2023-03-31-accounts

REPORT AND STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

Company limited by guarantee No. 04283131 Registered Charity No. 1088844

STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

CONTENTS

	Page
Legal and administrative information	3
Foreword	4
Board of Trustees’ report	5
Independent Auditor's report	47
Statement of Financial Activities	51
Balance Sheet	52
Cash Flow Statement	53
Notes to the Financial Statements	54

STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS For the year ended 31 March 2023

Board of Trustees	K Patel	Chair
	C. Griffin	Vice Chair
	M Hill (resigned 21/03/2023)
	T Miller
	R Latif (resigned 12/01/2023)
	A Patel
	L. Payne (resigned 17/11/2022)
	P Price	Treasurer
	A Smith (resigned 17/11/2022)
	K Vernau
Company Registration No:	04283131
Charity Registration No:	1088844
Registered Office:	The Polish Centre
	Room 44D, 4thFloor
	238 – 246 King Street
	London
	W6 0RF
Auditors:	Knox Cropper LLP
	65 Leadenhall Street
	London
	EC3A 2AD
Bankers:	CAF Bank Limited
	25 Kings Hill Avenue
	Kings Hill
	West Malling
	Kent
	ME19 4JQ

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

FOREWORD For the year ended 31 March 2023

Dear Reader,

Thank you for your interest in Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse (STADA). Our Trustees and staff team are proud of the pioneering work of our organisation and how it embeds a coordinated community response (CCR) to domestic abuse in the UK. We remain inspired by the ambition of our founders over twenty five years ago. Establishing STADA as an independent charity makes us unique in the whole of the country.

Abuse is increasingly recognised within government and public awareness and there have undoubtedly been great strides in sector endeavors to challenge not only the cause of this crime but to enhance thinking around the complexities that surround it. We are proud of the broad, multi level range of work that we do to address and eradicate domestic abuse across so many different specialist areas and to embed systemic change to ensure a collaborative, person-centered response to supporting all victims of domestic abuse.

Charities in all sectors have been impacted by the pressures of rising inflation and the cost of living crisis, but through effective strategic, operational and financial management, we have steered our way through these difficulties and continued to provide our comprehensive range of services and expertise across the domestic abuse sector.

Our extensive work continues to enable strategic partnerships with a range of stakeholders to develop comprehensive plans and interventions in community-based settings, highlight continuous improvement opportunities in the activities of criminal justice agencies, health, housing education, systemic change in statutory responses, charity sector collaboration with all agencies across the sector and contributing to the shaping of polices at central and local government levels.

This is all underpinned through promoting the coordinated community response within national programs such as the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA), Whole Housing, our new Health interventions work, Faith and Communities, MARACs and in our Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) offer. In particular, we are proud to work with so many ambitious and talented charities, including ‘by and for’ organisations to ensure a truly intersectional approach, holistic and meaningful impact and outcomes for all victims of domestic abuse whilst elevating awareness of the range of complex issues that they face, to ensure appropriate support across the sector

Our dedicated and hugely talented staff group have continued to work hard to sustain our varied work and impact which is much valued and enables Standing Together to continue to provide exceptional quality and standards in our work, maintaining our position as a market leader in second tier service provision and experts in our field.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

We are pleased that our annual audit highlights our sound management of Standing Together. We would very much like to thank the Standing Together trustees, the staff team, our partners and all of those who have supported our work this year.

Sincerely,

Kruti Patel Acting CEO Chair of Board of Trustees Chief Executive

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Trustees, who are also directors of the Company for the purposes of the Companies Act, and trustees for charity law purposes, present its report and audited financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31st March 2023.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in Note 1 to the accounts and comply with the Charity's trust deed, the Charities Act 2011 and 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). The Company has taken advantage of the exemptions available to smaller entities.

1. Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 6[th ] September 2001 and registered as a charity in October 2001. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. In the event of the company being wound up trustees are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10.

Board Composition

The charity is governed by a Board of Directors (trustees for the purposes of charity law) under the company's articles and are known as members of the management committee. Under the requirements of the Memorandum and Articles of Association the members of the Management Committee are elected to serve for a period of three years after which they must be re-elected at the next Annual General Meeting. The Trustees meet quarterly to discuss the affairs of the Charity and to make decisions, and to ratify decisions made by the Board.

During the year trustees Lorna Payne and Anne Smith both resigned on 17th November 2022. Rizwan Latif and Michelle Hill subsequently resigned respectively on 12th January 2023 and 21st March 2023.

The Chair along with selected members of the Board and CEO are responsible for recruiting members of the Board of Trustees. Membership of the Board is reviewed annually to ensure that the broadest interests served by Standing Together are represented. The Board benefits from trustees who have a broad range of skills, who have valuable experience and influence in their field to promote the success of the Charity. They bring great abilities to bear on their role and in the various offices they hold on the Board. Their roles as Trustees include human resources; implementation of equal opportunities; financial management, education and equalities, criminal justice, legal expertise, a strategic overview of fundraising and strategic planning.

At the end of the year The Board of Trustees had six Trustee Directors including the Chair, the principle remains that the size and composition of the Board is considered to include appropriate expertise to populate the Board and the Committees to ensure that the Charity is run in accordance with its obligations. Standing Together recognise the benefits of diversity on the Board and throughout the organisation and has continued to support efforts to increase diversity.

There will be a recruitment process in the next financial year to appoint additional trustees to the

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

Board. On appointment, all trustees receive a thorough induction program which includes meeting with key members of management and the opportunity to shadow individual projects. In addition, trustees all receive information on training on duties and other key legislation/regulation as required. To support trustees, they are provided with a “Buddy”, an existing board member who can mentor them through the first few months.

Each year a planning and review day is held with trustees. It was recommended that to exercise best practice and in line with Charity Governance Code Commission guidelines, Standing Together has adopted that Trustees with 9 years or more service will be replaced.

On an annual basis, each trustee is required to declare any potential conflicts of interests, and at each Board meeting trustees are requested to raise any conflicts of interests they have in any matters that are to be discussed. If conflicts of interest are raised, appropriate safeguards are put in place to take the necessary actions to manage the conflict.

Trustees do not receive remuneration or derive any other personal benefit from the activities of the charity.

Finance Committee

The Board are supported by the Finance Committee, to provide assurance and dedicated oversight to financial matters and governance of the Charity.

The Finance Committee consists of Trustees Pat Price, Cynthia Griffin and Kim Vernau; Andrea Kilvington (CEO), Jo Choi (Director of Operations) and Jackie Hyland (Director of Health) and Caron Bailey (Finance & Governance Manager). The Committee formally met four times during the year.

The committee is responsible for reviewing the effectiveness and independence of the external auditors and advises the Board on the appointment of the external auditors and their remuneration for audit work. Various other usual governance matters have been considered during the period, including a review of the Scheme of Delegation and items that have been assigned to it from the Trustee’s Risk Register.

Management of the Charity

Standing Together is managed by a highly committed Board of Trustees which meets four times during the year with ad hoc meetings held as and when necessary, to ensure matters are considered and progressed in a timely matter. The Chair has the responsibility of leading the Trustee Board towards its objective of placing the Charity on a secure footing for the future. Each trustee has a clear understanding of their accountability and responsibilities. The Board meetings are chaired by the Chair of the Board and provide an open and constructive forum for trustees to be kept up to date on developments across all areas of the charity, provide oversight of operational matters and make informed decisions.

The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the aims and objectives and in planning future activities.

The Senior Leadership Team, headed by the Chief Executive and including the Director of Operations

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

and Director of Health has overall responsibility for the running of the organisation and delivery of Standing Together's strategy, its development and achievements reporting directly to the Board. The Senior Leadership Team is supported in financial matters by the Finance & Governance Manager. The remuneration for key management is determined by the Trustees taking into account the skills, experience, and management responsibilities, the overall budget constraints and a view of what is suitable as compared to similar roles in the sector in which we work. Standing Together’s policy is to provide appropriate and fair level of remuneration and incentives at a level which attracts and retains high quality staff.

During the year an extensive pay review was conducted and a new pay band structure was implemented which addressed the increase in the cost of living and provides responsible incentives to encourage enhanced performance and reward individual contributions to the long term strategic goals of the organisation.

Financial Management

The Board has fulfilled its role this year in being responsible for the strategic direction and the sound financial health of the company and for ensuring that the activities of the company meet its charitable objectives.

The Board is supported by the Finance Committee who exercises stewardship and fiscal responsibilities over the finances of the Charity. The Committee commissions detailed work on financial matters in connection with the budget, financial performance and funding of the Charity; communicating its findings at the Board of Trustees meeting. The Board receives accurate, comprehensive and timely information on the company’s business and financial performance to enable appropriate monitoring and effective oversight of key matters.

Standing Together has policies and procedures in place to carry out robust financial management, clear audit trails and integrity of financial information provided to the Board to ensure that there are sufficient funds to maintain core services in the short, medium and long term. Other policies and procedures include Finance Regulations; quarterly Finance Reports to Trustees; regular review of systems for supporting financial procedures; designated staff with clear roles and responsibilities. The organisation is externally audited by Knox Kropper LLP.

The Finance Committee continues to focus on ways and measures to increase the general reserves and monitor the organisation's performance against contingency plans. As the charity continues to expand their reach and impact within the sector, trustees will establish and agree on the level of sufficient general reserve needed to maintain and sustain the Charity.

The emphasis is on how the Charity is funded, the development of the overarching organisational strategy, fundraising strategy and business plan to meet challenges, demands and opportunities, and a strong management structure to support our ambitions.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

Risk Management

The Board is committed to the long term sustainable growth of the Charity and to seeking opportunities whilst ensuring effective oversight and mitigation of risk. Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Charity is exposed, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the Charity. Risks are considered in light of their likelihood and potential impact and the necessary steps to mitigate them. The key operational and strategic risks are outlined in a risk register. It sets out the process that we use to identify and manage risks in all our activities. Risks are managed at both a strategic and operational level along with Standing Together’s scheme of delegation policy.

The trustees complete an overall review of the risk register whereby the Board consider:

• the high and significant risks to which Standing Together is exposed,

• the potential impact and probability associated with each risk,

• existing internal controls and accountability for them, and

• mitigating actions to reduce each risk to a level that is acceptable.

Processes are in place to ensure that inherent and emerging risks are identified in a timely manner and are then appropriately managed. Securing future funding is the biggest risk for the charity and this challenge has been addressed in the Business Continuity Plan. These are monitored by the Senior Leadership Team, the Finance & Governance Manager along with the Finance Committee, and assessed annually by the full Board. Standing Together has succeeded in diversifying its sources of funding which has aided the process of forward planning; the management of cash flow and enabled the organisation to manage risk, maintain and develop its activities to advance its charitable objectives.

Standing Together is satisfied that systems and procedures are in place to mitigate our exposure to possible major risks.

Health and Safety

Standing Together continues its responsibility for the safety of its members of staff. The charity maintains a health and Safety policy committed to reducing the risks of hazards in the organisation’s workplace, making sure that premises, resources and working practices meet recognised standards for quality, security and safety. The trained First Aid Officer and designated Fire Marshal ensures compliance is upheld in alignment with the company's policy and the landlord's responsibilities towards the organisation, regarding fire, safety and security precautions.

To maintain staff well being we continue to offer in addition to monthly supervisions, regular clinical supervisions, which are delivered in a confidential manner to protect individuals’ privacy. We have an independent qualified counsellor who acts as a point of contact for both staff and volunteers who require support emotionally on matters of concern both in the workplace and their private life.

Data

All data protection processes and IT security systems are reviewed regularly for compliance with Standing Together’s clear policies on privacy, confidentiality, protocols and procedures. We ensure that

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

our agents, representatives, subcontractors and employees comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), (The Data Protection Act 2018) on processing and protecting personal data.

Standing Together uses a IT cloud based cloud database system. The security of the system is regularly managed by our expert IT provider through the implementation of encryption, password management and daily backups on the system and all devices. Regular reviews on systems security are carried out to protect against data theft, leakage, corruption and deletion.

All new employees receive General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) online training as part of their onboarding with Standing Together. Existing employees complete GDPR refresher training every two years.

Related Parties

None of the trustees of the charity receive any remuneration or other benefit from their work with the charity.

2. Statement of Intent and Charitable Purposes

Our governing document sets out our key purpose underpinning Standing Together as an organisation. Standing Together was established for the provision of services directed towards the prevention of domestic abuse and to meet the needs of survivors of domestic violence and their families. This is coupled with advancing the education of voluntary, statutory agencies and the public in all aspects of domestic abuse, including without limit, its causes and prevention and the relief of its consequences.

A key element of this overarching mission is the centrality of the Coordinated Community Response (CCR) in our work to engender systemic change across all agencies and their approach to supporting victims of domestic abuse.

Coordinated Community Response Defined

The Coordinated Community Response to domestic abuse is a local, whole system approach to the issue.

Standing Together's Core Principles underpinning the CCR approach

• The only way to respond to the issue of domestic abuse is to work collaboratively through the CCR.

• Individual experiences of domestic abuse are influenced by gender, age, sexual orientation, ability, race, religion, marital status, immigration, socio-economic position and many other factors: responses must understand the differing needs and potential barriers of the local population and be flexible enough to account for this.

• The CCR enables a whole system response to a whole person, recognising the wellbeing and safety needs of victims and survivors, with communities and organisations working alongside them.

