs has successfully moved into lower Tier 2 and Tier 1 support this year. A thorough caseload review resulted in 198 people exiting the service.

Covid 19: Pandemic Response & Service Adaptation

We have delivered our services within a very different world during the past year and our organisation, services and people have had to adapt, change, and learn throughout what has been a difficult and challenging year for the whole country. With Covid-19 cases increasing quickly we commenced home working for the whole team a week prior to the government lockdown to safeguard beneficiaries, volunteers and staff. We did not furlough any staff throughout the pandemic.

Our staff have worked hard to adapt services and our usual face-to-face contacts, groups, meetings, and events were replaced with virtual experiences by telephone, e-mail, newsletters, the website, Facebook, WhatsApp, Zoom and Teams. The new arrangements enabled us to keep in contact with people, maintain service delivery throughout the pandemic and ensure onward referrals to other relevant agencies for support with Covid-19 associated issues.

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Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training

Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) is a significant part of the work we undertake with families; it is an evidence-based, motivational programme of support for family members who have frequent contact with a loved one (i.e. partner or adult son / daughter) who is using alcohol or drugs problematically but who refuse to enter treatment. It is also proven to be very effective with families whose loved ones are in treatment. The three main aims of CRAFT are to: improve the life of the "Concerned Significant Other", reduce the user’s substance misuse and encourage a loved one into treatment. Family members who have participated in CRAFT report significant benefits for themselves and the substance user.

Most CRAFT during 2020/21 was delivered on a 1-1 basis via telephone due to the pandemic restrictions. However, we still managed to complete two group CRAFT programmes in 2020/21 with 13 attendees, commencing on site at SKC but finishing online due to Covid 19 restrictions. Feedback from the 13 individuals that attended the group programmes this year is very positive as follows:

Carer	Stress Levels Before CRAFT	Stress Levels After CRAFT	Happiness Before CRAFT	Happiness After CRAFT
1	2	8	3	9
2	2	6	1	6
3	2	9	4	10
4	3	5	4	6
5	2	8	3	8
6	2	8	5	7
7	4	8	4	8
8	6	9	9	9
9	3	6	3	6
10	3	8	3	9
11	1	7	3	7
12	2	6	2	5
13	6	9	5	9
Total	38	97	49	99
% Improved	155%		102%

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Carer Quote

CRAFT Carer Feedback Quote ‘A big thank you to the staff who deliver CRAFT, the volunteers and all of the other family’s struggling with their loved ones during their addiction. I remember my first day of assessment, what a mess. Couldn’t think there was light at the end. Having an outsider suggest changes that were positive has been a God send. I feel positive about the future and hope I don’t see that black hole. Keep up the great work that you do ’

Teen Triple P Programmes

Teen Triple P is an initiative of the Parenting and Family Support centre at the University of Queensland. This programme is designed to support parents/carers in their parenting role. All parents raising teenagers find it easier when they get support, as raising teenagers can be challenging and this can be made less stressful if parents don’t have to do it on their own. Throughout the programme, parents learn strategies to promote positive behaviour and strategies to manage misbehaviour, and also the importance of looking after themselves building their self-esteem, confidence and belief in themselves.

We managed to complete a Teen Triple P Course in December 2020; the pandemic impacted greatly on course attendance with only 4 of the 8 starters finishing the course, but those who attended gained significantly improved wellbeing and gave positive feedback as follows:

WWEBS evaluation – measuring wellbeing

Parent	Pre	Post	Notes
Parent one	40	60	Wellbeing has improved significantly
Parent two	23	45	Wellbeing has improved significantly
Parent three	52	57	An improvement in wellbeing at end ofprogramme
Parent four	33	56	Wellbeing has significantly improved

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What have you gained from attending the Teen Triple P Programme?

Learning new strategies, basically how to use them and put things in place, giving consequences and following them through
Knowledge on how to manage and maintain behaviour
Learnt a lot, how to change, how to behave and new strategies to help
Learnt new strategies to help with behaviour, my daughter still hard work and respectful

How has it made a difference within your family?

Calmer in the home and making a difference with her behaviour at school
Giving me knowledge to manage misbehaviour when circumstances change
Me and my wife working together and more relaxed with each other
We are working together now it feels like we are supporting each other

Would you recommend it to others? And why?

Definitely, meeting other parents and knowing you’re not alone, helping each other and sharing problems and strategies to deal with behaviour
Yes, because it gives you good examples of managing good and bad behaviour
Yes, it will help them, you don’t know(realise) how much it does help you, realising you are not alone
Yes, very helpful and some good information

Any other feedback

If any other courses come along, I’m interested
Yes, interested in further courses
Course was really good, really helpful and gave really good advice
Would like information on further courses in the future

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“I have gained knowledge and
experience with ESCAPE, don’t
know where I would be
without the support”
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“ESCAPE has helped guide me in
changing my life around and
supported me with changing my
future for the better”
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Carer Respite and Diversionary Activities

Through 2020/21 the respite and diversionary activities along with Family Fun Days we normally provide have understandably been affected by national lockdowns and restrictions.

Our staff team and the family champions have been resilient and creative in finding ways to retain connections to our beneficiaries to keep them engaged, reduce their isolation, and bring fun and happiness to their lives as follows:

Coffee Mornings - We moved these to WhatsApp with carers, Family champions and staff attending online, all safe logging in from their own homes with a coffee or tea close to hand.
Wellbeing Walks - Some carer groups decided to meet outside whilst adhering to covid-19 rules and went for healthy walks instead at Newbiggin and Blyth beaches. This helped reduce isolation and provided a safe place for carers to meet and talk.
Carers Week (w/b 8[th] June) - Our usual events during carers week could not take place. We decided to get carers involved in the theme ‘Making Caring Visible’ by promoting activities such as ‘Positive Pebbles’ and ‘Caring Hands’.

All pieces of art produced that were sent through to us were also displayed on our Facebook page. A virtual coffee morning and quiz also took place which was enjoyed by all who attended.

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Virtual Art Project - We began an art project prior to lock down with quotes being illustrated by a canvas. The intention was to give focus to art sessions taking place at SKC, encourage the thinking around ESCAPE values and allow us to display these values and motivational messages around the building once completed. With the onset of lockdown we continued with this project by ensuring those who wished to take part had access to materials to do this within their home. We collected pieces of work in and displayed art pieces with supporting statement each day w/b 13[th] July 2020 on our Facebook page.

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Mrs Claus and Christmas Helpers Virtual Christmas Present Drop Offs

On 18.12.2020 everyone was asked to join Mrs Claus and her Christmas Helpers on Facebook for our Christmas Drop off Challenge. We started the day off with a video from Mrs Claus asking people to watch out for her Christmas Helpers while they drove across Northumberland delivering Christmas present to 60+ children and young people.

This was followed by various photos of helpers while they were out and about the county throughout the day and also quotes from those who received them. Our Mrs Claus Video reached 567 people and had 133 engagements.

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Our Family Champions and volunteers also received gifts bought with donations from our Trustees for their dedication though a similar socially distanced Christmas ‘drop off’.

Live Raffle - We held our Christmas Raffle online on 14.12.2020 via Facebook Live (122 reached and 55 engagements)
Christmas Quiz - An online Christmas Quiz took place via Microsoft Teams on 17[th] December to ensure that carers were able to get together and have some fun as we were unable to host our normal Christmas Events.

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“It was an oasis in a time of
major trauma for the family”
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“I really appreciate the support I have received.
Prior to working with ESCAPE, I was constantly trying to
control the addict in my life, and it made me so
depressed, I felt worthless.
Now I have realised that I am in control of my own
happiness and trying to control the addict doesn’t work.
I can’t thank ESCAPE enough for helping me through this
time and helping to change my outlook”.
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New Services & Programmes

Thanks to our funders, ESCAPE has been able to sustain, adapt, and enhance its services during 2020/21. The charity commenced the introduction of a stronger mutual aid approach utilising Family Champions to support carers and families along with a pilot to introduce a new support programme and interventions for young people whose lives are affected by the drug or alcohol dependency of others.

Our Training and Volunteer Coordinator and the Advanced Practitioner for Young People and Families worker attended training to enable them to deliver Adverse Childhood Experience’s (ACEs) courses to adults and to young people to help them heal from past trauma. The Training and Volunteer Coordinator also completed further training to enable her to facilitate this course online.

The Training and Volunteer Coordinator spent many hours adapting our courses and wellbeing programmes so that they could be delivered online to our beneficiaries, family champions and volunteers. This included the resources for the new course to address trauma due to Adverse Childhood Experiences, group facilitation skills for family champions, and a variety of wellbeing workshops.

We focused on adapting the Health and Wellbeing and Educational Workshops and ACEs courses for online delivery first to ensure that we could meet the needs of our beneficiaries throughout the pandemic. Online course development and delivery included: Adverse Childhood Experiences; Stress Awareness, Anxiety Awareness, Sleep Hygiene, Anger Awareness, All About Me Workshop, Self Esteem Workshop, Drug Awareness, Alcohol Awareness, Alcohol, Overdose and Withdrawal, Legal Rights for Kinship Carers.

We have explored several different ways this year to run workshops during the pandemic. When possible, we ran them from our own building and from Briardale House in Blyth, then during lockdowns through Facebook ‘live’ events and digitally via Teams.

In some respects, the pandemic lockdowns and restrictions have benefited our service provision as it has accelerated the development of online service delivery, closed Facebook groups for beneficiaries and for Family Champions/volunteers.

It is important to emphasise the long-lasting positive impact for beneficiaries of the time the Training Officer spent adapting our courses for online service delivery. This will enable us to reach more people throughout Northumberland, especially those living in the rural areas.

“It isn’t easy living with an addict especially when it’s a loved one. Thank goodness for all at ESCAPE as they have given me tools and skills to soldier on. With their marvelous teachings and support my rollercoaster ride with my loved one is a much smoother and happier one”

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Family Champions, Volunteering and Peer Mentoring

We have an amazing pool of volunteers who are invaluable in supporting us in running the charity and the Susan Kennedy Centre and who also help us provide direct support to individuals and groups. Volunteers continue to support us with cleaning, gardening, administration, caretaking, counselling, befriending, peer mentoring, group facilitation, catering, community fundraising, bid writing, CEO post and helpline cover.

During this year we recruited and trained 10 Family Champions. Our Family Champions and volunteers received confirmation of their qualifications being approved and we felt it was important to celebrate their achievements. We did this by having a week of virtual celebrations during Volunteer Week (June 2020). We utilised our Facebook Page to complete this. Our Chair of Trustees took part by opening our celebrations with a message to our volunteers and we completed a ‘Door Stop Challenge’ where staff stayed socially distanced whilst dropping off certificates that were received through OCN, along with internal certificates from ESCAPE to recognise individual skills and achievements.

This was well received by volunteers and those people on Facebook that took part in congratulating them who joined in saying a big ‘Thank You’ to all the volunteers who support the charity.

Doorstep Challenge: Our Family Champions and other Volunteers

The Family Champions trained by the Training and Volunteer Coordinator have delivered support via telephone to beneficiaries that would not have been possible without her supervision and support. They have embraced their roles and delivered befriending and 1-1 support to carers.

Family Champions have also provided support in running our mutual aid groups for Kinship Carers, the Bereaved and CRAFT Maintenance groups. There has been a mix of face to face an online support delivered for carers in line with pandemic restrictions.

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Our Family Champions also worked with a family support worker to help complete Covid-19 support calls to check in on our caseload, provide information on the Northumberland Communities Together Hub and complete questionnaires to reassess need. Over 400 carers received calls within this piece of work which has identified several beneficiaries who require befriending support, wellbeing workshops and counselling etc.

Throughout the pandemic the Training and Volunteer Coordinator delivered telephone support/supervision calls to Family Champions and volunteers. This ensured that they were supported with any struggles they were having throughout the pandemic, lockdowns and restrictions.

We currently have 24 volunteers, including our 10 family champions and peer mentors who have again made a significant contribution to provision this year providing 4153 hours of work despite Covid restrictions and lockdowns. This is in effect the equivalent of 2.33 full time workers. The combined mix of skills and experience that these people contribute to the organisation brings an added value that is much broader than a single person in a paid post.

Aside from the personal learning journey of family champions, volunteers/mentors (e.g. improving basic life skills and skills for employability) and the assistance and personal experience they bring to ESCAPE as an organisation, there are wider community benefits from volunteer/mentor involvement. By empowering volunteers and peers to facilitate support groups the stigmas associated with drug and alcohol misuse continue to be challenged and broken down and people can make a positive contribution to their community.

