2024-03-31-accounts

CLinc Supporting the voluntary working in the criminaljustice National Criminal Ju Arts Allian Clinks Annual Report & Financial Review 2023-2024

Contents

Annual report Financial review

• 06 Our charity 59 Financial Review 07 2023-24 strategic goals 64 Independent Auditors report 09 Understanding 67 Financial statements 18 Connecting 69 Notes to the financial statements 35 Voicing 80 Reference and administrative information 43 Supporting 81 Thank you to our funders 49 Developing 82 Charity information

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Foreword

We welcome you all to our 23/24 annual report. Within this report, you will read about the activity Clinks undertook with and for the voluntary sector working with people in the criminal justice system across England and Wales and their families. It has been another year of changes and challenges, both internally and within our wider environment. As an infrastructure organisation we are always conscious of the impact that external factors have on our sector, and how what we do and how we work has an impact on organisations we work with.

Our state of the sector analysis this year reflects the continuing resilience and determination of our sector, and we are committed to continuing to understand and meet sector need. A vibrant and resourceful voluntary sector is needed as much if not more than ever against the backdrop of statutory services at crisis point. People in and leaving the criminal justice system deserve better, and we firmly believe that our sector has a huge role to play in this. There are many highlights in this year and we hope that you will see the hard work and commitment between our team and the sector in working together. Among these highlights we were particularly pleased in this year to launch our families network with the support of Porticus, something we have wanted to develop with the sector for many years.

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We were also delighted to be part of the winning consortium to gain funding from Lloyds Banks Foundation for England and Wales and Barrow Cadbury Trust to develop Q-SEED, leadership development for those in organisations run by and for racially minoritised people. In this year our very successful annual conference focused on making race and justice everyone’s business, where we concentrated on learning how to be anti-racist and in doing so practicing powerful allyship.

In this year we have been focused on understanding what we do well and what we do differently. Our independent impact assessment challenged us to think about how we work because of the fundamental need for infrastructure support, especially for specialist organisations. We need to be here, in good times and bad, for organisations to be there for people who need their help to move on with their lives. We need to be secure, stable, robust and unwavering in our support. To do this we have been developing a new strategy to consider how we work differently so that we can have a broad reach and have an offer for anyone who needs us.

This is the last annual report we present to you as the team of Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Clinks, as Roma steps down at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) at which this report will be presented. We are grateful to everyone who has helped us in this year- our teams of staff and trustees, our members, our partners and our funders.

Anne Fox, CEO

Roma Hooper, Chair of Trustees

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CLincs Supporting the voluntary sector working in the criminaljustice system National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance Annual Report

Our Charity

Our vision

A vibrant, independent and resilient voluntary sector that enables people to transform their lives. Our mission

To support, represent and advocate for the voluntary sector in criminal justice, enabling it to provide the best possible opportunities for individuals and their families.

Our Values

Our members - Voluntary organisations play an essential role at the heart of our criminal justice system. Using evidence - In order to improve the system we must amplify the voices of voluntary organisations working in criminal justice.

Involving service users - We are committed to

supporting the effective involvement of people with lived experience of the criminal justice system to inform policy and practice.

People’s capacity to change - We believe that every individual should have the right support so they can transform their lives.

Equality - We proactively identify and tackle

disadvantage, discrimination, and inequality in our criminal justice system.

Inclusivity - We strive to be approachable, accessible, inclusive, and collaborative.

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2023-24 strategic goals Understanding

By 2024 we will increase and improve the knowledge and understanding of the role and value of voluntary organisations, especially small and specialist ones, among criminal justice system practitioners

Connecting

By 2024 we will have improved our members’ sense of connectedness to us and their ability to get the information, advice and resources they need. Organisations will have access to support they find useful in a range of areas across England and Wales as well as related to the specific challenges and needs of supporting women, racially minoritised people, families of people in the criminal justice system and working through the arts.

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Voicing

By 2024 our respected policy voice will be maintained and our relationships with decision makers grown. We will have amplified the voice of the sector to ensure that its knowledge and expertise are utilised in the development of practice and policy.

Supporting

By 2024 we will have adapted the way that Clinks supports, promotes and represents the voluntary sector so that our ways of working with the sector to find and implement solutions to the challenges and opportunities it faces, are embedded into the work of the other strategic objectives of Clinks.

Developing

By 2024 we will have developed a new strategy for the future, involving those we aim to serve and the people who will be at the heart of its success. We will aim to increase the number of organisations we are supporting, especially small and specialist organisations with limited resources. We will attract and retain a diverse and valued core staff team with the skills and expertise to meet the needs of our sector. We will continue to generate income in a way that supports our core functions without compromise. We will be increasingly recognisable as an anti-racist organisation.

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Understanding

Understanding

Clinks improved the knowledge and understanding of the role and value of voluntary organisations, especially small and specialist ones among criminal justice system practitioners.

Clinks communicated the role, value and impact of the voluntary sector working in criminal justice, with a focus on small, specialist organisations, among a wider range of system practitioners.

Given the continued instability of the criminal justice system, dominated by an ongoing prison capacity crisis and the subsequent impact on services in the community, the role of the voluntary sector is as important as it has ever been. That is why Clinks remains dedicated to platforming the role of the sector by ensuring that all relevant statutory and non-statutory stakeholders are fully informed on the sector’s value and impact.

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446,544 Website views

Website

We ensured Clinks' web pages and voluntary sector directories were informed, maintained and regularly updated. This involved posting publications, blogs, events, and engagement opportunities and adding increased functionality where you told us you needed it.

30,815 Total followers across Clinks & NCJAA

Social media

In 2023-24 our social media presence continued to grow as we gained over 600 followers keen to receive the latest Clinks news and engage with our members and the wider sector.

Ebulletins

107 ebulletins 22,226 subscribers

Our regular ebulletins continued to ensure that we delivered vital information to the sector and promoted its work to a wide range of criminal justice stakeholders. Thematic ebulletins were delivered based on areas of work including policy, health and justice, arts, and women. Newsflashes highlighting key and time sensitive information regarding updates, events and funding opportunities and events were also sent.

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Publications and Blogs

23

publications written and disseminated

1,900

average users visited our blog pages per month

22,666

blog page views over the year

Clinks produces a range of publications, blogs and reports every year. In 2023-24 we produced 23 publications. These publications included; major reports and guides for the sector, briefings, consultation responses and meeting notes. Alongside this we also published 18 blogs.

In 2023-24 we continued to provide accessible information on policy developments, manifestos and changes in criminal justice changes.

Clinks promoted the sector’s views on social media and through blogs and guest blogs. This included opportunities for the sector to hear directly from the MoJ.

Our blog posts were some of the most visited pages on our website throughout the year.

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Clinks Blogs The Sentencing & 27 Criminal Justice Bills - NOV a deeper look Summarising the new Bills and the associated impact assessments and explanatory notes for the sector. Including Nobody’s Listening: further details on the provisions How involving in each Bill that are likely to families in prison engage the voluntary sector. healthcare can save lives and money Guest blog written by PACT, 15 highlights the importance of MAY family involvement for people in prison. An update on 10 commissioning AUG following June’s engagement forum between Clinks, HMPPS Making race and and MoJ justice everybody's In June 2023 Clinks met with business representatives from His This blog summarised the Majesty’s Prison and Probation outcomes of the Clinks Service (HMPPS) and the conference and the key Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for the discussions of the day. in-person quarterly Looking to what needs to commissioning engagement change in the future of the forum. This blog covered key criminal justice system. discussions on grants, probation service and future opportunities. 29 JAN ~~f 4~~ 13

State of the sector report 2023

In our State of the Sector 2023 research, we explored the landscape of the voluntary sector working in criminal justice

The survey received 151 responses, with 146 from organisations, and five from individual arts practitioners. This was a significant increase on the response rate from last year, up 51%, bringing it back to pre-pandemic levels.

For the sixth consecutive year, we partnered with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations who collected and analysed data as part of this project.

This year we overhauled the presentation of our research findings. To make the findings easier to navigate and enable us to provide more granular data, including breakdowns for different geographies and specialist organisations. For the first time, we published our findings as a series of interactive webpages.

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Evidence Library

The success of the Clinks Evidence Library continued into 2023-24, with three editions being published and accompanied by our ‘A matter of fact: what the evidence tells us’ event series, facilitated by Clinks and Russell Webster. The articles are written by leading academics in criminal justice and focus on important topics relevant to those working in the sector.

Our growing Evidence Library is a resource for both the voluntary sector and commissioners/ funders to utilise when designing services and awarding contracts/ funding, as it provides key information about what is needed to achieve an evidence-based approach to supporting people who come into contact with the criminal justice system.

This year experts explored the issues and challenges of our ageing prison population, how point-of-arrest diversion for children and young people is a better way of addressing lowlevel criminal behaviour and best practice in working with people with mental health problems on probation.

153 attendees 3 events

Attendees were given the opportunity to ask questions to the publication authors about the evidence presented, with insights shared about how to address some of the common issues that are experienced within the criminal justice system.

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Member Spotlight: Unseen Victims CIC

Unseen Victims Community Interest Company (CIC) aims to provide support and assistance to the loved ones of individuals involved in the criminal justice system. Their organisation prioritises peer-to-peer support and lived experiences to help individuals connect, share, and support each other. Through moderated social media groups and forums, the organisation fosters a supportive environment where individuals can connect with others who understand their struggles, share experiences, and provide mutual support. By emphasising peer support and lived experiences, Unseen Victims CIC empowers individuals and families to rebuild their lives, be active in the rehabilitation of their loved ones and build stronger families, ultimately reducing reoffending.

“Clinks provide a sense of community and encourage smaller organisations, like ours, to raise our voices and be heard alongside the larger organisations”

Emma Wells, Founder

Image Credit: Emma Wells Unseen Victims CIC =

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Understanding

Next year we will...

By 2025 we will increase the understanding of the value, role and specialist knowledge of the voluntary sector amongst key criminal justice stakeholders, policy makers, academics and funders, ensuring representation of their voice and creating engagement opportunities where they are able to directly influence.