• Responsibility for safety should not rest solely with individual victims but also with the community and services.

• Perpetrators must be held to account for the harm they inflict and offered routes to change their abusive behaviors.

• A CCR supports organisational responses, it does not replace them: organisations remain responsible

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

and accountable (to their own agencies and to the partnership) for their own responses to domestic abuse, within a context of multi-agency working.

• A CCR requires leadership, a shared understanding of domestic abuse and risk, and coordination.

Standing Together's CCR Approach

• We put the safety and needs of survivors (adults and children) at the heart of every CCR.

• We ensure that the voices of survivors and their advocates are integral to every CCR.

• We require CCRs cover the spectrum from primary prevention to early intervention, to crisis responses, and the long-term recovery of survivors and behavior change of perpetrators.

• Our CCR acknowledges the gendered nature of domestic abuse.

• Our CCR addresses the diverse and intersecting backgrounds, identities and experiences and situations of survivors and perpetrators.

• Our CCR addresses adults, children and young people, survivors and perpetrators.

• Our CCR encompasses all organisations operating in an area (statutory, voluntary, community) plus individuals who live / work in the area, and informal groups / networks located there.

• We require that all local organisations have an equal place and voice in the CCR.

• Our CCR requires coordination, monitoring and accountability mechanisms and leadership.

• Our CCR is flexible and will evolve.

• We ensure that local organisations recognise that they are best placed to identify, and develop, improvements to practice in developing a CCR - and we provide help to them to do this.

• We are committed to providing a consultative, learning and empowering approach to areas developing CCRs.

Standing Together' s CCR Core Components

• The following standards represent what every CCR will have, regardless of area or local structures; all components adhere to the principles listed above.

• All organisations have developed and agreed a common purpose and approach to domestic abuse including a stated commitment to the CCR.

• Definitions of domestic abuse and risk are agreed and shared by all statutory, voluntary and community organisations.

• A defined structure/mechanism(s) is in place for the coordination, governance and monitoring of the CCR to ensure accountability and to enable a flexible and evolving approach.

• An action plan is in place.

• Written policies and procedures are in place within every organisation covering their response to domestic abuse. Regular compulsory training at every level of the organisation supports these.

• Written policies and procedures are agreed covering multi-agency systems and working (including the MARAC and Specialist Domestic Violence Court). Regular compulsory training supports these.

• An agreed dataset is in place and monitored on a regular basis.

• Survivors' voices (and the views of their advocates) are regularly sought, listened to and responded to.

• Adequately resourced specialist services are in place to respond to adults, children and young people: survivors and perpetrators.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

In 2022-2023 we particularly set out to:

• Continue to shape our impact measurement and resources tools to underpin our strategic development and operational practice.

• Demonstrate breadth of work required in health based setting to achieve a coordinated community response and comprehensive, victim focused services in health settings. This has resulted in the award of Home Office funding of £2.5 million per year until the end of March 2025, to map support pathways for victims of domestic abuse presenting to health services across the country. This involves reviewing the health interventions mapping to identify the commissioning of services that will enable best practice models and collaborative working in areas that will benefit most from these service pathways.

• Develop the CCR membership model and accredited training program building on previous work in partnership with Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and EU partners and gaining insight from partners and new members to inform ongoing development.

• Review and continue to develop MARAC models to enable the most effective practice through the CCR concept.

• Review and report on the effectiveness of Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts and Court provision generally for victims of domestic abuse with a view to improving and shaping appropriate responses to domestic abuse through the CCR approach and victim centered intelligence.

• Review and refine Domestic Homicide Reviews and promote our training provision for Chairs.

• Develop more robust faith based partnerships and promote activities of ‘by and for’ service providers through our Faith and Communities team workstreams.

• Continue to develop and grow our DAHA offer through our partnership with Gentoo and Peabody, continuously improving our training and accreditation offer for members and housing sector partners.

• Develop our Whole Housing and Housing First partnership work to tackle disadvantages experienced by victim-survivors as a consequence of domestic abuse.

3. Achievements and Performance

We report below on our achievements in meeting the aims of our charitable company.

A. Promoting the development of services to meet the needs of survivors of domestic violence

The Coordinated Response in the Three Boroughs

To develop our local CCR, STADA worked closely with the VAWG Strategic Partnership for the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF), and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the City of Westminster (WCC) to develop and implement a strategy for violence against women and girls (VAWG).

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Strategy was written after considerable consultation with survivors, service users, stakeholders from a range of statutory and voluntary organisations as well as elected members across the three councils. The Strategy details how the Partnership will deliver a Coordinated Community Response (CCR) to VAWG; it keeps survivors and children at the centre of its aims and objectives, whilst also holding perpetrators accountable for their actions. This year as the Boards split into a Hammersmith and Fulham Board and a Bi Borough Board working in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea the development of the strategy was developed together with some specific elements for each board included.

Our vision is to end violence against women and girls through our coordinated community response approach. Our theory of change shows how we expect to meet this goal through the four outcomes highlighted above. Our theory of change also shows the problem and barriers we want to address in achieving our goal.

The Three Borough VAWG Strategic Partnerships

STADA takes the operational lead in delivering the Strategy and is an integral part of the governance structure of the boards. This year the board split into a Bi Borough board (Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea) and Hammersmith and Fulham became a sovereign board. As many of the services work across the three boroughs and services are still commissioned to work across the three boroughs; the boards while recognizing specific needs of their area work together to end VAWG. The board structure remained broadly

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

similar with operational groups feeding to the Strategic boards but the Specialist Services group now becomes a consultative group and is joined by additional consultative groups (one for each board) with Experts through experience. ST Coordinates the Housing, Harmful Practice and Children and Young People Operational groups and the Specialist Services Consultative group. STADA sits on both the Risk and Review and the Whole Health Operational group.

The Coordinated Response in the Three Boroughs

To develop our local CCR, STADA continue to work closely with the VAWG Strategic Partnership for the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF), and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the City of Westminster (WCC) to develop and implement the new strategy for violence against women and girls (VAWG). This year the boards had split into a Bi borough (RBKC and WCC) and a sovereign (LBHF) board and we were without a strategic lead for the Bi Borough board until late summer. Action plans were developed for both Boards and for each of the operational groups.

The vision across the three boroughs is to end violence against women and girls through our coordinated community response approach. Our theory of change shows how we expect to meet this goal through the four outcomes highlighted above. Our theory of change also shows the problem and barriers we want to address in achieving our goal.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Three Borough VAWG Strategic Partnerships

STADA takes the operational lead in delivering the Strategy and is an integral part of the governance structure of the boards. STADA Coordinates the Housing, Harmful Practice and Children and Young People Operational groups and the Specialist Services Consultative group. STADA sits on both the Risk and Review and the Whole Health Operational group.

The VAWG Strategic Boards are tasked to:

• To ensure the voices and experiences of survivors of VAWG are reflected throughout the Strategy and Action Plan via regular consultation and feedback;

• To monitor progress of targets and objectives against the Shared VAWG Action Plan and assess whether actions and activities, including of the 6 VAWG Operational Groups, are achieving the required outcomes;

• To establish the overall impact of the strategy via quality assurance and performance monitoring frameworks;

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

• To promote effective links with the work other Strategic Partnerships including the Adult and Children's Safeguarding Boards and Health and Well-Being Boards;

• To incorporate new legislation, policy and guidance alongside ongoing understanding and assessment of local need and recommendations from Domestic Homicide Reviews and serious case reviews; and

• To report regularly on the progress of the Strategy to each of the three-sovereign borough Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, for which VAWG is a priority area of business.

Angelou partnership:

STADA is a member of the Angelou Partnership but no longer receives any funding to deliver specific aspects of the work. We attend the Partnership meetings and assist in sharing training, knowledge and best practice across the partnership.

Specialist Services Operational Group

The Specialist Services group met quarterly during 22/23. It has defined its place as a consultative group and agreed its mission statement as follows:

The Specialist Services Group (SSG) is a collection of experts working in the VAWG sector. The SSG directs the work of the partnerships across the three boroughs, to ensure the local offer is reflective of the diversity of short and long-term needs of those impacted by VAWG. As a consultative body, we work to ensure survivors’ voices are at the heart of all strategic decision making and collaboratively hold local systems of power to account. Using a feminist perspective, we collectively ensure equitable sharing of power, amplifying the most marginalised voices and acting as a catalyst for change.

SSG partnered with the specialist courts to create a template to assist small specialist agencies to assess information about their clients who were going through the criminal court process. We have supported the Operational groups in commenting on their action plans and shared and supported H&F in their survivor consultation. We also commented on the Metropolitan Police VAWG action plan and shared our concerns via the Risk & Review group. Throughout the year we have consistently highlighted both the cost of living issues for services and survivors and the paucity of robust perpetrator work to both boards.

Children and Health Operational Group

The Children and Young People’s Operational Group (CYP-OG) encourages the implementation of the CCR model by improving responses to domestic abuse from statutory, voluntary and health services who come into contact with children and young people. This is achieved through institutional advocacy, coordinating evidence-based interventions, promoting the voice of survivors and their children within meetings and forums and policy development and implementation.

The Children and Health Coordinator (CHC) engages with a variety of stakeholders including health services, substance misuse services, health visitors, Children’s Social Care, Early Years and front-line domestic abuse service providers in the Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Children and young people meetings take place on a quarterly basis, the shared services VAWG strategy is delivered via a robust Children and Health Action Plan. An update on the CYP-OG Action Plan draft was presented at the CYP-OG meeting in January. Members agreed that a workshop outside of the quarterly meeting to finalise the action plan would help to ensure the plan reflects capacity & goals of all agencies involved, and incorporates new members of the CYPOG. CHC will confirm a date and an agenda at the next CYP-OG meeting in April.

The children and health coordinator has contributed to a range of training sessions and workshops across the Bi Borough and Hammersmith and Fulham Health Professionals trained to handle disclosures 100 per borough (300 in total).

The Ending VAWG lead in the bi-borough hosted a workshop on the 30[th] January exploring the current partnership and breadth of services. The feedback and information gathered will inform an overarching action plan for the VAWG partnership as well as the CYP-OG action plan, which remains under review.

The CYP-OG have agreed a framework for the Children and Young People Action Plan, which will include ongoing data collection. The Children & Health Coordinator & Senior Health Manager are supporting commissioners with the health board data dashboard which will be worked on following development of the bi-borough VAWG action plan and CYPOG Action Plan.

Key Achievements in the last period

• The National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel released a thematic review on DA in which they highlighted the CYP-OG as an area of good practice. On the 9th of March, the CYPOG chair and coordinator, along with 2 other CYPOG members, delivered a presentation at a webinar highlighting the work of the CYPOG and the rollout of the Safe & Together model.

• CYP-OG members celebrated International Women’s Day by hosting and/or attending numerous conferences and events including, ‘Walking Through Fear: Empowering Women and Young Girls’, part of a Pan London webinar series delivered by Jewish Women’s Aid (JWA), IMECE and the Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS).

Acute Trust Project with Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust (CWFT)

The Acute Trust Project aims to develop and sustain a Trust-wide response to domestic abuse within CWFT; increasing Trusts’ and professionals’ capacity to identify, respond and appropriately refer domestic abuse cases through training, development of policy and referral pathways and creation of a network of DA.

A total of 3,840 staff trained at Levels 1-4 in 2022/23 compared to 3,008 in 2021/22. This is a 28% increase from 2021/22 and a 58% increase from 2020/21 when 2425 staff were trained.

A total of 2,482 staff completed training at Level 1, 1239 at Level 2, 67 at Level 3 and 52 at Level 4. We now have a total of 324 Domestic Abuse Links (DAL) across the Trust.

Independent Domestic Violence Adviser (IDVA)/MARAC - A total of 207 referrals were made in 2022/23

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

compared to 236 in 2021/22. This is a 12% decrease from 2021/22 and a 12% increase from 2020/21 when 185 referrals were made.

Other updates.

The trust is hosting demonstrations of HoloPatient for external partners

Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week has taken place between 6-12th February.

NHS Parliamentary Award application was submitted on 13[th] April 2023.

Category of training	Category of training	Session No. Q1	No. trained Q1	Session No. Q2	Session No. Q2	No. trained **Q2 **	No. trained **Q2 **	Session No. Q3	Session No. Q3	No. trained **Q3 **		Session No. Q4	No. trained **Q4 **	No. trained **Q4 **	No. trained 2022/23
Level 1 (Basic DA Awareness):		7 (+E Learning and voiceover sessions)	466	12 (+E Learning)		557		8 (+E Learning)		491		29 (+E Learning)	968		2482
Level 2 (DA **Awareness): **		27	415	23		358		13		163		17	303		1239
Level 3 (DAL **Training): **		3	15	3		13		3		23		3	16		67
Level 4 (DAL Supervision and specialist **training): **		2	12	3		13		2		14		3	13		52
TOTAL:		39(+E Learning and voiceover sessions)	908	41(+E Learning)		941		26(+E Learning)		691		50(+E Learning)	1300		3840
	Number of IDVA referrals received by:				Q1			Q2		Q3		Q4		Total 2022/23
		CW Victim Support IDVAs			78			71		71		Data unavailable		Data unavailable
		WM Victim Support IDVA			26			46		42
		Trust-wide GalopIDVA			17			32		24
		Total:			121			149		137
	Number of MARAC referrals	CW staff			20			25		24		24		93
		WM staff			12			29		19		17		77
		CW Victim Support IDVA			0			0		0		0		0
	made by:	WM Victim Support IDVA			3			6		7		9		25

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

Macmillan Cancer and Domes c Abuse Project

Key achievements:

The Domes c Abuse Coordinators (DACs) build strong rela onships with partners to navigate o ff ering and deliver training to a large number of sta ff , in a short amount of me. This resulted in a high number of sta ff receiving training only 6 months into the project.