Family Champion Case Study

E came into service with concerns and needing support with her son’s drug addiction and debt problems. E received one to one support from a family support worker then accessed the CRAFT programme to learn new skills to help cope with her loved one’s addiction. E then accessed wellbeing events and workshops and through the support and learning decided she would like to do the peer mentoring programme level 2, after completing this she also completed level 2 in skills for those affected by addiction and level 3 in family dynamics. E’s learning led her to become a family champion and she has successfully co-supported parenting and carers groups; level 2 in peer mentoring; and delivered one to one work with carers who are supporting loved ones with addictions. This is because she wants to give back to others; she values the support she has gained form ESCAPE family support and now enjoys supporting others.

I telephoned a carer during lockdown she was so pleased to hear a voice, she hadn't spoken or seen anyone in quite a while, she was over the moon to have someone to talk to and thanked me for caring This made me feel great as a person as well as a family champion and recognise why I do what I do because if you give a little you get a lot back.

“Being a family champion is extremely rewarding and you develop great relationships. You must be a good listener, offer support and offer advice when needed. It's a brilliant role based on mutual respect and friendship”.

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Quotes from Family Champions 2020/21

“Along with gaining level 2 and 3 qualifications, I have also gained more firsthand experience on the difficulties surrounding drug and alcohol addiction and the effect this can have on mental health and those closest to the individual. I feel I have achieved more varied knowledge I can transfer to my future in mental health. The staff and volunteers I have met along the way are all really lovely too. Thank you ESCAPE”

“ESCAPE has helped me develop a lot of my personal skills and is really welcoming and supportive place. Most of all it’s helped me develop confidence, meet new people and feel better able to help others”

“There is only one thing makes a dream possible to achieve. ‘Believe in yourself’, you are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you can imagine. Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember, how far you have come, remember everything you have faced, all battles you have won and all the fears you have overcome. I am here now because of the help and support I get from ESCAPE without them I don’t think I would be here today to say I am a volunteer and proud of it”

“I’ve personally gained amazing experience in counselling through ESCAPE, as well as feeling fully supported by staff and volunteers. The courses I’ve done with ESCAPE have been eye-opening and invaluable and I’m thankful for the opportunity”

“I am extremely grateful for ESCAPE giving me the opportunity to gain these qualifications and make me able to give back to my community”

Quotes from carers who received support from Family Champions

“Louise was a very helpful and supporting Peer mentor to me. It was lovely to be able to talk to someone who was not family and friends and that Louise was neutral. Louise gave me a good insight to my sons addiction which allowed me to have a better understanding of what my son is going through, Louise is a good listener and Louises peer mentoring was very beneficial to me.”

“I had an excellent peer mentoring relationship with Margaret and found her peer mentoring support to be very helpful. It was lovely to be able to talk to someone who really understands which made my situation feel less lonely! Margaret’s support helped me gain my confidence in making my own decisions and not allowing myself to worry about what other people think! I was given some very helpful suggestions by Margaret one of them being the Police welfare check which I wasn’t aware of until Margaret’s guidance.”

“Chris has been an excellent peer mentor support to me. What I liked about Chris’s mentoring was that she didn’t try to fix it by allowing me to come to my own conclusions and decisions whilst supporting me at the same time. By being able to off load and talk easily to Chris has reduced a lot of conflict occurring between myself and my loved one with the addiction. I would highly recommend to other carers to seek support from the Family Champions at ESCAPE.”

“Having a Family Champion to talk to was lovely it made me feel happy and not alone”

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Journey of a Kinship carer

Mrs X initially obtained support from ESCAPE fifteen years ago due to the impact on her of her daughter’s chronic alcohol misuse. She received a range of support including counselling as well as other therapeutic interventions and respite activities. Afterwards Mrs X circumstances improved as her daughter engaged with treatment services which she completed and made a full recovery. Mrs X was then discharged from our service.

Mrs X’s daughter remained abstinent for several years by which time she was married with two young children when her husband unexpectedly died which was a shock to the whole family. Sadly, Mrs X’s daughter relapsed at that time and her two children were removed from her care and placed with Mrs X who was subsequently awarded a Special Guardianship Order for her grandchildren. Mrs X returned to ESCAPE for support during this difficult time.

Throughout the legal proceedings for removal of her grandchildren and the award of the Special Guardianship Order, Mrs X received support and advice from ESCAPE and accessed the wellbeing workshops and kinship carer support group for much needed peer support from carer’s who have been through the family assessment/care proceedings process and were able to share their experiences with her. Mrs X’s daughter also received the support and care she needed from both primary mental health and addictions treatment services and is continuing her recovery.

Mrs X now has a Special Guardianship Order and continues to receive support from ESCAPE, she still attends the kinship carer support group monthly which at the current time runs online due to the Covid 19 restrictions.

Feedback from Mrs X (72 years old):

“I first accessed ESCAPE about 15 years ago when my daughter had problems with alcohol. I engaged with them for about 7 years and received excellent support. Before I started attending ESCAPE I felt suicidal. There was a carers group who met every week, I had 1-1 counselling from Elaine, we went on spiritual retreats, days out. It felt like a real family who understood what I was going through. My circumstances improved until about 2 years ago when my daughters husband died, and she again turned to alcohol.

I contacted ESCAPE again and they were there immediately giving me support. But not only that they helped me through the maze of social services with their expertise. I now have special guardianship of my 2 grandchildren and find it very hard but when I feel down or need support, I pick up the phone.

I am also grateful for the kinship carers group which is a great help and the carers group which provides companionship, courses on things like coping with stress and craft activities. I feel they are my crutch, always there when I need them, and I will be eternally grateful.”

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Carer Quotes on our Family Support Services

“ESCAPE have been amazing from the very beginning! I’m so glad my GP referred me a few years back. I now feel like I am part of the ESCAPE family and I have gained so much from spending time there! From doing different courses to meeting real friends for life and being able to receive support and advice whenever I feel I need it.”

“ESCAPE provides maintenance support now for me rather than 'active' real time support. The ability to stay in touch is what keeps any anxieties down on an ongoing basis. always approachable and ready to give support when situations need it. Thank you”

“Counselling massively helped me to understand why I was feeling the way I did. Thank you so much for the wonderful support”

“Doing all the well-being courses has helped me a lot throughout COVID especially the stress courses and sleep hygiene.”

“ESCAPE helped me more than they know. You are always listened to and never judged on anything you have to say.”

“Excellent support, thank you. Cameron especially and Debbie made a massive difference to my life and ability to cope. ”

“I would not be able to deal with the anxiety I suffer, due to the issues raised by my brother’s alcohol dependency, without the support of ESCAPE. The advice and support that Deb has offered to me has been invaluable. Thank you.”

“The support has been invaluable and knowing I have another phone call booked in really helps with my anxiety.”

“Although I still have times of anxiety, through the support, I received I have been given strategies on how to work through my worries”.

“Amazing team.. invaluable service.. I do appreciate and need my phone calls.. brilliant help thankyou to you all at ESCAPE”

“ESCAPE’s support has helped greatly & has taught me how to cope with my present situation.”

“I was very happy with the help I received” “It was excellent, very kind and caring, thank you”

“The support has been valuable and very effective. Thank you” “All been very good and helpful”

“I really appreciate the reassurance the contact with your officers and fellow sufferers have given me.”

“The people I spoke to were absolutely wonderful especially Rebecca”

“The help provided was appreciated and really to the point”

“Great team, great help”

“Fantastic service”. “ESCAPE is a vital resource for families of Addicts”

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Young People Pilot Project

When researching interventions and models of best practice we were seeking interventions that would address these adverse childhood experiences would greatly enhance the support we offer and address the need.

Through our previous experience of working with young people affected by another’s substance use and review of our caseload we had already identified that the young people we are working with have been affected by a range adverse childhood experiences including poverty, neglect, emotional and/or physical abuse, exposure to domestic violence, imprisonment of a parent, mental ill health within the family, their own mental health difficulties, and taking on caring responsibilities.

We therefore decided to deliver this recognised evidence based intervention rather than develop a new programme ourselves. We secured funds to have the Training and Volunteer Coordinator and the Advanced Practitioner for Young People and Families trained to deliver the ACE’s programme to young people accessing the service and also adults who access the service.

The parents of the young people we work with have often experienced ACE’s themselves and need therapeutic support to recover and understand how their experiences impacts on their parenting. Delivering the Adult ACE’s programme alongside the YP ACE’s will enable delivery of holistic family support and interventions.

Living with ACE’s results in individuals developing coping and lifestyle strategies that are based on poor parental attachment and the effects of trauma. ACE’s have the potential to damage health across the life course. We are hoping that by providing interventions with both young people and adults we will be able to help “break the cycle” of harms within the families we work with.

Adverse childhood experiences children and young people (ACEs CYP)

ACEs CYP has been written to work with children/young people who are living with, or have lived within, households and communities where there are significant events that mean they are experiencing high levels of emotional trauma but are able to take part in group activities.

The ACEs CYP provides an intervention that will provide a foundation that aims to develop practical skills, build self-esteem and self-confidence. By providing interventions in a group setting, it also provides the children/young people with an environment that reduces social isolation and encourages the building up of social skills. This enables the development of resilience through meaningful participation however some of the children/young people that attend may need further interventions to recover from their trauma.

The programme runs for eight-weeks and has a range of techniques and self-help ideas, the programme provides the child/young person with the skills needed to take part in more in-depth therapy-concentration and understanding emotional regulation.

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Children/young people can be helped and supported: -

By helping them make healthy relationships and be connected to others
By helping them to understand toxic stress and their response to it
By understanding and teaching them how to manage their emotions
By providing a setting where they feel safe and secure and not judged
By learning coping strategies that connect them to the people that can support them and to improve their ability to relate to others which is crucial in developing their resilience
By feeling people care about them but in a healthy way
By learning techniques to help them structure their lives even if they are still living with traumatic communities of families.

Unfortunately, we have not been able to deliver this programme in group format due to Covid-19. We therefore utilised the materials within our 1-1 work with YP and have seen some positive outcomes achieved.

Young People Project

Activity	Total
No of Young People referred into the project in 2020/21	19
No of Young People who engaged in support	24
No of structured 1-1’s delivered	123
No of attendances at Wellbeing Workshops	9

We have had limited opportunities this year to see young people face to face on a 1-1 basis. Therefore structured 1-1 support has been delivered via telephone. It was only in early 2021 that we could once again complete face to face work (in groups) to address needs and young people were encouraged to attend wellbeing workshops to address stress, anxiety and sleep hygiene needs. 3 of our young people attended 3 workshops during this period resulting in 9 interventions via this means. It worked well having the young people that we felt were suitable and who were happy to mix with adult carers attend wellbeing workshops together, they shared their perspectives and benefited from gaining an understanding of each other’s positions and experiences.

There has also been an integration of young people into the Art Project. This work began with two young people joining the group at Susan Kennedy Centre. These sessions were then impacted by lockdown, but work continued to include young people in art activities, we delivered arts materials to their homes so that they could progress pieces of art at home with three young people accessing this respite. The art pieces we received this year from the Young People who took part in the project were later incorporated into flyers for promotion of the service.

“I find support from ESCAPE really helpful - when I'm talking to you, I feel like a weight is lifted off my shoulders, I feel like I can open up to you and I am comfortable talking about things because I feel you are easy to talk too, and I feel I can trust you. I prefer 1-1 support and I enjoy your phone calls. I look forward to them and I enjoy the sessions. I can see how the groups can help other young people who might not have the confidence to talk about themselves but might hear other young people talking in the group and that might help them. I don't mind coming to groups, but I prefer 1-2-1 support as I know I can talk about anything I need too like the personal stuff that's happened with my mam and that helps me whereas I wouldn't talk about that in a group”. R.

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Artwork & Quote from teenagers who accessed Young Project Project

“I just want to say how helpful Escape has been to me personally. The support has been very beneficial to me and helped me though quite a lot mentally, just having that support there and knowing u can just pick up the phone to Elaine really means a lot when I’m not in a very good place. I took part in the groups before lockdown and they helped a lot around stress and anxiety, I always felt like there was a weight lifted off my shoulders when I left the sessions. I can’t wait for the groups to start up again because it is something I will definitively take part in again. Hope this explains how much ESCAPE and the staff have helped me. K.

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Quote from a young person who accessed the Young People Project

“I really like ESCAPE as everyone is friendly. I like coming to the office as it's an inviting environment, really calming. Support from ESCAPE has helped me to be able to be more expressive and talk about my feelings more and I’m happier now since I started to come to ESCAPE. I used to feel panicky when I was in public places, especially if lots of people were around but I don’t now and I go to Newcastle with my friends all the time.

I feel like my confidence has grown, I remember the first time I came to ESCAPE, I was wearing a black hoody and black leggings and now I’m able to wear clothes that express who I am like skirts and things, I enjoy doing my eyeliner which I never would have done before.

I enjoy the groups as well as I like talking to other people who come and hearing them talk about their lives. I hope there will be more groups on this summer as I will come to them all! “. L.