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Provide representation at key stakeholder meetings nationally, regionally and locally, sharing voluntary sector intelligence gathered. Highlighting the value of the sector’s work, and providing stakeholder engagement with relevant organisations.

Further expand the research and evidence base of Clinks across its thematic and specialist priority areas. Building on the existing evidence libraries, and focusing on the needs of people with protected characteristics and lived experience.

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Increase our mechanisms of feedback to the voluntary sector to ensure awareness of and up-to-date information on Clinks’ representation with key stakeholders, and how their intelligence is being utilised to influence change within the criminal justice system.

Continue to work with HMPPS and other commissioners to promote and influence good practice in commissioning processes. Providing feedback on sector experience and challenges to ensure organisations can engage with, and realise future funding opportunities.

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Deliver a comprehensive

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communications strategy, ensuring promotion of the sector and its work to commissioners, practitioners, and decision makers through a range of content. Including social media, case studies, blogs, audio and video content, and in the criminal justice and voluntary sector press.

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T•- Connecting

Connecting

Clinks improved our members’ sense of connectedness to us and their ability to get the information, advice, and resources they need. Organisations will have access to support they find useful in a range of areas across England and Wales as well as related to the specific challenges and needs of supporting women, racially minoritised people, families of people in the criminal justice system and working through the arts.

Area development team

Clinks’ development work in London, the North of England and Wales focuses on listening to local need and ensuring voluntary organisations have their voice heard locally and nationally. The area development team provides one-to-one support to the voluntary sector working in criminal justice, gathering frontline intelligence that informs Clinks’ national policy work and strategic direction.

The team works in partnership with local organisations and agencies to build strategic relationships, and represent voluntary organisations within regional and local statutory structures. Raising awareness of voluntary sector services and providing engagement opportunities to ensure the value and experience of the sector is recognised, is a priority for the area development team. Ensuring that the expertise of the sector is used to inform and influence local and regional strategies and practice.

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Our work in the North of England

Clinks’ Senior Development Officer provided support to the voluntary sector working across the North of England through 84 one-to-one support sessions. The sector relies on this trusted relationship for advice, guidance and contacts to aid collaboration. We held five forums and seven informal networking opportunities showcasing the work of the sector and gathering information and intelligence. Some of the key challenges facing the sector were the difficult funding environment and the impact this was having on staffing and financial reserves.

We worked closely with key stakeholders including North East, Yorkshire and The Humber and North West Probation Services as well as the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. We continued to represent the sector at local and regional strategic board meetings, ensuring the voice of the sector is heard and used to influence stakeholder decision making. These relationships provide the invaluable engagement opportunities for the sector in relation to regional development and commissioning.

Good Prison Project - Voluntary Sector Coordinator at HMP Isis

A key focus this year was to establish our new role of Voluntary Sector Coordinator within HMP Isis, through promoting the role to various stakeholders including prison staff, senior management and the young men in the prison. We accomplished this by implementing voluntary sector meetings for those delivering services at the prison to attend and receive important updates and share challenges. The coordinator also attends key prison meetings, such as the monthly reducing reoffending meeting, where they have a standing agenda item to discuss the importance of the role and the value that the voluntary sector can bring to support the prison population.

Directories of voluntary sector services were also created by the coordinator to be accessible to both prison staff and the men in prison, establishing an increased and improved awareness of the support available and referral processes. This also helped the coordinator identify some initial gaps in areas of support, which has resulted in a needs analysis being undertaken via a paper survey being distributed to the young men in HMP Isis, with analysis and publication of a report due to be published later in 2024.

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Spotlight on Families

In 2023 we were incredibly pleased to launch our new network for voluntary organisations supporting families and significant other relationships affected by the criminal justice system. The network aims to ensure that people in contact with the criminal justice system and their families receive high-quality, meaningful, and effective support to maintain relationships through a thriving network of voluntary sector organisations. There has been an overwhelming sense of need from the sector, and we were delighted to welcome 128 members to the network.

Much of our work over the past year has focused on building and maintaining strong relationships with network members, and understanding their needs through conducting a needs assessment, as well as building connections with relevant stakeholders. We ran a series of events and networking opportunities to improve relationships for organisations who were previously working in silos and feeling quite isolated.

One-to-one meetings have focused on offering support and advice, raising awareness of the work of other organisations, and partnership building. Many organisations benefited from linking into Clinks’ wider regional and thematic networks, being provided with the opportunity to speak at forums and events, gathering further information, support and sharing good practice.

Clinks have continued to support organisations funded through HMPPS’ Family and Significant, Other (FASO) contracts, attending the quarterly HMPPS and FASO providers meetings. We have continued to develop strong relationships with stakeholders, and regularly meet with the HMPPS Families Lead to discuss sector challenges and opportunities, exploring solutions and further areas of influence.

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Our work in London

Clinks’ London forums provided a platform for voluntary sector organisations to showcase their work, enabling information and expertise sharing on themes such as how small and specialist organisations can improve their communications and barriers to prison access. These also provided opportunities for participation in facilitated question and answer sessions about the very latest criminal justice developments.

100+

voluntary organisations engaged through four London forums.

Through our London programme of events and ebulletins the voluntary sector was enabled to engage with strategic developments and commissioning opportunities, including the Prison Violence Reduction commissioning and regional HMPPS Grants.

In addition to providing regular one-to-one support to organisations, frequent consultation events were held, bringing together several small and specialist voluntary organisations with statutory agencies to share their experience and expertise to inform London specific policy development along with feeding into national strategies.

We continued to provide sector representation at the London Reducing Reoffending Board and Out of Court Disposals Partnership Board, ensuring the voluntary sector voice is heard and utilised to influence the design and delivery of services and support. We also facilitate the Mayor’s Officer for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) Third Sector Disproportionality Steering Group. Through which recommendations were made to support practical developments to reduce disproportionality through voluntary sector involvement.

Our work in Wales

Clinks provides area development support in Wales and works with our Welsh members, the wider voluntary sector and our statutory partners such as HMPPS and the Welsh Government. We do this through a mix of one-toone support, sharing of relevant information and feedback, creating opportunities to network and the promotion of services.

A great deal of the support provided has been around commissioning, particularly assisting organisations in navigating the probation commissioning structures including the dynamic framework and the grants portal.

Our quarterly criminal justice forums over the year provided opportunities for organisations to network, showcase their work and receive updates and information. We supported the Head of Community Integration (HoCI) at HMPPS in Wales with the Wales Collaboration and Commissioning forum, suggesting agenda items and promoting the forum to the wider sector. Our regular meetings with the HoCI ensure that HMPPS has a good understanding of the issues that voluntary organisations are facing as well as understanding upcoming commissioning opportunities.

We work closely with Community Justice Cymru, providing a joint report to the Criminal Justice Board for Wales highlighting our work and providing sector representation. Through this relationship with the board, we were able to escalate an issue at HMP Berwyn and work with the Governor to set up a roundtable to have an in-depth discussion of those identified issues.

In January our Senior Development Officer gave evidence at Westminster to the Welsh Affairs Committee on the state of the Welsh prisons system.

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Women’s Network

300

individual members from 153 organisations

Our women’s network continues to thrive, with an average of 300 registered individual members from 153 organisations providing gender-informed services for women. Our engagement with these members ensures that we continue to develop our understanding of the issues faced by specialist organisations, and provide support for practitioners working with women and senior leaders seeking to influence change.

Most individual Women’s Network members work or volunteer in voluntary sector organisations, but we also have stakeholders from prisons and probation services, along with academics and independent professionals, including those involved in the arts. These members bring additional specialist expertise and broaden our reach in thinking creatively about how to mobilise change for women in contact with the criminal justice system.

Image Credit: Working Chance

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Participation in our quarterly network forums has been consistently high with an average of 40 participants attending each event. We continued to hold the majority of forums online but this year our June event was held in-person at Clean Break theatre company in London, with a special performance of their production Catch, followed by a workshop led by Anna Herrmann, Clean Break’s Artistic Director/Joint CEO along with cast members. This event provided a powerful opportunity to exchange ideas about how to press for much-needed changes to the way the criminal justice system responds to criminalised women. Other forum themes this year included: children and families and early intervention, prevention and diversion, with views on the latter feeding-in to a paper that Clinks produced for the [then] government’s ‘Expert Group on Women in the Criminal Justice System’.

to... Quarterly ‘women and the criminal justice system’ ebulletins =hX

213

subscribers on average

We have rolled out our training course, Why Gender Matters in Criminal Justice System, delivering this two-day workshop each quarter to equip new staff with knowledge about gender and criminal justice.

We have maintained strong relationships with the HMPPS women’s team, and members of the MoJ’s Female Offender Policy team, including holding monthly ‘check-in’ meetings where Clinks can share issues raised by members and access useful updates to feedback. This has resulted in us accessing intelligence and providing advocacy and support that ensures our network members’ voices are heard.

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Events and Training

Our events include national and regional forums, thematic network events, paid training opportunities, and collaborations with partners like Frameworks UK and HMPPS.

96% of participants rated our events as ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good.’

Our first hybrid event featured a discussion with Amy Rees, Director General CEO, and Phil Copple, Director of Operations from HMPPS, and was wellattended both online and in person.

This year we hosted 66 events with 1,978 attendees

We delivered 17 paid training sessions, including two in-person. These sessions, including those tailored for member organisations like The Bell Foundation and Good Vibrations, generated substantial interest and contributed to our unrestricted income. Attendees praised these sessions for enhancing their understanding and confidence in the criminal justice system. One participant noted, “How significant the participation of the voluntary sector is to the delivery of provisions across the CJS,” while another highlighted, “Up to date information. Very well delivered. Great range and overview.”

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Job board

The Clinks job board is an invaluable benefit of the membership package and is utilised across the sector for organisations’ recruitment needs.

