## **Building Brighter Safer Futures**
**Making hope possible for children, young people and families experiencing violence, exploitation and harm.**
Company number 05190766 **Safer London Annual Trustees’ Report, Accounts and Financial Review 2025 | 2026**
## **Contents**
**03 06 22**
**22 24 Last Year: Looking Back What We Saw Looking Ahead**
**Our Year Last Year: at a Glance What We Did**
**28 36 Trustees’ Financial Report Statements**
LAST YEAR WHAT WE SAW
LOOKING BACK
TRUSTEES’ REPORT
LAST YEAR WHAT WE DID
AND ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
AND LOOKING AHEAD
**The thing I’m most proud of since working with Safer London is that I haven’t carried a weapon since I got my caution.**
"When my parents didn’t trust me, my worker was the only person who took my side. Their support has always been really helpful.
Some of the things I’ll remember from my time with my worker is getting out of the house more and having a proper routine.
I appreciate the time and effort they put into working with me.
I’m more aware of the choices I make now. I don’t make as many rash decisions and I’m better at staying calm.
I’ve realised that I can manage my emotions without getting into fights about things. I learnt how to have better control over my emotions.
I’ve become a lot more open with my emotions, which I never used to be. I’m also going to school now and enjoying it, which is a big change for me.
Going forward, what will help me stay on track is just telling myself that things are going to work out and keeping going, even when things feel difficult.
The thing I’m most proud of since working with Safer London is that I haven’t carried a weapon since I got my caution. I don’t have any professionals involved in my life anymore".
Young Londoner who accessed Safer London support
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## **Our year at a glance**
## **477 69 young people supported parents and carers supported**
**young people supported**
**Creating Safety and Hope**
**Youth Voice and Participation**
## **17**
## **8 4%**
of the young Londoners we worked with feel safer physically
young people engaged in youth voice activities
**I loved working with my worker so much because she just genuinely let me speak from my heart. I was able to just lead the conversation anywhere I want.**
**Just knowing that there is always support available for me and that I do have places where I can speak without being judged is something I’ll take away with me.**
**81%** of the young Londoners we worked with are safer online
**27**
youth voice and participation group sessions
## **76%**
## **4**
of the young Londoners we worked with have stronger peer relationships
enrichment activities delivered including a creative day and go-karting experience
**Influencing change**
## **10,000**
Our Time to Listen campaign reached over 10,000 people, helping to shift the narrative around young people drawn into violence and crime.
**We amplified young people's voices by engaging directly with decision-makers, policymakers and sector leaders to influence practice, policy and understanding.**
**Organisations and bodies engaged included the Children's Commissioner, Greater London Authority, London Violence Reduction Unit, Metropolitan Police and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime.**
**9 0**
**Each young Londoner involved in our youth voice activities logged an average of 90 hours of participation.**
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## **Our Strategy**
This past year marked an important moment
for Safer London with the launch of our new organisational strategy From Crisis to Stability, From Harm to Hope.
Our strategy was developed over the past year through collaboration with staff, young people and partners - bringing together frontline expertise and lived experience to shape how we respond to the challenges young Londoners face today.
The needs of the young people we support are becoming more complex, with many experiencing multiple, overlapping risks and gaps in how systems respond.
Our strategy is our response to this. At its heart is a clear ambition - moving young people from harm to hope.
By combining direct support with system change work that is developed with young people, we’re building an approach that not only supports those we work with today - but helps shape safer futures for many more.
Through our Strategy we’re focusing our work across five core areas:
## **Creating Safety and Hope**
Providing consistent, relationship-based support that helps young people and families feel safer, build trust and move towards a brighter future.
The reality is clear.
There are young Londoners growing up in environments shaped by inequality, trauma and instability, where safety isn’t guaranteed and harm is a part of everyday life.
**Read our Strategy From Crisis to Stability, From Harm to Hope.**
## **Breaking New Ground**
Developing and testing new approaches to better support young people, working alongside Safer London researchers and our expert team to respond to emerging needs and design services grounded in lived experience.
## **Being Bold and Visible**
Speaking out alongside young people to challenge the systems and attitudes that can cause further harm, pushing for responses that prioritise safeguarding, support and understanding – and in turn influencing change far beyond our direct work.
## **Transforming Evidence and Insight**
Using our data, learning and working with the young people and families who access our services, to target our support where it matters most and demonstrate the lasting difference we make.
## **Financial Sustainability**
Building the funding and partnerships needed to sustain and grow our work, so we can directly support more children, young people and families - and amplify their voices to drive long-term change.
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LAST YEAR WHAT WE SAW
LOOKING BACK
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## **Last Year: What We Did**
# **Our work with young Londoners and families**
LAST YEAR WHAT WE SAW
LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING AHEAD
TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
LAST YEAR WHAT WE DID
## **My worker helped me through the tough times**
"I found the help and support I received from Safer London extremely helpful.
At first I had thought that it would just be like any other professionals I had worked with that let me down, but a couple months into working with my support worker I realised it was by far the most helpful support I had received by anyone in my life.
She had helped me by providing mental health support and giving me advice anytime I had felt lost or stuck with something in life.
The communication and understanding between me and my worker was also perfect.
She was able to understand my circumstances and schedule sessions in an environment where I felt safe and times that work with both me and her".
Young Londoner who accessed Safer London support
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## **Creating Safety and Hope**
Young people come to Safer London at a point where harm has already shaped their lives - often through violence, exploitation and peer-to-peer harm.
## **What we do**
We provide specialist, long-term, oneto-one support to young people already experiencing high levels of violence, exploitation and harm.
Support is tailored to each young person and delivered consistently over several months, with interventions averaging around nine months and extending up to two years where needed.
This long-term approach allows us to build trust and create meaningful, lasting change.
Our caseworkers meet young people face-to-face, in places where they feel safe - whether that’s a school, cafe, park or youth centre.
Together, we work with young people to:
- understand what is making them unsafe
- recognise risk in relationships, environments and online spaces
- build safer ways of responding to pressure or harm
- develop confidence, resilience and a sense of control
- access wider opportunities, including education and future options
Alongside this, we provide dedicated support to parents and carers. We recognise the important role they play in a young person’s safety and stability.
We also offer specialist interventions for groups of young people with specific needs, including young women and girls, neurodivergent young people, and those displaying harmful sexual behaviour.
These tailored responses allow us to address patterns of harm in a more focused and effective way.
## Our approach is grounded in three core principles:
## **Child-first**
We recognise that young people affected by violence and exploitation are children first. Our work prioritises their safety, wellbeing and long-term development.
## **Trauma-informed**
We understand how trauma shapes behaviour, relationships and decision-making. We create safe, consistent spaces where young people can build trust over time.
## **Youth-led**
Young people shape their own support. We work with them - building from their experiences, priorities and goals.
At the centre of this is relationship-building. For many young people, trust has been broken-by individuals, systems or previous experiences of support. Our role is to rebuild that trust through consistency, non-judgement and time.
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## **Service Spotlight: Positive Relationships and Sexual Behaviours**
Our Positive Relationships and Sexual Behaviours (PRSB) service supports children and young people who have displayed harmful or inappropriate sexual behaviour.
The PRSB service recognises that behind the behaviour is often unmet need, confusion, trauma or a lack of trusted guidance.
Therefore, rather than focusing only on the behaviour itself, our approach looks at the wider context around the child. This means working across three core areas - the individual, the systems around them and their peer relationships.
What this approach makes clear is that harmful sexual behaviour doesn’t happen in isolation - and it can’t be addressed in isolation either.
By working with the young person, their environment and their relationships together, we’re able to create the conditions for longterm, sustainable change.
## **6 0%**
**Nearly 60% of young people supported through this service showed safer sexual and risk-taking behaviours by the end of support**
Over half of young people at highest risk of harmful sexual behaviour moved to safer levels
## **Individual**
At an individual level, we create a safe, non-judgemental space where young people can explore relationships, boundaries and behaviour. Many young people haven’t been given clear explanations about why something is harmful - only that it is ‘wrong’. Our work focuses on building understanding, helping them recognise risk, develop empathy and make safer choices.
## **Systems**
Nearly two thirds saw a reduction in high-risk non-sexual behaviour
Half of those struggling most with self-regulation made measurable progress to safer levels
**Read Tao's story to see how the support works in practice**
Alongside this, we work closely with schools and professionals to strengthen the support around the child. This often includes advocating for the right interventions, improving understanding of behaviour, and making sure that underlying needs - such as neurodiversity or unmet emotional needs - are identified and supported. It also includes direct support to staff through case consultation, as well as tailored training for teams.
## **Peers**
Peer relationships are a critical part of this picture. Many young people we support are heavily influenced by peer dynamics, including pressure, or exposure to harmful norms. We work with young people to build a clearer understanding of healthy and unhealthy relationships, while developing more positive peer interactions. This work is now being extended through targeted group interventions, where the work will centre on friendship groups rather than just one person.
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## **Tao’s Story**
Tao was 14 when he was referred to Safer London’s PRSB service following concerns about inappropriate sexual behaviour, including using sexualised language and sharing content online.
He had recently moved schools after being excluded, with limited information shared about his previous experiences. What was clear was that his behaviour was heavily influenced by peers and a lack of understanding about relationships, boundaries and impact.
When support began, Tao was navigating a complex home environment. He lived with his mum, who had limited English and little wider support, and their relationship was often strained due to communication barriers.
At school, he struggled socially, with peers increasingly distancing themselves from him based on his previous behaviour.
Over seven months, Tao worked with a PRSB caseworker focusing on peer influence, relationships, online safety, and understanding the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour.
A key part of this work was helping him move beyond simply being told his behaviour was “wrong” - to understanding why it mattered, and how it affected both himself and others.
Alongside this, the work focused on Tao’s strengths. Tao had a strong interest in dance, which became an important foundation for engagement.
His caseworker created space for him to talk about this interest and encouraged him to think about how it could be developed further, including as a potential future pathway. For Tao, this was one of the first times an adult had recognised and built on what he enjoyed and what he was good at - helping to build confidence and a more positive sense of identity.