Quote from the Parent of a young person who accessed the YP projec

“ESCAPE has been fantastic in supporting L, and also myself and J, Workshops have been great for L. and gave her something to look forward to and be around people of different ages.

L’s mental health dipped during the pandemic and ESCAPE being there for her helped her in her dark times.

The smile on her face when invited to workshops was like winning the lottery,

I have had regular calls enquiring about all of my family.

Thank you to everyone involved”. L.O.

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Partnership Work

We regularly attend meetings and participate in partnership work within the Northumberland Carers Strategic Partnership, Northumberland Drug and Alcohol Steering Group, Wansbeck and Cramlington Hospitals Alcohol Development Group, and Regional Carers of Substance Users Forum. We are a valued partner in these settings. These meetings have all taken place online during this difficult period.

We have continued to work in partnership with other organisations to deliver group sessions, 1-1 support and mutual aid groups in community settings such as Briardale House when Covid restrictions have allowed.

The Future

A new Family Champions Programme to deliver more mutual aid for carers and a pilot project to develop our work to address the needs of Young People has commenced thanks to funding from National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund. All of our activity will contribute towards the work outlined within the National Drug and Alcohol Strategies.

Strategies we utilise to fulfil these objectives include:

Concentrating upon restricting the harm correlated to substance misuse for the families, carers, children and friends of substance users and the wider communities of Northumberland.

Working in partnership with other organisations to establish and secure a holistic range of services corresponding to the needs of all service beneficiaries.

All plans have been shaped and formulated by carers, peer mentors, volunteers, staff and trustees. Our plans are based around the two key priorities that have been identified:

introducing and embedding a new, stronger mutual aid approach that provides training, opportunities and support to develop a bank of Family Champions who are ‘experts by experience’ and who have expressed their desire to give something back and help others to achieve positive change.
piloting and introducing a new intervention support programme specifically designed and targeted at children and young people whose lives are blighted by the drug or alcohol dependency of others.

A focus on our two priority areas, as identified above, will enable us to:

reach and support more families including children and young people
build a stronger and connected network of support across the county
support people, including young people, to ‘give back’ and ‘help others in similar situations’.

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Thanks to our Funders

The Percy Hedley 1990 Charitable Trust

Page | 30

Summary Accounts

Contact

Head Office Address: Susan Kennedy Centre 63 South View Ashington Northumberland NE63 0SF

Telephone/Fax: (01670) 544055 Helpline: 07702833944

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ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

A company limited by guarantee

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2021

Charity number 1063500 Company number 03256554

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Report of the Management Committee for the year ended 31 March 2021

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021. The trustees have adopted the provisions of 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) (effective 1 January 2019).

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number

03256554 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number

1063500

Registered office

Susan Kennedy Centre 63 Southview Ashington Northumberland NE63 0SF

Trustees

J L M Axelby Chair D Brown Vice Chair T Devine H Madin Treasurer with effect from 1/10/2020 J Murphy S J Murphy N Furno Appointed 21/7/2020 A Park Appointed 26/1/2021 A Steward Resigned as Treasurer and trustee 30/09/2020 P Critchlow Appointed 26/1/2021

Company Secretary

N Furno

Independent examiner

Jim Dodds Connected Voice Business Services Ltd Higham House Higham Place Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 8AF

Bank:

Lloyds Bank

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Solicitors

Helen Kay HMK Legal Ltd Clavering House Clavering Place Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3NG

Solicitors

Cuthbertsons 3 Stanley Street Blyth Northumberland NE24 2BS

OUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Purposes and Aims

Our aims and objectives as set out in the objects contained in the company's memorandum of association are:

i. to provide support, counselling, mediation to relieve the poverty, sickness and distress of drug, alcohol and solvent users and their families who are or have been suffering from the misuse of substances being any substance which is misused to the detriment of the health of the individual in the community of Northumberland and elsewhere as the Association may determine;

ii. to advance education and training of the community of Northumberland and elsewhere as the Association may determine in the problems resulting from non-medical use and abuse of drugs and associated problems; and

iii. to provide support, counselling, mediation and accommodation to relieve the poverty, sickness and distress of vulnerable adults in the community of Northumberland and elsewhere as the Association may determine.

Ensuring our work delivers our aims

Our aims, objectives and activities are reviewed annually. This involves evaluating what we have achieved and the outputs and outcomes of our work in the aforementioned 12 months. The success of key activities and benefits these bring to our beneficiaries are appraised. This ensures that that our aims, objectives and activities continue to focus on our specified purposes, facilitates continuous service improvement and prevents mission drift. We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aim and objectives and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set.

The focus of our work

Our main objectives for the year were to maintain high-quality service delivery to vulnerable families, carers and young people in Northumberland, particularly those who are affected by a loved one’s addiction; to continue the review and strengthening of systems and to increase funds raised to ensure long term sustainability of our work.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Support to adults who care for a family member
Support to young people affected by a loved one’s substance use (new pilot programme)
Focussing upon limiting and alleviating the harms caused by drug and alcohol use
Enabling people to better support their own families and support those of others through our education, training, volunteering, and peer mentoring programmes
Working in partnership with other agencies to provide the widest range of services possible to ensure that the needs of the client population are met.

How our activities deliver public benefit:

Our main activities and people we try to assist are outlined below. All our charitable activities are focused on relieving poverty, sickness and distress, the provision of support to vulnerable families, particularly those affected by substance misuse, and the provision of education and training to advance our charitable purposes for the public benefit of Northumberland.

Who needs, used, and benefited from our services?

Our funding and resources continue to focus our main service provision to residents of Northumberland. Northumberland has a population of over 320,000 people, many scattered thinly in relatively isolated towns and settlements across expanses of countryside, whilst a significant concentration live in the south east of the county in declining economic communities. The county of Northumberland is a unitary authority. People in parts of Northumberland suffer extremes of poverty with low average incomes in three of the county's previous six district areas, with demonstrable inequalities of income across the county. In common with other areas of the U.K., Northumberland continues to experience drug taking along with an increase in alcohol use amongst its population.

The North East has had the highest rate of drug misuse for the past seven consecutive years (between 2013 and 2019), before this Wales had a higher rate than all English regions (between 2010 and 2012). The North East continues to be statistically significantly higher than all other regions of England as well as Wales. (ONS 14 October 2020).

The statistics for deaths by drug misuse and figures for death by drug poisoning both show that the North East region has the highest death rate in England and Wales, at almost twice the national average. There were 679 deaths linked to drug misuse in the North East between 2017 and 2019, which works out at a rate of 9.1 per 100,000 people, almost twice as high as England's average rate of 4.7 for the same period (ONS 14 October 2020).

The North East also has the highest rate of deaths for drug poisoning, which include the misuse figures along with statistics for deaths caused by complications such as deep vein thrombosis or septicaemia from intravenous drug use, drug-induced suicides and deaths caused by prescription and over the counter medicines, obtained illegally or legally (ONS 14 October 2020).

The poisoning death figures have risen across the region over the years. The North East's drug poisoning death rate was 13.1 for 2017-19, compared to an England average of 7.1. The North East's rate rose from 10.7 in 2015-17 and 6.8 in 2009-11. It was 6.9 in 2001-03 (ONS 14 October 2020).

The ONS figures above only include data to 2019 so therefore do not include drug misuse death rates that have occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Provisional figures released in February 2020 by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that alcoholspecific deaths in the North-East rose by more than 15% in 2020 revealing an alarming spike in the first

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

nine months of 2020 in the region, which was already suffering from the highest rates before the pandemic. From January to September 2019, 331 people in the North-East died from conditions 100% attributable to their alcohol consumption, many of them from alcoholic liver disease. In 2020, that figure increased to 382 over the same period. According to Balance, the North East Alcohol Office, these figures could be the tip of an iceberg. Furthermore, these figures may indicate increased levels of harmful drinking during the pandemic.

The Northumberland Substance Misuse Health Needs Assessment (Aug 2020) outlines the following landscape in the county:

Alcohol and drugs are the leading risk factors for all-cause mortality in those aged 15-49 in Northumberland. Substance misuse contributes to inequalities within all-cause mortality.

Substance misuse health related harms are increasing among the population in Northumberland, with increases in hospital admissions across a range of drug related and alcohol related conditions.

Drug related hospital admissions for young people aged 15-24 in Northumberland increased steeply in recent years. Northumberland now has the highest rate in the North-East. This follows increases in admission for self-harm and injury among young people in Northumberland.

Mortality related to substance misuse has been increasing over time. In Northumberland, there were 23,959 years of life lost prematurely from 2008-2018 due to alcohol. Whilst alcohol-related mortality rates are similar to England rates, the years of life lost are significantly higher, indicating that mortality in Northumberland impacts a younger demographic. In 2018, there were 180 alcohol related deaths in Northumberland, this equates to a rate of 51.2 deaths per 100,000 population and is the highest annual rate of alcohol related deaths since 2012.

Drug related deaths have also increased over time, with rates highest among males aged 15-49 in Northumberland. This is primarily due to increases in deaths related to opiate misuse, though deaths related to other substances have also increased, most notably cocaine.

Substance misuse is associated with many social impacts including crime, domestic abuse and adverse childhood experiences.

Young People in Treatment in Northumberland:

In 2018/19 there were 98 people under the age of 18 in substance misuse treatment services in Northumberland. The proportion in treatment with mental health needs, self-harm, offending behaviour and affected by the substance misuse of others is higher in Northumberland than the proportions seen nationally.

Over 18s in treatment for alcohol in Northumberland:

In 2018/19 there were a total of 530 people over 18, in substance misuse treatment services for alcohol. This is where alcohol is reported at the primary reason for accessing services. This represents over a third of people who are in specialist treatment services in Northumberland. The latest estimated prevalence figures for alcohol (2017/18) suggest that 84% of need in relation to alcohol dependency is unmet by the current numbers of people in treatment. This is similar to national levels, where unmet need in relation to alcohol dependency is estimated to be 82%. This suggests that there are a further 2782 people who require treatment but are not yet in service.

Over 18s in treatment for drug misuse:

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

lower than levels of unmet need nationally at 46%. Unmet need for crack cocaine use is higher at 86% in Northumberland and 60% nationally based on 2016/17 prevalence estimates.

With a total of 1663 people in treatment in Northumberland in 2018/19, it is clear that with at least three family members affected by a loved one’s drug or alcohol use (Adfam), this means that there are at least 4989 people significantly affected by a loved one’s substance use who are resident in Northumberland. This figure does not take into consideration the significant levels of unmet need of those who are not in treatment whose families and loved ones are even more vulnerable (at least a further 9381 family members given data from the Northumberland Needs Assessment). It is therefore essential that ESCAPE Family Support continues to provide specialist family support services to those affected by addiction in Northumberland.

Experts blame drastic cuts to drug and alcohol treatment services across the North-East for the rise in deaths. They claim that figures provided to Freedom of Information requests show that of the region's councils that responded, £35.7million was being spent on helping those struggling with addiction in 2013, but this has dropped by a quarter to £27.2million in 2019 (UKAT).

In addition, it is very important to ensure that families and carers, partners and friends are included in a client's treatment journey as this support can make all the difference to a successful outcome. 18% of individuals coming into treatment live with children, and so it is very important that appropriate working practices are in place to safeguard those at risk from hidden harm. An important part of the individual's treatment journey is to ensure that they and their families, friends and children are supported in building and maintaining effective relationships with each other.

We work with families from all socio-economic backgrounds from both urban and rural areas of Northumberland but receive higher referrals from areas with higher levels of social deprivation. Our support services are provided free of charge. However, carers accessing the respite caravan pay a small contribution towards site fees and running costs. During 2020/21 we have delivered Covid- related support and onward referrals in tandem with our core support work to help ensure that the widest range of support was provided to meet client needs and improve outcomes.

The information below which provides a summary of achievements and performance over this financial period should be read in conjunction with the attached Financial Statements.

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

Since 1995, ESCAPE Family Support has been supporting people in Northumberland who have been affected by substance use. We support parents, partners, grandparents, children, and wider family members who are affected and struggling to cope. ESCAPE continues to provide Northumberland’s only specialist support services for families and carers of substance users, without which beneficiaries are left isolated and unsupported.

ESCAPE has supported 563 beneficiaries during 2020/21, including 76 young people/children, whose lives have been negatively impacted by a family member’s substance use. Our current caseload is 308. Of these, 140 are receiving Tier 1 support (Low level support), 130 are receiving Tier 2 interventions (Intermediate) with 38 people receiving Tier 3 (Intensive) services.

ESCAPE’s confidential support services are person centred, evidence based, and tailored to the needs of each individual to help them identify their priorities, achieve their goals and improve their own lives. Wherever possible and appropriate, we mediate between the family and substance user to reduce conflict and alleviate the problems experienced and distress caused by drug and alcohol use. We deliver impartial and stand-alone services but also work in partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies and groups. Some examples of our evidence-based service delivery are outlined below.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE – continued

Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT)

Teen Triple P Programmes

Teen Triple P is an initiative of the Parenting and Family Support centre at the University of Queensland. This programme is designed to support parents/carers in their parenting role.