Over 18,700 users viewed 1,833 vacancies advertised including 87 voluntary roles

Directory of Services 17,843 views Partnership Finder 3,024 views

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Annual Conference

‘Making Race and Justice Everybody’s Business’

We were incredibly proud of the success of our in-person annual conference in London in November. We were joined by 145 external delegates to learn from many of our specialist race and justice network members on the theme of ‘Making Race and Justice Everybody’s Business’. Clinks thinks that all organisations working in criminal justice, whether they be statutory or voluntary, must acknowledge and take action to tackle systemic, structural and individual racism and ensure that their services are accessible to, and meet the needs of, racially minoritised people.

Our conference provided a platform for our specialist members to share their expertise on how to best support people from racially minoritised communities, and how the wider sector can and should unite and commit to a future where justice is equitable. We were joined by eight panellists across the day who explored the current state of racial inequity in the criminal justice system and what the solutions could be and what action is needed to address the issue together as a priority.

We also ran 11 workshops which were facilitated by our specialist network members, focusing on sustainability within the criminal justice system for organisations led by/for racially minoritised people, understanding the needs of racially minoritised people, the importance of providing trauma informed and culturally sensitive support, and how to influence the criminal justice system and achieve better outcomes for racially minoritised people.

The feedback we received from this event was overwhelmingly positive, with one delegate stating that the event had empowered them to ‘take responsibility for me and my part in being anti-racist. I can’t change anybody else, but I can change me’.

National Criminal Justice gf Arts Alliance (NCJAA) (i

The 2023-24 financial year was a good one for the NCJAA at Clinks.

The NCJAA continued to financially support emerging artistic practitioners through our annual bursary scheme, and worked with Hear Me Out, the Irene Taylor Trust and the creative lead at Novus to deliver professional development opportunities to network members through our flagship mentoring scheme.

We partnered with Royal Literary Fund for a second year to deliver writing development training for the sector, equipping our network with additional skills in case study, report, and funding bid writing.

The year saw incredible collaboration between the arts and women’s networks at Clinks, working alongside member organisations BearFace Theatre CIC and Clean Break to deliver workshops to those working with women in the criminal justice system. Throughout the year, in total, the NCJAA reached 314 members of the sector through events and training, and individually supported 61 arts organisations or independent practitioners/freelancers.

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Research Spotlight - Inspiring Futures

Without doubt, NCJAA's highlight of 2023-24 was the publication of the Inspiring Futures research findings, which launched to the sector at our annual Anne Peaker lecture. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Inspiring Futures was an ambitious programme of work that examined how and why arts interventions impact on the lives of people in the criminal justice system, and how to best optimise their effect. Led by the NCJAA, the project was a unique collaboration, bringing together eight leading arts in criminal justice organisations – Clean Break, Geese Theatre Company, Good Vibrations, Helix Arts, the Irene Taylor Trust, Koestler Arts, Open Clasp, and Only Connect - the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge, and participants from within the criminal justice system itself.

Unmatched in its scale and ambition, the three-year project demonstrated the adaptability and resilience of the arts sector as it navigated the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and, upon its completion, delivered three main conclusions:

1. That arts are making a valuable contribution to the lives of people in the criminal justice system, effecting personal growth and change, and improving the wellbeing of those who engage in them.

2. That ongoing and follow-up activities are important for maintaining positive outcomes for the participants. Thus, highlighting the necessity of more artsbased services within prisons and in the community upon release.

3. That a collective strategic commitment to, and long-term vision for, the arts in the criminal justice system is needed for the full potential of the arts in the criminal justice to be realised and achieved.

Our work over the coming year will be heavily shaped by the findings of the Inspiring Futures research report, and we will continue to work closely with our Advisory Group, the Inspiring Futures arts partners, and our wider network to identify areas of future influence. We are feeling galvanised and ready to push into 2024-25 seeking change with a wealth of evidence behind us!

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Race and Justice Network

Over the past year, Clinks has made significant strides in advancing its work around Race and Justice, under the broader leadership of our new Race and Justice Manager, who took over the coordinator position in November. Unlike the previous coordinator role, the Race and Justice Manager encompasses a much wider scope of responsibilities, ensuring comprehensive support and amplification of the voices of racially minoritised communities within the criminal justice system and reinforcing Clinks' unwavering commitment to anti-racism.

In November, we hosted our annual conference, "Making Race and Justice Everyone’s Business," further solidifying our dedication to this crucial work. This event brought together key stakeholders to discuss strategies and share insights on promoting racial equity within the criminal justice system.

Thanks to funding from the Lloyds Foundation and the Barrow Cadbury Trust, we entered into partnerships with Black Men 4 Change, Forward UK, and Change Grow Live to deliver a pilot leadership programme for Black and Global Majority leaders. Set to launch in April, this programme aims to empower and develop the next generation of leaders from these communities.

As part of the ongoing delivery of the Criminal Justice Anti-Racism Action Plan (CJ ARAP), Clinks has continued to support our strategic partners on the Criminal Justice Board for Wales and racially minoritised specialist and led organisations in Wales throughout 2023/24. We were commissioned by Criminal Justice in Wales to convene a network of organisations working with or led by global majority people in Wales. This network provides a platform for community organisations to feed into the CJ ARAP, stay updated on its delivery, and support and challenge criminal justice agencies on their progress and implementation of the plan.

The Race and Justice Network has grown from strength to strength. The Race and Justice Manager dedicated a substantial portion of the last few months to engaging with network members through one-to-one conversations and in-person visits. This thorough engagement was essential for understanding the current needs and challenges faced by our members. These interactions have provided valuable insights that have informed the strategic planning for the network's future.

Additionally, the network facilitated ongoing collaborations with the HMPPS Race Action Programme and other key stakeholders, ensuring that member feedback is incorporated into broader policy discussions and initiatives. This collaboration has been vital in shaping policies that reflect the lived experiences and needs of racially minoritised communities.

Moving forward, Clinks remains steadfast in its commitment to strengthening the Race and Justice Network. By fostering a collaborative and supportive environment, we aim to equip our members with the knowledge and tools needed to advocate effectively for racial equity. The ongoing relationship with the HMPPS New Racial Disparity Unit and other initiatives will continue to be a cornerstone of our efforts, ensuring that the voices of racially minoritised communities are heard and acted upon in the criminal justice system.

The past year has been one of transition and growth for Race and Justice at Clinks. With a clear vision and strong member engagement, we are well-positioned to make substantial progress in the coming year, building on our successes and addressing the challenges ahead.

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Member Spotlight: The Upper Room

The Upper Room is a charity based in West London that helps socially disadvantaged people. Their project, UR4 Driving, helps people with convictions avoid re-offending by offering them a unique opportunity to gain a full car driving licence, which dramatically improves their self-confidence and employment chances.

“Clinks forums are an invaluable resource to us a small specialist organisation both to keep us informed and to feel we have value and a voice in the wider sector, we are less isolated when we meet with others facing similar challenges. Clinks presents us with opportunities to connect with bigger organisations to highlight the unique possibilities of our services and funding opportunities available.”

Elaine Reeve, Project Manager

Image Credit: The Upper Room es

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Connecting

Next year we will...

By 2025 we will further expand and empower our established, thriving membership and networks of voluntary sector organisations to connect and engage with Clinks and each other. Enabling access to the information, advice and resources they need through our range of communication channels and dedicated geographic and thematic networks across England and Wales, and increasing collaboration and partnership opportunities.

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Provide and ensure awareness of Clinks’ events and networking opportunities to keep the voluntary sector informed and connected, maximising Clinks’ reach through our range of online and in-person thematic and regional events.

Further develop Clinks membership and improve access to Clinks’ offer, facilitating regular ‘Member Connect’ sessions. Enabling new and potential members to learn more about Clinks and the team, connect with existing members and participate in interactive sessions.

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3

Develop and promote our digital resources to enhance the awareness and connectivity of the voluntary sector, enhancing the use of our Directory of Services and Partnership Finder resources.

5

Platform small and specialist members to increase learning, ways of working and sharing of best practice both internally and externally.

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Work with HMPPS, regional stakeholders and voluntary organisations to advance and embed the newly developed Third Sector Partnership Approach, ensuring connection, understanding and engagement to inform strategic and operational development.

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Voicing 35

Voicing

Clinks maintained its respected policy voice and our relationships with decision makers grew. We amplified the voice of the sector to ensure that its knowledge and expertise are utilised in the development of practice and policy.

Working in partnership

Clinks continues to act as an essential conduit between the government and the criminal justice voluntary sector, including through our role convening and coordinating the work of the Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3). We support a number of engagement structures for the sector, including through our position on the Third Sector Strategic Partnership Board (TSSPB) and through our role helping to shape the work of the Women in the Criminal Justice System Expert Group (WCJSEG). Clinks has also continued to work closely with HMPPS to develop an updated version of the Third Sector Partnership Approach, formalising the vital role of the voluntary sector and the ways in which it works with statutory bodies.

Clinks Thinks

We commissioned a standalone webpage for Clinks Thinks, the document outlining our key principles, ambitions and recommendations, across thematic areas including women, race, young adults and health. The page is linked from the Clinks main site but offers a different layout that better lends itself to the longform content. The site also hosts resources from the Stronger Voice project, completed in 2022-23, and other policy and research documents that underpin the Clinks Thinks principles, ambitions and recommendations.

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Developing policy in consultation

Clinks continued to leverage its role as the sector’s infrastructure organisation by working in consultation with the sector, to shape and develop policy through a wide range of forums. This encompassed producing responses to a number of inquiries, including the Public Account Committee’s inquiry into improving resettlement support for prison leavers, the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into boys’ attainment, the Welsh Affairs Committee’s inquiry into prisons in Wales and the Senedd Finance Committee’s call for information regarding the Welsh Government Draft Budget Proposals, and the Justice Select Committee’s inquiry into the future prison population and estate capacity – which culminated in the presentation of evidence by Clinks’ CEO, at a committee hearing in January 2024.

