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The Homeless Service for Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire and Bolsover

Annual report 2023/2024

Chair’s Introduction

Welcome to our Annual report. I hope you enjoy reading what has been happening at Pathways.

In 2023 we were still dealing with the tail end effects of Covid but regardless of this, the work of Pathways continued. We have seen increasing pressure on the service and supported over 700 people in the year to March 2024. Despite the success of “Everyone In” during the Pandemic, the number of those affected by homelessness locally has increased above pre-covid levels due to shrinking of the affordable rented sector, freezing of benefits and the cost-of-living crisis resulting in increasing evictions.

Our CEO Sian and all of our staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly supporting an increasing number of clients by providing housing and benefit advice; outreach and tenancy support; food and clothing; and perhaps most important of all a warm welcome and a place of hope.

Our specialist nurses are an integral part of the service and have continued to support and facilitate care for those dealing with mental and physical health needs, substance and alcohol misuse.

We are particularly indebted to our volunteers who support all aspects of our work and are immensely valuable members of our team. Increasingly we find that as clients rebuild their lives some then want to join us as volunteers and feed forward the support that they have benefitted from. During this year a previous client has joined our paid staff and is proving a very valued member of the team.

We owe thanks to those who have supported us financially over the last year. This includes those who have given us grants such as The National Lottery, Lloyds Foundation, Derbyshire County Council, Foundation Derbyshire, Homeless Link, Derbyshire MIND plus the three local Borough Councils who commission our services (Chesterfield, North East

Chair’s Introduction

Derbyshire and Bolsover), our local Clinical Commissioning Group (who fund our nurses), and the Police and Crime Commissioner (who funds our Activities and Volunteer Coordinator). Plus, the ongoing and generous support we receive from organisations and individuals. We are very grateful to everyone as without this there would be no Pathways.

Last year I said that we wanted to start looking ahead, making strategic plans for the future, rather than having to react to external events, and true to this, we have developed improved provision for women who often face barriers when seeking help, set up a peer mentoring scheme, expanded our recovery support, redeveloped our website and taken on HR support as our staff team has continued to grow. These are all described in more detail in our CEO’s report.

We have also welcomed two new trustees with additional skills during the year and this strengthened Board will help us navigate forwards. Top of our priorities list for 2024 and 2025 is findng new premises. Currently we work out of two rented properties on Saltergate. We are now outgrowing these and would like to combine the team to work together out of a single building. Finding an appropriate property in the town centre has not been easy so far but we will prioritise the search over the coming months.

No doubt there will be new challenges ahead but with your support, Pathways will continue to provide a beacon of hope for those who are facing homelessness in our boroughs.

Cathy Madden

Chair of the Trustees

CEO’s Report

Pathways has had a very busy but exciting year with lots of service development to enhance the support we can offer to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness

We have also had some extreme positives where volunteers have moved into paid roles and even seen someone who previously accessed our service move into volunteering then paid work at Pathways.

Our housing team have worked tirelessly this year to try and support 741 people who have become homeless for multiple different reasons. This year has been a challenging year for our housing team with the numbers of people becoming homeless continually rising and struggling to find the capacity within the service for the rising demand. It is a horrible conversation to have with someone explaining there is a waiting list for homeless support and that being allocated a key-worker may take a bit of time. As always, we continue to run our drop-in meaning there is access to support even when someone is on our waiting list and we have worked with our partner agencies to ensure people can access support. In winter due to some extra funding from the council we were able to recruit another part time housing worker to help people to access support quicker.

We have faced a number of challenges this year including floods, fast tracked Asylum claims, soaring prices of private rented properties and the ongoing cost of living crisis all having a huge impact upon homelessness. Despite these challenges the team remain motivated to ensure people get the right support and this has been evidenced by the lovely feedback received stating nothing was too much trouble and another person stating they wouldn’t have known where to start without the support.

CEO’s Report

Our nursing team continue to work tirelessly to reach people who have fallen through the cracks of other services and are in desperate need of support for both mental and physical health

Our tenancy support is working well with some hugely positive outcomes. Jules has a real focus on holistic support and making sure the people she works with are able to access the right support to meet their needs through by a step-by-step process

The activity groups we run have been extremely successful this year, creating a real community feeling where people are supportive of each other and form positive friendships. Feedback from the people who attend includes “it's like coming home” “it’s my Pathways family” and “Pathways has saved me I was drinking myself to death before coming to group”. Claire has planned some fantastic outings for the groups including afternoon tea for the women’s group and Archery for Wellbeing group. We even ran a Market in winter showcasing many items the people attending groups have made.

Our volunteers continue to be a huge asset to the Pathways team, supporting all aspects of our work from groups to drop-in to fundraising. Service Developments

We have had a positive year for service development this year.

Paths to recovery

Our recovery service Paths to Recovery started just under a year ago. This project has been successful and has enabled us to engage 109 people at various levels of recovery. The project has now been granted two extra years funding from Derbyshire County Council, and we have just recruited full-time recovery worker, Bec.

CEO’s Report

Women’s service

Our women’s service was new when we received the grant from Derbyshire MIND in the last year and is continuing to build up nicely. Some of the women accessing this service have said they would not have attended our other drop in but felt safe to attend here. Alongside the women’s drop-in we have a group running and it has been an absolute pleasure to see the level of peer support in this group. We have witnessed people’s confidence and self-esteem visibly grow. Agencies that have referred in are making more referrals as they are seeing the impact that the group and drop-in is having.