Early in the intervention, it became clear that Tao’s mum also needed additional support. Tao's mum was referred internally to Safer London’s Families team, making sure the right support was in place not just for him, but for his wider nerwork.
Through this joined-up approach, work with Tao and his mum ran alongside each other, strengthening communication and stability at home.
At the same time, it emerged that Tao had previously been assessed for autism, but this diagnosis had never been communicated or acted on, meaning he had gone without the support he needed.
This included supporting his mum to better understand how to meet Tao’s needs and navigate the systems around her, helping to improve their relationship over time. While she had always wanted to support her son, she had previously felt unsure how to do so.
Through coordinated work across Safer London and with his school, this was identified and addressed, leading to appropriate support being put in place, including an Education, Health and Care Plan, and tailored support within the school.
Alongside this, Tao was supported to better understand peer relationships. What he had viewed as friendship was often pressure or exploitation by others. Through structured sessions, he explored the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships and began to recognise when he needed to set boundaries.
Over time, changes became clear. Tao became more confident in social situations and more positively connected with his peers. School reported a significant shift in how other young people responded to him, with improved relationships and increased inclusion.
One of the most important changes was in how Tao responded to situations. Rather than reacting immediately, he developed the ability to pause, reflect and consider consequences before acting - a shift towards what his caseworker described as “reflection before reaction”.
By the end of the intervention, Tao had built a stronger understanding of relationships, risk and behaviour, alongside improved support both at home and in school.
With the right systems now in place around him, he was able to move forward more safely and with greater confidence in navigating the world around him.
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## **Understanding exploitation and harm: What drives criminal exploitation**
These pressures rarely exist in isolation and can significantly increase both exposure to harm and susceptibility to exploitation.
For the young people we support, involvement in harmful situations isn’t a simple choice.
Exploitation itself is rarely sudden. It is typically gradual and shaped by relationships.
It’s shaped by a combination of factors - including environment, peer influence, coercion, fear, unmet needs and limited alternatives. These pressures can pull young people into situations where risk escalates quickly and becomes difficult to navigate or leave.
It often begins with someone offering something a young person is missing - attention, protection, money or a sense of belonging. These relationships can feel positive and meaningful.
Without understanding these drivers, responses can focus only on behaviour - leading to judgement, exclusion or punishment rather than protection and support.
Over time, expectations increase and what begins as support can become pressure. Involvement escalates and young people may not recognise what is happening, especially if those relationships are providing something missing. This makes exploitation difficult to identify and respond to.
Our work focuses on helping young people make sense of these experiences, understand what has influenced them, and build safer ways forward.
Many young people don’t see themselves as victims. Fear, loyalty and previous experiences of not being believed can prevent them from speaking out. Where they’ve tried to get help and nothing has changed, they may disengage entirely.
A central factor is a lack of emotional safety. Where young people don’t have stable, trusting relationships with caregivers, they’re less likely to share concerns and more likely to seek belonging, safety or validation elsewhere.
At the same time, behaviour linked to exploitation is often treated as offending rather than a safeguarding concern, meaning opportunities for early intervention are missed.
When these needs aren’t met by the adults around them, young people often try to meet them themselves - increasing their vulnerability to exploitation.
Without consistent, trauma-informed support, young people can be left navigating harm alone - making decisions shaped not by choice, but by survival.
This risk is compounded by wider factors, including poverty, exposure to community violence, exclusion from education and additional needs such as neurodivergence.
## **Caseworker insight**
"What I tend to see is that it often starts with a lack of emotional safety. If a young person has had parents or carers who struggle to regulate their emotions, that means they’ve never been able to learn that themselves.
What I also see a lot is that when a young person is being exploited, something is often missing that should have been provided by the adults in their life - whether that's emotional support, practical help, guidance, or safety.
This isn’t always the parent’s fault. Sometimes they’re working three jobs to make ends meet, so they’re not always capable of filling their child’s emotional needs. But because something is lacking at home young people will often go seek it out somewhere else. And the people they turn to aren’t always safe.
That’s why the idea of it being a ‘choice’ doesn’t really fit. They’re not always making informed decisions - they’re given very limited options, and often it’s the only one that feels viable. If someone is giving them attention or money, especially if they’ve been lacking that, they’re much more vulnerable to that.
And it doesn’t always feel harmful to them. I’ve had young people describe the person exploiting them as like family - someone who’s taken care of them. So even though there’s risk, that risk can feel worth it. It’s essentially them trying to survive their circumstances.
Another big factor is trust. If a young person has shared something before and felt unheard, or nothing changed, that really impacts whether they’ll ask for help again. Sometimes when they do tell someone, it can even make things worse for them, especially if it leads to conflict at home. So they stop sharing.
From the outside, it can look like problematic behaviour, but actually there’s something much deeper going on. If we only focus on what the young person is doing, we miss why they’re doing it. And what I see quite a lot is that it can take something really serious happening before the response changes. By that point, the harm has already happened.
So for me, it’s not about asking why a young person made that choice. It’s about asking what they needed, what they didn’t get, and why they were left in a position where that felt like their only option.”
**Read Jamal's story to understand how young people are caught in cycles of crime and exploitation**
Over time, that situation escalates. They might know what they’re doing is against the law, but the question is why it still feels worth it. Usually, it’s because no one else is meeting their needs or keeping them safe.
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## **Jamal’s Story**
Safer London worked with Jamal aged 15, who was facing escalating risk of criminal exploitation.
Jamal was growing up in a context of instability and unmet needs.
He lived in a low-income household in an area with high levels of deprivation and community violence. His father wasn’t present in his life, and at home he experienced ongoing emotional abuse.
Alongside this, Jamal had ADHD and was dealing with the impact of trauma on his mental health, making it harder for him to regulate emotions and feel safe within his environment. These factors combined to increase his vulnerability and exposure to risk.
Jamal also became a retribution target due to an incident involving a family member linked to gang activity. Following media coverage, his home address was widely shared online, making him and his family easily identifiable.
Individuals connected to that dispute began targeting Jamal directly. He received repeated threats both online and in person, including messages describing plans to harm him, and had previously been attacked, reinforcing that these threats were credible.
Jamal tried to get help. He reported the threats to police and shared what was happening with professionals. However, at home, his concerns were often dismissed, and he wasn’t consistently believed. This meant he was left without a safe space to speak openly or seek support.
When attempts were made to move him to a safer environment, he was placed with a relative, but this led to further harm, and he experienced physical abuse.
Feeling unsafe there, he returned home, where the original risks remained unresolved.
At the same time, Jamal was removed from mainstream education for his protection and placed in alternative provision. While intended to reduce risk, this placed him alongside other highly vulnerable young people and reduced access to the stability and support that school can provide. His exposure to exploitation increased, while his protective networks decreased.
Jamal’s attempts to seek help didn’t lead to the safety he needed. His concerns were not always acted on, and safeguarding responses were not consistent with the level of risk he was facing. Gradually, he began to feel that no one was listening and that no one could protect him. As a result, his situation escalated.
Jamal became increasingly exposed to criminal exploitation and was drawn into county lines activity.
He began going missing for extended periods, moving between locations and becoming more deeply embedded in exploitative networks. Having previously tried to get help and not been protected, he disengaged from support and no longer believed that reaching out would make a difference.
In this context, he also began carrying a weapon. This wasn’t motivated by a desire to offend, but by a need to protect himself in a situation where he felt he had no other options. What followed was further involvement in criminal activity, arrest, and increasing risk across all aspects of his life.
Safer London worked intensively to change this trajectory.
The focus of support was on advocacy within the professional network - making sure that Jamal’s voice was heard and that the level of risk he faced was fully understood.
This involved consistently challenging the perception that he was exaggerating or being untruthful and reinforcing that he was at genuine and immediate risk of harm.
A barrier was Social Care’s emphasis on keeping Jamal within the family home wherever possible. In this case, his parent was unable to recognise or respond to the level of risk, which significantly limited the effectiveness of safeguarding efforts.
To address this, Safer London provided independent support to Jamal’s parent, helping them to better understand his experiences and the seriousness of the situation.
Alongside this, Safer London coordinated with statutory services, repeatedly escalating concerns and advocating for a response that prioritised Jamal’s safety over maintaining the status quo. This work focused on making sure that action was taken before further harm occurred, rather than waiting for risk to reach crisis point.
As a result of sustained advocacy and multi-agency work, Jamal was eventually moved out of London to live in a safer environment, away from the individuals targeting him.
This significantly reduced the immediate threat to his life and removed him from the context in which the exploitation had developed. Through coordinated support and persistent advocacy Jamal was able to move from harm to hope, towards a brighter safer future.
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## **Service Spotlight: Neurodiversity, violence and exploitation**
Many of the young people we work with are neurodivergent, which can increase their vulnerability and make them targets for exploitation. Many have experienced trauma and adverse childhood experiences, and are already involved in, or at significant risk of, violence, exploitation or criminal activity.
Our approach is built around understanding each young person as an individual. This means adapting how we work in practical ways - from how and where we meet, to how we communicate and build trust - and recognising the impact of trauma and unmet need rather than viewing behaviour in isolation.
Exploited neurodivergent young people rarely present with a single issue. Alongside autism or ADHD, there are often additional needs such as mental health challenges, learning difficulties and social isolation.
Through relationship-based support, we help young people build confidence, develop safer relationships and better understand risk. This includes work on exploitation awareness, emotional wellbeing, peer networks and re-engagement with education or future pathways.
For many, the barriers they face aren’t rooted in their needs alone, but in how those needs are understood and responded to. Where support isn’t adapted, services or education can be hard to engage with, contributing to disengagement, exclusion and mistrust of professionals.
Progress is often gradual and shaped by engagement. While some young people disengage early due to complexity or instability, sustained relationships can lead to meaningful improvements in safety, confidence and decision-making.
This lack of tailored support can significantly increase risk. Safeguarding concerns are common, including vulnerability to exploitation, harmful peer influence and unsafe environments. These risks are often compounded by isolation and limited or unsafe social networks.
Ultimately, this work is about breaking cycles - making sure that neurodivergent young people aren’t pushed further into harm because their needs are misunderstood, but are supported to move towards safer, more stable futures.