We also submitted evidence to HMI Prisons’ consultation on expectations for adult men, engaged with a cross-section of members to develop a response to the Sentencing Council’s consultation on the guidelines for the imposition of custodial and community sentences, and surveyed the sector to gather feedback on the future design of prisons in order to inform the work of the MoJ’s Future Estates Strategy.

In the second half of 2023-24, policy efforts were shaped by the ongoing prison capacity crisis, which required input from the sector on managing increased demand across the system. This included consultation with the sector, developing proposals to inform the Government’s probation reset, and subsequently presenting these ideas through regular engagement with the ministerial team at the MoJ.

We remain involved in shaping the work of the WCJSEG, in close consultation with the MoJ. Over 2023-24, this included the development of a report on improving employment outcomes for women leaving prison, as well as a report on early intervention, prevention and diversion for women following extensive engagement with our Women’s Network Forum members.

Health and Wellbeing Alliance

The VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance is a partnership between sector representatives and the health and care system. It is a key element of the Health and Wellbeing programme, enabling the sector to share its expertise at a national level with the aim of improving services for all communities. Clinks is the only criminal justice member.

In 2023/24 we undertook three projects, which:

1. Commissioned specialist organisations to deliver self-help and peer support for black men in prison experiencing epilepsy, PTSD and/or neurodiversity.

2. Developed a network for organisations and individuals with an interest in older people in contact with the criminal justice system.

3. Gathered data on social prescribing activity in prisons, contributing to the evidence base and promoting the value of voluntary sector partnership.

Older people in the Criminal Justice System (OPIC)

The OPiC network evolved from the Older People In Prison Forum and was intended to widen the reach of the forum to include voluntary and statutory organisations as well as academics with an interest in older people in prison and/or under probation supervision in the community. This includes non-CJS focused organisations, typically those focused on health and wellbeing.

The aims of the network are:

• Improved voluntary and statutory sector understanding of older people in prison and under supervision in the community.

• Better knowledge of, and connections between, voluntary organisations that provide support and/or advocacy for older people in contact with the criminal justice system.

• Improved relationships between statutory services and voluntary sector organisations that provide support and/or advocacy for older people in contact with the criminal justice system.

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Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3)

Clinks continues to convene the RR3, which acts as the key interface between the voluntary sector and the MoJ and HMPPS. Made up of senior experts from the sector, the group’s quarterly meetings allow for guidance to be provided on MoJ policy developments – at both an official and ministerial level – alongside providing sector expertise on specific areas of policy through the establishment of Special Interest Groups (SIGs).

Four SIGs were established this year, set up to provide practical recommendations to Government on priority areas decided by the RR3. These groups focused on the barriers to accessing accommodation for people leaving prison; the barriers to employment for people, both in prison and on their release into the community; the re-commissioning of Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS); and staffing challenges across the voluntary sector. Evidence sessions were held for each group, drawing on the expertise of a wide range of voluntary organisations, with final outputs published for consideration by Ministers and officials.

The accommodation-focused work produced three separate reports highlighting barriers to accessing local authority accommodation; the challenges for people leaving prison in accessing the private rented sector; and issues in the supported housing sector. Clinks presented the findings of these reports to the HMPPS Accommodation Board and will also be presenting to the Cross-Whitehall Accommodation Board in an ongoing strand of work to progress the reports’ recommendations. Work also continues on progressing the findings from the final employment paper through continued engagement with the New Futures Network and officials at the both the MoJ and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

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Across 2023-24, the Group engaged with officials on a range of key issues impacting upon the sector. This included raising the ongoing challenges for the sector in navigating vetting processes, as well as the challenges associated with the implementation of the National Framework for Interventions. The Group also inputted into workstreams on tackling racial disparities in the criminal justice system, the Rehabilitation Strategy, as well as further work on the rollout of the National Regime Model in Prisons.

In December 2023, the Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation, Rt. Hon Edward Argar MP, attended an in-person meeting of the RR3 to discuss his priorities in the role and to take questions from the seat holders on issues related to their seat specialisms. In January 2024, the RR3 convened a roundtable with senior officials to provide a sector-led response to the proposed presumption against short custodial sentences as contained within the Sentencing Bill.

2023-24 also saw significant turnover of the RR3’s membership with a number of members’ terms coming to an end. Additionally, new seats have been added to the Group in order to most effectively represent the needs of the sector. These seats are: two separate seats for lived experience, a seat focused on older people in prison, and a seat on long sentences.

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Member Spotlight: BearFace Theatre CIC

BearFace Theatre CIC use joyful Applied Theatre and vibrant creative arts with local community groups and a wide range of professional teams. They specialise in working with people affected by the Criminal Justice System. BearFace work across Hampshire and surrounding counties designing and delivering bespoke multi-arts-based programmes. They believe in the power of creative action for social change.

"Through our long-standing work with the South Central Women’s probation teams, BearFace have always championed the need for creative CPD workshops for staff, we’re all in this together after all! As an Advisory Board member of the National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance, we were able to join forces with the Clinks Women’s Network and start to develop our own regional creative reflective group for local women who are working in and around the CJS. We now have the CRUW (Create Reflect Unite Women) meeting once a month online and in person. The aim is to collaboratively create space to stop, connect and refresh, step out of the day to day and gather. Being Trauma-Informed for ourselves, helping us to strengthen community ties as well as our own support networks. Improving the wellbeing of the people we work with starts within us so we’re being the change."

Jennifer Walmsley, Executive Director BearFace Theatre CIC

Image Credit: Ilustration by Harriet Riddell for BearFace Theatre CIC

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Voicing

Next year we will...

By 2025 our respected policy voice will be maintained and our relationships with decision makers grown. We will have amplified the voice of the sector to ensure that its knowledge and expertise are utilised in the development of practice and policy.

1

Ensure that the voices of voluntary sector organisations are amplified to affect change, through consultation opportunities and through the Clinks’ Member Advisory forum and NCJAA Advisory Group.

Leverage the expertise and experiences of our members to inform our policy priorities as well as mobilising and enabling organisations to engage in influencing opportunities and speak with a unified voice on key issues of race, women, arts and families.

2

3

Strengthen our policy engagement with the MoJ, as well as other relevant departments and HMPPS, through continued partnership working with forums such as the RR3 and representation on strategic boards to most effectively amplify and platform the voices of specialist organisations working within these specific policy areas

Continue to work collectively with specialist national criminal justice charities and in allyship with specialist organisations, including the Q-Seed Leadership Programme, to further build evidence, strengthen influence and affect change across the criminal justice system.

4

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ail to ts.IP Supporting

Supporting

Clinks adapted the way we support, promote and represent the voluntary sector, so that how we find and implement solutions to the challenges and opportunities it faces, is embedded into the work of our other strategic objectives.

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Engaging with statutory bodies and informing the sector

We represented the sector on the CRS Stakeholder Advisory Group, providing ongoing feedback to officials regarding the re-commissioning of probation services. We further leveraged the voice of the sector through the establishment of an RR3 SIG on Commissioning, which produced two separate reports on the recommissioning process, with a specific focus on highlighting and platforming the expertise of smaller, specialist organisations. The recommendations produced as part of this work have been factored into the CRS design process.

A core component of our engagement with statutory bodies is to react effectively to events within the criminal justice system, as and when they arise, and to ensure that the sector is informed of the subsequent impacts. This year, the prison estate has faced an acute overcrowding crisis, resulting in government measures – such as the implementation of the Early Custody Supervised License (ESCL) Scheme – with a significant impact on the work of the criminal justice voluntary sector. Through the scheme’s implementation, we have kept the sector informed regarding its rollout, while constantly feeding back intelligence from frontline organisations supporting people coming out of prison to the statutory bodies responsible for administering the scheme.

We played a similar role in the rollout of the Probation Reset Programme. Clinks coordinated the sector's response to the proposed changes through engaging with ministers and then acting as a conduit between the Government and the sector in analysing the impact of the changes. We also continued to inform the sector on the rollout of the new National Regime Model for prisons.

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Advocating and influencing on behalf of the sector

Through Clinks’ role coordinating and driving the work of the RR3, we supported the sector to advocate and influence at a ministerial level, with Prisons Minister, Rt Hon Edward Argar MP, attending the Group’s quarterly meeting in December 2023 and answering the sector’s questions on a range of issues.

Across 2023-24, we have extended our advocacy, on behalf of the sector, to several other government departments. This has enabled us to represent the views of the voluntary sector more effectively and further the influencing objectives of the RR3 and wider sector. This has included working with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) on the issue of homelessness among people leaving prison, the DWP on reforms to Universal Credit, as well as presenting to the Home Office on the work of Clinks.

We advocated on behalf the sector to influence the passage of two significant pieces of legislation – the Sentencing Bill and the Criminal Justice Bill – producing blogs on the proposed Bills’ key points and platforming the sector’s views through our ministerial engagement. Our CEO also contributed to the Murder Sentencing Review.

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Member Spotlight: SHEWISE

SHEWISE charity supports minority ethnic women experiencing multiple disadvantages of mental health, domestic abuse, and those affected by the criminal justice system.

They are proud to offer bespoke bilingual support that transforms lives through their empowered living model of intervention and prevention. Their approach is tailored to foster gender equality, diversity, and inclusion by addressing cultural norms, social expectations, and stigmatised beliefs that impede wellbeing and independence.

“Being a member of Clinks has been immensely beneficial in helping us achieve our goals of supporting South Asian women leaving prison. As a small charity, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to present our work at the Clinks 2023 conference. This experience gave us a profound sense of accomplishment and strengthened our commitment to addressing the unique needs and challenges faced by individuals from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds”.

Salma Ullah Founder and CEO of Shewise

Image Credit: SheWise

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Supporting

Next year we will...

By 2025, we will enable the voluntary sector working in criminal justice across England and Wales to access a wide range of specialist, high-quality support. Clinks will work with the sector to develop solutions to their specific challenges and opportunities. In addition, we will communicate up-to-date and relevant resources to sustain and increase understanding, skills, and expertise across the sector, as well as providing opportunities for organisations to promote themselves and their work.