All parents raising teenagers find it easier when they get support, as raising teenagers can be challenging and this can be made less stressful if parents don’t have to do it on their own. Throughout the programme, parents learn strategies to promote positive behaviour and strategies to manage misbehaviour, and also the importance of looking after themselves building their self-esteem, confidence and belief in themselves.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

ACEs entails work with Young People or Adults who are living with, or have lived within, households and communities where there are significant events that mean they are experiencing high levels of emotional trauma. ACEs is an intervention that will provide a foundation that aims to develop practical skills, build selfesteem and self-confidence. By providing interventions in a group setting, it also provides people with an environment that reduces social isolation and encourages the building up of social skills. This enables the development of resilience through meaningful participation however some people that attend may need further interventions to recover from their trauma. The programme runs for eight weeks and has a range of techniques and self-help ideas, the programme provides the person with the skills needed to take part in more in-depth therapy concentration and understanding emotional regulation.

People can be helped and supported: -

By helping them make healthy relationships and be connected to others
By helping them to understand toxic stress and their response to it
By understanding and teaching them how to manage their emotions
By providing a setting where they feel safe and secure and not judged
By learning coping strategies that connect them to the people that can support them and to improve their ability to relate to others which is crucial in developing their resilience
By feeling people care about them but in a healthy way
By learning techniques to help them structure their lives even if they are still living within traumatic circumstances

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE – continued

We are proud to have retained the Gold standard ever since; this achievement includes successful joint assessment against the new more robust Gold standard along with the new Health and Wellbeing Award in February 2019 demonstrating that we meet the requirements of all three key components of employee health and wellbeing: physical, psychological and social. A 24-month review of Investor in People Standard in February 2021 was very positive and reinforced that:

ESCAPE had inspirational leadership that built trust and commitment; there was a strong expression that leaders were inspiring trust and confidence.
A robust approach to measuring its progress in managing and developing people using survey data and other metrics to see how well processes were working.
There was a strong ‘value–base’ in the organisation which made people feel good about working at ESCAPE. Cultural values - those shared beliefs amongst ESCAPE’s people, were strong and built good teams and individual motivation.
Despite financial constraints, the organisation still invested in its people development and wellbeing using creative ways to support its people.
There was an open culture that let ideas thrive and people feel empowered. ESCAPE made its people feel respected and encouraged to put forward ideas and take on responsibilities.
Staff were particularly well supported in psychological and social wellbeing Given the nature of the work done by ESCAPE’s people these aspects of wellbeing were particularly important.

We are very proud of our people and the feedback from our 24-month Review report:

Investor in People Insights Assessment and Health and Wellbeing Review Report February 2021

The service is supported through grants from National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund; Northumbria Healthcare Trust, Public Health at Northumberland County Council, Blyth Town Council, Greggs Foundation, National Lottery Awards for All, Coalfields Regeneration Trust; Sir James Knott Trust; Barbour Foundation, Hospital of God at Greatham, Hadrian Trust, Joicey Trust, Percy Hedley 1990 Trust and the Freemasons of Northumberland. The Trustees are grateful to all of the funders who supported the work of the charity during 2020/21. Trustees would also like to thank individuals who have made personal donations this year.

The biggest risk of COVID-19 to ESCAPE, has been the risk of not being able to deliver the required or desired service to the charity’s beneficiaries and being able to protect the wellbeing of our staff.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Thanks to our funders, ESCAPE has been able to sustain, adapt, and enhance its services during 2020/21. The charity commenced the introduction of a stronger mutual aid approach to supporting carers and families and a pilot to introduce a new support programme and interventions for young people whose lives are affected by the drug or alcohol dependency of others.

ESCAPE has supported a total of 563 beneficiaries during 2020/2021.

We carried forward a caseload of 339 into 2020/21.

We had 167 new referrals in 2020/21 broken down as follows:

129 Adult Carers / Family Members 19 Young People 19 Parents for Parenting Programmes

In addition, 57 additional children and young people within the families we worked with received Christmas presents which we received from Cash for Kids and the Bacmans and BIG Cell Resident Support distributed to our families.

We closed 198 cases during a caseload review which took place in 2020/21.

Our current caseload at 31/03/2021 for the team is 308. Of these, 140 are receiving Tier 1 support (low level), 130 are receiving Tier 2 (Intermediate) interventions with 38 people receiving Tier 3 (Intensive) services.

The following graphs show the increasing referrals over the past five years and the status of the caseload at each year end. They outline, year on year, the demand for our services has increased.

The team received 167 new referrals during 2020/21 (up 9.86% on 2019/20).

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

The team had an open caseload of 308 on 31st March 2021 (down 9.14 % on 31/03/20).

Of the 308 open cases, 38 have high level intensive Tier 3 support needs, (down 77.38 % on 31/03/20)

(Keyworker Crisis support, Counselling and CRAFT, ACEs or Parenting Programmes).

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

There are 130 cases sitting within Tier 2 intermediate support, (up 31.31% on 31/03/20) - (1-1 support, advocacy, befriending, structured mutual aid groups such as Bereavement, Kinship or CRAFT Maintenance, Health and Wellbeing workshops and Respite activities).

There were 140 cases sitting within Tier 1 support Low Level Informal Support, up by almost 100% on 2019/20 (Advice, Information, Newsletter, Art Groups, Coffee Morning)

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

needs through a variety of means. A caseload that was heavy in Tier 3 needs has successfully moved into lower Tier 2 and Tier 1 support this year. A thorough caseload review resulted in 198 people exiting the service.

VOLUNTEERING AND PEER MENTORING:

We have an amazing pool of volunteers who are invaluable in supporting us in running the charity and the Susan Kennedy Centre and who also help us provide direct support to individuals and groups.

Volunteers continue to support us with cleaning, gardening, administration, caretaking, counselling, befriending, peer mentoring, group facilitation, catering, community fundraising, bid writing, CEO post and helpline cover.

During this year our Family Champions/volunteers received confirmation of their qualifications being approved and we felt it was important to celebrate their achievements. We did this by having a week of virtual celebrations during Volunteer Week (June 2020). We utilised our Facebook Page to complete this. Our Chair of Trustees took part by opening our celebrations with a message to our volunteers and we completed a ‘Door Stop Challenge’ where staff socially distanced while dropping off certificates that were received through OCN, along with internal certificates from ESCAPE to recognise individual skills and achievements. This was well received by volunteers and those people on Facebook that took part in congratulating them who joined in saying a big ‘Thank You’ to all the volunteers who support the charity.

We currently have 24 volunteers, family champions and peer mentors who have again made a significant contribution to provision this year providing 4153 hours of work despite Covid restrictions and lockdowns. This is in effect the equivalent of 2.33 full time workers. The combined mix of skills and experience that these people contribute to the organisation brings an added value that is much broader than a single person in a paid post.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT For the year ended 31 March 21

New programmes, adaptation of existing courses and delivery of services online

Covid-19 restrictions have prevented delivery of other support such as Complementary Therapies throughout 2020/21.

Bookings for the respite caravan have been affected by site closures and Covid-19 restrictions so numbers accessing respite breaks are down.

Partnership Work

We have continued to work in partnership with other organisations to deliver group sessions, 1-1 support and mutual aid groups in community settings when Covid restrictions have allowed.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The charity, through sound financial management and the support of staff and volunteers generated a very positive financial outcome for this period and ended this financial year with a surplus of £9,123.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Principal Funding Sources

Principal funding sources for the charity during 2020/21 were National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund; Northumbria Healthcare Trust, Public Health at Northumberland County Council, Blyth Town Council, Greggs Foundation, National Lottery Awards for All, Coalfields Regeneration Trust; Sir James Knott Trust; Barbour Foundation, Hospital of God at Greatham, Hadrian Trust, Joicey Trust, Percy Hedley 1990 Trust and the Freemasons of Northumberland.

The Trustees are grateful to all funders who supported and sustained the work of the charity during 2020/21.

Trustees would also like to thank individuals who have made personal donations this year.

Investment Policy

Aside from retaining a prudent amount in reserves each year most of the charity’s funds are to be spent in the short term so there are few funds for long term investment.

Reserves policy

The Trustees have considered the charity's requirements for reserves in relation to the principal risks to the organisation. Whilst most of the charity's funds are spent in-year, it has always held a contingency reserve on deposit. The charity aims to hold around 6 months operating costs in unrestricted reserves.

The reserves policy is reviewed annually. Risk management is ongoing within the charity and a risk register is held; unrestricted reserves are included within this and are monitored quarterly at board meetings.

We hold these reserves for the following reasons:

The need to fund a deficit in the operational budget should insufficient grant funding be raised within the current financial year.
To give the trustees time to raise funds for the forthcoming financial year.
Emergency funding is available should we need it i.e. unexpected large repair bills etc.
To cover any unforeseen day-to-day operational costs, e.g. employing temporary staff to cover a longterm sickness absence.
We have no planned commitments that will not be met by future income. Any matched income ESCAPE needs to provide would be minimal and has never previously exceeded £2,000.
The need to fund short-term deficits in a cash budget, eg money may need to be spent before a funding grant is received.
To prevent cashflow problems.

The level of reserves we hold is reported to the board each Quarter within the Current Accounts summary and is also regularly reviewed within the risk register.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Reserves policy - continued

The staffing for the organisation and the operational budget is set and agreed by the board each year in Quarter 4 for the forthcoming financial year. Annually, we review the budget against income already secured and keep enough unrestricted reserves to cover the projected deficit for the forthcoming financial year.

Uncertainty over future income is and always has been our greatest risk so we try to hold around 6 months reserves. Funding bids submitted can take six months for results to be known and we may need time to downsize should insufficient funding be raised.

The Charity Commission recommends small charities hold between four to six months unrestricted reserves.

Our annual budget is currently £253,904 for 2021/22. We have secured £229,266 towards this to date leaving a deficit of £24,638 to be found. This budget includes £15,000 to upgrade our information system and £4,200 to replace and upgrade mobile phones. The board have designated £15,000 from unrestricted reserves to fund the upgrade of the information system. Trustees have committed to spend this £15,000 to maintain our agreed level of reserves. This designation reduces the deficit to £9,637.32. Bids to secure £4,200 capital funds to replace the mobile phones and £13,558 core costs have been submitted. Our current reserves more than cover the projected deficit should we fail to raise any funds in 2021/22 which is highly unlikely. Trustees are confident that this is a realistic, achievable target for the charity.

Holding more than 6 months reserves can be a drawback as some Charitable Trusts will not fund a charity that holds more than six months reserves. Others will not fund a charity with turnover greater than 150k per annum. Keeping appropriate reserve levels in line with funder expectations can be a fine balancing act. Some funders will not make grants if you have less than three months reserves.

The budget for 2021/22 is £253,904 and therefore the minimum unrestricted cash reserves target is £126,952 to be retained in reserves plus tangible fixed assets. On 31st March 2021, the charity held unrestricted reserves of £145,405 of which £10,618 is designated as a contingency budget to cover redundancy costs of current staff should any need arise; and a further £15,000 has been designated to upgrade our information system. Unrestricted reserves, as at 31/03/2021, which have not been designated are £119,787 equates to 5.7 months operating costs.

The current balance of unrestricted reserves, which have not been designated, is £114,915 which equates to 5.4 months operating costs. Trustees believe that COVD-19 has not had a significant impact on the levels of reserves held by ESCAPE.

The charity has worked hard to sustain essential services for beneficiaries and retain the optimum skilled paid staff team to undertake the work of the charity and was successful in securing £248,510 from National Lottery which covers almost 50% of the charity’s running costs for the next two years, until 31st March 2023. As of 31st March 2021, £85,170 has been raised to date towards the budget of £219,519 for 2022/23, leaving the charity with a deficit of £134,349 to raise for that financial year. Trustees are optimistic that this target can be achieved. Trustees are confident that the charity is sustainable in its current form until at least 31/03/2023.

The National Lottery grant ends on 31/03/23, therefore other significant income streams need to be identified to ensure sustainability of the charity in its current form in 2023/24 and beyond. Work to achieve this is ongoing.

Going Concern

The Trustees have performed a robust analysis of budgets, forecasts, reserve levels and cash flows taking into account the potential impact of COVID-19 on the charity. After making appropriate enquiries, the Board

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

of Trustees has a reasonable expectation that ESCAPE has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, it continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

Further details regarding the adoption of the going concern basis can be found in the Accounting Policies.

COVID STATEMENT

The charity is entering 2021/22 with almost 50% of its funding secured for the next two years with a deficit of £95,000 to raise for 2021/22 – see ESCAPE’s current financial position in the Financial Review section above.