Trauma informed care

Research has shown that 94% of people who are homeless have experienced complex trauma. Therefore, it is essential for us to work in a trauma informed way. We bought in some brilliant training for the team and as a management team we are working through Homeless Links best practice guide to ensure our service works in a trauma informed manner to provide the safest support to the people we work with.

Partnership working

Our partnerships continue to grow, we are now working with the High Impact team at the hospital to support people who are homeless and frequently using medical services. This has given us a lot of scope to support clients to get the right support to meet their needs. We also now have the sexual health team running a drop-in at Pathways. We are also currently working with the neighbourhood team in the town centre to encourage people to access support. Initially I was dubious about doing this as I did not want it to breakdown relationships and trust we have with the people we work with, but we agreed to trial it. What we have found is that we are now better able to advocate on behalf of the people we work

CEO’s Report

with. These are just some of our newest partnerships and we continue to work closely with a huge array of statutory, voluntary and faith organisations to ensure our clients have access to the best support.

Lived experience

In regard to our work around lived experience we have had some huge successes and hope to continue this in the next year setting up a steering panel of lived experience.

We launched our peer mentor scheme this year, we are really pleased to have the peer mentor scheme as a way for people who have accessed our service to have a safe route into volunteering and hopefully later work. The course materials we have created has worked well, with only minor tweaks needed for the next cohort.

We have 4 peer mentors who have successfully completed the course. One is going to join our housing team and support the drop-in service we run, another is going to lead our allotment activity group, one has gained a place at university and finally one will be doing one to one mentoring and public speaking. All the peer mentors want to be involved in the lived experience panel that we are creating to help steer the charity.

One of the biggest successes at Pathways this year was employing Nathan who has previously accessed our service when he was homeless and rough sleeping. Once Nathan gained some stability he became a volunteer at Pathways where he was a huge asset and he has now moved into paid employment with us as part of our housing team. It has been a privilege to see Nathan grow in confidence and become a skilled housing worker, approaching the people we support with realism and empathy and always willing to advocate for them when needed.

CEO’s Report

Communications

This year we have started work on improving our communications and social media. We started this with redeveloping our website. We are extremely pleased with how this turned out and feel it gives a more accurate picture of our changing service. We hope to continue this on in the next financial year to increase awareness of homelessness and the work we do.

Looking forward

Looking forward to the next year we face continued challenges but also a lot of prospects for moving the service forwards and increasing the support we offer.

It is always an ongoing battle to ensure we get funds to sustain our work and meet the ever growing need for support.

We continue to be desperately looking for a building to bring the Pathways team together and be able to offer a one stop shop for support.

We are really pleased with how our service development regarding women’s services and recovery is going and we want to enhance this in the next year as well as continue to develop our trauma informed care service.

Sian Jones

CEO

Nathan’s Story

Nathan first accessed Pathways in 2017 after a number of years of homelessness in different areas throughout the country. When Nathan was young, he suffered the very tragic bereavement of his brother, this had a huge impact upon him. Nathan lost his confidence and struggled to cope with this.

By the time Nathan accessed Pathways he had been through a very unsettled time for a number of years with bouts of homelessness and gaining accommodation that was not right, or he found hard to manage. Nathan’s mental health was incredibly low, and he was using substances as a way to numb emotional pain that was too much to cope with. Once in Chesterfield, Nathan went into a few different supported living projects, but things went wrong for him and he either left due to feeling uncomfortable or was evicted. Nathan eventually moved into action housing which was a good fit for him and slowly started to get some stability.

Nathan had a huge motivator to get back on track after learning he had a son, this really pushed Nathan to want to change things. Nathan felt that it was the socialising and keeping busy that was really helping him move forward. Nathan has explained that fitness has been a huge help for him and playing football and going to the gym was a huge part of his journey into recovery. Joining the Chesterfield Football Club Community Trust A spire Right programme really helped and then being part of Chesterfield FC mental health team was a huge help. It hasn’t been an easy journey, but Nathan has stuck at it and forced himself to get back up when things have gone wrong and is very settled now.

Nathan’s Story

Nathan was one of the first people we had in mind when we decided to take forward the idea of peer mentoring at Pathways. Unfortunately, from having the idea and making the idea a reality time has passed and we did not feel it was fair to hold Nathan back from volunteering as he was so keen to help others who were struggling with some of the difficulties he has experienced.

Nathan had the in-house volunteer training and started volunteering with our group activities. The groups warmed to Nathan straight away, Nathan has amazing people skills, and many saw him as an inspiration. Nathan then moved to volunteering on the housing drop-in and made people feel so welcome and received feedback from people he supported about how he changed their thinking or the encouragement he gave helped them attend groups.

Nathan has gone from strength to strength since volunteering. He had training on assessments and was doing 1 to 1 work with people accessing the service.

In December 2023 Nathan was recruited as a part time housing worker. Nathan is an asset to the team. Not only does he have brilliant skills to support people going through homelessness, but his story encourages people and offers hope that things can get better.