The DACs have created a training package which is mee ng the needs of the projects aims- increasing professionals’ con fi dence and exper se to iden fy and respond safely and appropriately to domes c abuse in a cancer se # ng.

There are a number of key partnerships for this project- Macmillan, Royal Marsden Hospital and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston. The DACs have maintained consistent and produc ve communica on with all partners to ensure a strong partnership working model. The project has con nued to highlight that there is a need for more understanding of the intersec ng challenges of experiencing cancer and domes c abuse, and therefore how professionals can best provide support to vic m-survivors in this situa on.

Training

The DACs have been delivering training to Trust sta ff in person and online. These training sessions have ranged in length from 1 hour to 6 hours (DAL training). Most of the sta ff trained have been Clinical Nurse specialists and Advanced Nurse Prac oners in both hospitals. The coordinators have also trained, Admin Sta ff , Psychologists, Volunteers and Consultants.

Royal Marsden Hospital:

The total number is 401 trained individuals between 26/09/2022 and 12/04/2023.

University Hospital Bristol and Weston: The total number is 224 trained individuals between 29/11/2022 and 12/04/2023

In the evalua on responses we can see that:

• the training increased sta con dence in each aspect of iden ca on and response.

• Training also shi $ ed percep ons of barriers to responding to domes c abuse.

• Almost all (95%) of respondents said they would change their prac ce following the training.

• training has been well-received and senior sta ff members e.g.; chief nurses have praised the DACs and their skill and exper se.

Quote from Par cipant :

I don’t think [domes c abuse] is at the forefront of our minds when we're thinking of cancer…. people aren't looking out for it. So, I felt it was really important for us to all remind ourselves of those signs... so that we can then try and iden fy people that could do with some support.

Whole Health

Standing Together has been commissioned by the Home Office to help drive the national transformation of the health response to domestic abuse. Our overall aim is to instil sustainable change and ensure a consistent and coordinated whole health system approach. The first phase of the project is to map the existing domestic

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

abuse provision within health, referral pathways, identifying gaps and best practice. We are working with partners such as Local Authorities, VAWG Forums, Police and Crime Commissioners and Specialist Domestic Abuse Services to more accurately gather data from the interconnected nature of a system’s approach to health and domestic abuse. We want to include a wide range of partners who can provide information about domestic abuse and health with an equality, diversity and inclusion focus.

This work is being delivered in collaboration with colleagues in NHS England who are undertaking the Domestic Abuse Support Models project and are currently auditing the internal provision of domestic abuse interventions and services. Together with our mapping (see below for more details), this will provide a comprehensive picture of the links with community services and the broader commissioning and strategic landscape across the country. This will then inform the commissioning phase of the project.

Mapping Domestic Abuse Response

To effectively transform the health response to domestic abuse, we must gain a clear understanding of the relevant referral pathways, structures and services currently in place. Our mapping survey aims to gather information in several key areas of the health response to domestic abuse:

• Governance, Leadership and Strategy

• Policy, Practice and Process

• Models and Interventions

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Participation and Representation

• Referral Pathways

• Training

• Data Recording, Collection, and Information Sharing

• Awareness Raising

• Funding, Sustainability and Commissioning

Following this mapping, Standing Together will work with local partners to commission necessary domestic abuse interventions such as Domestic Abuse Coordinators, Co-located IDVAs or other initiatives to improve the systems that impact the lives of survivors of domestic abuse.

Domestic Abuse Courts

Standing Together continue to coordinate the Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts (SDACs) at Westminster Magistrates Court to provide a specialist criminal justice response to the boroughs of Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Kensington & Chelsea. The SDAC for Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea and the Dedicated Domestic Abuse Courts for Westminster have been running for twenty and ten years respectively and continue to evolve good practice and improve the service to victims/survivors. The SDAC model ensures that the focus on victim and witness safety is maintained throughout the entire specialist court process which has become more important in the continuing financial climate where agency resources have been cut.

During the 2 year period 1 April 2021 - 31 March 2023, we secured £1.2 million in funding from the Tampon Tax via the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) the Criminal Justice team have now completed the Mentor Court project. The project enabled the team to enhance the SDAC at Westminster to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to observe the courts and learn from the good practice established by the

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

partnership. The team also held workshops and learning sessions to take the SDAC model back to their local area. The funding also provided the SDAC to have 2 dedicated criminal justice IDVAs and enabled the team to evidence the benefits of this role for victims going through the criminal justice system. The Centre for Justice Innovation undertook an independent evaluation of the SDAC at Westminster and the findings were delivered via a webinar in January 2023. The evaluation found that the Westminster SDAC improves victim/survivor engagement with the justice system, better manages risks, and facilitates partnership working between key agencies. The evaluation also found that the Westminster SDAC works in spite of, rather than because of, the surrounding system, and that the work of the SDAC is undermined by limited funding, lack of buy-in from over-stretched agencies, and inconsistent policies across the justice system.

Standing Together have successfully recruited a Policy Lead (Criminal Justice), who will be using the evaluation and the traction it gains to influence at a senior level. The Policy Lead (Criminal Justice) is putting together a policy plan for the final months of the project, to influence and to promote the findings of the evaluation and wider project. The Domestic Abuse Commissioner is participating in the webinar, which Standing Together hope will attract a variety of professionals to attending the webinar and hearing more about the evaluation. The Victims’ Commissioner for London has also invited Standing Together to present at the Victim Summit to promote the findings of the project, all of which will be good policy influencing opportunities for the team.

The project also enabled the team to be able to engage with stakeholders on a national basis to map and create a database of existing SDACs to determine whether these SDACs are still delivering the core principles of an SDAC but also to look at how DA is dealt with in the criminal justice system where there is no specialist court. Discussions with stakeholders revealed the postcode lottery of provision for victims and identified gaps and barriers they face whilst navigating the criminal justice system. We held a webinar in March 2023 to disseminate our findings from the mapping and a report will be published imminently.

As part of the mapping exercise, and engaging with stakeholders, we were able to provide capacity building support to a newly established SDAC in the North West of England with a view to possible further capacity building work in the future. We are also engaging in ongoing discussions with other areas to promote SDACs and our capacity building consultancy packages.

The Criminal Justice Programme Manager (mapping and capacity building) presented a workshop of the projects findings at the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Festival of Practice in Manchester in March 2023 and is due to present at a workshop at the Centre for Justice Innovations conference on problem solving courts in April 2023 and at the Westminster Insights Domestic Abuse Conference in May 2023.

The completion of the project and the consequent reduction in funding means that the Criminal Justice team is drastically reduced but continues to pioneer good practice locally and nationally to promote the SDAC model. In addition, the project has enabled the team to identify further work streams and initiatives to be pursued moving forward.

The SDAC at Westminster has continued to benefit from the uplift that the Tampon Tax funding has provided, particularly in relation to the Criminal Justice IDVA provision. During the second and final year of the specialist Criminal Justice IDVA provision in London, ADVANCE have received a total of 150 referrals into their service, of which 71% were successfully contacted. Of these successfully contacted survivors, 81% of women engaged with ADVANCE’s Criminal Justice IDVA provision. ADVANCE’s Criminal Justice IDVAs are co-located within the police station and deliver regular training to the police, which has led to an increase in referrals as the CJ IDVA provision has become more established.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Impact Project has continued over the last year and the Performance & Review Coordinator has been focusing on repeat victimisation and those facing multiple disadvantages. This work has recently expanded to incorporate coordination of professional meetings for the highest risk repeat cases. This has shown to have had a positive impact on the response to such cases from various agencies, particularly Adult Social Care. The expanded work has been welcomed by LBHF who fund the Impact Project, and they are exploring ways to increase the funding and incorporating this work into the existing contract.

The Performance & Review Coordinator, Programme Managers and SDAC Coordinator continue to co-locate at Charing Cross Police Station and foster vital relationships with the police. Inductions are provided to new police joining the Safeguarding team and the police regularly seek the Criminal Justice team out at the police station for advice and guidance.

The team have delivered training to the police, as well as other criminal justice partners, including attending the Crown Prosecution Service IDVA training day in November 2021 and briefing 130 national CPS and IDVA colleagues about SDACs and a CCR to domestic abuse. Standing Together’s Criminal Justice Programme Manager (London Mentor Court) and SDAC Coordinator also supported an SDAC visit from Shadow Justice Minister, Ellie Reeves, visited the SDAC to observe the SDAC in session. Ellie was very engaged and interested in the work of the SDAC. A short roundtable was arranged with CPS, Police, Advance, the Judiciary and Standing Together’s Criminal Justice Programme Manager (London Mentor Court). Ellie also spoke with HM Courts and Tribunals Service and Probation as part of her visit. Partner services were able to speak about the benefits of the SDAC for their own agency and staff, giving a broad perspective of how the SDAC operates on a multi-agency basis. This visit was a very positive experience, as Ellie gained a good understanding of how the SDAC works, the advantages of an SDAC and the challenges that the local partners face, including obtaining probation reports from custodial remands, and the lack of domestic abuse cases filtering through the courts. Ellie and her parliamentary assistant are interested in hearing more about the mapping work, and the Criminal Justice Programme Manager (Mapping & Capacity Building) is in contact to set up a meeting to discuss the mapping further.

Further visits to the SDAC were from the Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside, a delegate group of French judiciary and policymakers and a lawyer from Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions who was interested in learning more about how domestic abuse is dealt with in the UK. In addition, Standing Together arranged and hosted visits from a number of stakeholders (including from the PCC, local authority, CPS and Police) from Merseyside and Cheshire and facilitated workshops to enable learning from the SDAC and expertise of Standing Together and key SDAC partners.

The Criminal Justice Team continues to be valued members of CPS VAWG Scrutiny Panel, Police NFA Scrutiny Panel, LCJB Delivery Board, CPS External Consultation Group and Regional Stakeholders Meeting. The DA Court Steering Group continues to meet on a quarterly basis where operational feedback is provided to members to ensure consistency between the courts but to also hold the partner agencies to account regarding their commitment to the specialist courts. The DA Focus group also meets every two months and there is also a quarterly meeting where the scrutiny of local data and outcomes is discussed.

The completion of the project and the consequent reduction in funding means that the Criminal Justice team is drastically reduced but the specialist courts at Westminster Magistrates Court continue to be acknowledged as best practice and the team continue to pioneer good practice locally and nationally to promote the SDAC model, improving practice and multi-agency working within the criminal justice system and ultimately, improving victim/survivor’s experiences of the criminal justice system. In addition, the project has enabled the team to identify further work streams and initiatives to be pursued moving forward.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

The SDAC at Westminster were finalists in the 2023 Justice Innovation Awards and despite not winning, the team received the following feedback;

‘You were a very strong contender in what was a remarkably impressive field of finalists, and I received a range of specific positive feedback on your project from the judges. The judges were struck by how the project presented an innovative way of involving different partners to address domestic abuse whilst keeping a victim focus alive. The team have truly created something fantastic and I would like to pass on the praise of the judges to the team for all their brilliant work. ’

Just to be nominated is acknowledgement of the hard work that the Criminal Justice Team has done over the years to maintain the SDAC at Westminster and continue this example of good practice.

Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC)

In 1999 STADA played a pioneering role in the development and implementation of MARACs. STADA founded the MARAC in Hammersmith & Fulham (September 2007) and Kensington & Chelsea (January 2008) then adding Haringey (March 2013), Ealing (June 2013) and Westminster (September 2013). Some of SafeLives MARAC documentation was modelled on paperwork created by STADA. Our MARACs have been visited by the Home Office and recommended by SafeLives as among the best in the country and at the forefront of championing survivor safety.

Aligning with SafeLives best practice guidance and the principles of an effective MARAC, all STADA MARACs have run effectively and in line with SafeLives recommended practice in 2022-23. Our work includes close liaison with specialist agencies, bringing their expertise to MARAC meetings, helping inform practitioners, reducing barriers to support experienced by some communities and individuals with intersectional characteristics and complex needs, ensuring equality of access and inclusive action planning that recognises diversity. Through this process STADA is committed to actively increasing MARAC referrals from all sections of the community.

We have a well-developed MARAC training package providing team briefings, representative inductions, and quarterly workshops to frontline staff on domestic abuse awareness, risk identification, SafeLives Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Honour'-based violence Risk Identification Checklist (DASH RIC), MARAC processes and protocols, referral thresholds, and specialist services.

We pride ourselves on our uniquely robust team capacity consisting of a Team manager, one FT support officer, a FT Data Impact Analyst five Coordinators meaning we have built in resilience and are able to remain compliant with all contractual obligations in terms of service delivery. At each MARAC meeting we provide two staff; a MARAC Coordinator and a minute-taker which enhances quality and allows for more effective action planning and support for representatives and chairs.