COVID-19 has impacted ESCAPE’s donation income significantly compared to the previous financial year due to fundraising events not being able to take place due to restrictions. Room hire income has also been significantly impacted due to it not being safe to have external visitors in the building. This may continue to impact ESCAPE’s income if restrictions are ongoing, as protecting the wellbeing of ESCAPE’s beneficiaries and staff is one of ESCAPE’s highest priorities.

The charity did not furlough any staff during the pandemic. We put in place all necessary measures to enable staff to fulfil their roles and continue service provision from home. This enabled beneficiaries to continue to receive 1-1 support, counselling and other interventions via telephone, online video, and social media platforms as well as within community buildings as restrictions allow. Volunteers will continue to support the operations of the charity from their own homes and community buildings as restrictions allow.

This pandemic has increased the needs of our beneficiaries. Everyone involved with the charity is determined to ensure that vulnerable families and individuals in Northumberland continue to have access to a quality service that meets their needs.

FUTURE PLANS

The charity will continue to work to consolidate, maintain and expand its existing service provision in Northumberland. The focus of our work will continue to be to relieve the poverty, sickness and distress of carers and families affected by substance use including children and young people and to advance education and training within communities. A new Family Champions Programme to deliver more mutual aid for carers and a pilot project to develop our work to address the needs of Young People has commenced thanks to funding from National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund. All of our activity will contribute towards the work outlined within the aforementioned National Drug and Alcohol Strategies.

Strategies we utilise to fulfil these objectives include:

Concentrating upon restricting the harm correlated to substance misuse for the families, carers, children and friends of substance users and the wider communities of Northumberland.
Working in partnership with other organisations to establish and secure a holistic range of services corresponding to the needs of all service beneficiaries.

All plans have been shaped and formulated by carers, peer mentors, volunteers, staff and trustees. Our plans are based around the two key priorities that have been identified:

introducing and embedding a new, stronger mutual aid approach that provides training, opportunities and support to develop a bank of Family Champions who are ‘experts by experience’ and who have expressed their desire to give something back and help others to achieve positive change.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

piloting and introducing a new intervention support programme specifically designed and targeted at children and young people whose lives are blighted by the drug or alcohol dependency of others.

A focus on our two priority areas, as identified above, will enable us to:

reach and support more families including children and young people
build a stronger and connected network of support across the county
support people, including young people, to ‘give back’ and ‘help others in similar situations’

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE and MANAGEMENT

Governing document

ESCAPE Family Support Ltd is a charitable company controlled by its governing document, a deed of trust, and constitutes a limited company, limited by guarantee, and complies with the Companies Act 2006 and SORP. Incorporated on September 30[th] 1996, and registered as a Charity on July 18th 1997, the Company was established under a Memorandum of Association, which established the objectives and powers of the Charitable Company and is governed under its Articles of Association. In the event of the company being wound up, members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £1.

Recruitment and Appointment of Management Committee

The directors of the company are also charity trustees for the purposes of Charity law and under the company's Articles are known as Members of the Management Committee, usually referred to as the Board of Trustees. Members of the Management Committee are elected to serve for a period of three years after which they must be re-elected at the next Annual General Meeting.

All members of the Management Committee gave their time voluntarily and received no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in note 16 to the accounts. A.Steward resigned as Treasurer, Trustee and Director and left the charity on 30[th] September 2020. The Management Committee was strengthened this year when N Furno joined the Management Committee on 21/07/2020 and A Park and P Critchlow joined the Management Committee on 26/01/2021. The more traditional business, social work and nursing skills are well represented on the Management Committee. I n the event of particular skills being lost due to retirements, Trustee positions are advertised; and individuals may also be approached to offer themselves for election to the Management Committee.

Trustee Induction and Training

New Trustees receive a comprehensive Induction Manual and are supported and familiarised with the work of the charity by the Chair and Chief Executive. The obligations of Management Committee members; the main documents which set out the operational framework for the charity including the Memorandum and Articles, resourcing and the current financial position as set out in the latest published accounts and future plans and objectives are all contained within the Induction Manual. Trustees are given a tour of the charity’s headquarters – Susan Kennedy Centre from which most services are delivered. New trustees are also signposted to the Charity Commission’s guide “the Essential Trustee”.

The Management Committee (the Board) seeks to ensure that it has the requisite skills available to it and that the groups which the Charity serves are reflected in the make-up of the trustee body. An annual skills audit is undertaken and training is provided as necessary to existing and all new trustees covering:

The duties and obligations of the Management Committee (the board)

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

The main documents which set out the operational framework for the charity including the Memorandum and Articles
Resourcing and the current financial position as set out in the latest published accounts
Future plans and objectives

RISK MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Governance

Following a trustee skills audit and analysis, recruitment was undertaken, and Nick Furno, Alice Park and Paul Critchlow were welcomed to the board. Further recruitment of at least one more trustee will take place in 2021/22.

Operational

Trustees have considered local need, sustainability of existing service provision and staffing levels; it was agreed that the current highly skilled team needed to be retained during 2021/22 and beyond.

Financial

Sustainability of the charity is a high priority. Securing National Lottery funding commencing 1[st] April 2020 and lasting until 31st March 2023 covers 50% of our organisational budget and contributes significantly to financial viability of the charity for the next three years.

Statutory funding from Public Health Northumberland has been secured for 2021/22 which will also contribute significantly to sustainability. The charity will work to build on this for 2022/23 onwards.

The board has established two working groups to strengthen its governance and aid sustainability – A Fundraising and Marketing Group and a Finance Group. Their work is ongoing.

External Risks

Trustees recognise that the last ten years of austerity and central government cuts to local authority and public health budgets have negatively impacted on opportunities for the charity to obtain statutory funding. This situation is expected to continue. The charity has responded by reassessing its priorities and activities to ensure funds are targeted at the highest areas of need and by seeking funds to March 2023.

Potential external risks to information and cyber security have been mitigated by the engagement of an ISO 27001:2013 accredited ICT Maintenance and Information Security provider that provides quality antivirus and malware protection with systems maintained by highly skilled Information Security engineers through both onsite and remote support.

Compliance with Law and Regulation

The charity utilises the services of an employment law solicitor to ensure compliance with employment law. The work of the Finance Group includes self-assessment against Charity Commission guidelines and models of best practice.

Organisational Structure

The Management Committee (the board) has nine members who meet six times a year for formal board meetings and who are responsible for the strategic direction, policy and governance of the charity. The Management Committee has members from a variety of backgrounds relevant to the work of the charity.

A scheme of delegation is in place and day-to-day responsibility for the provision of the services rests with the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring that the charity delivers the services specified and that key performance indicators are met. In so far as it is complementary to the charity's objects, the charity is guided by both local and national policy.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Monthly full team meetings inform the future planning and strategic thinking of the management committee (the board) and are open to staff, volunteers and peer mentors.

In addition, user and carer involvement groups and surveys of stakeholders inform the work of the charity.

The charity is committed to working in partnership with other organisations and works closely with, and is represented on, Northumberland's Drug and Alcohol Steering Group; Carers Partnership Board and Young Carer Steering Group. More widely it works closely with bodies that impact on recovery from substance misuse and provide mutual aid to support recovery. Representatives regularly attend steering and special interest groups which impact on health and crime-related programmes and strategies are discussed, analysed, and learning disseminated. We share knowledge, experience and best practice, assisting communities and organisations with identified need, which have heard of our work and wish to replicate it in some form. We circulate external evaluations of our work to partners and funders to share findings and knowledge.

Close working partnerships have been developed with Community Mental Health Teams, Adult and Children's Social Services, Carers Northumberland, Northumberland Recovery Partnership, Relate, Cygnus, BRIC, Northumberland CVA, Northumberland CAB, Northumberland Domestic Abuse Service and other Community Groups. The charity initially achieved the Investors in People Gold Standard in 2010 and was successful in retaining Gold standard in January 2013, February 2017 and again in February 2019. Investors in People Health and Wellbeing Standard was achieved in 2011 and retained in 2014, 2017 and again in February 2019.

Related Parties

In so far as it is complementary to the charity’s objects, the charity is guided by both local and national policies including Drug and Alcohol and Carer Strategies. The local Drug and Alcohol Steering Group Carer Partnership Board and Young Carer Steering Group are the local partnerships charged with responsibility for delivering these strategies at our local level and includes representatives from amongst others, the local authority, health, and voluntary sector agencies. ESCAPE Family Support is a member of these partnership groups, and its representatives regularly attend the meetings.

Trustee Stephen Murphy works for a supplier to the charity – Vital Services North East Limited. The charity undertook an arms-length process to ensure they chose the best provider; Stephen Murphy was not part of the decision making process. Please see note 16 of the accounts for details of transactions with related parties.

Trustees Janet Murphy and Stephen Murphy are related (mother and son).

TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

The charity trustees are responsible for preparing a trustees’ annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the charity trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the group and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable group for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

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 proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to 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 the group and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Members of the Management Committee

Members of the Management Committee, who are directors for the purpose of company law and trustees for the purpose of charity law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 2. In accordance with company law, as the company’s directors, we certify that: so far as we are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s Independent Examiners are unaware; and as the directors of the company we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken in order to make ourselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s Independent Examiners are aware of that information.

Independent Examiners

Connected Voice Business Services Ltd were re-appointed as the charities Independent Examiners during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

Approved by order of the Board of Trustees on 19[th] October 2021 ............................................. and signed on its behalf by:

............................................. H Madin - Treasurer

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES

For the year ended 31 March 2021

I report on the financial statements of ESCAPE Family Support Limited for the year ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 21 to 33.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees (who are also directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act), and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner's statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; or
the accounts do not accord with such records; or
the accounts do not comply with relevant accounting requirements under section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS102).

I have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Jim Dodds Connected Voice Business Services Ltd Higham House Higham Place Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8AF Date: 19th October 2021

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(INCLUDING SUMMARY INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)

For the year ended 31 March 2021

6 7 Other trading activities 8 9 Expenditure on: 10 11 Raising funds Operation of the charity *Total expenditure* *Net income/(expenditure) and net* *movement of funds* Charitable activities *Total income* Donations and legacies Income from: Investments Charitable activities Grants and statutory funding Notes *Total funds carried forward* Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward	Unrestricted Funds £ 2,445 - 621 17 3,083 96 2,275 2,371 712 274,751 275,463	Restricted Funds £ 559 181,804 9 - 182,372 11 173,950 173,961 8,411 218,549 226,960	Total 2021 £ 3,004 181,804 630 17 185,455 107 176,225 176,332 9,123 493,300 502,423	Total 2020 £
				7,539 101,847 8,041 66
				117,493
				207 174,325
				174,532
				( 57,039 ) 550,339
				493,300

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities

The notes on pages 23 to 33 form an integral part of these accounts.

Charity Number 1063500 Company Number 03256554

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

BALANCE SHEET

As at 31 March 2021

Fixed assets Tangible assets 18 *Total fixed assets* Current assets Debtors 19 Cash at bank and in hand 20 *Total current assets* Creditors:amounts falling due within one year 21 *Net current assets* *Total assets less current liabilities* *Total net assets or liabilities* Funds of the charity Unrestricted income funds Restricted income funds *Total funds* Notes	£ - 226,487 226,487 ( 66,362 )	Total 2021 £ 342,298 342,298 160,125 502,423 502,423 275,463 226,960 502,423	£ 1,268 143,784 145,052 ( 1,362 )	Total 2020 £
				349,610
				349,610 143,690
				493,300
				493,300
				274,751 218,549
				493,300

The company was entitled to an exemption from audit under s477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act with the respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies subject to the small companies regime and in accordance with FRS102 SORP.

The notes on pages 23 to 33 form an integral part of these accounts.

These financial statements were approved by the Board on: 19th October 2021

and are signed on its behalf by: H Madin Treasurer

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1 Accounting Policies

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

2 Basis of accounting

2.1 Basis of preparation

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with 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) (effective 1 January 2019) – Charities SORP (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

ESCAPE Family Support Limited meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

2.2 Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. In making their assessment the trustees have reviewed and considered relevant information, including their annual budget and future cash flows. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trustees have revised their forecasts to take into account measures that they can take with the current resources available to mitigate the impact of the current adverse conditions. The trustees are of the view that the immediate future of the charity for the next 12 months is secure and that on this basis the charity is a going concern.

3 Income

3.1 Recognition of income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the resources, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is more likely than not that the resources will be received and the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.

3.2 Offsetting

There has been no offsetting of assets and liabilities, or income and expenses, unless required or permitted by FRS102 SORP or FRS102.

3.3 Grants and donations

Income from government and other grants, whether ‘capital’ grants or ‘revenue’ grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria of income recognition are met.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

3.4 Donated goods and services

Donated goods are measured at fair value (the amount for which the asset could be exchanged) unless impractical to do so.