Nathan said:

“Pathways has been influential in me turning my life around and without their guidance and support I probably wouldn’t be here. Pathways isn’t just a s support service, its like a family. Not just to me but to so many others who come through the doors. Long may their good work continue.“

The Support We Offer

Housing Advice and Support

Tenancy Support

Women’s Service

Provisions

Specialist Nursing

Recovery Service

Activities

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Housing

741 people supported

This year we have supported 741 people who were homeless or at risk of homelessness. Whilst this figure is slightly less than last year, I do not think the need has reduced rather sadly that we did not have capacity to work with some people fast enough so they have needed to access other support. Due to the huge needed and the

increased difficulty finding suitable accommodation people are needing support for longer. For the majority of this year we have been running with a waiting list of nearly 200 people. The housing team have worked tirelessly to try and reduce this and we are now running a waiting list of about 80 people and continue to work to improve this. Sadly, Shaun, one of our housing team moved on to work for the council homeless team. We recruited and were really pleased to employ Melissa and Thabani on to our team. Melissa had previously volunteered for Pathways.

Currently the levels of homelessness we are seeing are unprecedented. At the start of this reporting period the ratio of people rough sleeping to sofa surfing was about 10:90, since about February this year we have seen this drastically change and is now about 30:70. The reason for the increase in rough sleeping seems to be a combination of multiple factors. This includes people with multiple complex needs who need more specialist accommodation that there is just not enough of to meet the demand, a rise in no fault evictions, the private rented sector becoming unaffordable and an increase in the number of people who were seeking asylum claims being processed to grant status rapidly. All of this combined with council housing stock being quite full which then slows the process of move on from supported accommodation.

Housing

We have seen an increase in the number of people presenting with no recourse to public funds with 5% of the people we have assessed stating this. This can be explained through people who were working during floods on working visa’s which did not entitle them to recourse when their housing became flooded. Seconding we have a large hotel just outside of Chesterfield that is accommodating people who are seeking asylum. Due to the fast tracking of a lot of cases in February and March we saw a high number of people who had not been granted leave to remain yet but were panicking because they had seen the speed of this decision for others and wanted to try and get accommodation in place before they were made homeless. Unfortunately, we were not able to support them with accommodation options until they were granted leave to remain.

Finally, we are seeing a number of clients with very few needs (often circumstantial mental health needs) who are working and have become homeless through no fault evictions or relationship breakdowns. I think this client group would not normally be known to us because they would just find private rented accommodation, however the rent prices are making this unaffordable and pushing people to remain homeless and need support.

In regard to our housing work we have had a large number of successes as this is our core work but I have included a few of the highlights.

A large success we have had as a charity is to house 264 different people. Despite housing being less affordable and less available we have still supported a significant number of people into new accommodation and out of homelessness.

264 people housed

Housing

Alongside this we have also prevented evictions and mediated between families to try and prevent homelessness. Everyone we have supported through our tenancy support remains in their properties except for one person who we had to support to move due to risk from others.

This year North Derbyshire saw some very severe flooding which left a huge number of people without a safe space to stay and many becoming homeless due to the level of work needed to restore their properties. A couple of days after the floods a group of 15 care workers arrived at our drop-in service. They had come to work in Chesterfield on work permits from Zimbabwe. Their employer had sourced them accommodation before them reaching this country. Unfortunately, all of these properties were in the same area, and all suffered severe flooding. The landlord and employer were both refusing to take any responsibility and due to these people coming to England with a work visa they had no recourse to public funds. The council had placed them as a good will gesture for 2 nights but could not continue this. We approached the law centre who took up the case, but it was not going to be a quick fix which left 15 people who were trying to continue their job as carers without anywhere to stay. Our housing team contacted every landlord we have ever worked with and many new to explain the situation and we managed to get 11 of them into accommodation with an agreement from the landlords that one or two of them could sofa surf at the properties on an interim basis whilst they got other properties ready. A lot of our housing options are not easily available to people with no recourse so to get 11 people housed in a day with 4 more promised accommodation within the week felt like a huge achievement.

Specialist Nurses

Pathways nursing team have had another busy year with Tom single handedly manning the nursing work until July when we were very pleased to welcome to our team Tina Nicholson, who brought a lot of different experience and enthusiasm.

124 people supported

This year we have supported 124 people with longer term interventions including crisis mental health, support and advocacy with other health services and access to counselling. We are currently working with a counselling student who is able to offer a number of clients access to one to one counselling, we have seen some huge positives from this and hope to continue this partnership

Mental health remains the highest need of the people we support, other than homelessness. Due to continued difficulties with the cost of living we continue to see people who have never experienced homelessness become homeless. This has a huge knock-on people's self-esteem and this often prevents them from accessing help until crisis point.

One of the strengths of having the nurses based at Pathways is we are able to provide mental health support to people who desperately need it but have fallen through the gaps. We worked with a lady in her 70’s who was extremely unwell but who had some very negative experiences with mental health services in the past. This lady had learnt to mask her mental health difficulties, when needed, meaning she never got the right support. Due to the persistence of our nursing team she is now in specialist accommodation and safe and happy.

Sadly, we have seen more case of people fleeing exploitation this year which has a huge impact on people's mental health and often access to support for physical health. Our nursing team has done some brilliant work supporting people who have experienced this to both start to recover and access any health support they need.