1

Offer increased professional development opportunities, further advancing our existing training offer and resources. We will create new and enhance existing mentoring programmes within the NCJAA and Race and Justice Networks.

Deliver an events programme which is responsive to changing needs and current topics of importance within the criminal justice system. This will provide opportunities for the sector to showcase their work and enable improved knowledge and engagement.

2

3

Further promote the model of voluntary sector coordination support available in HMP/YOI Isis. This will build on Clinks' collaborative approaches across the sector through our area 5 development work and specialist thematic networks. By taking this approach, we will enable increased and wider access to specialist support for people in prisons to have their specific needs met.'

Explore the further use of technology and digital platforms to increase opportunities for peer learning, information sharing and specific support opportunities with a particular focus on the needs of small and specialist organisations.

4

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Developing 49

Developing

Clinks began to develop a new strategy for the future, involving those we aim to serve and the people who will be at the heart of its success. We are aiming to increase the number of organisations we are supporting, especially small and specialist organisations with limited resources. We are working to attract and retain a diverse and valued core staff team with the skills and expertise to meet the needs of our sector. We are continuing to generate income in a way that supports our core functions without compromise. We will be increasingly recognisable as an anti-racist organisation.

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Membership

members

529 full members 11 individual associates 5 organisational associates 18 branch and project members

55%

of members qualify for bursary membership

282

members have an annual income under £250k

Despite an initial drop in membership to 510 due to an audit and data cleansing effort, we saw a gradual increase in membership numbers each quarter, demonstrating a resilient and growing community. This detailed review provided a clearer picture of our membership demographics, revealing that over half of our members (55%) qualify for bursary membership. Bursary membership is offered to organisations with an annual income under £250k, and to specialist organisations with an annual income of £250k - £500k. Clinks’ defines specialist organisations as supporting or working with arts, families, older people, people with lived experience in organisational leadership, racially minoritised people and women.

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specialist bursary members

Key initiatives throughout the year included the introduction of a new membership guide and a refreshed membership webpage. These were both aimed at better communicating the benefits of Clinks membership and driving promotional efforts. This contributed to the addition of 33 new full members and three individual associate members over the year.

We continued to engage positively with our member advisory forum, receiving important feedback on the findings of our impact assessment and the development of our future strategy. We also consulted with forum members on operational matters, such as our external briefings and training offer. We made excellent progress in one of our member advisory forum sub-groups, focussing on the voluntary sector workforce and hosted and event titled 'Building a resilient workforce - lessons learnt'. This was co-facilitated by four of our advisory forum members and recorded to be shared as a resource with the wider sector.

Developed funder relationships and secured income

Throughout 2023-24 we have continued to expand and diversify our approach to income generation, focusing resources on a select number of philanthropic Trusts and Foundations as well as increasing Clinks’ self-generated income, in particular through the launch of the Clinks Consulting service.

The fundraising landscape continues to be challenging however we remain committed to ensuring the security and stability of Clinks’ income streams. During this period, we were grateful to receive a renewed one-year grant from the Aurum Charitable Trust towards Clinks’ core costs; a grant from MOPAC for our work in London and a grant from the Criminal Justice in Wales Board to deliver the

Community Engagement Network which enables the Criminal Justice System Anti-Racist Action Plan to be effectively progressed. 2023-24 also saw the beginning of the Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales and Barrow Cadbury Trust funded Q-SEED Partnership.

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Core Team

We started the 2023-24 year in full swing as a remote working organisation. We worked with our longstanding core team and recruited new colleagues on the basis of working remotely with opportunity and need for in-person interactions. We have enjoyed further geographical reach in our recruiting pool, and we have moved towards a lessened London-centric base overall. Clinks continues to support our staff at home and promote wellbeing as a priority. Our staff have faced challenges in meeting the sector needs with heightened pressures including a cost-of-living crisis,

nonetheless, never failing to provide support and continue to deliver high-quality services.

Our team have continued to benefit from a monthly well-being day with full take up across the team in place. This promotes good mental health, and we are continuing to focus on the needs of our colleagues as we navigate the ever-changing landscape.

Our staff sickness levels remained low, largely due to the take up of wellbeing days and we continued to monitor productivity levels along with our policies review for best support to our staff team. Looking after our staff and supporting their work/life balance needs remains a top priority for Clinks.

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Clinks Staff

When recruiting both staff and trustees we continued to actively encourage people with protected characteristics and lived experience of the criminal justice system to apply. We also offered alternative methods of applying to ensure our processes are inclusive and accessible.

45% identify as racially minoritised

14% 32% identify as are under 34 LGBTQ years old

23% have lived experience of the CJS

32% 74% have a disability and / are female or neurodivergent needs

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Clinks board of Trustees

42% identify as racially minoritised

14% 29% identify as LGBTQ are under 34 years old

14% have lived experience of the CJS

29% 71% have a disability and / are female or neurodivergent needs

Clinks’ board continued to be invaluable in their support of our organisation, providing their perspectives, knowledge, experiences and expertise to guide us. The latter part of the year proved to be an exciting time for our board as we embarked on a recruitment cycle - initially seeking two additional trustees, with one to join our Finance and Human Resources committee. However, due to the dedication and impressive nature of the applications received, we made the plan to co-opt four new trustees. A reminder to us of the huge commitment people make to support our organisation.

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Anti-racism

As evidenced elsewhere in this report Clinks has continued to embed anti-racist practice into our ways of working. We have continued to learn and unlearn as an organisation what is required of us to challenge the systemic racism in the society in which we and our beneficiaries work

In 2023-24 we reviewed our Anti-racist working party across Clinks’ staff and trustees, which oversaw delivery to achieve our anti-racist aims. We are now changing the governance and management of this work by setting up a new subcommittee of the Board of Trustees to lead on strategic aims in this area, and this committee will work with staff across Clinks to lead on programme delivery of these aims.

Staff learning and unlearning is important for Clinks’ development as an antiracist organisation, and opportunities for this are embedded in our staff meetings and learning events. We also have a staff-led group for staff who identify as racially minoritised to provide and receive peer support around their living experience of racism.

There was important learning for Clinks this year afforded by the process of joining a partnership, to deliver under a new funding programme from the Barrow Cadbury Trust and Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales. The Q-SEED partnership is enabling Clinks to learn and practice powerful allyship. It is not right for Clinks to lead in this space, but it is right for us to partner consciously with others with the expertise, knowledge and authority to lead. We provide access to Clinks’ resources and networks to benefit the partnership and the intended beneficiaries. We are hoping to extend this learning to other partnerships as we progress and continue to utilise our influence and access to places of power for the benefit of our partners and the Q-SEED founder cohort.

This year we dedicated our annual conference to anti-racism in the criminal justice system and voluntary sector. Clinks was practising allyship here in giving space to platform partners and organisations who are overlooked and marginalised. We wanted to create a space for learning and development for organisations who are not led by and for racially minoritised people.

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Member Spotlight: Good Vibrations

Good Vibrations works in prisons, secure hospitals and in the community across the UK. They run intensive gamelan music courses that help people develop confidence, communication and social skills, and positive self-identities.

“We approached Clinks to see if they could provide training on maintaining boundaries in prisons. They worked with us, listened to what we wanted, and created a bespoke training course for our whole team. Their understanding of the complexities of working in criminal justice was crucial to making the session work. Their approach was inclusive, they encouraged discussion, and everyone contributed to the session. It was great for building team confidence”.

Malcolm Milner, Training and Development Manager

Image Credit: Good Vibrations

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Developing

Next year we will...

By 2025 we will have an established membership offer of support for organisations, including those who cannot pay for it. We will have a more mature income diversification model and approach, testing out ways of generating income to deliver on our core purpose without impacting on the affordability of our offer for our beneficiaries.

1

Our consultancy service will grow and we will learn what works well in marketing and providing the support under this service.

We will develop new partnerships and a way of working with others to add value without needing to lead, achieving impact for our beneficiaries and income to continue our core work. We will have a good understanding of our approach to working with corporate partners and a sense of the income we could yield.

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We will continue to invest time and thought in being an anti-racist organisation and doing this across Clinks’ activities. We will learn from involvement with how to be a powerful ally.

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We will develop and launch our next strategy based on our learning from our impact assessment and our assessment of the needs of the sector. This strategy will take us to 2030. We will develop it conscious of the financial challenges we have faced in the implementation of our current strategy and the achievements we have made in spite of those.

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CLincs Supporting the voluntary sector working in the criminaljustice system National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance Financial Review

The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the memorandum and articles of association and the Statement of Recommended Practice – Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP) applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with FRS 102.

Clinks started the 2023-24 financial year with a positive outlook. Despite the impact of the cost-ofliving crisis on our finances, we were able to offer our staff team a 2% living wage increase and focused our efforts on reducing costs.

The trustees approved a deficit budget in April 2023, following a slight revision down in our reserves requirement due to changes in staff tenure and the organisation adopting fully remote working since 2022. The deficit agreed in April 2023 was £237,000. The board agreed to such a speculative deficit due to the staff turnover levels at the start of the year organically impacting on cost, the planned restructuring of internal teams within Clinks and the planned activity regarding income generation and diversification of funds.

We concluded March 2024 with a reserves balance of £296,268, making up the majority of our free reserves. We concluded the year with an unrestricted funds deficit of £19,163 which we planned into a revised reserves calculation for the 2024-25 year.

Clinks has met all funder deliverables in this financial year and, despite some longer-term funding agreements and partnerships coming to a natural end, continues to focus on driving new income streams.

Clinks’ reserves levels ensure that we hold appropriate levels to remain financially stable. However, some extensive work will be completed in the 2024-25 year to revise the reserves in line with the new structure of the organisation carried out in the 2023-24 year. The calculated required reserves level for 2023-24 was £319,000.