Donated services and facilities are included in the SoFA when received at the value of the gift to the charity provided that the value of the gift can be measured reliably. Donated services and facilities that are consumed immediately are recognised as income with the equivalent amount recognised as an expense under the appropriate heading in the SoFA.

3.5 Volunteer help

The value of volunteer help received is not included in the accounts but is described in the trustees' annual report.

3.6 Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

3.7 Income from membership subscriptions

Membership subscriptions received in the nature of a gift are recognised in donations and legacies.

Membership subscriptions which gives a member the right to buy services or other benefits are recognised as income earned from the provision of goods and services as income from charitable activities.

3.8 Investment gains and losses

This includes any realised or unrealised gains or losses on the sale of investments and any gain or loss resulting from revaluing investments to market value at the end of the year.

3.9 Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity's work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.

4 Expenditure and liabilities

4.1 Liability recognition

Liabilities are recognised when it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty.

4.2 Charitable activities

All expenditure is accounted for on an accrual baisis. Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of work and other activities undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

4.3 Governance and support costs

Support costs have been allocated between governance cost and other support. Governance costs comprise all costs involving public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice.

Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Support costs include central functions and have been allocated to activity cost categories on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

4.4 Irrecoverable VAT

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

4.5 Creditors

The charity has creditors which are measured at settlement amounts less any trade discounts.

4.6 Provisions for liabilities

A liability is measured on recognition at its historical cost and then subsequently measured at the best estimate of the amount required to settle the obligation at the reporting date.

4.6 Pensions

The pension costs charged in the financial statements represent the contribution payable by the charity during the year.

5 Assets

5.1 Tangible fixed assets for use by the charity

Individual fixed assets costing £1,000 or more are capitalised at cost and are depreciated over their estimated useful economic lives on a reducing balance basis:

Property and property improvements 5% Straight line - property improvements only Office and computer equipment 25 % Straight Line Caravan 10 % Straight Line Other equipment 25 % Straight Line

5.2 Debtors

Debtors are measured at their recoverable amounts, being the amount the charity anticipates it will receive in settlement of the debt.

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Analysis of income

6 7 8	Donations and legacies Charitable activities Grant income Statutory income Other income Other income Gain on sale of tangible fixed Other trading activities Shop income Room hire Other sales Fundraising events Big Lottery Reaching Communities Fund The Coalfields Regeneration Trust Hospital of God at Greatham The Joicey Trust Blyth Town Council Freemasons of Northumberland Local Giving Magic Little Grants Hadrian Trust Draeger Donations and grants Other Greggs Foundation Sir James Knott Foundation RW Mann Trust JH Burn Trust The Percy Hedley 1990 Trust The Alchemy Foundation Big Lottery Awards for All Barbour Foundation Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hadrian Trust Northumberland County Council	Unrestricted Funds £ 2,445 - 2,445 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 146 - - 475 621	Restricted Funds £ 559 - 559 82,170 15,000 10,000 10,000 21,092 4,000 500 500 500 - - - - - - - - 8,000 2,000 25,000 3,042 - 181,804 - - - 9 9	Total 2021 £ 3,004 - 3,004 82,170 15,000 10,000 10,000 21,092 4,000 500 500 500 - - - - - - - - 8,000 2,000 25,000 3,042 - 181,804 146 - - 484 630	Total 2020 £
					7,306 233
					7,539
					- 15,000 10,000 - - - 500 - - 1,800 1,000 200 500 1,000 500 5,000 500 4,000 30,412 27,000 - 4,435
					101,847
					2,784 122 3,675 1,460
					8,041

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Analysis of incomecontinued 9 Income from investments Bank interest	Unrestricted Funds £ 17 17	Restricted Funds £ - -	Total 2021 £ 17 17	Total 2020 £
				66
				66

Income was £185,455 (2020: £117,492) of which £3,083 was unrestricted or designated (2020: £18,530) and £182,372 was restricted (2020: £98,962)

Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities

10 11	*Raising funds* *Charitable activities* Direct costs Staff costs Training costs Respite costs (caravan) Travel costs Client costs Helpline and outreach Support costs Utilities General running costs Insurance Repairs and renewals Cleaning Telephone Internet and ICT costs Stationery and copying Sundry Refreshments Professional fees Bank charges Governance costs Independent examiner's fees for reporting on the accounts Depreciation Volunteer costs including travel Fundraising costs	Unrestricted Funds £ 96 96 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 51 - - 100 2,111 - 2,275	Restricted Funds £ 11 11 116,939 610 3,661 622 1,508 316 1,902 4,537 308 5,111 1,075 2,928 1,554 4,564 5,035 1,024 - 3,801 - 17,093 1,362 173,950	Total 2021 £ 107 107 116,944 610 3,661 622 1,508 316 1,902 4,537 308 5,111 1,075 2,928 1,554 4,564 5,043 1,075 - 3,801 100 19,204 1,362 176,225	Total 2020 £
					207
					207
					103,926 4,622 4,651 2,287 2,136 1,419 1,641 5,500 242 6,736 2,471 459 1,341 5,862 5,144 34 330 1,967 60 22,135 1,362
					174,325

(A company limited by guarantee)

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities continued

Expenditure on charitable activities was £176,332 (2020: £174,531) of which £2,371 was unrestricted or designated (2020: £29,807) and £173,961 was restricted (2020: £144,724)

12 Fees for examination of the accounts

Independent examiner's fees for reporting on the accounts	2021 £ 1,362 1,362	2020 £
		1,362
		1,362

There were no other fees paid to the examiner (2020: £nil)

13 Analysis of staff costs and the cost of key management personnel

Pension costs (defined contribution pension plan) Other employee benefits Salaries and wages Social security costs	2021 £ 105,791 8,314 2,330 592 117,027	2020 £
		92,463 6,942 4,068 452
		103,925

No employee received remuneration above £60,000 (2020: nil)

The key management personnel of the charity, comprise the trustees and the Chief Executive. The total benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £0. (2020: £5,000)

14 Staff numbers

The average monthly head count was 6 staff (2020: 5 staff) and the average monthly number of full-time equivalent employees during the year were as follows:

The parts of the charity in which the employee's work Charitable activities	2021 Number 5.0 5.0	2020 Number
		3.5
		3.5

15 Defined contribution pension scheme

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.

The employer's pension costs represent contributions payable by the charity to the fund and amount to £2,330 (2020: £4,068). There was £0 outstanding as at 31 March 2021(2020: £815).

(A company limited by guarantee)

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

16 Transactions with trustees

None of the trustees have been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits from an employment with their charity or a related entity (2020: one trustee Janet Murphy received a payment of £5,000 in connection with her role as Chief Executive). No remuneration or benefits were paid for her role as trustee and no other trustees were paid or received any other benefits that year.

Trustees' expenses

The following detail the expenses incurred by the trustees.

Thomas Devine Janet Murphy Two trustees acting as volunteers were reimbursed travel expenses.	2021 £ 1,360 50 1,410	2020 £
		1,103 -
		1,103

Transaction(s) with related parties

The following detail the related party transactions in the reporting period.

Name of the trustee or related party Trustee Stephen Murphy	Relationship to charity Works for a supplier to the charity, Vital Services North East Limited	Description of the transaction IT support contract and supply of computer equipment	£
			12,332

The charity undertook an arm’s length process to ensure they chose the best provider, Stephen Murphy was not part of the decision making process.

17 Corporation Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling within section 505 of the Taxes Act 1988 or section 252 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objectives.

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Freehold Office and property computer 18 Tangible fixed assets equipment £ £ Cost At 1 April 2020 341,147 32,659 Additions - 7,331 Disposals - (18,172) At 31 March 2021 341,147 21,818 Depreciation Basis SL SL Rate 5% 25% At 1 April 2020 25,428 27,599 Depreciation charge for year 12,714 2,955 Disposals - (18,172) At 31 March 2021 38,142 12,382 Net book value At 31 March 2020 315,719 5,060 At 31 March 2021 303,005 9,436 19 Debtors and prepayments (receivable within 1 year) 20 Short term deposits Cash at bank Cash in hand 21 Accruals Creditors and accruals (payable within 1 year) Debtors Independent examination of accounts Cash at bank and in hand Deferred income	Caravan £ 32,035 - - 32,035 SL 10% 3,204 3,204 - 6,408 28,831 25,627 2021 £ - - 2021 £ 65,799 160,205 483 226,487 2021 £ 1,362 65,000 66,362	Other equipment £ - 4,561 - 4,561 SL 25% - 331 - 331 - 4,230 2020 £ 1,268 1,268 2020 £ 65,782 77,221 781 143,784 2020 £ 1,362 - 1,362	Total £
			405,841 11,892 ( 18,172 )
			399,561
			56,231 19,204 ( 18,172 )
			57,263

			349,610

			342,298

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

22 Deferred income

Deferred income comprises of advance payments from grants that relate to future periods

Balance carried forward Amount deferred in year Amount released to income earned from charitable activities Balance brought forward	2021 £
	- - 65,000
	65,000

23 Events after the end of the reporting period

No events (not requiring adjustment to the accounts) have occurred after the end of the reporting period but before the accounts are authorised which relate to conditions that arose after the end of the reporting period.

24 Analysis of charitable funds Analysis of movements in unrestricted funds

Unrestricted funds General unrestricted fund Designated funds Unrestricted fixed assets Contingency System upgrade *Totals*	Fund balances brought forward £ 131,963 132,170 10,618 - 274,751	Incoming resources £ 3,083 - - - 3,083	Resources expended £ ( 259 ) ( 2,112 ) - - (2,371)	Transfers £ ( 15,000 ) - - 15,000 -	Fund balances carried forward £
					119,787 130,058 10,618 15,000
					275,463

Purpose of unrestricted funds

General unrestricted fund Unrestricted fixed assets Contingency System upgrade

The 'free reserves' after allowing for designated funds. The current value of unrestricted fixed assets. Contingency to cover one off costs and potential redundancies. For new IT infrastructure including new software and processes.

(A company limited by guarantee)

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

24 Analysis of charitable funds continued

Analysis of movement in restricted funds

Restricted fixed assets Susan Kennedy Centre refurbishment Restricted office, computer and other equipment Caravan upgrade Restricted funds Client activities Susan Kennedy Centre Peer mentor coordinator Family Support Training officer salary Helpline /Outreach Volunteer costs Respite project Evaluation Senior practitioner salary Centre running costs Centre management costs *Totals*	Fund balances brought forward £ 189,428 2,362 25,650 209 - - - - 616 284 - - - - - 218,549	Incoming resources £ - - - - 10,802 3,005 36,365 11,771 1,638 4,000 5,380 2,000 20,631 38,635 48,145 182,372	Resources expended £ ( 12,714 ) ( 1,529 ) ( 2,850 ) ( 375 ) ( 12,449 ) ( 2,934 ) ( 31,716 ) ( 9,310 ) ( 1,902 ) ( 1,453 ) ( 3,831 ) ( 2,000 ) ( 20,131 ) ( 25,565 ) ( 45,202 ) (173,961)	Transfers £ - 11,892 - ( 1,199 ) - - - - - - - - - ( 10,693 ) - -	Fund balances carried forward £
					176,714 12,725 22,800 ( 1,365 ) ( 1,647 ) 71 4,649 2,461 352 2,831 1,549 - 500 2,377 2,943
					226,960

Purpose of restricted funds

Restricted funds represent income resources used for a specific purpose within the charity as identified by the donor.

Susan Kennedy Centre assets

Restricted office and computer equipment Caravan upgrade Client Activities Susan Kennedy Centre Peer Mentor Coordinator Family Support Training Officer salary Helpline /Outreach Volunteer costs Respite project Evaluation

The balance of restricted funds that paid for the refurbishment of the Susan Kennedy Centre.

The balance of the restricted funds that paid for restricted office, computer and other equipment. Restricted for the caravan upgrade. Restricted for client activities delivery. Restricted for the Susan Kennedy Centre running costs. Restricted to salary of Peer Mentor coordinators post. Restricted to Family Support, project staff salary and project costs. Restricted to training, project cost and office salary. Restricted to helpline delivery costs. Restricted to volunteer expenses. Restricted for the respite project.

Restricted for the evaluation of the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Fund.

(A company limited by guarantee)

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

24 Analysis of charitable funds continued

Senior practitioner salary Restricted to salary of senior practitioner post. Centre running costs Restricted to centre running costs. Centre management costs Restricted to management costs.