Michael and Sarah’s Story

Michael presented to Pathways with his partner Sarah supported by the police and a Victim Support Navigator

Michael & Sarah are Bulgarian and have been in England several years. Both have worked full time during this time. Michael reported that his partner was 11 weeks pregnant. The couple’s previous landlord moved abroad and gave them contact details of other potential landlords who provide employment with accommodation attached. The couple moved into a caravan on a site where they were working for an employee. They became the victims of human trafficking/slavery at this point. The couple had to flee the area due to becoming victims of human trafficking. The couple had identification taken, made to work for very little pay or none at all, had food limited so much so that they were seen eating from the local bins and were then evicted with no clothing, money or identification.

The couple were placed in temporary accommodation by the local authority and required support to secure more permanent accommodation.

Due to fleeing to this area the couple needed to register at a GP surgery due to ongoing health complications that needed urgent treatment and Sarah needing support to access the midwife team in Chesterfield. Pathways Mental Health Practitioner and housing team supported with the GP applications and contacted the midwife team to transfer care to this area. Appointments were arranged for both and the couple were then able to access the health care they needed.

The couple had no benefits or income in place due to working full time previously. Pathways supported the couple to apply and offered support to DWP in order to access benefits. There were barriers to arranging this

Michael and Sarah’s Story

due to them having no identification and their immigration status. Pathways supported them to access other services to help with this such as Derbyshire Law Centre immigration service and advocated for them at the DWP assessments. Although Sarah was not entitled to benefits due to immigration status, Michael was successful in the benefits application meaning that they were eligible for housing from the local authority.

Pathways also supported the couple to open new and safe bank accounts that the perpetrators couldn’t access.

Pathways offered ongoing mental health support to the couple and both the housing and health teams at Pathways worked closely with the police and victim support services to offer them the best support.

During their time in temporary accommodation, we supported the couple to access foodbanks and food provisions from ourselves whilst awaiting benefit payments and also supplied clothing and toiletries as and when required.

Pathways facilitated several meetings with the local authority and services involved regarding accommodation and the couple were successful in gaining secure housing. The couple moved in and Pathways were able to apply for grants for furniture and whitegoods to help the couple in their new home. Pathways offered ongoing mental health support during this transition and the couple are now living independently and safely in their new accommodation

Tenancy Support

Tenancy support continues to run really well this year. Having taken on tenancy support last year Jules has really found her feet with this role and is doing some amazing holistic work with clients. All of the clients we are supporting through tenancy support remain housed despite many having some very complex needs. One client had not accessed health services for over 10 years and appeared to be declining rapidly. This client is now engaging well with her GP, has diagnosis that are being addressed and has a whole support team around her. This would not have happened without the trusting relationship built with our tenancy support worker Jules. One of the biggest challenges people face when moving into a tenancy is loneliness. Having been part of a bigger community, particularly when rough sleeping or sofa surfing, getting a place on your own can be tough. For some, being alone with thoughts they have spent years trying to block out can be too much. We offer befriending and our groups to try and offer people both a stop gap and the chance to build other social networks. Jules has also worked with a number of the people she has supported to get them on to training schemes to develop skills. So many of the people we support find it overwhelming when they move into accommodation, lacking confidence in their ability to manage a tenancy. A lot of our support is about building people's skills and routines up with general management of a tenancy and prioritising. Another client we supported had bags full of paperwork he had received and felt so overwhelmed by it that he wanted to give up the tenancy. Our tenancy support worker supported him to work through it in small chunks and set up payments where necessary. The client now has one folder where he puts all the information he needs and has got into a routine of going to pay bills the day he receives benefits and is feeling a lot more confident now.

Activity Groups

Pathways offer a variety of activity groups to support people who are homeless, vulnerable of becoming homeless or have just been housed after being homeless. We continue to work hard to build trusting relationships with the people we work with by working in a person-centred way to encourage people within the homeless community to feel comfortable accessing support at a pace that suits them. Through building selfesteem and confidence and by providing group activities to move forward, many of these people stop feeling helpless and realise they are worth fighting for. Feelings like this do not disappear overnight but by consistent reinforcement and people seeing small changes this can start to increase hope.

Our service users immediately feel the benefit of these groups, it improves their overall physical and mental health, self-esteem, and confidence. Meeting each week helps to combat loneliness and making connections with others and building support networks helps them outside of group time too.

We run groups almost every day of the week including: Games Group; Art and Craft group; Rough Sleeper Breakfast; Women’s Group; Restoration Group, Well-being Group and Music Group.

Tammy’s Story

Tammy was referred to Pathways by The Elm Foundation, a charity that houses women who are fleeing domestic violence. We had started to promote a women only group at Pathways and Elm knew that Tammy would benefit from attending. Tammy walked through our doors on the 6[th] of April 2023 to join us for our event launch. She was extremely anxious and nervous but soon settled in with the other ladies.

Tammy was born in Glasgow and spent most of her life there, she endured cancer 3 times, once in her teenage years and the others more recently, dealing with all the medical interventions whilst living with a physically violent and coercive husband. She had worked in a bank for many years and was in a senior management role doing well professionally.

After years of abuse and a life altering moment of violence Tammy fled to Chesterfield where she had been placed in refuge. She has a brain injury and has memory loss, anxiety, and is often confused. She always carries her medical card with her.

Tammy regularly attends our Women’s group and always throws herself into the activities, she lacks confidence, and you can see her anxiety clearly. She is triggered by certain music and never talks about her husband due to the extreme abuse she has endured. Tammy finds it hard to accept compliments and has been brought to tears by just a few kind words.