The support of our funders is invaluable to Clinks, enabling us to renew our commitment to support the sector through challenging times. We acknowledge and are grateful for the vital support of both long-standing and new funders, who have enabled us to successfully fulfil our objectives and to implement our ambitious plans, which we intend to build on over the next few years. This funding allows Clinks to continue to effect positive change for people in the criminal justice system by supporting a vibrant and resilient voluntary sector, and by working with our members to influence policy.

The excellent news that funding from Arts Council England for our National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance would be extended for an additional year, meant that we were able to plan significant and exciting events for our arts sector members, including the annual and widely appreciated ‘Anne Peaker’ event. Also, due to a welcome further year’s extension of funding through the Department of Health and Social Care, our Health and Wellbeing Alliance was able to continue its working relationships to provide that much needed support in this area.

Our CEO, Anne Fox, has focused on developing new sources of income generation for the organisation as part of our longer-term funding plan. This includes launching Clinks Consulting, which received its flagship funds in this financial year and has begun to gain momentum; we look forward to seeing this gain further traction in the next financial year and beyond. Anne is networking across civil society to encourage organisations to work with Clinks in partnership, where together we can have a greater impact and secure further consultancy work for 2024-25.

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Principle risks and uncertainties

Clinks started the year with active engagement of our full staff team and board on an away day, making the most of our skills and expertise available and enabling strong relationships to develop. The Finance and Human Resources Committee continued its much-valued work in supporting the board in the overall management of Clinks’ finance and HR matters.

Clinks’ trustees acknowledge their responsibility for identifying and managing the risks to which the charity is exposed. Quarterly reviews of the risk register ensure that the trustees are well informed to arrive at a set of parameters and decisions for the amount of risk they consider to be acceptable. This includes reviewing staff turnover by ensuring that we analyse exit interviews and introducing staff surveys to ensure that we can minimise staff turnover. Staff changes impacted towards the end of the financial year after our Director of Corporate Services took voluntary redundancy as part of our restructure, followed in short succession by our HR Officer and our Finance Officer both resigning and moving on to progressive roles in the charity sector. This in turn has led to an increased pressure on the remaining Corporate Services team. Clinks has sourced external support for management accounts and HR support; therefore we view this as an opportunity to refresh our processes and our ways of working, at the same time being mindful of with our salary costs.

The Trustees continue to examine the level of risk for Clinks on various matters each quarter. However, the largest risk prevailing through the year is the lack of funding opportunities that not only align with Clinks priorities but will also support infrastructure which has never been more needed in terms of support to the sector.

Reserves policy and going concern

Clinks has been navigating changing policy priorities and we have been adjusting our response for support to the sector. We enter the next financial year with caution and a small amount of uncertainty. Our infrastructure funding from HMPPS now enters the third year of a 3-year agreement and we are operating with a lean approach to expenditure and careful management of staff workloads, so as to not overburden our team.

At the time of signing this report we are aware that there will be a new infrastructure grant from MoJ/HMPPS for 4 years from April 2025. We have considered the information available at this stage and believe it is a good fit for Clinks’ priorities and future plans. We intend to bid for this grant, however the outcome of the bidding process will not be determined until the end of 2024. The possibility that we will lose this critical source of revenue is one of the scenarios that we model as part of our reserves-setting process. Clinks reserves policy and the current level of reserves we hold reflect the most resource heavy of these scenarios and are kept under tight review by our finance, HR and risk committee. We therefore believe that the level of reserves we hold is appropriate, and that it is appropriate that these accounts are produced on a going concern basis.

Clinks will continue to monitor this position, and a review will be undertaken early in the 2024-25 year to determine Clinks’ appropriate level of reserves.

Statement on fundraising practices

Clinks holds fundraising targets for charitable trusts, statutory sources and income generation from traded activity. We do not fundraise from the general public. We do occasionally ask for donations from our members by email but never through telephone or face-to-face appeals. We sometimes use professional fundraisers to provide additional capacity for writing funding applications. Clinks keeps abreast of applicable fundraising regulation and compliance codes. We have never received a complaint about our fundraising activities.

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We note that fundraising during a time of post-pandemic recovery has been especially difficult to navigate and without wanting to secure funds which divert money away from small and specialist organisations, we have managed to remain stable. We are seeking to engage with current and past funders to connect and discuss opportunities for the year ahead. We are looking to secure multi-year funding towards core costs, and we are seeking funds for the benefit of our thematic networks from trusts and foundations.

Structure, governance and management

Clinks is governed by a Board of Trustees, which consists of at least eight members elected by members of the charity and up to four people who may be co-opted by the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees co-opts additional members to ensure a diverse board with the right mix of skills and experience. Clinks has a Finance and Human Resources committee which meets quarterly to discuss key finance and human resources (HR) issues and reports back to the Board of Trustees. It is chaired by the Treasurer. Clinks’ business model now has expertise in-house for business functions such as Finance, Governance and fundraising, and is now outsourcing additional Finance and HR support overseen by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and the Business Manager with expertise added by Clinks’ Treasurer.

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 12 May 1998 and registered as a charity on 5 March 1999.

Appointment of trustees

Clinks’ renowned Chair Roma Hooper (OBE) will be stepping down at next year's AGM having served 2 terms with us. Roma has brought a wealth of guidance and experience to the role for which we will always remain grateful. We will begin the 2024-25 year with active recruitment for an equally dynamic new Chair who is keen to steer Clinks into a new era. We have also finished off this financial year with a trustee recruitment drive. The calibre of applicants was exceptionally high, and we plan to onboard four new Trustees who bring a varied and valuable array of skills and experience to our board table. The four Trustees will formally join our board as soon as possible.

Trustee induction and training

New trustees are given a copy of the Clinks Trustee Handbook, which includes a range of key documents, including the articles of association, recent accounts, the business plan and minutes of previous meetings. The new trustees meet with the CEO and key staff to discuss their role and priorities and to better understand their skills and interests and how these apply to our shared goals.

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

Clinks aims to have a reward strategy which attracts, rewards and retains staff. Clinks aims to pay a starting salary at the median for relevant comparators, subject to affordability. The salaries and benefits Clinks offer to its staff, including to the senior management team and CEO are intended to be:

As equitable as possible Transparent and understood by staff Market relevant but not market driven Cost effective and affordable.

Starting salary and increments

Posts are advertised at the base rate, with one increment awarded after one year’s service and after five years’ service. Clinks’ salaries are informed by the NJC salary scale and Clinks will aim to implement their cost-of-living award annually (subject to affordability). The Finance and HR committee oversee the salary policy.

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Statement of responsibilities of the trustees

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

• State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice 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 operation.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. In so far as the trustees are aware:

• There is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditors are unaware The trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

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 charity guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The total number of such guarantees at 31 March 2024 was eight (in 2023 it was six). The trustees are members of the charity, but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.

Auditors

Auditors Sayer Vincent LLP were re-appointed as the charitable company's auditor during the year and has expressed its willingness to continue in that capacity.

The trustees’ annual report has been approved by the trustees on 5 November 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

Simon Alsop

Treasurer

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Independent auditor’s report

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Clinks (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities, balance sheet, statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including FRS 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). In our opinion, the financial statements:

• Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 March 2024 and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended

• Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice

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

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relation to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate. Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on Clinks’ ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

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

We have nothing to report in this regard.

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Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

• The information given in the trustees’ annual report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

The trustees’ annual report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the trustees’ annual report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

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

• The financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or Certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• We have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or The directors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ annual report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of trustees’ responsibilities set out in the trustees’ annual report, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material

misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are set out below.

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Capability of the audit in detecting irregularities

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud

and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

• We enquired of management and the board of trustees, which included obtaining and reviewing supporting documentation, concerning the charity’s policies and procedures relating to:

» Identifying, evaluating, and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;

» Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected, or alleged fraud;

» The internal controls established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.

We inspected the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

• We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that the charity operates in, focusing on those laws and regulations that had a material effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations of the charity from our professional and sector experience.

• We communicated applicable laws and regulations throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit.

• We reviewed any reports made to regulators.

• We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested these to supporting documentation to assess compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

• We performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud.

• In addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, we tested the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments, assessed whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias and tested significant transactions that are unusual or those outside the normal course of business.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely

to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities

This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

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

27 November 2024

Jonathan Orchard (Senior statutory auditor)

for and on behalf of Sayer Vincent LLP, Statutory Auditor 110 Golden Lane London, EC1Y 0TG

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Financial statements

Statement of financial activities (incorporating an income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2024

						Unrestricted	Restricted	2024 Total		Unrestricted	Restricted	2023 Total
					Note	£	£	£		£	£	£
Income from:
Charitable activities
Support, representation and promotion					2	168,466	985,235	1,153,701		269,311	989,565	1,258,876
Other trading activities					3	77,973	-	77,973		44,241	-	44,241
Interest					4	1,906	-	1,906		150	-	150
Total income						248,345	985,235	1,233,580		313,702	989,565	1,303,267
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
Support, representation and promotion					5a	267,508	1,000,525	1,268,033		441,693	992,863	1,434,556
Total expenditure						267,508	1,000,525	1,268,033		441,693	992,863	1,434,556
Net (expenditure) for the year					7	(19,163)	(15,290)	(34,453)		(127,991)	(3,298)	(131,289)
Transfers between funds						-		-		-	-	-
Net movement in funds						(19,163)	(15,290)	(34,453)		(127,991)	(3,298)	(131,289)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward						315,431	15,290	330,721		443,422	18,588	462,010
Total funds carried forward						296,268	-	296,268		315,431	15,290	330,721

All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in Note 17a to the financial statements.