Transfers between funds

Transfers between funds
Between restricted assets and centre running costs /client activities Balance spent on tangible fixed assets that will be depreciated over future periods. Reason for transfer	Amount £
	11,885

25 Capital commitments

As at 31 March 2021, the charity had no capital commitments (2020 -£nil)

26 Analysis of net assets between funds

Tangible fixed assets Cash at bank and in hand Other net current assets/(liabilities)	Funds £ - 186,148 ( 66,361 ) 119,787 Unrestricted	Designated Funds £ 130,058 25,618 - 155,676	Restricted Funds £ 212,239 14,721 - 226,960	Total 2021 £ 342,297 226,487 ( 66,361 ) 502,423	Total 2020 £
					349,610 143,784 ( 94 )
					493,300

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

A company limited by guarantee

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2021

Charity number 1063500 Company number 03256554

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Report of the Management Committee for the year ended 31 March 2021

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number

03256554 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number

1063500

Registered office

Susan Kennedy Centre 63 Southview Ashington Northumberland NE63 0SF

Trustees

Company Secretary

N Furno

Independent examiner

Jim Dodds Connected Voice Business Services Ltd Higham House Higham Place Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 8AF

Bank:

Lloyds Bank

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Solicitors

Helen Kay HMK Legal Ltd Clavering House Clavering Place Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3NG

Solicitors

Cuthbertsons 3 Stanley Street Blyth Northumberland NE24 2BS

OUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Purposes and Aims

Our aims and objectives as set out in the objects contained in the company's memorandum of association are:

Ensuring our work delivers our aims

The focus of our work

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Support to adults who care for a family member
Support to young people affected by a loved one’s substance use (new pilot programme)
Focussing upon limiting and alleviating the harms caused by drug and alcohol use
Enabling people to better support their own families and support those of others through our education, training, volunteering, and peer mentoring programmes
Working in partnership with other agencies to provide the widest range of services possible to ensure that the needs of the client population are met.

How our activities deliver public benefit:

Who needs, used, and benefited from our services?

The ONS figures above only include data to 2019 so therefore do not include drug misuse death rates that have occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

The Northumberland Substance Misuse Health Needs Assessment (Aug 2020) outlines the following landscape in the county:

Alcohol and drugs are the leading risk factors for all-cause mortality in those aged 15-49 in Northumberland. Substance misuse contributes to inequalities within all-cause mortality.

Substance misuse health related harms are increasing among the population in Northumberland, with increases in hospital admissions across a range of drug related and alcohol related conditions.

Substance misuse is associated with many social impacts including crime, domestic abuse and adverse childhood experiences.

Young People in Treatment in Northumberland:

Over 18s in treatment for alcohol in Northumberland:

Over 18s in treatment for drug misuse:

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

lower than levels of unmet need nationally at 46%. Unmet need for crack cocaine use is higher at 86% in Northumberland and 60% nationally based on 2016/17 prevalence estimates.

The information below which provides a summary of achievements and performance over this financial period should be read in conjunction with the attached Financial Statements.

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE – continued

Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT)

Teen Triple P Programmes

Teen Triple P is an initiative of the Parenting and Family Support centre at the University of Queensland. This programme is designed to support parents/carers in their parenting role.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

People can be helped and supported: -

By helping them make healthy relationships and be connected to others
By helping them to understand toxic stress and their response to it
By understanding and teaching them how to manage their emotions
By providing a setting where they feel safe and secure and not judged
By learning coping strategies that connect them to the people that can support them and to improve their ability to relate to others which is crucial in developing their resilience
By feeling people care about them but in a healthy way
By learning techniques to help them structure their lives even if they are still living within traumatic circumstances

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE – continued

ESCAPE had inspirational leadership that built trust and commitment; there was a strong expression that leaders were inspiring trust and confidence.
A robust approach to measuring its progress in managing and developing people using survey data and other metrics to see how well processes were working.
There was a strong ‘value–base’ in the organisation which made people feel good about working at ESCAPE. Cultural values - those shared beliefs amongst ESCAPE’s people, were strong and built good teams and individual motivation.
Despite financial constraints, the organisation still invested in its people development and wellbeing using creative ways to support its people.
There was an open culture that let ideas thrive and people feel empowered. ESCAPE made its people feel respected and encouraged to put forward ideas and take on responsibilities.
Staff were particularly well supported in psychological and social wellbeing Given the nature of the work done by ESCAPE’s people these aspects of wellbeing were particularly important.

We are very proud of our people and the feedback from our 24-month Review report:

Investor in People Insights Assessment and Health and Wellbeing Review Report February 2021

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

ESCAPE has supported a total of 563 beneficiaries during 2020/2021.

We carried forward a caseload of 339 into 2020/21.

We had 167 new referrals in 2020/21 broken down as follows:

129 Adult Carers / Family Members 19 Young People 19 Parents for Parenting Programmes

We closed 198 cases during a caseload review which took place in 2020/21.

The following graphs show the increasing referrals over the past five years and the status of the caseload at each year end. They outline, year on year, the demand for our services has increased.

The team received 167 new referrals during 2020/21 (up 9.86% on 2019/20).

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

The team had an open caseload of 308 on 31st March 2021 (down 9.14 % on 31/03/20).

Of the 308 open cases, 38 have high level intensive Tier 3 support needs, (down 77.38 % on 31/03/20)

(Keyworker Crisis support, Counselling and CRAFT, ACEs or Parenting Programmes).

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

There were 140 cases sitting within Tier 1 support Low Level Informal Support, up by almost 100% on 2019/20 (Advice, Information, Newsletter, Art Groups, Coffee Morning)

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

VOLUNTEERING AND PEER MENTORING:

We have an amazing pool of volunteers who are invaluable in supporting us in running the charity and the Susan Kennedy Centre and who also help us provide direct support to individuals and groups.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT For the year ended 31 March 21

New programmes, adaptation of existing courses and delivery of services online

Covid-19 restrictions have prevented delivery of other support such as Complementary Therapies throughout 2020/21.

Bookings for the respite caravan have been affected by site closures and Covid-19 restrictions so numbers accessing respite breaks are down.

Partnership Work

We have continued to work in partnership with other organisations to deliver group sessions, 1-1 support and mutual aid groups in community settings when Covid restrictions have allowed.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Principal Funding Sources

The Trustees are grateful to all funders who supported and sustained the work of the charity during 2020/21.

Trustees would also like to thank individuals who have made personal donations this year.

Investment Policy

Aside from retaining a prudent amount in reserves each year most of the charity’s funds are to be spent in the short term so there are few funds for long term investment.

Reserves policy

We hold these reserves for the following reasons:

The need to fund a deficit in the operational budget should insufficient grant funding be raised within the current financial year.
To give the trustees time to raise funds for the forthcoming financial year.
Emergency funding is available should we need it i.e. unexpected large repair bills etc.
To cover any unforeseen day-to-day operational costs, e.g. employing temporary staff to cover a longterm sickness absence.
We have no planned commitments that will not be met by future income. Any matched income ESCAPE needs to provide would be minimal and has never previously exceeded £2,000.
The need to fund short-term deficits in a cash budget, eg money may need to be spent before a funding grant is received.
To prevent cashflow problems.

The level of reserves we hold is reported to the board each Quarter within the Current Accounts summary and is also regularly reviewed within the risk register.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Reserves policy - continued

The Charity Commission recommends small charities hold between four to six months unrestricted reserves.

Going Concern

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Further details regarding the adoption of the going concern basis can be found in the Accounting Policies.

COVID STATEMENT

FUTURE PLANS

Strategies we utilise to fulfil these objectives include:

Concentrating upon restricting the harm correlated to substance misuse for the families, carers, children and friends of substance users and the wider communities of Northumberland.
Working in partnership with other organisations to establish and secure a holistic range of services corresponding to the needs of all service beneficiaries.

All plans have been shaped and formulated by carers, peer mentors, volunteers, staff and trustees. Our plans are based around the two key priorities that have been identified:

introducing and embedding a new, stronger mutual aid approach that provides training, opportunities and support to develop a bank of Family Champions who are ‘experts by experience’ and who have expressed their desire to give something back and help others to achieve positive change.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

piloting and introducing a new intervention support programme specifically designed and targeted at children and young people whose lives are blighted by the drug or alcohol dependency of others.

A focus on our two priority areas, as identified above, will enable us to:

reach and support more families including children and young people
build a stronger and connected network of support across the county
support people, including young people, to ‘give back’ and ‘help others in similar situations’

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE and MANAGEMENT

Governing document

Recruitment and Appointment of Management Committee

Trustee Induction and Training

The duties and obligations of the Management Committee (the board)

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

The main documents which set out the operational framework for the charity including the Memorandum and Articles
Resourcing and the current financial position as set out in the latest published accounts
Future plans and objectives

RISK MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Governance

Operational

Financial

The board has established two working groups to strengthen its governance and aid sustainability – A Fundraising and Marketing Group and a Finance Group. Their work is ongoing.

External Risks

Compliance with Law and Regulation

Organisational Structure

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

Monthly full team meetings inform the future planning and strategic thinking of the management committee (the board) and are open to staff, volunteers and peer mentors.

In addition, user and carer involvement groups and surveys of stakeholders inform the work of the charity.

Related Parties

Trustees Janet Murphy and Stephen Murphy are related (mother and son).

TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES IN RELATION TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee)

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 March 21

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.

Members of the Management Committee

Independent Examiners

Connected Voice Business Services Ltd were re-appointed as the charities Independent Examiners during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.

Approved by order of the Board of Trustees on 19[th] October 2021 ............................................. and signed on its behalf by:

............................................. H Madin - Treasurer

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES

For the year ended 31 March 2021

I report on the financial statements of ESCAPE Family Support Limited for the year ended 31 March 2021, which are set out on pages 21 to 33.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

Having satisfied myself that the charity is not subject to audit under company law and is eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act), and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner's statement

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; or
the accounts do not accord with such records; or
the accounts do not comply with relevant accounting requirements under section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS102).

I have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Jim Dodds Connected Voice Business Services Ltd Higham House Higham Place Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8AF Date: 19th October 2021

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(INCLUDING SUMMARY INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT)

For the year ended 31 March 2021

6 7 Other trading activities 8 9 Expenditure on: 10 11 Raising funds Operation of the charity *Total expenditure* *Net income/(expenditure) and net* *movement of funds* Charitable activities *Total income* Donations and legacies Income from: Investments Charitable activities Grants and statutory funding Notes *Total funds carried forward* Reconciliation of funds Total funds brought forward	Unrestricted Funds £ 2,445 - 621 17 3,083 96 2,275 2,371 712 274,751 275,463	Restricted Funds £ 559 181,804 9 - 182,372 11 173,950 173,961 8,411 218,549 226,960	Total 2021 £ 3,004 181,804 630 17 185,455 107 176,225 176,332 9,123 493,300 502,423	Total 2020 £
				7,539 101,847 8,041 66
				117,493
				207 174,325
				174,532
				( 57,039 ) 550,339
				493,300

The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities

The notes on pages 23 to 33 form an integral part of these accounts.

Charity Number 1063500 Company Number 03256554

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

BALANCE SHEET

As at 31 March 2021

Fixed assets Tangible assets 18 *Total fixed assets* Current assets Debtors 19 Cash at bank and in hand 20 *Total current assets* Creditors:amounts falling due within one year 21 *Net current assets* *Total assets less current liabilities* *Total net assets or liabilities* Funds of the charity Unrestricted income funds Restricted income funds *Total funds* Notes	£ - 226,487 226,487 ( 66,362 )	Total 2021 £ 342,298 342,298 160,125 502,423 502,423 275,463 226,960 502,423	£ 1,268 143,784 145,052 ( 1,362 )	Total 2020 £
				349,610
				349,610 143,690
				493,300
				493,300
				274,751 218,549
				493,300

The company was entitled to an exemption from audit under s477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act with the respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies subject to the small companies regime and in accordance with FRS102 SORP.

The notes on pages 23 to 33 form an integral part of these accounts.

These financial statements were approved by the Board on: 19th October 2021

and are signed on its behalf by: H Madin Treasurer

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

1 Accounting Policies

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

2 Basis of accounting

2.1 Basis of preparation

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

ESCAPE Family Support Limited meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

2.2 Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

3 Income

3.1 Recognition of income

3.2 Offsetting

There has been no offsetting of assets and liabilities, or income and expenses, unless required or permitted by FRS102 SORP or FRS102.

3.3 Grants and donations

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria of income recognition are met.

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

3.4 Donated goods and services

Donated goods are measured at fair value (the amount for which the asset could be exchanged) unless impractical to do so.

3.5 Volunteer help

The value of volunteer help received is not included in the accounts but is described in the trustees' annual report.

3.6 Interest receivable

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

3.7 Income from membership subscriptions

Membership subscriptions received in the nature of a gift are recognised in donations and legacies.

3.8 Investment gains and losses

This includes any realised or unrealised gains or losses on the sale of investments and any gain or loss resulting from revaluing investments to market value at the end of the year.

3.9 Fund accounting

4 Expenditure and liabilities

4.1 Liability recognition

4.2 Charitable activities

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

4.3 Governance and support costs

4.4 Irrecoverable VAT

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

4.5 Creditors

The charity has creditors which are measured at settlement amounts less any trade discounts.