## **Training and consultancy**
## **25%**
Drawing on our experience supporting neurodiverse young people experiencing violence and exploitation, we provide specialist training and consultancy to equip organisations with practical skills and insight.
**of the young people we work with are neurodivergent or have SEND**
**If you or your team want to build confidence, understanding and effective responses visit our website for more information**
## **Caseworker insight**
"I’d say a large barrier that we find with neurodivergent young people is lack of understanding about neurodivergence within their existing network.
They often come through and they have no social network, a very, very small one or a harmful one.
And because they want money and they want friends and they want to be accepted by their peers, that makes them much more likely to fall into some sort of trap of being exploited."
Social workers, supported housing workers, teachers, staff working in education settings … they just don’t seem to have their neurodivergence very much catered for, which has led them to where they are.
If the support’s not correct, or people don’t fully understand the young person, then that support can often be the opposite of what it’s meant to be. It can actually be a negative impact rather than positive.
If they’re not already out of school when they’re allocated, then almost all of them will be close to being suspended or excluded.
Approximately 50 to 60% of neurodivergent young people we work with show vulnerability to criminal exploitation or harmful peer influence. Around 20 to 30% of cases involve sexual exploitation or online harm as a reported or emerging risk
For many, these risks overlap.
- An estimated half experience two or more forms of risk simultaneously
- Around 40 to 50% of young people have limited, unsafe or harmful peer networks
- • Approximately 60 to 70% are disengaged from education or are at risk of exclusion, increasing exposure to harm
*Estimates are based on analysis of case records and practitioner insight, reflecting patterns across the cohort rather than fixed categorical reporting.
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**From the beginning, it felt more like she was working with me than I was working with her.**
"From my very first interaction with my caseworker, it was evident that she brought an elevated level of knowledge and skill to the table which proved an invaluable asset to the support and resolution of our case.
She displayed empathy and cultural sensitivity in supporting our family while helping us navigate the complexities of interprofessional working.
She went above and beyond when liaising with professionals, fiercely advocating for our family and holding professionals accountable for actions or inactions.
I highly doubt our case would have had the resolution it did without her. She was the only consistent practitioner spearheading our case.
My experience working with her has not only been positive but life changing. She sought consent at every point, laying the groundwork for how she could best support me. She set me at ease from the onset, making sure that my voice was heard and my feelings acknowledged as valid.
I gained more support, recognition, validation, practical insight, tools and life skills to support emotional regulation than any counselling or talking therapies I had ever undertaken in the past.
Whenever I felt overwhelmed, she
provided and implemented tools which were adaptable and tailored to support my needs. She respected my boundaries and was sensitive to how information was shared and communicated.
I can’t fully express how life changing my worker has been in navigating such a challenging period of my life. It’s impossible to express with a dry eye how instrumental she has been in changing my outlook on life moving forward.
She renewed my faith that there are still honest and trustworthy professionals available to help.
I was grateful that I was included in the offer of support from the beginning as part of my son’s referral as it was recognised that I too was struggling.
Having someone from Safer London work alongside me while a different support worker from your team worked with my son protected, preserved and nurtured what was left of the fragile relationship between my son and myself. "
Parent who accessed Safer London support
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## **Last Year: What We Did**
# **Youth Voice and Participation**
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## **Youth Voice and Participation**
At Safer London, young people are central to everything we do.
Youth voice and participation are embedded across our work - creating opportunities for young people with lived experience of harm to shape services, influence systems and contribute to wider conversations about safety, justice and support.
Participation isn’t separate from our support. It is part of how young people build confidence, develop skills and move forward - while making sure their experiences directly inform how we work and how systems respond.
## **How young people shape our work**
We embed youth voice through two main mechanisms.
Across both, young people bring perspectives, grounding our work in lived experience and helping us respond in ways that are more informed, relevant and effective.
## **Young champion VIPs**
Our VIP programme brings together young people with lived experience to shape services, inform influencing work and engage with decision-makers.
## **Young researchers**
Alongside this, young people contribute to insight and learning through research activity - helping us understand emerging issues, test ideas and strengthen the evidence behind our work.
**Read From the Ground Up - our participation journey**
## **Youth voice in action**
- **17** young people consistently engaged in youth voice and participation activity over the year
- **27** group sessions delivered alongside one-to-one engagement and development sessions
- **90+** hours - the average number of participation hours logged by each young Londoner over the course of the year
- **4** enrichment activities delivered including a creative day, go-karting experience, bowling party and celebration event
- **7** influential organisations engaged including the Children's Commissioner, Greater London Authority, London Violence Reduction Unit, Metropolitan Police, Anna Freud, Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime and the University of Sussex.
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5 4 AQA Awards achieved
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**Being in Safer London’s VIP group already gives us that influence, but seeing it on a wider national scale made me feel proud and hopeful. I’m grateful for the opportunity and even more motivated to continue being part of meaningful change.**
**Eliah, Young Champion VIP**
## **Programme Spotlight: Safer London young champion VIPs**
The Safer London VIP programme brings together young people with lived experience of violence, exploitation and harm to shape how services and systems respond.
The programme supports young people who’ve experienced harm and are navigating complex risks in their lives.
It’s designed to be flexible and inclusive, offering both group sessions and one-toone participation so that young people can engage in ways that feel safe and accessible to them.
The VIP programme is trauma-informed and youth-led. Young people shape the content, structure and direction of the programme - creating a space that is grounded in their experiences and responsive to their needs.
This flexibility allows the programme to reach young people who may not engage with more traditional models of participation.
Over the past year, the programme has grown in both consistency and influence.
Young people engaged regularly in sessions that combined reflection, skill-building and direct contribution to real-world issues that matter to them.
Across the year, VIPs explored complex issues including policing, youth justice, digital harm, and inequality and identity
They contributed to external reports and discussions, including work with the London Assembly, attended national events and engaged with policymakers and co-designed and led events, workshops and organisational activity.
Alongside this influencing work, the programme creates a consistent space for connection and support - where young people could speak openly, build trust over time, and reflect on their experiences without judgement - and most importantly have fun!
At the same time, it places a strong focus on personal development - supporting young people to build confidence, develop skills and take part in meaningful opportunities that extend beyond the programme itself.
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**The campaign reached over 10,000 people across all platforms, with the film shortlisted for a Smiley Charity Film Award.**
## **Time to Listen**
A powerful example of the VIPs in action this year is Time to Listen - a campaign shaped, led and brought to life by young people.
From the outset, young Londoners were central to the campaign’s direction. Through a creative workshop, they explored how they’re often seen - through labels and assumptions - and challenged this with how they see themselves. These conversations directly shaped the campaign’s messages.
At the heart of the campaign is a co-created film. The VIPs were involved at every stage - shaping the script, contributing ideas, supporting filming and appearing on screen. The result is a powerful piece grounded in lived experience, where young people’s voices aren’t interpreted, but heard directly.
Comprised entirely of young people, the panel gave space for lived experience to be shared directly - offering a clear, practical insight into what meaningful engagement looks like when it’s done well.
The VIPs also shaped and led an event as part of the campaign, designed to showcase what meaningful participation looks like for young people who’ve experienced different forms of harm.
The event brought together professionals from across the sector and was delivered in partnership with the London VRU’s Young People’s Action Group.
This was widely seen as the most impactful part of the event, demonstrating not just the value of participation, but what’s possible when young people are trusted to lead, shape and influence the conversation.
The event was co-designed and led by the Safer London’s VIPs. They shaped the content, led table discussions with professionals and created space for open and honest conversations about what participation should look and feel like in practice.
Time to Listen shows what’s possible when young people move from participants to leaders - shaping not just the conversation, but the change that follows.
At the centre was a youth-led panel exploring the power of participation.
**Watch the Time to Listen campaign film**
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## **Last Year: What We Did**
# **Influencing Systems and Services**
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## **What System Change means to Safer London**
The challenges young Londoners face aren’t created by individuals alone – they’re shaped by the systems, environments and inequalities around them.
Many of the young people we support are living with pressures built up over time - poverty, trauma and structural inequality - that can make safety fragile and increase the risk of harm, exploitation and violence.
That’s why our work goes beyond direct support.
At Safer London, influencing change means transforming how systems and services understand and respond to young people affected by violence and exploitation.
Too often, responses focus on behaviour, punishment or control - rather than understanding what has happened to a young person. This can deepen mistrust, reinforce inequality and contribute to cycles of harm.
For young people, systems aren’t abstract - they shape everyday experiences of safety, trust and opportunity.
When responses are overly punitive or fail to reflect lived experience, mistrust grows, opportunities for support are missed, and harm can continue.
When systems shift - becoming more understanding, more consistent and more focused on safeguarding - young people are more likely to engage, risks can be identified earlier, and long-term outcomes improve.
At Safer London, we’re committed to working at both levels - supporting young people now, while influencing the systems that shape their futures.
Because lasting impact means not only helping young people move from harm to hope - but creating a world where fewer young people are pulled into harm in the first place.
We believe young people should be met with safeguarding, not criminalisation - with responses that prioritise safety, understanding and support.
This means influencing the systems around them - from policing and safeguarding to education, youth justice and policy - so they respond in ways that reduce harm and create long-term stability.
We do this by sharing learning from our frontline work, building partnerships and amplifying the voices of young people whose experiences are often overlooked. Our ambition is to make sure that what works for young people becomes part of everyday practice - not the exception.
**Systems can often fail young people, especially when they focus only on risk, behaviour or criminalisation because they miss what’s driving those behaviours in the first place.**
**Our aim is to influence the systems, structures and services around young people experiencing violence and exploitation.**
**By helping young people and families to use their voice and experience to create wider change, and by championing young people’s voices, we can help shape safer, more hopeful systems across London and the rest of the UK.**
**Carly Adams Elias, Director of Practice**
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## **From insight to influence: How change happens**
System change takes time. It’s built through relationships, trust and consistent moments of influence - each one creating the conditions for the next. This year, our work with policing shows how that change happens in practice.
It began with contributing insight at a system level.