We decided in group to pay tribute to the late Tina Turner by designing t- shirts with inspirational words and images. Tammy felt strongly about this project and her T-shirt had just one word written on it in large letters……. ’ ’ ……. FREEDOM .

Tammy’s Story

Tammy has started to flourish through attending the activity groups. Her humour and wit keep us all laughing and her positivity is simply inspiring. She has moved on to other groups such as restoration and she has created some lovely work. She gets on with everyone and is a sociable and caring member of our groups. Pathways are proud to be part of her recovery and the freedom she has craved.

In November Tammy was allocated a flat close to her beloved Daughter and Grandchildren. She has moved in but unfortunately it is too far away to come back to group regularly. We have allocated a volunteer befriender to speak to Tracey weekly and we are making frequent welfare calls to her too. We have produced a booklet for Tracey with information on community groups and events locally, having made calls ahead of her attending. She has already been to a knit and natter and joined Rainworth Women’s Institute.

Out of the shadows

In April 2023 we launched our women only service at Pathways. Women and homelessness never have enough focus! There are a lot of misconceptions around women and homelessness, including that women experience homelessness less than men. In reality, it's that there are fewer women visibly homeless than men.

Women often remain as part of the ‘hidden homeless’, not known to services, so it is very difficult to get a clear understanding of how many women might be homeless at any one time. Some women may be sofasurfing, in refuges or temporary accommodation, for example.

In a recent analysis the main, self-reported trigger events for homelessness for women were mental ill health and violence: both domestic violence and abuse, and abuse from neighbouring households (Bretherton, 2020)

Women have often experienced a lot of trauma prior to becoming homeless and this continues once they become homeless. Accessing busy services that may be male-dominated can often put women off reaching out for support. Couple with this is a fear of judgement around not fulfilling stereotypical female roles.

We evaluated our service and, whilst we supported a lot of women, we felt we could do more to make accessing support a less daunting experience, and for more women to get support to get out of homelessness.

One day a week we have a women only space and we run both a housing drop-in and a group. We are regularly getting new women through the doors who may not have attended our general drop-in. The women’s group hit the ground running from the get-go and continues to go from strength to strength. Most weeks many of the women attend in low mood, dealing with new daily struggles, and leave the group laughing and in lifted spirits. The group have formed its own community where they all support each other and welcome new members in.

Thank you to The Police Crime Commissioner, Derbyshire Mind, and our three local councils for funding our group work and housing drop in.

Homelessness and Recovery

In June 2023 Pathways launched its new recovery project ‘Paths to Recovery’.

Pathways has always offered holistic support to enable people to move out of homelessness and we felt we would be able to offer a lot more to support people in recovery and to support people to begin their recovery journeys. We were able to gain funding from Derbyshire County Council to put this into place.

A number of the people we support at Pathways struggle with substance use. Often used as a coping strategy to cope with trauma they have experienced and have not had the opportunities or stability to find other ways to address this.

Paths to Recovery is a multistage recovery support service making support available to people accessing Pathways regardless of where they might be on their recovery journey. Right from initial engagement motivation and harm reduction, to gaining structure, skills and support networks through group and, for people further along, the ability to support others and gain experience through peer mentoring and volunteering.

In the last year in our Paths to Recovery project we have supported 36 people on a one to one basis, 125 different people with groups and 4 people are just about to complete our peer mentors course.

We are really excited about the future of this project as we have been granted two more years of funding for this project which will allow us to take on a project lead for the role who can focus all of their time and energy increasing the work we can do in recovery.

165 people supported

Homelessness and Recovery

Recovery and Homelessness – How does it work?

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started “ (Mark Twain)

This quote nicely articulates that even the smallest of steps forward all add to your recovery journey.

The cure for homelessness is not just finding a house, in the same way that recovery from substances is not just becoming abstinent. It is a journey that people will experience differently and find different solutions to. For some it will be unpicking what led them there and for others it will be being aware of stressful factors and finding coping strategies. There is no one size fits all. For people to move forwards there usually needs to be a change in thinking. Recovery is about positive changes in many aspects of someone's life.

Whenever you look up recovery, and things you might need in place to make it work, there is constantly talk about safe places, positive support networks, routine and structuring your time. This can feel daunting at best and near enough impossible for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. How can you even contemplate recovery when you don’t have the basics in place? So why bother trying?

The National Institute of Drug abuse define recovery as “Recovery is a process of change through which people improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential. This suggests that every small change made leads to part of your recovery. This is nicely demonstrated below in Adam’s story.

Adam’s Story

Adam accessed Pathways after fleeing from violence from another city. Adam was initially rough sleeping in Chesterfield and approached us for housing support. When I initially assessed I noticed his hands were shaking and asked about his alcohol and drug use. Adam discussed being alcohol dependent I asked Adam if he had ever considered getting support with this and he smiled and laughed and said, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. Adam informed me it had been this way since he was 14 and he has just learnt to cope with it. I chatted with Adam about different options of support but at this point he was resigned to this just being how it was for him.

Adam came along to one of our groups with another client and quickly engaged in the activities. As he became more confident, he started helping other people attending the groups, particularly with furniture restoration which he is extremely skilled at. Adam said he felt more like the old him, someone who was helpful.

Adam then agreed to give the drug and alcohol group a go. We worked with him on a plan to reduce his alcohol use a little. Adam came back the following week saying it hadn’t been as difficult as he thought and he’d made bigger changes than he planned. Adam is still working on this and is really keen to be part of our next peer mentor program.