STADA coordinates and administrates the London MARAC Coordinators Forum bringing together Coordinators to share best practice, learn from each other, discuss challenges and explore innovation in the MARAC field. Underpinning our MARAC work is the Coordinated Community Response (CCR) model.

This provides us unrivalled expertise in developing partnerships and multi-agency working. Our Coordinators benefit from organisational learning and best practice knowledge enriching each MARAC we coordinate and ensuring that our MARAC team has considerable influence and in roads amongst a wide variety of practitioners in the DA field sharing good practice and encouraging appropriate interventions. All MARAC Coordinators at STADA bring a background of frontline or other relevant experience.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

The following data breakdowns indicate high performance when compared to SafeLives recommended target figures in all areas of provision across April 2022-March 2023.

Hammersmith & Fulham

	SafeLives Recommends	2022-23
Number of meetings (N)	N/A	13
Cases heard (N)	320	398
Average no. cases per meeting	N/A	30.6
	SafeLives Recommends	2022-23
% Repeat	28% - 40%	26.1%
% LGBT Referrals	2.5% -	3.0%
	5.8%
% Male Referrals	5% - 10%	6.3%
% BAME Referrals	55%	52.8%
% Disability Referrals	19%+	22.6%
Number of children	N/A	0%

Kensington & Chelsea

SafeLives Recommends	SafeLives Recommends	2022-23
Number of meetings (N)	N/A	12
Cases heard (N)	270	304
Average no. cases per meeting	N/A	25.3
% Repeat Cases	28% - 40%	20.1%
% LGBT Referrals	2.5% -	4.9%
	5.8%
% Male Referrals	5% - 10%	8.2%
% BAME Referrals	55%	44.0%
% Disability Referrals	19%+	17.4%
Number of children in household	N/A	0%

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

Westminster

	SafeLives	2022-23
	Recommends
Number of meetings (N)	N/A	13
Cases heard (N)	370	477
Average no. cases per meeting	N/A	36.7
% Repeat Cases	28% - 40%	20.5%
% LGBT Referrals	2.5% -	5.9%
	5.8%
Male Referrals	5% - 10%	9.0%
% BAME Referrals	55%	42.7%
% Disability Referrals	19%+	20.5%
Number of children in household	N/A	0%

	Ealing
	SafeLives 2022-23
	Recommends
Number of meetings (N) N/A 17
Cases heard (N) 540 703
Average no. cases per meeting N/A 41.4
% Repeat Cases 28% - 40% 10.0%
% LGBT Referrals 2.5% - 1.4%
5.8%
% Male Referrals 5% - 10% 8.10%
% BAME Referrals 55% 56.0%
% Disability Referrals 19%+ 17.5%
Number of children in household N/A 700

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

	Haringey
	SafeLives 2022-23
	Recommends
Number of	meetings (N) N/A 17
Cases heard (N) 410 488
Average no. cases per meeting N/A 28.7
% Repeat Cases 28% - 40% 25.2%
LGBT Referrals 2.5% - 3.4%
5.8%
% Male Referrals 5% - 10% 8.0%
% BAME Referrals 55% 48.8%
% Disability Referrals 19%+ 21.5%
Number of children in household N/A 345

All MARACs performing above SafeLives recommended volume

This indicator of good quality MARAC provision is measured by the volume of referrals (best practice is meeting 80-100% of SafeLives recommended volume.) As noted in the tables above, volume in 202223 across all five MARACs were above best practice. This is a very positive year on year achievement accomplished.

MARAC Health ChelWest & ICHT Referral distribution point

Standing Together has continued to be the centralised referral point for all MARAC referrals originating from Imperial College Health Trust (ICHT) and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Foundation NHS (ChelWest) Trust. ICHT and ChelWest have their own MARAC referral form and all staff send this to the secure Health MARAC inbox at Standing Together for distribution onwards to the appropriate MARAC (if not Tri-Borough). This saves busy medical staff time by providing a simplified system increasing the likelihood of professionals referring to MARAC.

MARAC Awareness Raising

Standing Together works closely with partner agencies to ensure that all relevant members of staff are familiar with the MARAC process, and their role and responsibilities within it by providing MARAC briefings, inductions and workshops. In 2022-23, MARAC Coordinators in the service area completed 69 sessions with partner agencies in the MARAC boroughs, reaching 331 partners. As a result of Standing Together’s MARAC workshops, professionals have improved knowledge and confidence in referring to MARAC as measured by evaluations.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

April 2022 -March	Number of	Total attendees
2023	sessions
Briefings	6	109
Inductions	51	72
Workshops	12	150
Total	69	331

MARAC Team Forward Plan Priorities 2022-2023

MARAC & COVID-19

The impact of the pandemic on the MARAC process continues into the next financial year. Coordinators continue to work remotely as do most of our partner agencies. Standing Together will continue to ensure a coordinated community response to domestic abuse by internal monitoring and consultation with partners and front-line services working directly with victim/survivors. Our data analysts will provide insight into the process across the previous year and how this will inform out practices moving forward.

Standardization of MARAC Processes and Documentation

The MARAC team are working together to standardize MARAC processes and documentation across all five boroughs which Standing Together operate. This will help ensure consistency between all five boroughs, and guarantee the team maintain delivery of high quality work. Standardization of documentation and processes will also help streamline workflows and improve efficiency.

Development of MARAC Conduct Agreement

The MARAC team are also developing a MARAC Conduct Agreement to help ensure that all MARAC representatives and Chairs work together to ensure MARACs remain inclusive. This will help guarantee that the victim/survivors heard at MARAC are treated with respect, and that consideration is given to an individual’s protected characteristics when the panel are creating risk-reduction plans.

Development of MARAC Training

Lastly in terms of development, the MARAC team are also currently working on updating the MARAC training package, which includes the MARAC workshop, briefings and inductions. As part of this, the MARAC manger will also be developing a MARAC refresher training for all representatives who are signed up to the MARAC process and attend meetings. This will help further improve professionals’ awareness of MARAC, and ensure they engage appropriately with the entirety of the MARAC process.

Service Update

Please note that Standing Together will no longer operate Ealing MARAC past 30[th] June 2023. This is a result of Ealing Council bringing their MARAC in-house, and switching to a Daily Safeguarding Meeting model.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

Domestic Homicide Reviews

The Domestic Homicide Review Team at Standing Together have continued to deliver a complete and inclusive approach to DHRs. We produce high quality Overview Reports and Executive Summaries while keeping importance of the coordinated community response at the forefront of our work. Our experience of a coordinated community response and domestic abuse partnerships ensures we balance the needs of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) and panel agencies with the sensitivities of the victims’ and perpetrators’ families.

We have 8 associate DHR Chairs along with 2 additional Chairs who are about to finish their training and 1 DHR Chair who is part of our Mentorship program in collaboration with the Coaction Hub. Of these 11 Chairs, 7 are female and 4 male.

Recruitment and training:

• Standing Together has provided training for two new Chair associates and they are now ready to join our pool of active Chairs with the support of their mentors.

• 3 new coordinators have joined the DHR team and are successfully managing a portfolio of DHRs.

• A new DHR Manager has been recruited.

• These appointments mean the DHR team is now back to full capacity.

Active DHRs :

----- Start of picture text -----
DHRs Published, 1 New DHRs,
3
DHRs
handed to
CSP, 6
Active
DHRs, 21
Summary of DHR Activity
----- End of picture text -----

• Standing Together is now chairing/has successfully chaired 125 Domestic Homicide Reviews. 78 of these reviews are now published.

• 6 DHRs have been handed over to the CSP during the year: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Bexley, Stroud, Lewisham, Herts, Wales

• 4 newly commissioned DHRs: Barking & Dagenham, Cotswolds, Luton, Bexley

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

• 21 DHRs ongoing: Buckinghamshire x3, Central Bedfordshire, Cornwall x2, Forest of Dean, Gloucester x2, Hackney x 2, Kingston, Lambeth x 3, Leicester, Mole Valley, Northumbria, Stroud, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales

• 1 DHR has been published: Croydon

National Work

• Standing Together continues to contribute as a panel member for the monthly Home Office DHR Quality Assurance Panel as their specialist DA service.

• Standing Together sits as a panel member for non-Standing Together DHRs as their expert DA service.

• Standing Together meets monthly with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Office to discuss their DHR oversight mechanism.

New Initiatives

• The manager is working with the Finance Team and Partnerships Manager to review their current fees in line with inflation.

• We have sourced pro bono advice from an international law firm to update our GDPR documentation and provide advice on international contracts.

• The DHR team are increasing focus on wider sharing of its service and activities including via social media channels including the website, Twitter and Linked In.

• The team will be creating DHR training packages with a focus on the CCR and best practice for panel members and CSPs.

• Chairs’ Day – as an addition to regular monthly Chairs’ meeting, the DHR team are holding an in person full day Chairs’ event providing the opportunity to discuss key issues and share learning.

The Faith and VAWG Coalition

The Faith and VAWG Coalition has been forging and growing, creating a space to collaborate with organisations, feminists, faith leaders and activists working at the intersections of faith, race, ethnicity and violence against women and girls. We focus on strategic and structural approaches to tackling issues around VAWG with a mission to create strategic space and centering voices of women of faith. We are strengthening partnerships, providing much needed faith informed insights to the VAWG sector and building bridges between members of faith communities and domestic abuse prevention specialists and organisations within VAWG.

Collective leadership and Intersectionality: We are also an active member of Harmful Practice Strategic Group (HPSP) which is an evolving platform to develop strategies and operational intervention guidance to respond to the needs and barriers faced by Black and minortised women within the coordinated community response (CCR) model of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) delivery. In the HPSP subgroup, The Faith and VAWG Coalition often chair the meetings and provide a discussion around harmful practices including faith based abuse; what it means to by and for organisations, how it impacts survivors and how faith provides comfort but is also weaponised against survivors.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

Launch of The Expert by Experience Panel:

The impact and influence of initiatives addressing faith and VAWG are steadily increasing and gaining momentum. In August 2022 we launched The Expert Panel, a safe space for women of all faiths and non to share their experiences and to bridge the gaps between faith and VAWG. The feedback and responses from survivors will be embedded in a good practice booklet we have been working on with an aim to offer guidance and provide faith informed perspectives for meaningful changes with an aim for improved responses for survivors from faith based communities.

Membership update

Our membership program is now well established with its annual strategy to create a safe space, share, and learn from each other. We continuously design, review and develop a structure that benefits the Coalition members. We inform professionals in the VAWG sector, create a platform to raise the voices of women of faith and promote Black and minoritised community work. Some of the key highlights include:

• We are excited to share that the number of Faith & VAWG Coalition members, including the co-founders, has increased to 36. The Coalition’s seven individual members include academics and professionals from the VAWG sector. The 18 member organisations comprise of community-based, faith-based, Faith & VAWG, and by & for organisations. 99% of our members actively access the Coalition’s platform to campaign, advocate and support each other.

• Sharing & learning: We use the members’ and co-founders’ WhatsApp groups to prompt conversations and actions. Using our group email, we send out a bi-weekly News Digest where we spotlight our members, share new research materials and reports relevant to the Faith & VAWG work, and call for actions to campaign and advocate for Victims & survivors of DA. Most of our members are small/medium-sized organisations that have limited capacity to search for funding information, so we use the News Digest to supply up-to-date funding information.

• Creating safe space-building partnership: We continue to organise the members’ monthly coffee morning, providing the space for our members, especially the ‘by & for organisations, to showcase their success, highlight the barriers affecting their work, and form solidarity with other members. We also organised an annual membership forum to understand and build partnerships among members based on their areas of work and issues affecting their communities. We were very pleased our Membership Coordinator represented the Faith & VAWG Coalition and Standing Together’s CCR model at an international conference organised by Project Dldl, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This valuable opportunity facilitated global collaboration, enabling us to exchange knowledge, best practices, and expand partnerships.

• Informing the public: We organised a webinar entitled - “Practical Perspective of Decolonisation in the VAWG Sector involving academic, local and international ‘By & For’ organisations in the panel. We also facilitated the Faith, Family and Community’ workshop at the Festival of Practice national conference organised by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, highlighting the important role faith can play in ending VAWG.

Coaction Hub: AWRC in Partnership with STADA Coaction Hub is a unique partnership between STADA and a by and for agency (Asian Women’s Resource

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

Centre). The project aims to create an equitable partnership between the two organisations, with each agency bringing their expertise and insights to the project. This equity is embedded in all stages of fundraising, staffing, delivery and resource sharing, and is reviewed with learning partners throughout the life of the project. Whilst individual agencies may lead on aspects of the project this is carried out within a collaborative partnership structure.

The project aims to strengthen the Co-ordinated Community Response (CCR) for Black and minoritized survivors of domestic abuse and harmful practices. We are exploring responses to survivors in areas such as risk assessment, MARAC and DHRs as well as incorporating learning from international models of VAWG. The project will produce research, toolkits, training and other learning materials to influence the sector.

The project started in May 2022, and this year we have:

• Formed the Harmful Practices Strategic Partnership (HPSP), a pan London, by and for led forum which brings together statutory, non-statutory and by and for agencies and activists to address harmful practices issues. We have submitted evidence to the government on ‘honour’ based abuse and are currently developing training. The HPSP is chaired by and for agencies and decision making is weighted in their favour to make sure that power inequalities are addressed in the group.