Our Director of Practice was invited to contribute to the GLA’s Police and Crime Committee report exploring why young Londoners don’t trust the police, and what needs to change.
Following this, the Committee reached out to Safer London as part of the process because they wanted to engage directly with young people with lived experience of harm - not just wider community perspectives.
We worked with our young champion VIP group to bring those voices into the conversation. Their experiences of violence, exploitation and policing sat alongside our frontline expertise and were woven through the final report, shaping its conclusions and strengthening its recommendations.
From there, the conversation continued to grow.
At a national conference on stop and search, our Head of Safeguarding shared Safer London’s approach - placing protection, not punishment, at the centre of how systems respond to young people affected by harm.
This perspective was shaped directly by our VIP group, who worked with us to define the key messages, drawing on their lived experience of policing, trust and safety.
This created a turning point.
Representatives from the Metropolitan Police attended the conference, heard the presentation, and engaged with the approach being shared.
Following the event, they reached out to Safer London and as a result members of our Safer London VIP group were invited to Scotland Yard to engage directly with the Metropolitan Police.
At Scotland Yard, the young people spoke openly about their experiences of policing and trust. They reflected on what isn’t working, shared the realities they navigate, and put forward clear, practical ideas for change. Their contributions were grounded in lived experience, offering insight that can’t be captured through data alone.
This work reflects how system change happens in practice - not through one moment, but through a sequence of connected steps.
Insight from frontline work feeds into policy conversations. Young people shape the messages. National engagement opens doors. And those doors create opportunities for young people to influence systems directly.
## **Young Champion insight**
"I was in secondary school when I heard about a girl being illegally stripped down on her period and searched because she smelled like what was suspected to be weed. That instilled a deep-rooted fear in the whole of my secondary school.
I've been stopped and searched once in my life and the man was extremely ignorant and he was making sure I knew that he had the power of this situation. And he did have the power in that situation and that's the reality of it.
What matters is the people that are on the force and what they're being trained with. I'm tired of hearing, oh, you know, the police aren’t mental health professionals.
You don't have to be a mental health professional to be respectful, to be kind, to be compassionate.
You don't even have to have any form of knowledge of what the person may possibly have, because just being a police officer would require you to be compassionate, kind and respectful.
Because if you are serving the community, you're serving every single community. What we have to address, the fact is, a lot of the police has been conditioned to believe black is scary and black is suspicious because I don't see lots of white boys getting stopped.
The point I'm trying to make is that we keep trying to get it off to other things when it isn't that. Some of it’s just racism and that is it at the end of the day.
And there needs to be more to be done. We have conversations all the time, but the conversations get boring when there's no actual productivity."
**I'm Black, I'm deaf, I'm autistic, and before you know I'm autistic or deaf, you know I'm Black. So before we go into any disability, before we even get to that threshold, there was already a barrier.**
**Amani, Young Champion VIP**
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## **Last Year: What We Saw**
# **Trends and themes from our work**
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## **The scale and complexity of risk**
The young people we work with are navigating complex, overlapping forms of harm, as well as high levels of risk and need.
Many are being referred into our services at a point of high or escalating risk, often requiring immediate and coordinated intervention.
## **Overlapping harms and needs**
Young people rarely experience harm in isolation.
## Across our work:
- **46%** were affected by violence in the community
- **41%** experienced criminal exploitation
- **1 in 5** were affected by sexual exploitation
- **1 in 5** went missing from home or care
For many, these risks overlap.
- **26%** of young people presented with three or more risks
- **1 in 10** experienced four or more risks
Alongside these risks, 65% of young people typically presented with 4 to 6 different needs, most commonly:
- safeguarding (including online harm)
- emotional wellbeing and mental health
- physical and relational safety
- education, training and future stability
Over the past year we responded to:
## **2618**
safeguarding concerns.
Of these 738 were graded as high risk or the most serious.
These are cases where the level of concern required the most urgent attention and response. Concerns include:
- prolonged missing episodes, significantly increasing the risk of exploitation and harm
- arrests for serious offences
- situations where risk was already evident at the point of referral
- • incidents of serious abuse, including disclosures of sexual harm
- young people being physically attacked or stabbed
- hospitalisation following suicide attempts
- cases involving threat-to-life warnings
Despite high levels of risk 63% open cases had no formal safeguarding plan in place at point of referral in our services.
- At the same time nearly half of referrals came from statutory services and one in five came through youth justice agencies.
## **Who we worked with**
Over the past year, our work has continued to highlight clear patterns of inequality and disproportionality.
Of the young people we worked with last year 81% of were Two thirds 57% were 29% had an Nearly 1 in 4 Over half were aged under 18 were aged 16 from racially identified had Autism from London’s or under marginalised disability or SEND most deprived communities boroughs
## **What this tells us**
## **Harm is complex and overlapping**
Young people are rarely facing just one issue, different risks often overlap, requiring coordinated and long-term support.
## **Inequality is a driving factor**
Patterns across race, disability and geography show that harm isn’t evenly distributed, it’s shaped by structural inequalities.
## **Neurodiversity can increase vulnerability to exploitation**
Neurodivergent young people can face increased risks of exploitation and harm, but access to tailored and specialist support doesn't always reflect the level of need.
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## **What we’ll do next**
# **Looking back and looking ahead**
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## **Reflections from our CEO**
"As I complete my first year as CEO of Safer London, I’ve been taking time to reflect on what has been an inspiring, challenging and deeply rewarding year.
Arriving at the organisation, I knew about the important work Safer London does, but what has struck me most over the past twelve months is the extraordinary dedication, experience and care that exists across our team.
Every day, the team work alongside young Londoners and families facing some of the most complex challenges imaginable, building trusted relationships and creating space for change, often over many months and at some of the most difficult moments in their lives. That commitment is one of Safer London’s greatest strengths.
Throughout the year, I’ve had the privilege of meeting many of the young people involved in our services and participation programmes.
Spending time with our VIPs has been a particular highlight. I’ve been continually inspired by their honesty, insight and determination to make things better, not only for themselves but for other young people as well.
One thing this year has reinforced for me is the importance of listening. Real listening means creating the time and space for young people to feel heard, understood and valued.
When young people have trusted adults in their lives and support that meets them where they are, meaningful change becomes possible. This belief runs through our work and is reflected in the relationships our staff build every day.
I’m also proud of the progress we’ve made this year. We’ve strengthened partnerships, deepened our work with young people and launched our new strategy From Crisis to Stability, From Harm to Hope. Together, these foundations put us in a strong position for the future.
As we look ahead, I am optimistic. The challenges facing young Londoners remain significant, but so too is their potential.
I’m excited to continue working alongside young people, families, colleagues and partners to create safer brighter futures, amplify young voices and help more young people move from harm to hope."
Rosemary Watt-Wyness, Safer London CEO
Their willingness to share their experiences and challenge the systems around them reminds us why youth voice must sit at the heart of what we do.
**As I reach the end of my first year as CEO of Safer London, I find myself feeling both proud of what we've achieved together and optimistic about what lies ahead.**
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## **Looking Ahead**
This year reinforced something we see every day through our work with young people - harm is rarely isolated and too often, support comes too late.
Young people’s experiences of violence, exploitation, missing episodes, poor mental health and exclusion from education are deeply connected.
These aren’t separate issues. They’re shaped by shared underlying factors - including poverty, unmet need, lack of emotional safety and the environments young people are navigating.
The need is growing and the challenges are complex. But what we see through our work also shows what’s possible.
By recognising the full reality of young people’s lives, staying alongside them through critical transitions and working to influence the systems around them we can create not just moments of change, but the foundations for lasting safety and hope.
## **Responding to the whole picture and overlapping harms**
What we see in practice is that young people rarely experience harm in isolation.
Many are navigating several forms of harm at the same time - alongside challenges in their relationships, emotional wellbeing, safety and future stability. This requires a response that reflects the full picture of their lives.
Looking ahead, we’ll continue to strengthen how we respond to the shared drivers that sit beneath different experiences of harm - from unmet emotional needs and peer influence to systemic inequality and exclusion.
By connecting these insights across our work, we can provide support that is more joined-up, more responsive and more reflective of how harm actually shows up in young people’s lives.
## **Bridging the gap of transitional safeguarding**
Many of the young people we support are under 18 and are navigating significant harm and instability while still children. Yet as they approach adulthood, support often reduces or falls away entirely. This creates one of the most critical gaps in the system.
At 17 and 18, many young people are still facing the same risks - or even greater ones - but with fewer services around them. At this point, trusted relationships and consistent support are often lost, just as when they're needed most. For some, we become the only service that remains.
Addressing this gap will be a key priority in the years ahead. We’ll continue to advocate for stronger transitional safeguarding approaches that recognise that vulnerability doesn’t end at 18 - and that support should be shaped by need, not age.
## **Building a system that responds differently**
Alongside our direct work, we’ll continue to use our insight and young people’s voices to influence wider change.
This includes
- challenging responses that focus on behaviour rather than underlying need
- pushing for systems that recognise overlapping harms, not single issues
- calling for sustained investment in long-term, relationship-based support
Our strategy sets out a clear ambition - not just to support young people to move from harm to hope, but to shape the systems around them so fewer are pulled into harm in the first place.
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## **Thanks and acknowledgements**
## **Supporters and funders**
- Barrow Cadbury Trust
- Garfield Weston Foundation
- Help for Children UK
- The London Community Foundation
- • Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC)
- The London Violence Reduction Unit
- The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
- The National Lottery Community Fund
- Peter Stebbings Memorial Fund
- • The many schools and individuals who fundraised to support our work.
## **Partners and collaborators**
- Anna Freud
- AWW Architects
- Centrepoint
- Code 7
- Exit Hate UK
- Father 2 Father
- Laurelle Brown
- New Horizon Youth Centre
- St Giles Trust
- The Suzy Lamplugh Trust
Our deepest thanks and gratitude go to all the young Londoners, parents and carers who accessed our support and services over the past year, as well as the Safer London caseworkers who worked alongside them.
The resilience of children and young people who've experienced harm is truly inspiring. They're the heroes of their own stories, and we're privileged to support them on their journeys from harm to hope.