This shows that even small steps are part of the Path towards recovery it doesn’t have to be all or nothing and each step builds your confidence, skills, and resilience to try another step.

Volunteers

Every year we say the same thing but it remains true, we couldn’t run the service we do without our fabulous team of volunteers.

The team do so many different things at Pathways including supporting the housing staff team at drop in, helping at activity groups, providing a be-friending service, cooking, sorting out donations and any other tasks which come up.

In 2023/24 they have volunteered for a total of 688 hours!!

They give up their own valuable time to support us and the people we work with and we’re so grateful for their time and efforts.

Finances

Income	£	%
Grants	£348,028	80.34%
Donations	£79,870	18.44%
Gift aid recovery	£3,454	0.80%
Interest received	£1,833	0.42%
	£433,185

Finances

Income	£	%
Staff costs	£242,035	75.34%
Office costs	£40,745	12.68%
Rent	£22,000	6.85%
Client costs	£9,686	3.02%
Other	£4,240	1.32%
Governance costs	£2,533	0.79%
	£321,239

Thank you

The work of Pathways could not continue without our generous funders and donors. We are always grateful for the money and supplies we receive that help us to support people who are homeless or at risk of becoming so.

Thankyou IJ yr:, IHP 41 pay.

Board of Trustees

Chair: Cathy Madden Treasurer: Emily Coy Frank Bacon Ian Birchmore Carl Cunningham Alison Gibson Stuart Joce

Sandra Johnson Laura Newbould-Jones David Rourke Sue Walker

Pathways of Chesterfield 120 Saltergate Chesterfield S40 1NG 01246 498204

www.pathwaysofchesterfield.co.uk

Pathways is a registered charity. No 1118638 Private company limited 10689076

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1118638 Report of the Trustees and Unaudited Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 for Pathways of Chesterfield Roddis Taylor Robinson Chartered Accountants Unit 6, Acorn Biisincss Park Woodseats Close Shetyield South Yorkshirc S8 OTB

Pathways of Chesterfield Contents of the Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 Page Report of the Trustees Independent Examiner's Report Statement of Financlal Aetlvities Balance Sheet Notes to the Financlal Statements

Pathways of Chesterfield Report of the Trustees For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 Tl)e trustees present their report with th¢ financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024. Th¢ tnistccs havc adoptcd tlic provisions of Accounting and Rcporling by Chai'itics.. St2tcmcnl of Rccomincndcd Practicc applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic ot. Ireland (FRS 102) (elteetiv¢ l Jaiiuary 2019). OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Objectives and aims Tl)e aini ot. th¢ cl)arily is to prevent homel¢ssii¢ss. Its mission is to ¢radi¢at¢ rougli sleeping in the community and to support thosc without a pcmiancnt homc to obtain and Inaintain onc. Slgnlflcant actlvltles Tlie charity provides a centre that is a place of acceptance, empowennent and change where clients are given the help. skills ai)d the confidence to resolve their issues of homelessness. On a basic level it provides a place of social contact and shelter, with services such as food provision, emergency clothing and bedding if reqiiired. Trained siipport staff deliver an effective service of coiislructive and beiieficial iiitcrvLntions lo LliLnts, wliicli pi-ovidc a catalyst for changJc and brcak the cyclc of hoiiiclcssncss. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Governing document Tl)c cl)ariLy is coiilrollcd by its govcrniiig dociiincnt, a dccd of trust and conslilulcs an unincorporalcd charity. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Charlty nurnber 11181)38 Prlnclpal address 120 Salicrgyalc Clicslcrficld S40 ING Trustees F H Bacon Mrs S C Walkcr Di" C A Maddcn MsEJCoy T P Dcvciiey (rcsigiied 14.6.23) S Jocc Ms L E Newbould-Jones Independent Examlner Julic Holderncss Roddis Taylor Robinson Chartered Accountants Uiiit 6, Acorn Business Park Woodscats Close Sheffield South Yorkshirc S8 OTB Approvcd by ordcr of thc board of trustccs on 24 Octobcr 2024 and signcd on its bclialf by.. Dr C A Madden - Trustee Page I

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Pathways of Chesterfield Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Pathways of Chesterfield l i'cport to tlic charity trustccs on my cxarnination of tlic accounts of Pathways of Chcstcrficld (thc Trust) for thc ycar ended 31 March 2024. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the rcquircn)Lnts of Ihc Charitics Act 2011 ('tlic Act,). I r¢port in r¢sp¢¢l of my ¢xamination of th¢ Tn]sl's accounts carried out uiid¢r Section 145 of th¢ Act aiid in carrying out my cxaimination I havc followcd all applicablc Dircctions givcn by thc Cliarity Cominission undcr Scction 14515)(b) of the Act. Independent examiner's statement Sin¢¢ your charity's gross incom¢ excecdcd £250,000 your examin¢r niiist be a m¢niber of a listed body. I can confirm that l am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies. I liave coinpleted my examination. I confirm that no malcrial matters have come lo my attention in connection with the cxaminatioii giving inc causc to bclicvc Iliat in aiiy matcrial rcspcct.. accounting r¢cords w¢r¢ not kept in r¢sp¢¢t of the Trust as required by Section 130 of the Act. or Ihc accouiils do not accord will) those rccords; or thc accounts do not comply with the applicablc i'equirements concerningp the form and content of accounts set out in th¢ Charities (Accounts aiid Rcportsl Rcgulations 2008 oihcr Il)an aiiy requircm¢nt that the accouiils give a truc and fair vicw which is not a mattcr considcrcd as part of an indcpcndent cxaminalion. I havc no conccrns and havc comc across no othcr matlcrs in coiincction with Ihc cxainination to which atlcntion should bc dr¢1wn in tliis i-cporl in 01-dcr to cnablc a propcr iindcrsl¢1ndinLy of thc accounts to bc rcaclicd. Julie Holderness Thc Institutc of Chartercd Accountants in England and Walcs Roddis Taylor Robinson Cliarlcrcd Accolintanls Unit 6, Acorn Business Park Woodseats Close Shcificld South Yorkshire S8 OTB 24 October 2024 Page 2