• We are carrying our research on the effectiveness of risk assessment tools, and MARAC forums for Black and minoritized survivors. We have held focus groups with by and for agencies, as well as consulted MARAC Co-ordinators.

• Recruited our first DHR Mentor chair. The DHR mentoring scheme aims to recruit women from the by and for sector to be mentored to become DHR chairs. They will receive full training and support to develop their skills, whilst bringing their knowledge and expertise into the DHR sector. This scheme was created in the context of the overrepresentation of Black and Asian women in domestic homicides, lack of diversity of DHR chairs, and concerns regarding a limited understanding of intersectionality in some domestic homicide reviews.

• Presented at a variety of forums to promote the Coaction Hub, emphasising the importance of working equitably with by and fors, with this project as a model for good practice. This includes the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s (DAC) office, MOPAC, health meetings such as INCADVA (national) and the DA Clinical Reps Group (London). Faith and VAWG members meeting, and local meetings such as the Kingston Harmful Practices Subgroup and the Children and Young People’s Operational group in central London. We held a stall and co-facilitated a workshop at the DAC national conference. In partnership with other members of the Communities team, we have also worked internally at Standing Together to influence practice, including discussing working equitably with by and fors.

Harmful Practices

• The Harmful Practices project began in January 2020 for a data co-ordinator to support the work of the local Harmful Practices Operational Group (HPOG). In 2021-22 this role has gone from strength to strength, taking over the coordination of the HPOG.

• Harmful practices often qualified as a hidden issue, the complexity of cases and the consequences on survivors are therefore particular and could differ from other forms of VAWG. The HPOG is a working

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space to make sure that harmful practices issue is known, well-identified, and that professionals from different sectors have a better understanding of it. In 2022-23 the group developed its three-year action plan aligned with the VAWG strategies, with outcomes specifically relevant to harmful practices survivors.

• A core part of the harmful practices work has been to support the local specialist by and for agencies to improve links with other professionals to support their work and improve the community response. A lot of work has been done to promote the group and many professionals from different sectors expressed their interest to know more about harmful practices. To respond to this need, the coordinator has found new ways to promote the work of the specialist agencies including training and information sessions and has developed a newsletter that is sent quarterly. In 2022, the group held the first Harmful Practices Yearly Conference, a successful event that the group is looking forward to doing again next year. The co-ordinator also launched the Harmful Practices Specialist Agencies Contact Guide, a tool for all professionals to have easy access to specialist services in their boroughs.

• Data collection and analysis remains another core part of the project. This data is presented to the group in themes to support the work of agencies as well as in presentations outside of the group to promote the centring of harmful practices in agency responses. Data being particular to harmful practices, this data is the most efficient way to have a picture of the issue in the borough of Kensington and Chealse, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster. It is also an easy way to highlight any gaps in services and to share with other partners the best practices. In the last year, this has included multiagency webinars for professionals and presentations to different stakeholders in the tri-boroughs. The MARAC data was also utilised to produce a report entitled Harmful Practices and MARAC: What Does the Data Tell Us? In the context of limited harmful practices data nationally, this paper presents interesting findings about cases heard in the borough of Kensington and Chealse, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster MARACs and highlights some gaps in terms of services for survivors.

Housing Team

The purpose of the Housing Team is to meaningfully address the housing and homelessness support needs of all victims/survivors of domestic abuse so they can achieve emotional and physical safety and stability. We achieve this through influencing national and local policy and practice in response to housing/homelessness and domestic abuse, across all relevant agencies, but with a particular focus on the role of the housing and homelessness sector as a part of a Coordinated Community Response.

Intersectional and Anti-racist practice

Our housing team is dedicated to ensuring our work reflects and meets the needs of Black and minoritized victims/survivors, uplifts specialist by and for services, and supports housing and homelessness sector partners to take an anti-racist and intersectional approach to their work with victims/survivors. As individual programmes, we meet regularly to apply an intersection and anti-racist lens to each of our workstreams. The detail of our work is within our team strategy.

1. Housing First & Homelessness Team

The Housing First and Homelessness project works with local authorities, homelessness support providers, specialist women’s services, amongst a range of other agencies, to ensure that survivors of domestic abuse and women experiencing homelessness and other forms of multiple disadvantages have better access to safe

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accommodation and support that meets their needs.

2. Housing Coordination and Evaluation for the Westminster VAWG Housing First project

The Housing First and Homelessness Coordinator builds and maintains relationships with support provider Solace Women’s Aid and the housing associations who offer the housing for the Westminster VAWG Housing First project. This post is funded via the RSI5 and GLA Safe Accommodation fund until March 2024 – to coordinate and evaluate Standing Together’s work on the Westminster VAWG Housing First Project, and support with co-ordination of Standing Together’s branch of the Changing Futures programme (mentioned below).

This year the project expanded from supporting 20 women up to 30, with 28 women being accommodated at the end of year 3 (2 on the waitlist for a property). In March 2023 the Year 3 learning report was launched virtually to a range of professionals across the sector. You can read our report here for more detailed information about the project’s positive outcomes.

Next year the project will be expanding further, offering 18 new spots for women from May 2023. The Coordinator will be working closely with housing providers to obtain 18 units of accommodation for this new cohort of women over the coming months. Last year our Housing First for Women project won the Westminster Homelessness Award.

3. Developing DAHA standards for homelessness organizations

The DAHA Development Lead for Homelessness Organisations role is funded by the GLA MOPAC Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation fund.

This financial year, the project began with 2 pilot sites beginning their journey towards DAHA accreditation in April 2022. A third pilot site joined in September 2022. We worked in partnership with all 3 pilot sites over the year, including meetings to secure buy-in, regular attendance at working group meetings and gathering feedback. We are finalising the DAHA framework in May 2023, have written a learning report, and developed tools and guidance to support organisations to achieve accreditation going forward. We reviewed and updated the Early Identification of Domestic Abuse for Homelessness Settings training package, with the view that this package will be offered to providers undergoing DAHA accreditation in the future.

4. Changing Futures VAWG and Multiple Disadvantage Workstream

The Housing First and Homelessness Programme Manager co-project manages the VAWG and Multiple Disadvantage workstream of the Westminster Changing Futures project, alongside Westminster Council, to transform services and systems to better meet the needs of women experiencing VAWG and multiple disadvantage in Westminster. The projects key objectives are:

• Workforce professional development : we develop and deliver training to professionals across the homelessness, domestic abuse and supported accommodation sector on a quarterly basis. This year we delivered 13 courses in total to 123 professionals across Westminster.

• Connection and co-ordination : promoting better partnership working to improve support for women experiencing VAWG and multiple disadvantage. Standing Together administer and chair the VAWG and

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multiple disadvantage forum, for frontline professionals to attend and discuss cases that are ‘stuck’. The forum has a panel of multidisciplinary professionals who provide advice on how to continue supporting the woman. This year we chaired 11 forums, hearing the cases of 40 women. Standing Together also administers and chair the VAWG and multiple disadvantage strategic group, and next year will be looking at how we can integrate this work into the wider bi-borough VAWG structures.

• Addressing system barriers and piloting innovative solutions : we focus on four key systems barriers – data, couples, the criminal justice system, and gender informed service standards. This year we have worked alongside Westminster Council, Single Homeless Project, and the Women’s Development Unit on a pilot project to improve how women are ‘verified’ as rough sleeping. The pilot will begin in 23-24 and will improve the data collected on this cohort of women. We have collaborated with Westminster Council and Respect to create a perpetrator specialist role, requested by several Lonon Boroughs. Next year we will continue this work and begin work on our other two systems barriers: the criminal justice system and gender informed service standards.

5. Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA)

Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) was formed in 2014, in partnership with Housing Associations Gentoo Group Ltd and Peabody Housing. DAHA offers a comprehensive accreditation process for housing providers to improve individual organisation responses and promote engagement in a coordinated community response. A team of DAHA Regional Leads drive this work forward and we also offer bespoke training for the housing sector.

Since we moved to a membership model our principal aim has been to create a sustainable and professionalized membership offer, which has been achieved in part through increased team capacity. We are well on our way to achieving this.

Our DAHA team has 4 key external facing workstreams to meet our objectives: (1) Membership, (2) Accreditation & Assessment, (3) Training (4) Policy influencing.

DAHA Accreditation

Year two of our membership model has enabled us to continue our team growth as per our DAHA business plan. The business plan was developed, signed-off and monitored by the DAHA Board, which includes Peabody, Gentoo and Standing Together.

Our membership grew to 147, with 27 of these members accredited. The income from membership was £228,803, with an additional income of £161,540 from assessment fees. This represents over 100% increase from year one of membership. As planned for this stage in the business, the team is now solely funded through membership. We have increased fees and income for 23-24. Already in the first month of 23-24 we have surpassed the total for 22-23 so we are confident of the continued sustainability of this income-based funded team.

This year saw us develop our membership offer to include:

• Increased capacity of regional leads to provide more support to members.

• Monthly expert guest speaker webinars – designed and planned in response to what our members tell us they need/want. These are free for members and payable for non-

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• members. They have had an average attendance of 90+. Income from these has covered speaker fees across the year.

• Monthly workshops – free to members, designed and delivered by the regional leads these are focused on the Priority Areas and aim to support the providers to embed the standards in the DAHA framework.

• More resources to support accreditation.

Membership Portal

We have invested this year in a Members Portal which will be an additional offer for all members. It will hold a library of resources and be a place where members can connect. It will also provide a much smoother membership sign-up mechanism which supports our aim to professionalise the programme. The portal will also host the new portfolio, a tool for members to upload their evidence against the standards.

Accreditation standards

We have supported our members through the transition to our new DAHA Accreditation Framework and have seen considerable success in the implementation of the new more rigorous standards. Our membership for 2022-23 reached 1.7 million households which is something to celebrate – we are reaching more survivors than ever.

We have completed the review of the DAHA accreditation assessment process and begun to implement this. The process moves away from an “inspectorate style” intense assessment that takes place over a week to an organic, more robust process that takes place over several weeks/months. This ensures that we can undertake activities that allow members to demonstrate that they meet the standards.

DAHA Regional Groups

We continue to facilitate and host nine regional groups with a total membership of well over 400 across England. These groups link with the DA Commissioner’s Office, the DAHA-led National Housing Policy & Practice Group and with the National Housing Federation.

Training

2023 has been an important year with the development of several training packages that are bespoke to housing providers and the different roles within housing. To increase capacity for further course development, we have employed a full-time trainer. She is now delivering 3-4 sessions per week and has led on the CPD accreditation of our courses. We have also trained and retained 6 associate trainers who will also deliver training sessions when required.

Training delivered by the housing team during the year, generated income of £46,516. We expect this to increase significantly for 2023-24 and we have an ambitious target of an income of £150,000 during 2023-24.

The demand for training has increased and we made the decision to have a full-time training coordinator (now in place for 2023-24). We have also invested in a training management system which will enable us to manage a higher volume of training requests and offer open courses – meeting the needs again of the sector. All these decisions were outlined within the DAHA Business Plan.

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Policy Work

Led by the Senior Housing Manager, our policy work has gone from strength to strength. The ‘National Domestic Abuse and Housing Policy and Practice Group’ continue to meet six weekly bringing together all key stakeholders from homelessness and VAWG sectors with an aim to ensure joint working across VAWG and housing sectors in response to upcoming and existing legislation. Current areas of policy focus for the national group include:

• Social Housing (Regulation) Bill and the new set of consumer standards for social housing providers

• Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Bill, and how regulation of exempt accommodation providers will impact survivors of domestic abuse and specialist refuges that are considered exempt accommodation.

• Renter’s Reform Bill-the impact of changes to PRS protections and its impact on survivors of domestic abuse, particularly around anti-social behaviour and rent arrears, which disproportionately impact survivors of domestic abuse.

• Local connection and joint tenancies-ongoing discussions with government about these consultations and the government’s response.

• Sex for rent consultation-working with national group partners to respond to the government consultation on sex for rent, which disproportionately impacts Black and minoritized survivors of domestic abuse, especially migrant women.

• Labour Manifesto-working with labour leaders in housing, homelessness, and domestic abuse to influence the Labour manifesto and accompanying strategies.

6. Whole Housing Approach Project

The Whole Housing Approach (WHA) was first conceptualised in 2018 by the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) in collaboration with the DAHA-led National Housing and Domestic Abuse Policy and Practice Group. The WHA endeavors to improve the housing options and outcomes for people experiencing domestic abuse so that they can achieve stable housing, live safely, and overcome their experiences of abuse.

We have 4 workstreams to deliver our work:

• Local coordination of Sanctuary, Flexible Funding and Housing Operational Group in the Bi-Borough and Hammersmith and Fulham.

• Whole Housing Approach Pilot in Cheshire East

• Private Rented Sector development work

• Restart Early Intervention and Accommodation Programme.

Local Coordination work in the Bi-Borough and Hammersmith and Fulham

Three Boroughs Housing Operational Group

The Domestic Abuse and Housing Operational Group (HOG) is led by STADA through the WHA Coordinator who works in partnership with local housing providers and services, to review and improve responses within their organisations. The HOG meetings take place on a quarterly basis, with four being held in 2022-23. The following areas were explored:

• Supporting survivors from Black and Minoritised backgrounds.

• Training on Polygamy delivered by HOG member MEWSO.

• Modern Slavery and Exploitation.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

• Part 4 of the domestic abuse act and how housing providers are implementing this.