## **Connect With Us**
To discuss potential partnerships or to commission our services, please email bd@saferlondon.org.uk
If you’d like us to speak at your event or conference please email communications@saferlondon.org.uk
Information on our services, including criteria and how to make a referral, can be found on our website www.saferlondon.org.uk
For general enquiries please email info@saferlondon.org.uk
- company/safer london/
@saferldn
## **Partnership Spotlight: AWW x Safer London**
Our Corporate Champion partnership with AWW shows how much more is possible when organisations bring not just funding, but energy, creativity and expertise.
Since 2024, AWW has supported Safer London in ways that go beyond the expected. From a staff-led ‘Spooky Cycle’ challenge raising over £1,000 - enough to fund longterm support for two young people - to opening up their workplace and networks to young Londoners, the partnership has created opportunities that are both practical and inspiring.
Through a hands-on skills workshop with our VIP group, young people explored careers in architecture and design, building confidence and, for some, shaping future ambitions. These kinds of experiences matter - they offer a window into possibilities that can otherwise feel out of reach.
What makes AWW stand out as a Corporate Champion is their commitment to doing more.
Alongside fundraising and supporting young people, we’ve started to bring our expertise together - combining their knowledge of the built environment with our work on contextual safeguarding to explore how spaces can be designed to be safer for young people.
This is what meaningful partnership looks like. Not just raising funds, but opening doors, sharing skills and helping to create safer, more hopeful futures.
**Become a Corporate Champion**
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## **Trustees’ Report**
# **Trustees’ Report and Annual Accounts**
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## **Safer London Trustees Report and Annual Accounts**
## **Contents**
## **Reports**
Reference and administrative information Trustees’ report Independent auditor’s report
## **Financial statements**
Statement of financial activities Balance sheet Statement of cash flows Principal accounting policies Notes to the financial statements
The Trustees present their report together with the financial statements of Safer London for the year 2025/2026.
Company number 05190766
## **Reference and administrative information**
|Trustees|Janine McDowell, Chair
Gemma Bailey
Vaneesha Bailey
Valerie Floy, Hon. Treasurer
Anthony Gunter
Baroness Sally Hamwee (resigned 25 March 2026)
Tim Jones
Nicola Marcel (appointed 26 November 2025)
Olutobi Odetoyinbo (appointed 26 November 2025)
Gemma Perolls (appointed 26 November 2025)
Helga Swidenbank (appointed 26 November 2025)
Carrie Timms(appointed 26 November 2025)|
|---|---|
|Key
management
personnel,
Senior
Leadership
Team|Chief Executive Offcer: Rosemary Watt-Wyness
(appointed 12 May 2025)
Deputy Chief Executive Offcer: Katie Mitchell
(Acting Chief Executive Offcer until 11 May 2025)
Director of Practice
Head of Safeguarding
Head of Business Development
Head of Finance
Head of People (from 2 June 2025)
Head of Quality Practice
Head of Business Development|
|Registered
offce|The Foundry
Room 112
154-156 Blackfriars Road
London,SE1 8EN|
|Bankers|National Westminster Bank
10 Southwark Street
London
SE1 1TJ|
|Auditors|Buzzacott Audit LLP
130 Wood Street
London EC2V 6DL|
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## **Safer London’s financial performance during the reporting period**
Our income in 2025/26 was £3,390,146 (2024/25: £3,514,480).
Our focus this year has been the delivery OF London’s Children and Young People’s Violence and Exploitation Support Service (which commenced in June 2024). This service was originally commissioned by the London Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime but transferred to the London Violence Reduction Unit in October 2025. This contract accounted for £3,145,959 (2025: £2,650,411) of income during 2025/26.
The contract to deliver the London’s Children and Young People’s Violence and Exploitation Support Service is being re-tendered from June 2027, when the current contract, delivered by Safer London and the other members of an alliance, comes to an end. There is no planned gap in service provision by the commissioner.
We have been delighted to secure funding from several Trusts and Foundations during 2025/26 giving rise to income of £79,481 (2025: £81,111) in the current year and deferred income of £60,833 (2025: £7,500) for next year.
We are excited to be working with The Suzy Lamplugh Trust and Centrepoint and others to provide learning, guidance and practice development to improve the safety of young people. We look forward to being able to partner more organisations in this way in 2026/27 and beyond.
Safer London made a surplus of £57,860 in 2025/26 (2024/25: deficit of £148,139). This surplus arose from reduced headcount and savings made in rent, legal and other costs. We plan to use some of this surplus in undertaking group work with young Londoners in 2026/27.
Safer London receives occasional donations from individuals or small groups who have raised funds in aid of our work, as well as donations and in-kind assistance from private sector
## **Reserves policy cont**
The level of reserves as at 31 March 2026, as reported in this annual report and financial statements, was £913,197 (£855,337 at 31 March 2025). Of this amount, £911,600 was unrestricted (2025: £855,337) and £1,597 was restricted (2025: nil). Of these reserves, £60,000 has been designated by the Trustees for investment in business innovation during the 2026/27 financial year. Free reserves at 31 March 2026 were therefore £851,600 (2025: £791,688) which is slightly above the Reserves Policy’s target range but considered materially in line with target.
## **Safer London’s ability to continue as a going concern**
The Trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these financial statements. The Trustees have made this assessment in respect to a period of at least one year from the date of approval of these financial statements.
The budget for 2026/27 shows a budget with a deficit of £64,000 and forecast reserves at 31 March 2027 of £849,000, within the target range. The budget deficit represents continuing investment in the charity’s development of important services for young Londoners. The charity’s latest set of management accounts demonstrates that it is materially on track to achieve this.
The Trustees are satisfied at the time of approving this report that Safer London has adequate reserves, combined with sufficient funding, to enable the organisation to remain financially solvent until at least 31 March 2028. If the charity was to be unable to secure additional funding, the organisation would undergo a slimming-down so as to reduce its fixed costs in order to remain able to deliver to budget. Scenario analysis demonstrates that the charity is able to do this, maintaining cash levels above £160,000 beyond 31 March 2028.
The going concern basis of accounts preparation has therefore been adopted. No material uncertainties have been identified relating to this.
## **Reserves policy**
Safer London has a reserves policy specifically to support its aims to hold sufficient reserves to:
- enable normal operating activities to continue for a specific period should a shortfall in income occur;
- take account of potential risks and contingencies that may arise from time to time, such as when projects overrun or unplanned events occur;
- acknowledge that there will be times when the size of the business cannot scale back sufficiently in line with contracts lost, since to do so would result in the loss of key personnel which would in turn limit Safer London’s ability to operate effectively to meet its charitable purpose or grow in the future;
- maintain a presence in the sector;
- cover any known liabilities such as rental agreements which cannot be immediately scaled back in line with changes to the size of the business; and
- ensure an orderly close-down of the business if required.
As a result of the process set out above and acknowledging the challenging external environment and the risks associated with the agreed operation of our key contract, the Board of Trustees believes that a target reserves range of £450,000-£850,000 meets the charity’s needs.
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## **Investment and treasury management policy**
Safer London has an Investment Policy which in summary sets out that the Trustees, taking due account of the liquidity requirements of operating the charity on a day-to-day basis, will keep most available funds in low-risk bank deposits, despite the poor interest returns on such deposits. This is to preserve healthy cash flow and contingency. The investments aim to preserve the capital value with a minimum level of risk.
The policy does go further and allows higher risk investment, where Safer London has enough investments to spread risk effectively and maintains quick access to a proportion of funds as described above.
This policy will remain in place until such time as unrestricted reserves, after appropriate internal investment in the charity’s future development, reach a level where options offering higher returns – although with associated increase in risk that comes with a broader spread of investment options - can be considered.
Safer London did not hold any investments during the financial year 2025/26 or 2024/25.
## **Fundraising statement**
Safer London will not knowingly apply to, or accept funding from, companies, organisations or individuals who are directly involved in activities that are contrary to our overall aims. These include companies, organisations or individuals who directly block or actively work against young people both in the UK and overseas; whose activities directly exploit or harm young people; or who directly block or work against the empowerment of young people.
We fund our work through services delivered on behalf of statutory agencies and we seek funding for our work from institutional donors and grant-giving trusts. We also advertise opportunities to fundraise in aid of Safer London on our website and social media. Where we receive donations from the public, they are usually processed through accounts with reputable online platforms such as Just Giving.
Safer London makes it clear on our website how complaints can be made about any aspect of our activity. We received no complaints in relation to our fundraising activity this year.
All fundraising is carried out by employees of Safer London. This year we did not employ professional fundraising agencies or any other third parties to fundraise on our behalf.
The charity complies with the General Data Privacy Regulations and protects individuals’ personal information. We do not solicit individuals via telephone or door to door, we have not bought any data lists, and we never sell our supporters data. We review all relationships with commercial supporters’ when the relationship is established and on an ongoing basis thereafter. We put in place Commercial Participator agreements where these are required.
## **Pay policy for key management personnel and senior staff**
The charity considers its Key Management Personnel during the year to have comprised all Trustees and the following staff.
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO) – Rosemary Watt- Wyness (appointed 12 May 2025)
- Deputy CEO - Katie Mitchell (Acting CEO until 11 May 2025)
- • Director of Practice
- Head of Safeguarding
- Head of Business Development
- Head of Finance
- Head of People (from 2 June 2025)
- Head of Quality Practice
The CEO pay is defined on an agreed 5 point pay scale which forms a part of the overall organisational pay and grading structure.
Regular, independent benchmarking of pay bands for charities of a similar size is undertaken alongside a benefits review. The last review took place in June 2026.
Roles are evaluated in line with our Job Evaluation scheme. Job Evaluations are carried out by a panel of senior staff trained as job analysts.
## **Recruiting and appointing new charity trustees**
Our Trustees are responsible for setting the strategy and delivery objectives of Safer London. In accordance with the Articles of Association the minimum number of Trustees at any one time is three. There is no maximum number. Trustees are appointed by resolution of current Trustees. Candidates for Trustee roles go through a robust application, recruitment and selection process. They are also vetted through DBS.