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as at 31 March 2024

Balance sheet

Balance sheet as at 31 March 2024
>	Note >	2024 ee >		2023 ee >
		£ >	£ >	£ >	£ >
Fixed assets: Cn ss
Tangible assets es	12 es ss	es ss	7,778 es	es	12,939 es
Current assets: ss Ce
Debtors a	13 QC	156,334 QC	QC	68,387 QC	QC
Short term deposit ss	ss es	200,060 ss	ss	298,053 ss	ss
Cash at bank and in hand es eG	es es eG	67,442 es GO	es GO	106,611 es GO	es
eG	es eG	423,836 GO	GO	473,050 GO
Liabilities: eG GO
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	14	135,346		155,269
Net current assets a	a GC	a GC	288,490 a GC	a GC	317,782 a GC
Total net assets pO	Po			296,268
The funds of the charity: pO	17a Po
Restricted income funds pO a	Po GO		GO	-	GO
Unrestricted income funds:
General funds a	a GO	296,268 a GO	a GO	315,431 a GO	a GO
Designated funds ss	ss	- ss	ss	- ss	ss
Total unrestricted funds ss	ss	GG	296,268 GG	GG	315,431
a	GC	GC	GC	GC	- GC
Total charity funds ss	ss	ss	296,268 ss	ss	330,721 ss

Approved by the management committee on 5 November 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Simon Alsop Treasurer

Clinks is a registered charity no. 1074546 and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales no. 3562176.

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for the year ended 31 March 2024

Statement of cash flows

Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2024	Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2024	Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2024	Statement of cash flows for the year ended 31 March 2024
Reconciliation of net income / (expenditure) to net cash flow from operating activities				2024	2023
				£	£
Net income / (expenditure) for the reporting period (as per the statement of financial activities)				(34,453)	(131,289)
Depreciation charges				5,161	5,190
Dividends and interest from investments				1,906	150
(Increase)/decrease in debtors				(87,947)	(30,757)
Increase/(decrease) in creditors				(19,923)	(23,479)
Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities				(135,256)	(180,185)
	Note	2024		2023
		£	£	£	£
Cash flows from operating activities
Net cash provided by / (used in) operating activities			(135,256)		(180,185)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends and interest from investments		(1,906)		(150)
Purchase of fixed assets		-		(972)
Net cash (used in) investing activities			(1,906)		(1,122)
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year			(137,162)		(181,307)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year			404,664		585,971
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	18		267,502		404,664

Notes to the financial statements

For the year ended 31 March 2024

1. Accounting Policies

a) Statutory information

Clinks is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is incorporated in the United Kingdom. The registered office address is 82a James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Bury St Edmunds, IP28 7DE. b) Basis of preparation

The financial statements 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 2015) - (Charities SORP FRS 102), The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (September 2015/March 2018) and the Companies Act 2006/Charities Act 2011.

Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy or note.

In applying the financial reporting framework, the trustees have made a number of subjective judgements, for example in respect of significant accounting estimates. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. The nature of the estimation means the actual outcomes could differ from those estimates. Any significant estimates and judgements affecting these financial statements are detailed within the relevant accounting policy below.

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c) Public benefit entity

The charitable company meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

d) Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern. Clinks has taken a deliberately prudent approach in reserves planning to ensure smoothing over austere and uncertain times.

The trustees do not consider that there are any sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

e) Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

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.

f) 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. g) Fund accounting

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

h) Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

• Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charitable company in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose

• Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering services and other activities undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs Other expenditure represents those items not falling into any other heading.

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

i) Allocation of support costs

Resources expended are allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned based on the estimated staff time attributable to each activity.

Projects 90%

• Support costs 9%

• Governance costs 1%

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities.

j) Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight line basis over the term of the lease.

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k) Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £150. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are

reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.

Where fixed assets have been revalued, any excess between the revalued amount and the historic cost of the asset will be shown as a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life.

The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

• Computer four years

l) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

m) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account. Cash balances exclude any funds held on behalf of service users.

n) Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

o) Financial instruments

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

p) Grants payable

Grants payable are made to third parties in furtherance of the charity's objects. Single or multi-year grants are accounted for when either the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and the trustees have agreed to pay the grant without condition, or the recipient has a reasonable expectation that they will receive a grant and that any condition attaching to the grant is outside of the control of the charity. Provisions for grants are made when the intention to make a grant has been communicated to the recipient but there is uncertainty about either the timing of the grant or the amount of grant payable.

q) Pensions

The charity makes contributions to a defined contribution scheme and to employees' personal

pension plans based on a fixed percentage of salary. Contributions are charged as expenditure in the year in which they are incurred.

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2. Income from charitable activities

	2024	2024	2024		2023	2023	2023
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total		Unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	£	£	£		£	£	£
Grants	168,466	985,235	1,153,701		269,311	989,565	1,258,876
Total income from charitable activities	168,466	985,235	1,153,701		269,311	989,565	1,258,876
Restricted grants consist of:
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales		-	-		-	97,255	97,255
Barrow Cadbury Trust	-	53,000	53,000		-	50,000	50,000
HM Prison and Probation Service / Ministry of Justice - Infrastructure Grant	-	550,000	550,000		-	550,000	550,000
City Bridge Trust	-	53,274	53,274		-	54,350	54,350
Criminal Justice in Wales (CJiW)	-	19,311	19,311		-	5,000	5,000
Arts Council England	-	66,196	66,196		-	66,196	66,196
Paul Hamlyn Foundation (Inspiring Futures)	-	-	-		-	50,000	50,000
Plymouth City Council	-	-	-		-	41,632	41,632
Cambridge University	-	-	-		-	4,356	4,356
Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM)	-	9,374	9,374		-	-	-
Department for Health and Social Care – VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance	-	108,680	108,680		-	70,776	70,776
Porticus Family	-	75,400	75,400		-	-	-
City Bridge Foundation - Good Prisons Project	-	50,000	50,000		-	-	-
Sub-total	-	985,235	985,235		-	989,565	989,565

3. Income from other trading activities

	2024	2024	2024		2023	2023	2023
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total		Unrestricted	Restricted	Total
	£	£	£		£	£	£
Membership fees	36,333	-	36,333		30,453	-	30,453
Associate membership fees	275	-	275		1,245	-	1,245
Consultancy Fees Earned	2,250	-	2,250		-	-	-
Paid listings	3,450	-	3,450		3,700	-	3,700
Conference fees	25,867	-	25,867		7,400	-	7,400
Donations	1,000	-	1,000		200	-	200
Other income	8,798	-	8,798		1,243	-	1,243
Sub-total	77,973	-	77,973		44,241	-	44,241

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4. Income from investments

	2024	2024	2024		2023	2023	2023
	Unrestricted	Restricted	Total		Unrestricte d	Restricted	Total
	£	£	£		£	£	£
Interest receivable	1,906	-	1,906		150	-	150
Sub-total	1,906	-	1,906		150	-	150

5a. Analysis of expenditure

	Direct cost of activities	Grant funding of activities	Support costs	Governance costs	2024 Total		2023 Total
	£	£	£		£		£
Grants and partnership payments made (note 6)	-	-	-	-	-		44,550
Salaries	1,001,392	-	-	-	1,001,392		1,168,012
Travel and subsistence for staff	41,266	-	-	251	41,517		26,417
Recruitment costs	-	-	-	-	-		3,922
Fees for freelance workers	63,133	-	2,700	-	65,833		25,431
Premises costs	-	-	9,517	-	9,517		7,389
Office costs	-	-	44,097	-	44,097		38,049
Subscriptions	-	-	9,243	-	9,243		-
Newsletter and publications	-	-	5,939	-	5,939		7,190
Training for staff and volunteers	-	-	35	-	35		699
Training for beneficiaries	-	-	-	-	-		140
Depreciation	-	-	5,161	-	5,161		5,190
Conference costs	11,623	-	-	-	11,623		28,793
Professional fees	3,682	-	7,630	-	11,312		13,916
Audit fees	-	-	-	10,080	10,080		11,208
Network development	10,000	-	-	-	10,000		-
Partnership Involvement	4,000	-	-		4,000		-
Bank charges and interest	-	-	4,697	-	4,697		274
Meeting costs	723	-	-	-	723		2,163
Management Committee Costs	-	-	201		201		1,105
Website development/maintenance	-	-	24,058	-	24,058		32,626
Partners staff fees	-	-	-	-	-		7,500
Digital media - licences	-	-	8,605	-	8,605		9,983
Sub-total	1,135,819	-	121,883	10,331	1,268,033		1,434,556

Of the total expenditure £267,508 (2023: £441,693) was unrestricted and £1,000,525 (2023: £992,863) was restricted.

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5b. Analysis of expenditure (prior year)

	Direct cost of activities	Grant funding of activities	Support costs	Governance costs	2023 Total
	£	£	£		£
Grants and partnership payments made (note 6)	-	44,550	-	-	44,550
Salaries	1,168,012	-	-	-	1,168,012
Travel and subsistence for staff	26,417	-	-	-	26,417
Recruitment costs	3,355	-	567	-	3,922
Fees for freelance workers	25,431	-	-	-	25,431
Premises costs	-	-	7,389	-	7,389
Office costs	-	-	38,049	-	38,049
Subscriptions	-	-	-	-	-
Newsletter and publications	7,190	-	-	-	7,190
Training for staff and volunteers	-	-	699	-	699
Training for beneficiaries	140	-	-	-	140
Depreciation	-	-	5,190	-	5,190
Conference costs	28,793	-	-	-	28,793
Professional fees	13,916	-	-	-	13,916
Audit fees	-	-	-	11,208	11,208
Bank charges and interest	-	-	274	-	274
Meeting costs	2,163	-	-	-	2,163
Management Committee Costs	-	-	1,105	-	1,105
Website development/maintenance	-	-	32,626	-	32,626
Partners staff fees	7,500	-	-	-	7,500
Digital media - licences	9,983	-	-	-	9,983
Sub-total	1,292,899	44,550	85,899	11,208	1,434,556

6. Grant making (current year)

6. Grant making (current year)
	Grants to institutions		2024			2023
	£	£			£
Department for Health and Social Care – VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance	-			-			25,200
Criminal Justice Board for Wales	-			-			3,640
Lloyds Bank Foundation - Stronger Voice	-			-			15,710
At the end of the year	-			-			44,550

7. Net income / expenditure for the year

7. Net income / expenditure for the year
		2024			2023
This is stated after charging / (crediting):
	£			£
Depreciation			5,161			5,190
Auditor's remuneration (excluding VAT):
Audit			8,400			9,340
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8. Analysis of staff costs, trustee remuneration and expenses, and the cost of key management personnel

cost of key management personnel
Staff costs were as follows:	2024	2023
	£	£
Salaries and wages	854,352	971,817
Social security costs	92,874	103,579
Pension contributions and other employee benefits	54,166	92,616
	1,001,392	1,168,012
The following number of employees received salary and employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) during the year between:	2024	2023
	No.	No.
£60,000 - £69999	1	-

The total employee benefits including pension contributions of the key management personnel were £291,903 (2023: £259,802). The Leadership Team comprises of the CEO, DCEO plus three key employees.