• Implementing the VAWG/Housing Operational Group Action Plan across the three boroughs.

This year we developed guidance for local authorities on ‘Developing Your Own Domestic Abuse and Housing Operational Group (HOG)’ which was launched through a webinar.

Sanctuary Scheme

The WHA Coordinator leads the Sanctuary Scheme in Hammersmith and Fulham. The Sanctuary Scheme is the provision of enhanced home security measures to enable survivors of domestic abuse to stay safe in their own home and prevent further harm and homelessness. The table below demonstrates how sanctuary scheme funding has been utilised:

Year	Total number of	Total cost for the	Average cost per	Total spent on Safe Room
	homes secured	year	home	installation
2022/23	36	£15,917.72	£442.13	£2786.40 (1 property)

In 2022/23, the Whole Housing Coordinator continued facilitating a working group with Sanctuary leads from the three boroughs to address operational issues with the scheme.

Flexible Funding

The Whole Housing Coordinator continues to administer the Flexible Funding pot, in the London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith. Flexible Funding is the provision of money to survivors of domestic abuse, in the form of multi-use vouchers and cash, so that survivors can use this money to meet their housing related needs in whatever way they need. Funds were mainly used for rental assistance, utility assistance, debt assistance, moving costs, employment assistance, essential furnishings, basic needs, childrens’ needs and safety enhancements.

The following table shows the number of survivors supported by flexible funding the over the financial year April 2022 – March 2023:

	Total
Number of referrals received	53
Number of survivors supported	45
Number of children indirectly supported	54
Average number of working days from referral topayment	6
Average costper referral	£437
How much allocated to date?	£15,645
Smallest amount allocated	£309
Largest amount allocated	£5,090

The following quotes are from survivors accessing the fund:

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Client 1: “I’m so thankful to Standing Together for giving me funding to purchase household items and the curtains I needed, I feel safer knowing people can’t look into my flat and it gives me a sense of privacy inside my new home.”

Client 2: “I was in constant fear but feel safer now with the doorbell and additional security installed.”

Client 3: “I was struggling and worried about money, I can now buy food and clothes for myself and the children and I’m so happy.”

Whole Housing Approach Pilot

We continue to deliver the three-year Whole Housing Approach pilot project, funded by The National Lottery, to implement all the components of the Whole Housing Approach in one local authority area, which is Cheshire East.

Our key achievements this year for the pilot include:

• Bringing together local partners to monitor the progress of our WHA work through the WHA Steering Group, WHA Operational Group, WHA Sanctuary Scheme Steering Group and weekly partnership group.

• Commenced implementation of the economic abuse and private ownership components through training and DHR support from Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA).

• Starting implementation of Managed Reciprocals with Safer London through training delivery.

• Building relationships with local ‘By and For’ services to embed an anti-racist and intersectional approach to the WHA.

• Developing an Experts by Experience Group to inform our pilot learnings and inform the development of the WHA Hub.

• Collecting our first set of data for TNL through developing effective monitoring and evaluation. Tools, and developed an evaluation framework and theory of change for the pilot.

• Organising a webinar for local housing associations in Cheshire East to encourage them to undertake DAHA membership and accreditation.

Private Rented Sector Work

Our PRS Lead continues to engage with the PRS and domestic abuse sectors to focus on effectively supporting survivors experiencing the PRS. Key achievements include:

• Developing guidance for block managers on recognising and responding to domestic abuse.

• Delivering training and guidance to domestic abuse services on supporting survivors in the PRS.

• Developing an accreditation framework for local authority PRS teams to support survivors in the PRS, which is a part of wider local authority DAHA accreditation.

• Leading on policy and influencing work on the upcoming Renters Reform Bill, including working with National Group partners to develop policy briefings such as on the links between domestic abuse and anti-social behavior.

Restart: Early Intervention and Accommodation Pilot

We continue working with the DRIVE partnership to jointly deliver the Restart Programme and provide Strategic Housing Support. Through this project we have provided housing support and advice to lead

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support partner Cranstoun, as well as supporting with the interim evaluation report, led by Social Finance. This project has provided us with vital learnings to inform future perpetrator and housing work.

B. Educating agencies and the public in all aspects of domestic violence

Standing Together carries out a variety of activities to fulfil its educative role, all with the aim of improving practice amongst helping agencies. This in turn benefits survivors in terms of access to services, the improved skills and awareness of the professionals who deal with them, the consistency of the standards applied by agencies and the safe options available to them and to their children.

Events

The Blooming Strong Campaign was created by us in 2014, it is the way we engage with partners to mark November 25th as the UN Day for the elimination of violence against women and as part of our 16 days of activism. We had a new charity partner this year Page and Bloom their ethos of employing domestic abuse survivors to make beautiful flowers from recycled books and sheet music fitted our priorities perfectly. We had 61 nominations this year and each nominated woman was sent a flower made from the sheet music of I am Woman by Helen Reddy. And note saying why we thought she was ‘Blooming Strong’

At our event this year we invited our new Charity Partner Page and Bloom to talk about their work and also Meena Kumari who has been working to support agencies with their anti-racism work in the VAWG sector as our inspiring women to chat with over coffee. As always the event was very well attended.

CCR Network and Leaders Course

The Coordinated Community Response (CCR) Leaders Course aims to increase the skills and expertise of professionals, including statutory commissioners and policy makers, who are responsible for leading and coordinating responses to domestic abuse (DA) and other forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Currently, job descriptions and levels of skills and influence differ vastly, and there is no standard training that focuses on strengthening competencies and skills to support the role of DA Strategic Coordination. The CCR Leaders course addresses this gap. Crucially this course provides a space for strategic leads, commissioners and policy officers with responsibility for DA/VAWG to connect, share best practice and learning.

Following the successful delivery of this pilot course in 2017/2018 and 2020/21 due to increasing demand from local authorities, STADA our last course through February - April 2022, with the assessment taking place in May 22. Of the 15 learners that took the course 13 submitted their work for assessment and all successfully passed.

We have struggled with capacity this year but managed to maintain the CCR network and shared

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newsletters updating members of emerging practice and opportunities to learn through webinars. Next year we will invest in this team so that we can offer a more comprehensive and responsive service to help extend the CCR Network.

4. Strategic Influence

Standing Together serves on the following boards, panels, working groups and networks, sharing experience and expertise to our mutual benefit with:

• Chair the National Housing and Domestic Abuse Policy and Practice Group

• External Consultation Group of the Crown Prosecution Service

• Crown Prosecution Service Scrutiny and Involvement Panel, Crown Prosecution Service

• London Violence Against Women and Girls Scrutiny Panel, London Areas, Crown Prosecution Service

• The London Mayor's Expert Group on Violence Against Women and Girls

• The Department of Health group developing a domestic violence pathway for Health

• End Violence Against Women Coalition

• Home Office VAWG Stakeholders Group

• CBS Coalition Hub

• Victims’ Voice Forum

• Local Authority VAWG Boards

• Parliamentary Roundtable sessions and consultations

• Parliamentary events

• Specialist sector networking events

• European partnership groups and forums

• London Councils

• Sector specific groups and forums

Standing together CEO and staff speak at numerous international, national, regional and local conferences about our strategic and operational approach to the coordinated community response and often particular aspects of work. CEO and key staff members work closely with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Office and attend parliamentary events to influence and remain up to date with policy developments, contributing to addressing gaps in knowledge and service provision. They also work with local authority partners to disseminate policy thinking, ensure strategic oversight and associated operational practice both informs policy at government level, but also keeps pace with policy changes.

5. Financial Review

Overview

For the financial year ended 31 March 2023, Standing Together reported a deficit of £100k compared to a net surplus of £754k in year ended 31 March 2022. This is due to the delay in expenditure on activities in respect of restricted funding projects in the year ending 31st March 2022.

The Charity’s work in Year 2022-2023 continued along the Charity’s set objectives and the strategically

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planned paths of making a difference in raising awareness and making changes to the response to domestic violence. This was in view of financial uncertainty, operational and organisational disruption as the effects of rising global inflation and increase in living cost following the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. This will require exceptional interventions and measures to protect the organisation’s financial position. As a charity, Standing Together have assessed the risks faced by the charity and have formulated plans to protect its current and future operating reserves to mitigate risks and to fulfil its charitable objectives.

Financial Results

Standing Together entered the financial year in a strong position with an increase in general reserves from £989k to £1,185k at the end of year 2022-2023, with a well-diversified funding stream from local authorities, central government, NHS, trust foundations, consultancy work and training. The charity receives most of its funding in the form of restricted grants to support specific projects.

The income and expenditure accounts showed incoming resources for the year of £2.6m (2022: £2.9m) and expenditure of £2.7m (2022: £2.1m). The total reserves at the end of the year was £1.4m (2022: £1.5m) of which £270k (2022: 566K) is restricted for specific purposes and £1,185k (2022: £989k) is unrestricted which is available for general purposes decided by the charity. Of the unrestricted funds, £562k (2022: £559k) has been designated/earmarked for contractual liabilities, leaving a balance of £623k (2022: £430k) as general/free reserves.

The overall financial plans are driven by its financial strategy including assumptions set out in budgets to establish the amount of income required to cover staff and operational costs in fulfilling Standing Together’s plans and purpose.

The Chief Executive concentrates on local and national opportunities along with the team through shared visions, goals and policies to strengthen our position with existing contracts and future proposals to extend our work around domestic abuse. The committed Senior Leadership Team and staff collectively work together to ensure the operational existence of the charity for the foreseeable future. We have benefitted from volunteers who have assisted on the various projects depending on their area of interest. We are committed to offering an opportunity to individuals to boost their employability skills and enhance their personal development.

Principal Funding Sources: £2,679,432

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
Donations, Investment
Fee Income, £79,696 income,
£248,801 £21,630
Membership
Fees,
£229,153
Support &
education to
prevent domestic
violence,
£2,100,151
----- End of picture text -----

Included in fee income of £248,801 is £162k DAHA assessment fees, £61k training and £26k consultancy fees

We are incredibly grateful for the generous donations and support we receive from individuals and organisations. The donations totaling £10k this year are a valuable contribution towards the Charity’s objective to alleviate domestic abuse.

Benefits In Kind

We have benefitted from volunteers who have assisted on the various projects depending on their area of interest and skills. We are committed to offering an opportunity to individuals to boost their employability skills and enhance their personal development.

Charitable Expenditure: £2,779,849

----- Start of picture text -----
Support costs,
£187,009
Other direct
costs,
£619,972
Staff costs,
£1,972,868
----- End of picture text -----

Total charitable expenditure amounted to £2,774,850 which consisted of staff cost of £1,973,079

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accounting for 71% of total costs. Support cost of £187,806, representing 7% includes information technology support (IT), other professional fees, office and premise costs. Other direct costs of £618,965 include expenditure on consultant fees, onward cost to partners and general overheads/operational costs representing 22% of total costs.

Investments

The Finance Committee has considered options to place money in investment funds with the aim of achieving increase in financial returns. Although this would be an opportunity to improve general reserves, after much thought it was deemed that the level of risk involved far outweighed the benefits. Most funds received by the charity are expended in the short term and need to be available at short notice.

In the best interest of the charity and looking at the impact on the running of the organisation, the decision was made to invest funds in fixed short term deposit accounts on the Flagstone Investment Platform online. This provided flexibility whereby funds are spread across several bank accounts offering different terms and rates of interest. To manage the level of risk, the maximum of £85k is deposited in individual banking institution, protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if a financial institution goes out of business.

The level of funds to invest on the Platform is reviewed by the Finance Committee and governed by investment policies and monitoring of the cashflows on a quarterly basis.

Reserves Policy

The Board of Trustees has examined the charity's requirements for reserves in consideration of the main risks to the organisation, which has identified the need for a robust financial planning and a clearer understanding of the necessity for reserves and liquidity. The Trustees recognise that it must manage its affairs to ensure that the level of reserves and associated cash balances remain sufficient such that Standing Together will continue to operate on a sustainable basis.

Taking into account the overall current grant position, the reserve represents the minimum level of funds required to protect Standing Together from the potential financial impact of known/unknown business risks. In the event of Standing Together facing difficult financial circumstances these reserves would allow us to both meet our responsibilities to grant holders and for operations to continue during a period of managed adjustment to these new circumstances.

Having assessed the current risks, the Trustees have established a policy to increase the unrestricted funds not committed or invested in tangible fixed assets held by the charity. Trustees have decided that, after an allowance for future income expectations, Standing Together should maintain cash and realisable assets sufficient to fund three months of operational expenditure, taking into account the future use of reserves in line with its charitable objectives. This policy allows trustees to meet their obligations under the Companies Act and to comply with Charity Commission guidance.

Total unrestricted reserves at 31[st] March 2023 was £1.1m (2022: £989k), which includes £562k (2022: £559k) allocated to designated reserve and £623k (2022: £430k) available as free reserve. Plans for the Future

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Each year, Standing Together Staff and Trustees meet to review our objectives and priorities for achieving our charitable aims.

In 2022-23 Standing Together set out to:

• Develop our work in relation to impact measurement, data capture and building a robust evidence base.

• Develop our reach and impact via all forms of media and IT

• Continue to develop our work in influencing and policy at local and central government levels

• Demonstrate breadth of work required in health-based setting to achieve a coordinated community response and influence the DH.