Once appointed, new Trustees are given a formal programme of induction which includes safeguarding training aligned with the charity’s core activities. Further opportunities for training, both internal and external, are provided to each trustee during their term of office as appropriate.
The Trustees consider that the Board of Trustees, who are the charitable company’s Directors, and the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) comprise key management personnel of the charity in charge of directing, controlling, running and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. All Trustees give their time freely and no Trustee received remuneration in the year 2025/26 or 2024/25.
The charity adheres to the standards in compliance with the Code of Fundraising Practice. Fundraising activities are led by the Head of Business Development and are monitored by the wider Senior Leadership Team.
The Trustees are involved in setting the charity’s approach to raising funds, and regular reporting to the Trustees provides assurance that our activities follow this approach in practice and reflect the charity’s values.
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## **Risk management**
Safer London’s Risk Management Policy (last updated in May 2024) sets out the methodology for assessing and rating risks. It is reviewed every two years.
Safer London has a Risk Management Subgroup which meets at least four times per year. This group is made up of the Deputy CEO, the EA to the CEO and Governance Coordinator, the Head of Quality Practice, the Head of Safeguarding, the Head of Finance, and the Service Delivery Lead. A Trustee is invited to join meetings according to availability. Other managers that are regularly invited include the Head of Business Development and the Head of Data, Impact and Technology (who maintains a separate risk register).
The Risk Management Subgroup reviews current risks and controls and conducts horizon scanning to help ensure awareness of potential risks and developments that may impact on the organisation. Where a major incident or business continuity issue occurs, they review the register considering any learning or changes to risk level.
The Risk Management Policy requires that significant new opportunities and previously unforeseen risks are assessed as and when they arise. For each risk identified Safer London looks at existing controls that already seek to reduce the negative effect of the risk (mitigation) or the likelihood of it occurring. In addition, further actions are identified as part of the risk management subgroup. SLT focuses on risk to ensure that we continually seek to mitigate the risks posed to the organisation.
Significant – red - risks (score of 15+) are shared with the Board at each quarterly Board meeting. Red risks are reviewed by the Risk Subgroup at each meeting and recommendations for mitigations shared with SLT. The Corporate Risk Register is reviewed in its entirety by the Risk Subgroup on a regular basis and in its entirety by SLT quarterly.
It is reviewed in full by the Board once a year.
Examples of key non-financial risks on the register include:
- The risk that children, young people and families working with Safer London’s employees experience significant harm. This could also result in reputational damage, possible intervention from statutory or regulatory bodies, further operational risk, and the loss of employees due to the emotional impact. [Operational risk] To help mitigate this risk, Safer London has robust safeguarding procedures as well as a safeguarding plan and staff training.
- The risk that Safer London fails to recruit and retain appropriately skilled staff, which could result in a loss of contracts if there were insufficient staff to deliver the required work. This could result in increased safeguarding risks and in higher staff turnover and associated cost. [Operational risk]. To help mitigate this risk, Safer London has improved its recruitment procedures, updated its wellbeing policies and resources and regularly reviews the pay and benefits offered to staff.
- The risk that Safer London fails to comply with legislation/guidance e.g. Charities Act, GDPR/ Data Protection Act, Health & Safety, employment legislation which could lead to fines, tribunals, loss of contracts, reputational risk. [Compliance risk] To help mitigate this risk, compliance with legislation is embedded in all Safer London’s applicable policies and a named staff member has responsibility for keeping up to date with legislation in given areas.
## **Trustees’ responsibilities**
The Trustees (who are also directors of Safer London for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the income and expenditure for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- • observe the methods and principles of the Charities SORP;
- make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
-
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website.
Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
None of the Trustees receive remuneration or other benefit from their work with the charity. Any connection between a Trustee or key staff member of the charity and an external funder or provider of goods or services must be disclosed to the full Board of Trustees in the same way as any other contractual relationship with a related party. This is done via an annual declaration of any such transactions as well as in-year disclosures as appropriate.
## **Statement as to disclosure to our auditors:**
Insofar as the Trustees are aware at the time of approving this Trustees’ annual report there is no relevant information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware, and the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
This report was approved by the Trustees on 29th July 2026 and signed on their behalf by:
Janine McDowell, Chair of Trustees.
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## **Independent auditor’s report to the Members of Safer London**
## **Opinion**
We have audited the financial statements of Safer London (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2026 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows, the principal accounting policies and the notes to the financial statements. 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 2026 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 charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
## **Other information**
The other information comprises the information included in the annual report and financial statements, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The Trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report and financial statements. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
## **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 is also the directors’ report 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 Trustees’ report, which is also the directors’ report for the purposes of company law, has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
## **Matters on which we are required to report by exception**
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ 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.
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## **Responsibilities of Trustees**
As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements**
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
- the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
- we obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the charity and determined that the most significant frameworks which are directly relevant to specific assertions in the financial statements are those that relate to the reporting framework (Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011) and those that relate to data protection (General Data Protection Regulation); and
- identified laws and regulations were communicated within the audit team regularly and the team remained alert to instances of non-compliance throughout the audit.
We assessed the susceptibility of the charity’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:
## **Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements cont**
To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:
- performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
- reviewed journal entries to identify unusual transactions;
- tested the authorisation of expenditure, ensuring expenditure was approved in line with the charitable company’s financial procedures;
- assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining the accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias; and
- investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions.
In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:
- agreeing financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation;
- reviewing the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance; and
- enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims.
There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of non-compliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the Trustees and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.
Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
## **Use of our report**
This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
30 July 2026
- making enquiries of key management as to where they considered there was susceptibility to fraud, their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and
- considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.
Katharine Patel (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Buzzacott Audit LLP, Statutory Auditor 130 Wood Street
London
EC2V 6DL
Buzzacott Audit LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006
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## **Financial statements**
## **Statement of financial activities Year to 31 March 2026 (incorporating the income and expenditure account)**
||Notes|Unrestricted|Restricted|**Total**|Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||funds|funds|**funds**|funds|funds|funds|
|||£|£|**2026**|£|£|2025|
|||||**£**|||£|
|**Income from:**||||||||
|Donations and
legacies|1|4,033|—|**4,033**|8,405|—|8,405|
|Charitable
activities|2|3,165,032|221,081|**3,386,113**|2,660,511|845,564|3,506,075|
|**Total income**||3,169,065|221,081|**3,390,146**|2,668,916|845,564|3,514,480|
|**Expenditure on:**
Raising funds
Charitable
activities|3,4
3.4|145,070
2,967,732|1,357
218,127|**146,427**
**3,185,859**|134,883
2,682,172|18,612
826,952|153,495
3,509,124|
|**Total**
**expenditure**||3,112,802|219,484|**3,332,286**|2,817,055|845,564|3,662,619|
|||||||||
|**Net**
**income**
**(expenditure)**
**and net**
**movement**
**in funds**||56,263|1,597|**57,860**|(148,139)|-|(148,139)|
|**Reconciliation of funds:**
Funds brought
forward at 1
April 2025
12||855,337|—|**855,337**|1,003,476|-|1,003,476|
|**Funds carried**
**forward at 31**
**March 2026**|12|911,600|1,597|**913,197**|855,337|-|855,337|
All income and expenditure derives from continuing operations.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
The notes on pages 38 to 42 form part of these financial statements.
## **Balance sheet 31 March 2026**
||Notes|**2026**|**2026**|2025|2025|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|**£**|£|£|
|**Fixed assets**||||||
|Tangible fxed
assets|9||**-**||1,649|
|**Current assets**||||||
|Debtors|10|**768,415**||764,823||
|Cash at bank
and in hand||**501,718**||437,566||
|**Liabilities**||**1,270,133**||1,202,389||
|Creditors:||||||
|amounts falling
due within one|11|**(356,936)**||(348,701)||
|year||||||
|**Net current**
**assets**|||**913,197**||853,688|
|Creditors:||||||
|amounts falling
due after more|
11||-||-|
|than one year||||||
|**Total net**
**assets**|||**913,197**||855,337|
|**The funds of the**|**Charity**|||||
|Restricted
funds|12||**1,597**||-|
|Unrestricted
funds|12||**911,600**
**913,197**||855,337
855,337|
The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and preparation of financial statements. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to entities subject to the small companies regime.
The financial statements were approved by the Trustees of Safer London, Company Registration Number 05190766 (England and Wales), and signed on their behalf by:
Janine McDowell, Chair of Trustees Approved on: 29th July 2026
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## **Statement of cash flows Year 31 March 2026**
||Notes|**2026**|2025|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|£|
|**Cash fows from operating activities:**||||
|Net cash provided by (used in) operating
activities|A|**64,152**|(459,301)|
|**Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash**
**equivalents**||**64,152**|(459,301)|
|**Cash and cash equivalents at 1 April 2025**|B|**437,566**|896,867|
|**Cash and cash equivalents at 31 March 2026**|B|**501,718**|437,566|
## **Notes to the statement of cash flows for the year to 31 March 2026**
A. Reconciliation of net movements in funds to net cash flow from operating activities
||**2026**|2025|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|**Net income (expenditure) for the period (as per statement**
**of fnancial activities)**|**57,860**|(148,139)|
|Adjustments for:|||
|Depreciation charges|**1,649**|2,663|
|Increase in debtors|**(3,592)**|(329,442)|
|Increase in creditors|**8,235**|15,617|
|**Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities**|**64,152**|(459,301)|
B. Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
||||**2026**|2025|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||||**£**|
£|
|Cash at bank and in hand||**501,718**||437,566|
|**Total cash and cash equivalents**||**501,718**||437,566|
|. Analysis of changes in net debt|||||
||At 1 April 2025
£|Cash fows
£|**At 31**|**March 2026**
**£**|
|Cash at bank and in hand|437,566|64,152||**501,718**|
|**Total**|437,566|64,152||**501,718**|
C. Analysis of changes in net debt
A statement of net debt has not been presented above as the Charity held no debt during the year.
## **Principal accounting policies**
The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are laid out below.
## **Basis of preparation**
These financial statements have been prepared for the year to 31 March 2026 with comparative information provided in respect to the year to 31 March 2025.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policies below or the notes to these financial statements.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their financial statements in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are presented in sterling and are rounded to the nearest pound.