Pathways of Chesterfield Statement of Financial Activities For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 2024 Total funds 2023 Total funds Unrestricted fund Restrictd funds Notes INCOME AND ENDomqENTs FROM Donations and legacies 12,320 319,032 431,352 249,516 Invcstmcnt incomc 1,833 1,833 265 Total 14,153 319,032 433,185 249,781 EXPENDITURE ON Charltable actlvltles Charitable activities Goveniance costs 93,158 5,153 222,928 316,086 5,153 301,818 595 Total 98,311 222,928 321,239 302,4 L 3 NET INCOMEI(EXPENDITURE) Transfers between funds 15,842 14,779 96,104 {14,779) 111,946 (52,632) io Net movement In funds 30,62I 81,325 Lll,946 (52,6321 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total fund5 bi'oLlg,hl forward 36,103 2t4,878 64,9t41 117,613 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 6(),724 110,203 176,927 64,981 Thc notcs fonn part of thcsc financial statcmcnts Page 3

Pathways of Chesterfield Balance Sheet 31 March 2024 2024 Total funds 2023 Total funds Unrestricted fund Restrictd funds Notes FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets 6,667 2,323 8,990 7,809 CURRENT ASSETS D¢btoi-s Cash at bank 32,878 40,816 32,878 256,110 44,182 76,862 215,294 73,694 215,294 288,988 121.044 CREDITORS Amounts falling due within one year 113,637) 1107,414) (121,051) (63,8721 NET CURRENT ASSETS 60,057 107,880 167,937 57,172 TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 66,724 110,203 176,927 64.981 NET ASSETS ()C),724 110,203 17C),927 64,981 10 Unrcstriclcd fuiids Rcstrictcd funds 66,724 110.203 36,103 28,878 TOTAL FUNDS 176.927 64.981 The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 24 October 2024 and were si&iiicd on ils bclialt'by.. C A Madden - Trustee E J Coy- Trustee Thc notcs fonn part of thcsc financial statcmcnts Page 4

Pathways of Chesterfield Notes to the Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basis of preparing the financial statements The tinancial statements of the chai-ity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepar¢d in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting7 and Reporting by Charities- Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Rcporting standard applicablc in thc UK and Republic of Ircland (FR8 102) {cffLctivc l January 2019),, Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Irelaiid, and th¢ Charities Act 2011. The tiiiancial stat¢m¢nts have been prepared under the Iiistorical cost convcntion. Income All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the nds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount cai) be measured reliably. Expenditure Li£ibilitiLs arc rccogJniscd as cxpcnditurc as soon as thcrc is a Icgal or conslriictivc obligyation committing thc cliarity lo that ¢xpenditur¢, it is probable that a transfer of ¢¢onoinic bei)efits will be required in settlement and the amount of thc obligation can bc measured reliably. Expcnditlire is accountcd for on ai) accruals basis aiid has bccn classificd under hcading>s that aggyi'cg7atc all cost rclatcd to thc catcgJory. Whcre costs cannot bc dii-cctly attributcd lo particular hcadings they have been allocalcd to activities on a basis coiisisteiil with the use of rcsoiirccs. Tanglble fixed assets Dcpr¢cialion is provid¢d at th¢ following annual rates in order lo write off each ass¢t ov¢r its ¢stimal¢d useful lifc. liiiprovcniciils lo propcrty Plant aiid Imachincry Fixlurcs aiid fillingvs Coniputcr cquipinciil Straig)ht linc ovcr Ilic litc of tlic Icasc -3311/0 on r¢diicin&y balancc and 20U/u on rcducin&i balanc¢ 33(/1 (i on rcduciiiby balaiicc Taxatlon Tlic cliarity is cxcmpt from lax on its charilablc aclivitics. Fund aeeountin2 Unrcsti'ictcd funds can bc uscd in accordancc with thc chai'itablc objcctivcs at thc discrction of thc Iruslces. Rcstrict¢d funds Can only bc uscd for particular i-cstrictcd purposes within th¢ obj¢¢ts of Ihc chai-ity. R¢strictions ai'ise when specificd by the donor or when funds are r&iscd for particular restricted purposes. Furthcr cxplanation of th¢ natur¢ and puiyosc of cach fund is in¢lud¢d in tli¢ not¢s to th¢ financial stalcmcnts. Hire purchase and leasing commitments Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight line basis over the period of the lease. Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits The chai'ity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charity's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate. Page 5 continued...