• Roll out the CCR Leaders course along with a more robust training and membership package

• Maintain a focus on the CCR in our work in relation of Domestic Homicide Reviews, criminal justice work, housing, health, faith and communities program, harmful practices, MARAC and community based settings.

• Review and reinforce governance protocols and financial management processes to ensure ongoing sustainability, financial resilience and effective management of the organisation.

ST has achieved this and more by expanding the scope of our work in relation to community, housing and health based work. We are seeking to set clear benchmarks on the practices and services that should be core to the coordinated community response. We will further all of these aims developing, delivering and evaluating best practice models and toolkits to underpin our strategic aims and strengths within the sector.

6. Conclusion

Standing Together continue to promote the Coordinated Community Response as a framework by which we organise, plan and prioritise our work. Year on year, we build a more robust program of work locally and nationally to both undertake and model the breadth of systemic work that is required to promote safety for survivors of domestic abuse and to hold perpetrators to account. Our challenge has always been to maintain the partnership work that we do in central London while promoting the best of what we are learning to our wider national networks. In spite of economic challenges, Standing Together has remained financially resilient and has strengthened partnership networks to ensure a cohesive framework of support and to ensure our services remain aligned with their needs. The growth of the organisation is based on continual review and assessment of our internal resources and structures that underpin our work but also the strength of our partnerships and external relationships. Our national networks such as the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA), Whole Housing, DHRs, Health and Criminal Justice based activities serve to maintain and enhance our opportunities, mitigating risks and challenges. We continue to build on a robust platform of experience and expertise firmly grounded and the principles and components of the coordinated community response which remains the foundation stone for all we do and how we develop.

7. Impact of Coronavirus

The pandemic continues to impact the increase in demand on services and Standing Together continues to monitor the situation. As an organisation, we continually work to ensure strategic and financial resilience, ongoing assessment of potential risks and new ways of working.

8. Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

The Trustees, who are also directors of the Company for the purposes of the Companies Act, are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law and the law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Charity 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 its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:-

• Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently.

• Observe the methods and principles of The Charities Statements of Recommended Practice (SORP);

• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.

• State whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures

• Disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

• Prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue to operate.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

• The Trustees confirm that, in the case of each of the persons who are Trustees at the date of this report, the following applies:

• So far as each Trustee is aware there is no relevant audit information (information needed by the Company's auditors in connection with preparing their report) of which the Charity's auditors are unaware; and

• Each Trustee has taken all the steps necessary to make herself/himself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Company's auditors are aware of that information.

Relationship with Funders

• No Trustee had any relationship with any of the main funders except as a Trustee of Standing Together

In so far as the Management Committee is aware:

• There is no relevant audit information of which the charity's auditors are unaware; and

• The Management Committee 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

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE (registered company no. 04283131)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' REPORT For the year ended 31 March 2023

information.

This Report is agreed and signed at the AGM by the Chair of Standing Together, on behalf of the Board of Trustees on 20 November 2023

Kruti Patel Trustee/Director

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 (registered company no. 04283131)

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Standing Together against Domestic Abuse (the 'charitable company') for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

• 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 2023 and of its income and expenditure for the year then ended;

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

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

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 relating to going concern

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

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

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

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information.

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.

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 (registered company no. 04283131)

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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.

Opinions 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' report, which includes the directors' report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the directors' report included within the trustees' 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 directors' report included within the trustees' report.

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

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

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

• certain disclosures of trustees' remuneration specified by law are not made; or

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

• the trustees 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' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees' responsibilities statement in the Trustees' 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 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 company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 (registered company no. 04283131)

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 is detailed below:

• We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the charitable company and determined that the most significant are the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities' (SORP 2019), in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK (FRS 102) applicable to smaller entities and the Companies Act 2006.

• We understood how the charitable company is complying with those frameworks via communication with those charged with governance, together with the review of the charity’s documented policies and procedures. The charitable company is required to comply with both company law and charity law and, based on our knowledge of its activities, we identified that the legal requirement to accurately account for restricted funds was of key significance.

• The audit team, which is experienced in the audit of charities, considered the charity’s susceptibility to material misstatement and how fraud may occur. Our considerations included the risk of management override and allocation of costs to charitable activities and restricted funds.

• Our approach was to check that the income from grants, donations and fee were properly identified and accurately disclosed, that expenditure complied with the control procedures and was appropriately charged. We also reviewed major journal adjustments along with unusual transactions and considered the identification and disclosure of related party transactions.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 (registered company no. 04283131)

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.

Shoaib Arshad (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of:

Knox Cropper LLP Chartered Accountants & Statutory Auditors 65 Leadenhall Street London EC3A 2AD

• __ __ 2023 7 December

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (incorporating the Income and Expenditure Account) For the year ended 31 March 2023

		Unrestricted	Unrestricted		Restricted		Total	Unrestricted	Unrestricted		Restricted		Total
			Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds
	Note		2023		2023		2023		2022		2022		2022
			£		£		£		£		£		£
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS	FROM:
Donations and legacies	2		79,696		-		79,696		165,495		-		165,495
Charitable activities	4		943,641		1,634,465		2,578,106		1,195,234		1,537,826		2,733,060
Investments	3		21,630		-		21,630		1,840		-		1,840
TOTAL INCOME		£	1,044,967	£	1,634,465	£	2,679,432	£	1,362,569	£	1,537,826	£	2,900,395
EXPENDITURE ON:
Charitable activities	5		(849,659)		(1,930,190)		(2,779,849)		(851,317)		(1,294,806)		(2,146,123)
TOTAL EXPENDITURE			(849,659)		(1,930,190)		(2,779,849)		(851,317)		(1,294,806)		(2,146,123)
NET MOVEMENTS IN FUNDS			195,308		(295,725)		(100,417)		511,252		243,020		754,272
TOTAL FUNDS AS AT 1 APRIL			989,544		565,930		1,555,474		478,292		322,910		801,202
TOTAL FUNDS AS AT 31 MARCH		£	1,184,852	£	270,205	£	1,455,057	£	989,544	£	565,930	£	1,555,474

All income and expenditure have arisen from continuing activities. None of the Charity's activities were acquired or discontinued during the above two financial years.

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE

BALANCE SHEET As at 31 March 2023 (Registered Company No. 04283131)

Notes FIXED ASSETS Furniture & Equipment 10 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 11 Cash at bank and in hand CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year 12 NET CURRENT ASSETS TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES NET ASSETS FUNDS Unrestricted funds: Designated funds 14 General fund 14 Restricted Funds 14	2023 £ 1,122 424,619 1,501,189 1,925,808 (471,873) 1,453,935 1,455,057 1,455,057 £ 562,266 622,586 1,184,852 270,205 1,455,057	2022 £ 2,243 565,839 1,491,307
		2,057,146 (503,916)
		1,553,230
		1,555,474
		1,555,474
		£ 559,060 430,484
		989,544 565,930
		1,555,474

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions in Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies and the Financial Reporting Standard 102.

The financial statements were approved, and authorised for issue, by the Board of Trustees on 20 November 2023 and signed on their behalf by: -

________ Kruti Patel Trustee/Director

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE

CASH FLOW STATEMENT For the year ended 31 March 2023

Cash flows from operating activities (Deficit)/Surplus for the financial year Adjustments for: Depreciation (Decrease)/increase in Debtors Increase/(Decrease) in Creditors Investment income Cash flows from investing activities Returns on investment – interest receivable Net increase in cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents as at 1st April Cash and cash equivalents as at 31st March Components of cash and cash equivalents Balance at 1 £ Cash at bank and in hand 1,491,307 £	2023 £ (100,417) 1,121 141,220 (32,043) (21,630) (11,749) 21,630 9,881 1,491,307 1,501,188 £ Cashflow £ 9,881 £	2022 £ 754,272 1,121 (210,986) (110,761) (1,840)
		431,806 1,840
		433,646 1,057,661
		1,491,307
		Balance at 1 £ 1,501,188 £

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STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparation of financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102 have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with applicable United Kingdom accounting standards and the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities' (FRS 102), and the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Trust's ability to continue as a going concern.

Company status

Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse is a company limited by guarantee. In the event of the Charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £10 per member of the Charity.

Fund accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objects of the Charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for particular purposes. The aim and use of each designated fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors which have been raised by the Charity for particular purposes. The cost of administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. The aim and use of each restricted fund is set out in the notes to the financial statements and outlined in the Trustee report. Statutory grants which are given as contributions towards the Charity's core services are treated as unrestricted.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the note 14.

Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) which the charity is legally entitled to the income, it is probable that the amount will be received, and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy.

Grants and donation received are deferred when conditions are attached, for example when they relate to a specific future period.

Resources Expended

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been included under expense categories that aggregate all costs for allocation to activities. Support costs, which cannot be directly attributed to particular activities, have been apportioned proportionately to the direct staff costs allocated to the activities.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged against the category of resources expended for which it was incurred.

Tangible fixed assets

All tangible assets costing more than £5,000 are capitalised and stated at cost less depreciation.

Furniture and equipment

5 years on straight line

Operating leases

Rentals applicable to operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities over the period in which the cost is incurred.

Pensions

The company is part of a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities as they become payable in accordance with the rules of the scheme.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES
	Unrestricted			Restricted		Total		Unrestricted		Restricted		Total
		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds
		2023		2023		2023		2022		2022		2022
		£		£		£		£		£		£
Donations		79,696		-		79,696		165,495		-		165,495
	£	79,696	£	-	£	79,696	£	165,495	£	-	£	165,495
3. INVESTMENT INCOME	Unrestricted			Restricted		Total		Unrestricted		Restricted		Total
		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds
		2023		2023		2023		2022		2022		2022
		£		£		£		£		£		£
Interest receivable from
Bank interest		21,630		-		21,630		1,840		-		1,840
	£	21,630	£	-	£	21,630	£	1,840	£	-	£	1,840
4. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
	Unrestricted			Restricted		Total		Unrestricted		Restricted		Total
		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds
		2023		2023		2023		2022		2022		2022
		£		£		£		£		£		£
Grants & contracts for services:
Support & education to prevent domestic
violence		465,686		1,634,465		2,100,151		700,936		1,537,826		2,238,762
Membership fees		229,153		-		229,153		97,228		-		97,228
Fee income		248,802		-		248,802		397,070		-		397,070
	£	943,641	£	1,634,465	£	2,578,106	£	1,195,234	£	1,537,826	£	2,733,060

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

4. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES (continued)

Analysis of grants & contracts for services

Birmingham City Council Calypso Browning Chelwest NHS City Bridge Trust Comic Relief - Whole Housing Comic Relief - Whole Health DCMS - CJ Mentor Courts Domestic Homicide Reviews Ealing Council Erasmus (EU) Esmee Fairburn Firebird GLA Hammersmith & Fulham NHS Haringey Council Home Office - Drive Project Home Office - Harmful Practice Home Office - Health Initiative Job Retention Scheme LBof Hammersmith & Fulham London Councils MacMillan Cancer Support MHCLG – Whole Housing Approach National Lottery Community Fund NHS Trust Development Oak Foundation Southall Black Sisters Project Swiss Philanthrophy Treebeard Trust Tri Borough Funding Vivid Homes Westminster City Council

Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds Funds 2023 2023 2023 2022 2022 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ - - - - 37,440 37,440 4,036 - 4,036 132,571 - 132,571 - 51,500 51,500 - 50,250 50,250 - 65,387 65,387 - 60,000 60,000 - - - - 5,380 5,380 - - - - 62,265 62,265 - 476,960 476,960 - 442,100 442,100 131,066 - 131,066 173,333 - 173,333 55,655 - 55,655 55,655 - 55,655 - - - - 12,842 12,842 - 116,030 116,030 - - - 20,000 - 20,000 - - - - 111,513 111,513 - 204,759 204,759 - 66,000 66,000 - 66,000 66,000 49,928 - 49,928 49,855 - 49,855 - 25,615 25,615 34,840 - 34,840 - 25,182 25,182 - 25,182 25,182 - 143,658 143,658 - - - - - - 4,245 - 4,245 - 51,000 51,000 - 61,000 61,000 - - - - 73,497 73,497 - 89,427 89,427 - 32,490 32,490 - 30,000 30,000 - 20,000 20,000 - 150,309 150,309 - 99,871 99,871 - - - - 64,000 64,000 - 115,500 115,500 - 115,500 115,500 - - - - 6,000 6,000 - 12,500 12,500 - - - - - - - 15,000 15,000 205,001 - 205,001 250,437 - 250,437 - - - - 43,000 43,000 - 103,884 103,884 - 41,250 41,250

465,686 £ 1,634,465 £ 2,100,151 £ 700,936 £ 1,537,826 £ 2,238,762 £

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

5. RESOURCES EXPENDED

5a. Cost of charitable activities (current year as at 31st March 2023)