## **Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgment**
Preparation of the financial statements requires the Trustees and management to make significant judgements and estimates. The key items in the financial statements where these judgements and estimates have been made comprise:
- determining the basis for allocating support costs;
- • assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern (see below).
## **Going concern**
The Trustees have assessed the use of the going concern basis for the preparation of the accounts and have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern, including the re-tendering of Safer London’s largest contract, London’s Children and Young People’s Violence and Exploitation Support Service, from June 2027. The Trustees have made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of the approval of these financial statements.
The budget for 2026/27 shows a deficit of £64,000 representing further investment in Safer London’s services. Forecast free reserves at 31 March 2027 are £849,000, which is within the range set by the Trustees. The charity’s latest set of management accounts show it is on track to achieve this. Safer London is seeking to diversify its income to reduce the reliance on its main funder, and to enable it to build on its existing reach.
The Trustees are satisfied that at the time of approving these accounts there are adequate reserves and sufficient funding for the organisation to remain financially solvent until at least 31 March 2028. If the charity was to be unable to secure additional funding, the organisation would undergo a slimming-down so as to reduce its fixed costs in order to remain able to deliver to budget. Scenario analysis demonstrates that the charity is able to do this, maintaining cash levels above £160,000 beyond 31 March 2028.
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## **Going concern cont**
As a result, the Trustees have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The charity therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing these financial statements. No material uncertainties have been identified relating to this.
## **Income**
All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.
For donations to be recognised the charity will have been notified of the amounts and the settlement date in writing. If there are conditions attached to the donation and this requires a level of performance before entitlement can be obtained then income is deferred until those conditions are fully met or the fulfilment of those conditions is within the control of the charity and it is probable that they will be fulfilled.
Income from grants and contracts are recognised at fair value when the charity has entitlement after any performance conditions have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and there are no unfulfilled conditions. If entitlement is not met then these amounts are deferred.
No amount is included in the financial statements for volunteer time in line with the SORP (FRS 102).
## **Expenditure**
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Support costs are those that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities and include, HR support, IT infrastructure and support, governance costs and administration.
Expenditure on charitable activities is incurred on directly undertaking the activities which further the charity’s objectives, as well as any associated support costs.
Expenditure on raising funds includes all expenditure associated with generating fundraised income, as well as any associated support costs.
Termination benefits, included redundancy costs, are recognised when the charity has the obligation to pay the benefits and they can be measured reliably. All expenditure is inclusive of irrecoverable VAT. Safer London is a registered charity in England and Wales No. 1109444;
## **Taxation**
The charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.
## **Tangible fixed assets and depreciation**
Tangible fixed assets costing £2,000 or more are capitalised and recognised when future economic benefits are probable and the cost or value of the asset can be measured reliably. Tangible fixed assets are initially recognised at cost. After recognition, under the cost model, tangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses. All costs incurred to bring a tangible fixed asset into its intended working condition should be included in the measurement of cost.
At each reporting date the charity assesses whether there is any indication of impairment. If such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is determined to be the higher of its fair value less costs to sell and its value in use. An impairment loss is recognised where the carrying amount exceeds the recoverable amount.
Depreciation is charged so as to allocate the cost of tangible fixed assets less their residual value over their estimated useful lives, using the straight-line method.
## Depreciation is provided on the following bases:
- Computer equipment - 33%
## **Debtors**
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
## **Cash at bank and in hand**
Cash at bank and in hand includes cash and short-term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.
## **Liabilities and provisions**
Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.
Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide. Provisions are measured at the best estimate of the amounts required to settle the obligation. Where the effect of the time value of money is material, the provision is based on the present value of those amounts, discounted at the pre-tax discount rate that reflects the risks specific to the liability. The unwinding of the discount is recognised in the statement of financial activities as a finance cost.
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## **Financial instruments**
The charity holds only basic financial instruments. The financial assets and liabilities of the charity are as follows:
Financial assets - Trade and other debtors (including accrued income) are basic financial instruments and are debt instruments measured at amortised cost as detailed in Note 10. Prepayments are not financial instruments.
Cash at bank - is classified as a basic financial instrument and is measured at face value, as presented on the balance sheet.
Financial liabilities - Trade creditors, other creditors and accruals are basic financial instruments and are measured at amortised cost as detailed in Note 11. Taxation and social security are not included in the financial instruments disclosure. Deferred income is not deemed to be a financial liability, as the cash settlement has already taken place and there is an obligation to deliver charitable services rather than cash or another financial instrument.
## **Operating leases**
Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the statement of financial activities on a
straight-line basis over the lease term.
## **Pensions**
When employees have rendered service to the charity, short-term employee benefits to which the employees are entitled are recognised at the undiscounted amount expected to be paid in exchange for the service.
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme, and the pension charge
represents the amounts payable by the charity to the fund in respect of the year.
## **Fund accounting**
General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.
Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the Board of Trustees for a particular purpose.
## **Notes to the financial statements Year to 31 March 2026**
## **1. Income from donations, legacies and grants**
||Unrestricted|Restricted|**Total funds**|
|---|---|---|---|
||funds|funds|**2026**|
||£|£|**£**|
|Donations|4,033|-|**4,033**|
||4,033|-|**4,033**|
||_Unrestricted_|_Restricted_|_Total funds_|
||_funds_|_funds_|_2025_|
||_£_|_£_|_£_|
|_Donations_|_8,405_|_-_|_8,405_|
||_8,405_|_-_|_8,405_|
|**2. Income from charitable activities – by type**||||
||Unrestricted|Restricted|**Total funds**|
||funds|funds|**2026**|
||£|£|**£**|
|People|2,849,298|195,355|**3,044,653**|
|Peers|157,867|12,863|**170,730**|
|Places|157,867|12,863|**170,730**|
||3,165,032|221,081|**3,386,113**|
||_Unrestricted_|_Restricted_|_Total funds_|
||_funds_|_funds_|_2025_|
||_£_|_£_|_£_|
|_People_|_2,278,810_|_724,252_|_3,003,062_|
|_Peers_|_241,347_|_76,705_|_318,052_|
|_Places_|_140,354_|_44,607_|_184,961_|
||_2,660,511_|_845,564_|_3,506,075_|
Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors, or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. The costs of raising and 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. Investment income, gains and losses are allocated to the appropriate fund.
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## **Notes to the financial statements Year to 31 March 2026 cont**
## **3. Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities – by fund**
||Unrestricted|Restricted|**Total funds**|
|---|---|---|---|
||funds|funds|**2026**|
||£|£|**£**|
|Raising funds|145,070|1,357|**146,427**|
|Support and Out-reach|2,967,732|218,127|**3,185,859**|
||3,112,802|219,484|**3,332,286**|
||_Unrestricted_|_Restricted_|_Total funds_|
||_funds_|_funds_|_2025_|
||_£_|_£_|_£_|
|_Raising funds_|_134,883_|_18,612_|_153,495_|
|_Support and Out-reach_|_2,682,172_|_826,952_|_3,509,124_|
||_2,817,055_|_845,564_|_3,662,619_|
## **4. Analysis of expenditure on charitable activities – by type**
||Activities
undertaken|Support
Costs|**Total funds**
**2026**|
|---|---|---|---|
||directly|£|**£**|
||£|||
|Raising funds|135,587|10,840|**146,427**|
|Support and Out-reach|2,623,192|562,667|**3,185,859**|
||2,758,779|573,507|**3,332,286**|
||_Activities_
_undertaken_|_Support_
_Costs_|_Total funds_
_2025_|
||_directly_|_£_|_£_|
||_£_|||
|_Raising funds_|_120,588_|_32,907_|_153,495_|
|_Support and Out-reach_|_2,745,162_|_763,962_|_3,509,124_|
||_2,865,750_|_796,869_|_3,662,619_|
## **5. Analysis of direct costs**
|**5. Analysis of direct costs**|||
|---|---|---|
||**Total**|Total|
||**2026**|2025|
||**£**|£|
|Direct staff costs|**2,592,835**|2,613,673|
|Direct costs of support and out-reach|**109,199**|165,959|
|Staff and volunteer travel and subsistence|**24,791**|17,578|
|Fundraising and publicity|**22,596**|50,885|
|Staff training|**9,358**
**2,758,779**|17,655
2,865,750|
## **Notes to the financial statements Year to 31 March 2026 cont**
## **6. Analysis of support costs**
|**6. Analysis of support costs**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|||**Total**|Total|
|||**2026**|2025|
|||**£**|£|
|Support staff costs||**261,061**|282,788|
|Depreciation||**1,649**|2,663|
|Rent, rates and service charges||**87,590**|120,280|
|Other building costs||**10,573**|13,115|
|Professional fees (including IT and accounting support)||**24,649**|46,081|
|Insurance||**9,797**|9,660|
|Finance and IT support||**73,726**|71,888|
|HR support, recruitment and training||**17,682**|77,639|
|Hospitality||**4,352**|1,191|
|Offce, computer and website costs||**60,171**|99,174|
|Governance costs (see note 7)||**22,257**
**573,507**|72,390
796,869|
|**7. Governance costs**||||
|||**Total**|Total|
|||**funds**|funds|
|||**2026**|2025|
|||**£**|£|
|Auditors’ remuneration – audit of the fnancial statements||**20,220**|22,680|
|Auditors’ remuneration – other services||**1,560**|3,888|
|Legal fees||**477**
**22,257**|45,822
72,390|
|**8. Staff costs**||||
|||**Total**|Total|
|||**funds**|funds|
|||**2026**|2025|
|||**£**|£|
|Wages and salaries||**2,476,120**|2,574,897|
|Social security costs||**308,397**|257,922|
|Pension costs||**69,379**
**2,853,896**|63,642
2,896,461|
**I** ncluded within staff costs are £7,550 of termination costs and settlements (2025: £127,501). These costs have been included within direct costs and there were no amounts outstanding at the year end.