The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2023: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2023: £nil).

Trustees' expenses represents the payment or reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs totalling £251 (2023: £285).

9. Staff numbers

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:	2024	2023
	No.	No.
Projects	16	17
Support	9	12
	25	29

10. Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2024 (2023: none).

There are no donations from related parties which are outside the normal course of business and no restricted donations from related parties.

11. Taxation

The charitable company is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

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12. Tangible fixed assets

	Computer equipment	Total
	£	£
Cost or valuation
At the start of the year	92,855	92,855
Additions in year	-	-
At the end of the year	92,855	92,855
Depreciation
At the start of the year	79,917	79,917
Charge for the year	5,161	5,161
At the end of the year	85,078	85,078
Net book value
At the end of the year	7,778	7,778
At the start of the year	12,939	12,939

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

13. Debtors

	2024	2023
	£	£
Trade debtors	15,124	31,209
Accrued Income	137,583
Other debtors	2,125	22,464
Prepayments	1,502	14,714
	156,334	68,387

14. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

	2024	2023
	£	£
Trade creditors	2,940	18,700
Taxation and social security	64,272	42,237
Other creditors	2,930	32,060
Accruals	47,029	42,032
Deferred income	18,175	20,240
	135,346	155,269

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15. Deferred income

15. Deferred income
Deferred income comprises membership and grant income received during the year for use in 2024/2025	2024	2023
	£	£
Balance at the beginning of the year	20,240	20,000
Amount released to income in the year	(20,240)	(20,000)
Amount deferred in the year	18,175	20,240
Balance at the end of the year	18,175	20,240

16a. Analysis of net assets between funds (current year)

	General unrestricted	Restricted	Total funds
	£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets	7,778	-	7,778
Net current assets	288,490	-	288,490
Net assets at the end of the year	296,268	-	296,268

16b. Analysis of net assets between funds (year prior)

	General unrestricted	Restricted	Total funds
	£	£	£
Tangible fixed assets	12,939	-	12,939
Net current assets	302,492	15,290	317,782
Net assets at the end of the year	315,431	15,290	330,721

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17a. Movements in funds (current year)

	At 1 April 2023	Income & gains	Expenditure & losses	Transfers	At 31 March 2024
	£	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds:
National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance	15,290	66,196	(81,486)	-	-
Criminal Justice in Wales Board	-	19,311	(19,311)	-	-
Department for Health and Social Care – VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance	-	108,680	(108,680)	-	-
Making Every Adult Matter – Policy	-	9,374	(9,374)	-	-
City Bridge Trust	-	53,274	(53,274)	-	-
City Bridge Foundation - Good Prisons Project	-	50,000	(50,000)	-	-
Porticus Family	-	75,400	(75,400)	-	-
Ministry of Justice – Infrastructure	-	550,000	(550,000)	-	-
Barrow Cadbury Trust – Policy Engagement	-	53,000	(53,000)	-	-
Total restricted funds	15,290	985,235	(1,000,525)	-	-
Unrestricted funds:
Total Unrestricted funds	315,431	248,345	(267,508)	-	296,268
Designated Funds:
	-	-	-	-	-
Total unrestricted funds	315,431	248,345	(267,508)	-	296,268
Total funds	330,721	1,233,580	(1,268,033)	-	296,268

17b. Movements in funds (year prior)

	At 1 April 2022	Income & gains	Expenditure & losses	Transfers	At 31 March 2023
	£	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds:
National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance	12,570	120,552	(117,832)	-	15,290
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales	2,611	97,255	(99,865)	-	-
Criminal Justice Board for Wales	-	5,000	(5,000)	-	-
Plymouth City Council	-	41,632	(41,632)	-	-
Department for Health and Social Care – VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance	-	70,776	(70,776)	-	-
Making Every Adult Matter – Policy	-	-	-	-	-
City Bridge Trust	-	54,350	(54,350)	-	-
Ministry of Justice – Infrastructure	-	550,000	(550,000)	-	-
Greater London Authority – Grassroots Society	3,408	-	(3,408)	-	-
Barrow Cadbury Trust – Policy Engagement	-	50,000	(50,000)	-	-
Total restricted funds	18,589	989,565	(992,863)	-	15,290
Total unrestricted funds	443,422	313,702	(441,694)	-	315,431
Total funds	462,011	1,303,267	(1,434,557)	-	330,721

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Purposes of restricted funds

National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance

Clinks is working with a range of different organisations to improve policies and practice in relation to arts-based work with people with a lived experience of the criminal justice system and their families. This includes developing the Arts Alliance as the main national network for arts organisations that work in the criminal justice system.

Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales

Develops an influential sector voice and, leadership with vision for the voluntary sector working in criminal justice, in particular small and specialist organisations by building on our existing strong relationships with key stakeholders, at both national and regional level, in order to increase engagement and influence.

City Bridge Trust and Civil Society Roots Fund

Funding for the London Development Officer to develop expertise on the voluntary sector working in criminal justice in London, its strengths and weaknesses and its challenges and opportunities; Provide a range of support to the sector, including a comprehensive programme of information; Ensuring the London sector’s voice is heard and its important work is recognised, at both regional and national level: supporting partnerships within and between sectors.

City Bridge Foundation - Good Prison Project

Funding to deliver the Good Prison Project in HMP Isis which includes a specific voluntary sector coordinator stationed at the prison to facilitate better ways of working between the prison and the voluntary sector in order to provide best possible opportunities for the men at HMP Isis.

Porticus - Families Network

Porticus has funded the creation of Clinks' specialist Family Support network which includes specialist organisations who support families of individuals in the criminal justice system and this is building momentum.

Criminal Justice in Wales Board

Funding from the Criminal Justice in Wales Board to deliver the Community Engagement Network which enables the Criminal Justice System Anti-Racist Action Plan to be effectively progressed. Health Work

Clinks is part of the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance, funded by the Department for Health and Social Care. The Alliance is a partnership between sector representatives and the health and care system. Clinks focuses on matters relating to health and justice.

MEAM - Local Development / MEAM - Policy

Policy - Clinks deliver the Voices from the Frontline project, as part of an embedded policy team across the MEAM coalition partners. The project aims to raise the voice of people experiencing multiple needs to government, as well as highlighting the impact of policies on this group. Policy Engagement

To support Clinks' senior level policy and political engagement work.

Infrastructure Fund - HM Prison and Probation Service / Ministry of Justice

A strategic grant from the Criminal Justice Group to deliver outcomes in relation to representation and voice, communication and partnership working.

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18. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents

	At 1 April 2023	Cash flows	At 31 March 2024
	£	£	£
Cash at bank and in hand	106,611	(39,169)	67,442
Notice deposits (less than three months)	298,053	(97,993)	200,060
Total cash and cash equivalents	404,664	(137,162)	267,502

19. Legal status of the charity

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding up is limited to £1.

Reference and administrative information

Company number: 3562176 Charity number: 1074546

Registered office and operational address: 82A James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Suffolk IP28 7DE

Country of registration: England and Wales

Country of incorporation: United Kingdom

Trustees: Trustees, who are also directors under company law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:

• Roma Hooper OBE – Chair

• Kelly Loftus

• Simon Alsop – Treasurer

• Donna Everett

• Salim Baba

• Simon Ruding

• Amina Ditta

• Maisie Hulbert (resigned September 2024)

• Jessica Southgate (resigned November 2023)

• Tanya Lightfoot-Taylor (board fellowship programme, volunteer)

• Iona Macmillan-Douglas (co-opted April 2024)

• Michaela-Clare Addison (co-opted April 2024)

• Olivia Patten (co-opted April 2024)

Key management personnel: Anne Fox – Chief Executive Officer

Bankers: CAF Bank Limited, 25 Kingshill Avenue, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ

Auditor: Sayer Vincent LLP, Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Invicta House, 110 Golden Lane, London EC1Y 0TG

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Thank you to our funders

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have donated to our work and supported us. Your support enables Clinks to continue being the backbone of the voluntary sector and helps us to make sure that people in contact with the criminal justice system are supported by a voluntary sector that is vibrant, independent and resilient. From all of us here at Clinks, thank you!

Clinks funders throughout 2023-24 were:

AB Charitable Trust; Arts Council England; The Aurum Charitable Trust; Barrow Cadbury Trust; Bromley Trust; City Bridge Foundation; Criminal Justice in Wales Board; Department of Health and Social Care; J Leon; HM Prison and Probation Service; Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime; Ministry of Justice; Porticus UK.

The Aurum Charitable Trust

We would also like to thank our partners this year, Q-SEED and the Making Every Adult Matter Coalition.

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Join Clinks: be heard, informed, and supported

Are you a voluntary organisation supporting people in the criminal justice system?

Join our network of over 500 members. Clinks membership offers you:

• A voice to influence change

• Practical assistance to be effective and resilient

• Support from a community of like-minded professionals. Membership starts at just £80 per year and is free for small and specialist organisations. www.clinks.org/membership

82A James Carter Road Mildenhall Suffolk IP287DE

020 4502 6774

Published by Clinks © 2024. All rights reserved.

Clinks is a registered charity no. 1074546 and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales no. 3562176.

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Photography: Ian Cuthbert & Louise Mackey

www.clinks.org