Projects: Community Criminal Justice DHRs Health Housing & Homelessness MARAC Training Other charitable projects Total as at 31 March 2023 5b. Cost of charitable activities (prior year as at 31st March 2022) Projects: Community Criminal Justice DHRs Health Housing & Homelessness MARAC Training Other charitable projects Total as at 31 March 2022 Resources expended include: Auditors’ remuneration: Details of resources expended are given in notes 6, 7 and 8 6. OTHER DIRECT COSTS Partner and stakeholder costs (see note 6a) Consultancy and Domestic Homicide Review Associate costs Training and learning services External evaluation Other direct costs	Staff Other direct Support Total costs costs costs 2023 £ £ £ £ 182,287 62,519 14,221 259,027 349,509 224,919 42,236 616,664 108,070 57,118 4,594 169,782 309,433 44,293 37,558 391,284 665,891 174,341 41,381 881,613 274,744 5,987 8,450 289,181 18,613 17,619 6,753 42,985 64,321 33,176 31,816 129,313	Staff Other direct Support Total costs costs costs 2023 £ £ £ £ 182,287 62,519 14,221 259,027 349,509 224,919 42,236 616,664 108,070 57,118 4,594 169,782 309,433 44,293 37,558 391,284 665,891 174,341 41,381 881,613 274,744 5,987 8,450 289,181 18,613 17,619 6,753 42,985 64,321 33,176 31,816 129,313	Staff Other direct Support Total costs costs costs 2023 £ £ £ £ 182,287 62,519 14,221 259,027 349,509 224,919 42,236 616,664 108,070 57,118 4,594 169,782 309,433 44,293 37,558 391,284 665,891 174,341 41,381 881,613 274,744 5,987 8,450 289,181 18,613 17,619 6,753 42,985 64,321 33,176 31,816 129,313
	1,972,868 £	619,972 £ 187,009 £	2,779,849 £
	Staff costs £ 129,336 254,458 79,301 173,069 431,137 245,095 20,928 113,640	Other direct Support costs costs £ £ 29,007 13,291 146,333 34,376 77,964 1,057 34,048 18,352 99,977 26,234 3,636 7,058 32,621 2,516 143,240 29,449	Total 2022 £ 171,634 435,167 158,322 225,469 557,348 255,789 56,065 286,329
	1,446,964 £	566,826 £ 132,333 £	2,146,123 £
		2023 5,350 £ Total 2023 £ 194,549 133,319 12,250 8,337 271,517 619,972 £	2022 6,000 £
			Total 2022 £ 177,133 207,575 82,253 10,000 89,864
			566,825 £

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

6a. Payments to Partners and Stakeholders: 2023 £ (ii) Homeless Link - (i) Tampon Tax - Total partners and stakeholder costs - £ 7. SUPPORT COSTS Total 2023 £ Premises and Office costs 143,987 Communication & IT 21,058 Legal & professional fees 16,616 Auditor’s fee 5,350 187,011 £ 8. STAFF COSTS AND NUMBERS Total 2023 £ Gross salaries 1,630,265 Social security 160,830 Pension costs 55,158 Other staff costs 126,616 1,972,869 £ The average weekly number of employees calculated as full time equivalents during the period was: Number Key Management Team 1.5 Communities project 3.7 Criminal Justice project 5.2 Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) 3.9 Health 9.6 Housing & Homelessness 15.7 MARAC 6.4 Other Projects 3 49 The average number of employees (head counts) during the period was: 49	2022 £ 38,000 139,133
	177,133 £
	Total 2022 £ 102,164 16,154 8,015 6,000
	132,333 £
	Total 2022 £ 1,240,267 95,791 43,128 67,779
	1,446,965 £
	Number 2 1.5 2.6 2 5.1 8.4 8 2
	31.6
	31.6

One employee (2022: One) received remuneration of more than £60,000; between £60,001 to £70,000.

During the year, key management received an aggregate salary and benefits of £105,768 (2022: £125,674)

9. TRUSTEES REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

During the year, no members of the Board of Trustees received any remuneration (2022 : £NIL) No members of the Board of Trustees received reimbursement of expenses (2022 : £NIL)

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

10. FIXED ASSETS Cost At 1 April 2022 At 31 March 2023 Depreciation At 1 April 2022 Charge for the year At 31 March 2023 Net book value At 31 March 2022 At 31 March 2023 11. DEBTORS Due within one year Trade debtors Prepayments Accrued income Other debtors 12. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR Due within one year Deferred income VAT creditors Social security and other taxes Trade Creditors Accruals & creditors	Furniture and equipment £ 5,607 5,607 3,365 1,121 4,486 2,244 £ 1,121 £ Total 2023 £ 163,535 5,493 239,323 16,267 424,618 £ Total 2023 £ 137,029 63,055 44,345 353 227,091 471,873 £	Total £ 5,607
		5,607
		3,365 1,121
		4,486
		2,244 **£ **
		1,121 £
		Total 2022 £ 237,229 18,964 293,160 16,486
		565,839 £
		Total 2022 £ 174,035 57,339 7,191 90,376 174,975
		503,916 £

13. TAXATION

The Charity is a registered charity, and therefore is not liable for income tax or corporation tax on income derived from its charitable activities, as it falls within the various exemptions available, to registered charities.

14. STATEMENT OF FUNDS

14a Statement of Funds (current year as at 31 March 2023)

DESIGNATED FUNDS Designated Fund DVCN Funds Total as at 31 March 2023	Transfers and Brought Incoming Resources Investment Carried Forward Resources Expended Gains/(losses) Forward £ £ £ £ £ 557,652 - - 3,206 560,858 1,408 - - - 1,408
	559,060 £ - £ - £ 3,206 £ 562,266 £

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

RESTRICTED FUNDS Birmingham City Council Chelwest NHS City Bridge Trust Comic Relief - Whole Health DCMS - CJ Mentor Courts Erasmus (EU) Esmee Fairburn GLA Hammersmith & Fulham NHS Home Office - Drive Project Home Office - Harmful Practice Home Office - Health Initiative Inner London Magistrates Courts LBof Hammersmith & Fulham London Councils MacMillan Cancer Support Maidenhead Malachi Trust GLA – Whole Housing Approach National Lottery Community Fund NHS Trust Development Oak Foundation RBKC - CSE Priorities Fund Swiss Philanthrophy Treebeard Trust Tri Borough Funding Vivid Homes Westminster City Council Total as at 31 March 2023 SUMMARY OF FUNDS Designated Funds General Funds Restricted Funds Total as at 31 March 2023	£ £ £ £ £ 28,723 - (28,723) - - 1,479 51,500 (50,358) - 2,621 15,594 65,387 (61,389) - 19,592 9,650 - (9,650) - - 44,411 476,960 (521,371) - - 1,346 - (1,346) - - - 116,030 (71,136) - 44,894 106,983 111,513 (206,347) - 12,149 5,476 66,000 (61,274) - 10,202 25,922 25,615 (51,537) - - 5,657 25,182 (17,848) - 12,991 143,658 (143,658) - - 4,264 - (1,153) - 3,111 27,429 51,000 (68,478) - 9,951 8,337 - (8,337) - - - 89,427 (89,427) - - 28,078 - - - 28,078 - 30,000 (13,675) - 16,325 61,113 150,309 (211,422) - - 47,926 - (47,926) - - 69,905 115,500 (101,808) - 83,597 12,158 - (12,158) - - - 12,500 (3,556) - 8,944 13,092 - (13,092) - - 20,068 - (20,068) - - 23,795 - (23,795) - - 4,524 103,884 (90,658) - 17,750
	565,930 £ 1,634,465 £ £(1,930,190) - £ 270,205 £
	Transfers and Brought Incoming Resources Investment Carried Forward Resources Expended Gains/(losses) Forward £ £ £ £ £ 559,060 - - 3,206 562,266 430,484 1,044,967 (849,659) (3,206) 622,586
	989,544 1,044,967 (849,659) - 1,184,855 565,930 1,634,465 (1,930,190) - 270,205
	1,555,474 £ 2,679,432 £ £ (2,779,849) - £ 1,455,060 £

The Designated funds are intended to enable the charity and its partners to conduct their activities fully, in the event of a loss of funding, so that an orderly winding up of its projects may be achieved.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

14. STATEMENT OF FUNDS (continued)

14b Statement of Funds (prior year as at 31 March 2022)

DESIGNATED FUNDS Designated Fund DVCN Funds Total as at 31 March 2022 RESTRICTED FUNDS Birmingham City Council Calypso Browning Chelwest NHS City Bridge Trust Comic Relief - Whole Housing Comic Relief - Whole Health DCMS - CJ Mentor Courts Erasmus (EU) GLA Hammersmith & Fulham NHS Home Office - Harmful Practice Homeless Link Inner London Magistrates Courts LBof Hammersmith & Fulham London Councils MacMillan Cancer Support Maidenhead Malachi Trust MHCLG – Whole Housing Approach MHCLG – Housing First & Homelessness National Lottery Community Fund NHS Trust Development Oak Foundation RBKC - CSE Priorities Fund Southall Black Sisters Project Treebeard Trust Tri Borough Funding Vivid Homes Westminster City Council Winston Churchill Memorial	Transfers and Brought Incoming Resources Investment Carried Forward Resources Expended Gains/(losses) Forward £ £ £ £ £ 350,215 - - 207,437 557,652 1,428 - (20) - 1,408
	351,643 £ - £ 20 -£ 207,437 £ 559,060 £
	Transfers and Brought Incoming Resources Investment Carried Forward Resources Expended Gains/(losses) Forward £ £ £ £ £ - 37,440 (8,717) - 28,723 5,000 - (5,000) - - - 50,250 (48,771) - 1,479 7,436 60,000 (51,842) - 15,594 6,767 5,380 (12,147) - - - 62,265 (52,615) - 9,650 - 442,100 (397,689) - 44,411 47 12,842 (11,543) - 1,346 - 204,759 (97,776) - 106,983 4,580 66,000 (65,104) - 5,476 - 25,182 (19,525) - 5,657 18,616 - (18,616) - - 4,928 - (664) - 4,264 13,799 61,000 (47,370) - 27,429 3,977 73,497 (69,137) - 8,337 - 32,490 (32,490) - - 28,078 - - - 28,078 - 20,000 (20,000) - - 124,424 - (124,424) - - 26,368 99,871 (65,126) - 61,113 - 64,000 (16,074) - 47,926 54,672 115,500 (100,267) - 69,905 12,158 - - - 12,158 - 6,000 (6,000) - - - 15,000 (1,908) - 13,092 2,160 - 17,908 - 20,068 - 43,000 (19,205) - 23,795 - 41,250 (36,726) - 4,524 9,900 - (9,900) - -
	322,910 £ 1,537,826 £ (1,294,806) £ - £ 565,930 £

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

SUMMARY OF FUNDS Designated Funds General Funds Restricted Funds Total as at 31 March 2022	Transfers and Brought Incoming Resources Investment Carried Forward Resources Expended Gains/(losses) Forward £ £ £ £ £ 351,643 - (20) 207,437 559,060 126,649 1,362,569 (851,297) (207,437) 430,484
	478,292 1,362,569 (851,317) - 989,544 322,910 1,537,826 (1,294,806) - 565,930
	801,202 £ 2,900,395 £ (2,146,123) £ - £ 1,555,474 £

The Designated funds are intended to enable the charity and its partners to conduct their activities fully, in the event of a loss of funding, so that an orderly winding up of its projects may be achieved.

15. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

15a. Analysis of net assets between funds (current year as at 31 March 2023)

	Unrestricted Funds	Unrestricted Funds	Unrestricted Funds
			Designated		General		Restricted		Total
			Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds
			£		£		£		£
Fixed assets			-		1,122		-		1,122
Net Current assets			562,266		621,464		270,205		1,453,935
Total as at 31 March 2023	£		562,266	£	622,586	£	270,205	£	1,455,057
15b. Analysis of net assets between funds (prior year as at 31 March 2022)
	Unrestricted Funds
			Designated		General		Restricted		Total
			Funds		Funds		Funds		Funds
			£		£		£		£
Fixed assets			-		2,243		-		2,243
Net Current assets			559,060		428,241		565,930		1,553,231
Total as at 31 March 2022		£	559,060	£	430,484	£	565,930	£	1,555,474

16. OTHER FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS

At 31 March 2023 the Company had commitments under non-cancellable operating leases (all for land and buildings) as set out below:

Operating leases which expire: within one year The cost of operating lease during the year was as follows: Office lease charges for the year	Total 2023 £ 45,954 45,954 £ 45,954 £	Total 2022 £ 45,403
		45,403 £
		45,403 £

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the year ended 31 March 2023

17. PENSION COMMITMENTS

Pension costs in note 8 relate to payments made to a defined contribution scheme. The charitable company's liability is limited to making the payments due to scheme on timely basis. The liability as at 31 March 2023 is £13,512 (2022: £10,240)

18. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURE

There were no related party transactions, other than those disclosed in note 8 and 9.

19. SECTION 37 STATEMENT

Grant aid from London Councils ended as at 31st March 2022. The purpose of the grant is to introduce and adopt established set of standands and an accreditation process in response to domestic abuse within the housing sector.

The following table illustrates what money was awarded and that it has been used for these purposes:

Grant Awarded Costs Staff Costs Rent Running costs Total Costs Underspent in the year Underspent from last year Total underspend at the year end Other Direct Costs	2023 £ - £ - - - - - £ - - - £	2022 £ 78,977 £
		51,323 12,837 2,000 2,977
		69,137 £ 9,840 3,977
		13,817 £

There was a total underspend of nil (2022: £9,840 which included underspend on staff costs of £3,677, travel expenses of £3,725 and material development cost of £2,438). A balance of £8,336 was paid to London Councils , after the deduction of £5,481 which was payable once the final reporting was submitted to London Councils.

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