The average number of persons employed by the charity during the year was as follows:
||**Total**|Total|
|---|---|---|
||**2026 No.**|2025 No.|
|Projects, fundraising and management|**59**|69|
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LAST YEAR LAST YEAR WHAT WE DID WHAT WE SAW
LOOKING BACK TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND LOOKING AHEAD AND ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
## **Notes to the financial statements Year to 31 March 2026 cont**
## **8. Staff costs cont**
The number of employees whose employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) exceeded £60,000 was:
|||**Total**|Total|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**2026 No.**|2025 No.|
|£60,001|- £70,000|**1**|2|
|£70,001|- £80,000|**1**|-|
|£110,001|- £120,000|**-**|1|
During the year, no Trustees received any remuneration or other benefits (2025: none). During the year, no Trustee expenses have been incurred (2025: none).
The total amount of employee benefits (including employer pension contributions and employer national insurance contributions) received by Key Management Personnel for
the year was £563,857 (2025: £622,881).
The charity considers its Key Management Personnel during the year to have comprised all Trustees and the following staff:
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
- Deputy CEO/Acting CEO
- Head of Safeguarding
- Head of Quality Practice
- Head of People
- Head of Finance
- Head of Business Development
- Director of Practice
## **9. Tangible fixed assets**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Computer Total
equipment £
£
Cost
At 1 April 2025 20,348 20,348
— —
Disposals
At 31 March 2026 20,348 20,348
Depreciation
At 1 April 2025 18,699 18,699
Eliminated on disposal — —
Charge for the year 1,649 1,649
At 31 March 2026 20,348 20,348
Net book values
At 31 March 2026 — —
At 31 March 2025 1,649 1,649
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Notes to the financial statements Year to 31 March 2026 cont**
## **10. Debtors**
|**10. Debtors**|||
|---|---|---|
||**Total**|Total|
||**2026**|2025|
||**£**|£|
|Trade debtors|**433,244**|430,581|
|Prepayments and accrued income|**325,801**|313,082|
|Other debtors|**9,370**
**768,415**|21,160
764,823|
## **11. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year**
|**11. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year**|||
|---|---|---|
||**Total**|Total|
||**2026**|2025|
||**£**|£|
|Trade creditors|**32,058**|38,279|
|Other creditors|**186,578**|205,331|
|Other taxation and social security|**50,171**|59,092|
|Accruals and deferred income|**88,129**
**356,936**|45,999
348,701|
|**_Deferred income (included above)_**|||
||**Total**|Total|
||**2026**|2025|
||**£**|£|
|Deferred income at 1 April|**7,500**|65,611|
|Resources deferred during the year|**60,833**|7,500|
|Amounts released from previous periods|**(7,500)**|(65,611)|
|Deferred income at 31 March|**60,833**|7,500|
Income has been deferred in respect of grants and contracts relating to the 2026/27 financial year.
40
LAST YEAR LAST YEAR WHAT WE DID WHAT WE SAW
LOOKING BACK TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND LOOKING AHEAD AND ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
## **Notes to the financial statements Year to 31 March 2026 cont**
## **Notes to the financial statements Year to 31 March 2026 cont**
## **12. Statement of funds**
## **12. Statement of funds cont**
_2025/2026_
|**2. Statement of funds**
_025/2026_|||
|---|---|---|
|**Unrestricted funds**
General funds
Designated funds – Business
development
Total unrestricted funds
**Restricted funds**
Help for Children Fund
Garfeld Weston
National Lottery Community
Fund
Peter Stebbings
Ministry of Justice
Greater Change
Total restricted funds
Total funds|Balance at
1 April
2025
£
Income
£
Expenditure
£
Transfers
In/Out
£
793,337
3,169,065
(3,050,802)
(60,000)
62,000
—
(62,000)
60,000
855,337
3,169,065
(3,112,802)
-
-
30,000
(30,000)
-
-
30,000
(30,000)
-
-
6,666
(5,462)
-
-
5,000
(5,000)
-
-
141,600
(141,600)
-
-
7,815
(7,422)
-
-
221,081
(219,484)
-
855,337
3,390,146
(3,332,286)
-|**Balance at 31**
**March 2026**
**£**|
|||**851,600**|
|||**60,000**|
|||**911,600**|
||||
||||
|||—|
|||—|
|||1,204|
|||—|
|||—|
|||393|
|||1,597|
||||
|||913,197|
_2024/2025_
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Balance at Income Expenditure Transfers Balance at 31
1 April £ £ In/Out March 2025
2024 £ £
£
Unrestricted funds 1,003,476 2,668,916 (2,817,055) (62,000) 793,337
Designated funds – business -
222,087 (25,089) 62,000 62,000
development
**----- End of picture text -----**
|_Unrestricted funds_
_Designated funds – business_
_development_|
_2024_
_£_
_1,003,476_
_-_|_2,668,916_
_222,087_|_(2,817,055)_
_(25,089)_|_£_
_(62,000)_
_62,000_|
_£_
_793,337_
_62,000_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|_Total unrestricted funds_|_1,003,476_|_2,668,916_|_(2,817,055)_|_—_|_855,337_|
|_Restricted funds_||||_-_|_-_|
|_MOPAC Victim's Fund_|_-_|_98,730_|_(98,730)_|_-_|_-_|
|_Help for Children Fund_|_-_|_48,487_|_(48,487)_|_-_|_-_|
|_MOPAC Children Affected by_
_Violence_|_-_|_392,152_|_(392,152)_|_-_|_-_|
|_MOPAC Rescue & Response_
_(Initial Contract)_|_-_|_46,971_|_(46,971)_|_-_|_-_|
|_MOPAC Pan London Housing_
_Reciprocal_|_-_|_85,000_|_(85,000)_|_-_|_-_|
|_Ministry of Justice via MOPAC_|_-_|_141,600_|_(141,600)_|_-_|_-_|
|_The Barrow Cadbury Grant_|_-_|_32,624_|_(32,624)_|_-_|_-_|
|_Total restricted funds_|_-_|_845,564_|_(845,564)_|_-_|_-_|
|_Total funds_|_1,003,476_|_3,514,480_|_(3,662,619)_|_-_|_855,337_|
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LAST YEAR LAST YEAR WHAT WE DID WHAT WE SAW
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## **Notes to the financial statements Year to 31 March 2026**
## **Notes to the financial statements Year to 31 March 2026 cont**
## **14. Pension commitments**
## a) Restricted funds
Restricted funds have enabled us to deliver charitable activities that contributed to achieving the aims of our 5-year strategy, of which 2025/26 is the final year.
We provide trusted, individual, relational support to ensure more young Londoners will feel safer, be safer, and have positive futures. Our team of skilled and experienced support workers deliver one-on-one support to young Londoners and their families, who are impacted by violence and exploitation in the community. Our support is centred around trusted relationships. Our staff are relatable and credible. They work with young Londoners and the people important in their lives to deliver high-quality, innovative and evidence-based support.
Through peer-group programmes in education settings and communities we support and empower young Londoners to speak up, recognise, acknowledge, and call-out unacceptable behaviours. These programmes aim to change norms and accepted behaviours within a group context. This work is informed by bystander theory to build young Londoners’ confidence and skills to challenge their peers, professionals, communities and decision makers.
To make sure that the places and spaces where young Londoners spend their time are safe and positive we develop our work directly in and with communities. We have drawn on our knowledge of contextual safeguarding to improve the safety of young Londoners in their own home and neighbourhood.
In order to achieve our strategic aims, restricted funds also support a number of specific projects aligned to our 6 strategic enablers. These include, for example, projects to analyse and better understand our data, to research and evaluate the impact of our programmes, and to enhance the way that we communicate about our work with the public. Other key enablers ensure that young Londoners have a strong and prominent voice in influencing and shaping how we deliver our services; and developing an equity, diversity, and inclusion plan that will ensure that all our services are accessible to any young Londoners that need them.
## b) Unrestricted general funds
General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes
## c) Designated funds
The Trustees agreed to designate £60,000 of the year end reserves at 31 March 2026 (2025: £62,000) for business development.
## **13 Analysis of net assets between funds**
||Unrestricted|Restricted|**Total funds**|
|---|---|---|---|
||funds 2026|funds 2026|**2026**|
||£|£|**£**|
|Tangible fxed assets|-|-|**-**|
|Current assets|1,207,703|62,430|**1,270,133**|
|Creditors due within one year|(296,103)|(60,833)|**(356,936)**|
|Total|911,600|1,597|**913,197**|
||_Unrestricted_|_Restricted_|_Total funds_|
||_funds 2025_|_funds 2025_|_2025_|
||_£_|_£_|_£_|
|_Tangible fxed assets_|_1,649_|_-_|_1,649_|
|_Current assets_|_1,183,389_|_19,000_|_1,202,389_|
|_Creditors due within one year_|_(329,701)_|_(19,000)_|_(348,701)_|
|_Total_|_855,337_|_-_|_855,337_|
The charity operates a defined contribution pension plan for its employees. The amount recognised in respect of employer contributions payable as an expense in the period was £69,379 (2025: £63,642).
The defined contribution liability is allocated to unrestricted funds and is split between direct and support costs.
## **15. Operating lease commitments**
At 31 March 2026 the charity had commitments to make future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases as follows:
||**2026**|2025|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|Not later than 1 year|**34,266**|89,976|
|Later than 1 year and not later than 5 years|**64,000**
**98,266**|27,200
117,176|
The following lease payments have been recognised as an expense in the statement of financial activities:
||**2026**|2025|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|£|
|Operating lease rentals|**118,020**|113,476|
## **16. Related party transactions**
There were no related party transactions during the year (2025: none).
## **17 Agency relationship**
Safer London acts as the banker charity for the London’s Children and Young People’s Violence and Exploitation Support Service which involves three other partners and under which the charity receives and pays out funding from the London Violence Reduction Unit (until October 2025 from the Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime), acting as an agent. This arrangement began in the prior year. During this year, Safer London received £1,952,576 (2025: £2,048,745) of funds as agent and £1,952,576 (2025: £2,048,745) of funds were paid out to the other partner charities under this arrangement. No funds are held as agent as at the balance sheet date.
42
## **Building Brighter Futures**
**Safer London Annual Trustees’ Report, Accounts and Financial Review 2025 | 2026**