4.6 Provisions for liabilities

A liability is measured on recognition at its historical cost and then subsequently measured at the best estimate of the amount required to settle the obligation at the reporting date.

4.6 Pensions

The pension costs charged in the financial statements represent the contribution payable by the charity during the year.

5 Assets

5.1 Tangible fixed assets for use by the charity

Individual fixed assets costing £1,000 or more are capitalised at cost and are depreciated over their estimated useful economic lives on a reducing balance basis:

Property and property improvements 5% Straight line - property improvements only Office and computer equipment 25 % Straight Line Caravan 10 % Straight Line Other equipment 25 % Straight Line

5.2 Debtors

Debtors are measured at their recoverable amounts, being the amount the charity anticipates it will receive in settlement of the debt.

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Analysis of income

6 7 8	Donations and legacies Charitable activities Grant income Statutory income Other income Other income Gain on sale of tangible fixed Other trading activities Shop income Room hire Other sales Fundraising events Big Lottery Reaching Communities Fund The Coalfields Regeneration Trust Hospital of God at Greatham The Joicey Trust Blyth Town Council Freemasons of Northumberland Local Giving Magic Little Grants Hadrian Trust Draeger Donations and grants Other Greggs Foundation Sir James Knott Foundation RW Mann Trust JH Burn Trust The Percy Hedley 1990 Trust The Alchemy Foundation Big Lottery Awards for All Barbour Foundation Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Hadrian Trust Northumberland County Council	Unrestricted Funds £ 2,445 - 2,445 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 146 - - 475 621	Restricted Funds £ 559 - 559 82,170 15,000 10,000 10,000 21,092 4,000 500 500 500 - - - - - - - - 8,000 2,000 25,000 3,042 - 181,804 - - - 9 9	Total 2021 £ 3,004 - 3,004 82,170 15,000 10,000 10,000 21,092 4,000 500 500 500 - - - - - - - - 8,000 2,000 25,000 3,042 - 181,804 146 - - 484 630	Total 2020 £
					7,306 233
					7,539
					- 15,000 10,000 - - - 500 - - 1,800 1,000 200 500 1,000 500 5,000 500 4,000 30,412 27,000 - 4,435
					101,847
					2,784 122 3,675 1,460
					8,041

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Analysis of incomecontinued 9 Income from investments Bank interest	Unrestricted Funds £ 17 17	Restricted Funds £ - -	Total 2021 £ 17 17	Total 2020 £
				66
				66

Income was £185,455 (2020: £117,492) of which £3,083 was unrestricted or designated (2020: £18,530) and £182,372 was restricted (2020: £98,962)

Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities

10 11	*Raising funds* *Charitable activities* Direct costs Staff costs Training costs Respite costs (caravan) Travel costs Client costs Helpline and outreach Support costs Utilities General running costs Insurance Repairs and renewals Cleaning Telephone Internet and ICT costs Stationery and copying Sundry Refreshments Professional fees Bank charges Governance costs Independent examiner's fees for reporting on the accounts Depreciation Volunteer costs including travel Fundraising costs	Unrestricted Funds £ 96 96 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 51 - - 100 2,111 - 2,275	Restricted Funds £ 11 11 116,939 610 3,661 622 1,508 316 1,902 4,537 308 5,111 1,075 2,928 1,554 4,564 5,035 1,024 - 3,801 - 17,093 1,362 173,950	Total 2021 £ 107 107 116,944 610 3,661 622 1,508 316 1,902 4,537 308 5,111 1,075 2,928 1,554 4,564 5,043 1,075 - 3,801 100 19,204 1,362 176,225	Total 2020 £
					207
					207
					103,926 4,622 4,651 2,287 2,136 1,419 1,641 5,500 242 6,736 2,471 459 1,341 5,862 5,144 34 330 1,967 60 22,135 1,362
					174,325

(A company limited by guarantee)

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities continued

Expenditure on charitable activities was £176,332 (2020: £174,531) of which £2,371 was unrestricted or designated (2020: £29,807) and £173,961 was restricted (2020: £144,724)

12 Fees for examination of the accounts

Independent examiner's fees for reporting on the accounts	2021 £ 1,362 1,362	2020 £
		1,362
		1,362

There were no other fees paid to the examiner (2020: £nil)

13 Analysis of staff costs and the cost of key management personnel

Pension costs (defined contribution pension plan) Other employee benefits Salaries and wages Social security costs	2021 £ 105,791 8,314 2,330 592 117,027	2020 £
		92,463 6,942 4,068 452
		103,925

No employee received remuneration above £60,000 (2020: nil)

The key management personnel of the charity, comprise the trustees and the Chief Executive. The total benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were £0. (2020: £5,000)

14 Staff numbers

The average monthly head count was 6 staff (2020: 5 staff) and the average monthly number of full-time equivalent employees during the year were as follows:

The parts of the charity in which the employee's work Charitable activities	2021 Number 5.0 5.0	2020 Number
		3.5
		3.5

15 Defined contribution pension scheme

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.

The employer's pension costs represent contributions payable by the charity to the fund and amount to £2,330 (2020: £4,068). There was £0 outstanding as at 31 March 2021(2020: £815).

(A company limited by guarantee)

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

16 Transactions with trustees

Trustees' expenses

The following detail the expenses incurred by the trustees.

Thomas Devine Janet Murphy Two trustees acting as volunteers were reimbursed travel expenses.	2021 £ 1,360 50 1,410	2020 £
		1,103 -
		1,103

Transaction(s) with related parties

The following detail the related party transactions in the reporting period.

Name of the trustee or related party Trustee Stephen Murphy	Relationship to charity Works for a supplier to the charity, Vital Services North East Limited	Description of the transaction IT support contract and supply of computer equipment	£
			12,332

The charity undertook an arm’s length process to ensure they chose the best provider, Stephen Murphy was not part of the decision making process.

17 Corporation Taxation

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

Freehold Office and property computer 18 Tangible fixed assets equipment £ £ Cost At 1 April 2020 341,147 32,659 Additions - 7,331 Disposals - (18,172) At 31 March 2021 341,147 21,818 Depreciation Basis SL SL Rate 5% 25% At 1 April 2020 25,428 27,599 Depreciation charge for year 12,714 2,955 Disposals - (18,172) At 31 March 2021 38,142 12,382 Net book value At 31 March 2020 315,719 5,060 At 31 March 2021 303,005 9,436 19 Debtors and prepayments (receivable within 1 year) 20 Short term deposits Cash at bank Cash in hand 21 Accruals Creditors and accruals (payable within 1 year) Debtors Independent examination of accounts Cash at bank and in hand Deferred income	Caravan £ 32,035 - - 32,035 SL 10% 3,204 3,204 - 6,408 28,831 25,627 2021 £ - - 2021 £ 65,799 160,205 483 226,487 2021 £ 1,362 65,000 66,362	Other equipment £ - 4,561 - 4,561 SL 25% - 331 - 331 - 4,230 2020 £ 1,268 1,268 2020 £ 65,782 77,221 781 143,784 2020 £ 1,362 - 1,362	Total £
			405,841 11,892 ( 18,172 )
			399,561
			56,231 19,204 ( 18,172 )
			57,263

			349,610

			342,298

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

(A company limited by guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

22 Deferred income

Deferred income comprises of advance payments from grants that relate to future periods

Balance carried forward Amount deferred in year Amount released to income earned from charitable activities Balance brought forward	2021 £
	- - 65,000
	65,000

23 Events after the end of the reporting period

24 Analysis of charitable funds Analysis of movements in unrestricted funds

Unrestricted funds General unrestricted fund Designated funds Unrestricted fixed assets Contingency System upgrade *Totals*	Fund balances brought forward £ 131,963 132,170 10,618 - 274,751	Incoming resources £ 3,083 - - - 3,083	Resources expended £ ( 259 ) ( 2,112 ) - - (2,371)	Transfers £ ( 15,000 ) - - 15,000 -	Fund balances carried forward £
					119,787 130,058 10,618 15,000
					275,463

Purpose of unrestricted funds

General unrestricted fund Unrestricted fixed assets Contingency System upgrade

(A company limited by guarantee)

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

24 Analysis of charitable funds continued

Analysis of movement in restricted funds

Restricted fixed assets Susan Kennedy Centre refurbishment Restricted office, computer and other equipment Caravan upgrade Restricted funds Client activities Susan Kennedy Centre Peer mentor coordinator Family Support Training officer salary Helpline /Outreach Volunteer costs Respite project Evaluation Senior practitioner salary Centre running costs Centre management costs *Totals*	Fund balances brought forward £ 189,428 2,362 25,650 209 - - - - 616 284 - - - - - 218,549	Incoming resources £ - - - - 10,802 3,005 36,365 11,771 1,638 4,000 5,380 2,000 20,631 38,635 48,145 182,372	Resources expended £ ( 12,714 ) ( 1,529 ) ( 2,850 ) ( 375 ) ( 12,449 ) ( 2,934 ) ( 31,716 ) ( 9,310 ) ( 1,902 ) ( 1,453 ) ( 3,831 ) ( 2,000 ) ( 20,131 ) ( 25,565 ) ( 45,202 ) (173,961)	Transfers £ - 11,892 - ( 1,199 ) - - - - - - - - - ( 10,693 ) - -	Fund balances carried forward £
					176,714 12,725 22,800 ( 1,365 ) ( 1,647 ) 71 4,649 2,461 352 2,831 1,549 - 500 2,377 2,943
					226,960

Purpose of restricted funds

Restricted funds represent income resources used for a specific purpose within the charity as identified by the donor.

Susan Kennedy Centre assets

The balance of restricted funds that paid for the refurbishment of the Susan Kennedy Centre.

Restricted for the evaluation of the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Fund.

(A company limited by guarantee)

ESCAPE Family Support Limited

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31 March 2021

24 Analysis of charitable funds continued

Senior practitioner salary Restricted to salary of senior practitioner post. Centre running costs Restricted to centre running costs. Centre management costs Restricted to management costs.

Transfers between funds

Transfers between funds
Between restricted assets and centre running costs /client activities Balance spent on tangible fixed assets that will be depreciated over future periods. Reason for transfer	Amount £
	11,885

25 Capital commitments

As at 31 March 2021, the charity had no capital commitments (2020 -£nil)

26 Analysis of net assets between funds

Tangible fixed assets Cash at bank and in hand Other net current assets/(liabilities)	Funds £ - 186,148 ( 66,361 ) 119,787 Unrestricted	Designated Funds £ 130,058 25,618 - 155,676	Restricted Funds £ 212,239 14,721 - 226,960	Total 2021 £ 342,297 226,487 ( 66,361 ) 502,423	Total 2020 £
					349,610 143,784 ( 94 )
					493,300

Table of Contents

Chair’s Report

Chair’s Report 2020/2021

Our Objectives and Aims

The Need for Our Services

The following information is from Northumberland Substance Misuse Health Needs Assessment, 2020 unless otherwise stated.

Children living with a parent or carer dependant on alcohol

Children living with a parent or carer dependant on opioids

Alcohol and drugs as a factor in children’s social care assessments

Numbers in treatment in Northumberland

Alcohol (Adults)

Drugs (Adults)

Young People

ESCAPE Family Support

Recognition

ESCAPE Impact 2020 – 2021

Caseload Statistics

Covid 19: Pandemic Response & Service Adaptation

Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training

Carer Quote

Teen Triple P Programmes

WWEBS evaluation – measuring wellbeing

What have you gained from attending the Teen Triple P Programme?

How has it made a difference within your family?

Would you recommend it to others? And why?

Any other feedback

Carer Respite and Diversionary Activities

New Services & Programmes

Family Champions, Volunteering and Peer Mentoring

Doorstep Challenge: Our Family Champions and other Volunteers

Family Champion Case Study

Quotes from Family Champions 2020/21

Quotes from carers who received support from Family Champions

Journey of a Kinship carer

Carer Quotes on our Family Support Services

Young People Pilot Project

Adverse childhood experiences children and young people (ACEs CYP)

Young People Project

Artwork & Quote from teenagers who accessed Young Project Project

Quote from a young person who accessed the Young People Project

Quote from the Parent of a young person who accessed the YP projec

Partnership Work

The Future

Strategies we utilise to fulfil these objectives include:

Thanks to our Funders

Summary Accounts

Contact

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

Report of the Management Committee for the year ended 31 March 2021

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number

Registered Charity number

Registered office

Trustees

Company Secretary

Independent examiner

Bank:

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

Solicitors

Solicitors

OUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Purposes and Aims

Ensuring our work delivers our aims

The focus of our work

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

How our activities deliver public benefit:

Who needs, used, and benefited from our services?

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

Young People in Treatment in Northumberland:

Over 18s in treatment for alcohol in Northumberland:

Over 18s in treatment for drug misuse:

ESCAPE FAMILY SUPPORT LIMITED

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE – continued