Pathways of Chesterfield Notes to the Financial Statements - continued For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 INVESTMENT INCOME 2024 2023 Bank interest received 1,833 265 SUPPORT COSTS Governance costs Governance costs 4,240 Governance costs include £654 (2023.. £595) in respect of the Independent Examiner's fe¢. TRUSTEESI REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS There were no trustees, remuneration or other benefits for the yeai. ended .31 March 2024 nor for the year ended 31 March 2023. Trustees, expenses Ther¢ were no trust¢es' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2024 nor for the year ended 31 March 2023. STAFF COSTS 2024 2023 Wabics and salarics .Social scciirity costs Otlici. pciision costs 218,131 12,5()5 6,252 208,275 12,216 (),250 236,948 226,741 Thc avcragc nionthly numbcr of crnployccs duringy tlic ycar was as follows.. 2024 2023 Support workcrs Management No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000. COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES Unrestricted fund Restricted ftinds Total funds INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies 73,266 176,250 249,516 Investment income 265 265 Total 73,531 176,250 249,781 EXPENDITURE ON Charitable activities c.haritable activities 131,368 170,450 301,818 Page 6 continued...

Pathways of Chesterfield Notes to the Financial Statements - continued For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES - Continued Unrestricted R¢strictd fund nds Total funds Govcrnancc costs 595 595 Total 131,963 170,450 302.413 NET INCOMEI(EXPENDITURE) Transfers between funds (58,4.32) 24,150 5,800 (24,150) {52,632) Net movement in funds (34,282) {18,350) (52.632) RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 70,385 47,228 117,613 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 36,103 28,878 64,981 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS Improvements to propcrty Fixtures and fitlingTS Plai)l and niachincry Coinpuler cquipiiicnt Totals COST At l April 2023 Additions 8,068 1,561 6,487 354 13,333 2,184 29,449 3,715 At 31 March 2024 9,245 1,561 6,841 15,517 33,164 DEPRECIATION At l April 21123 Chai-gFc foi- year 6,972 385 I,Q99 93 3,546 614 10,023 1,442 21,640 2,534 At 31 March 2024 7,357 1,192 4,160 11,465 24,174 NET BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2024 1.888 369 2,6111 4,052 8.990 At 31 March 2023 1,096 462 2,941 3,310 7,809 DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 2024 2023 Prepayments and accrued income 32,878 44,182 Page 7 continued...

Pathways of Chesterfield Notes to the Financial Statements - continued For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR 2024 2023 Trade creditors Accruals and dcfcrrcd incomc 4,167 116,884 9,454 54,418 121,051 63,872 10. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Net Inovement in funds Transfers betwe¢n funds At 1.4.23 31..3.24 Unrestricted funds General fund 36,103 15,842 14,779 66,724 Restricted I'unds Hiib fuiiding Outrcach Tci)ancy support Wclfarc provision Activities 9.331 11,2821 13,368 997 6,464 72.345 1,594 (10.869) 22,927 10,107 (12,125) 69,551 312 (2.499) (155) 23,769 16,571 28,878 96,104 (14,779) 110,203 TOTAL FUNDS 64,981 111,946 176,927 Nct Inovcrncnt in funds. includcd in thc abovc arc as follows.. Incoiming, rcsoui'ccs Rcsourccs cxpcndcd Movcimcnt in fuiids Unrestrlcted funds Gciicral fund 114,153 (98,311) 15,842 Restrlcted funds I Ilib fuiiding Outrcach Tciiancy support Wclfarc provision Activities 239,IC)7 1,750 (166,822) (156) (10,869) (20,OC)O) (25,021) 72,345 1.594 (10,869) 22,927 10,107 42,987 35,128 319,032 (222,928) 96,104 TOTAL FUNDS 433,185 (321,239) 111,946 Page 8 continued...

Pathways of Chesterfield Notes to the Financial Statements - continued For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 10. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS- continued Comparatives for movement in funds Net movement in funds Transfers between funds At 31.3.23 At 1.4.22 Unrestrlcted funds General fund 70,385 {58,432) 24,150 36,103 Restricted funds Hub funding Outrcach Tenancy support Wclfarc provision Activilics 2,532 11,258 18,959 7,033 7,446 6,102 (1,863) 15,5911 (3,628) 10,780 697 (10,677) 9,331 (1,282) 13,-368 997 6,4()4 (2.408) (11,762) 47.228 5.800 (24,150) 28,878 TOTAL FUNDS 117,613 (52,6321 64,981 Comparativc nct Inovcmcnt in funds, includcd in thc abovc arc as follows.. Incoming rcsoui-ccs Rcsourccs cxpcndcd Movcincnt in fLinds Unrestrlcted funds Gciicral liiiid 73,531 (131,963) (58,432) Restricted funds Hiib fiiiiding Oiilrcach Tciiancy support Wclfarc provision Activitics 125,000 1,249 20,000 (118,898) (3,112) (25,591) (3,1128) (19,221) (1,8()3) (5,591) (3,628) 10.780 30,0() I 176,250 (170,450) 5,800 TOTAL FUNDS 249,781 {302,413) (52,632) Page 9 continued...

Pathways of Chesterfield Notes to the Financial Statements - continued For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 10. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS- continued A current year 12 months and prior year 12 months combined position is as follows- Nct movement in ndS Transfcrs between fi]nds At 31.3.24 At 1.4.22 Unrestricted funds Gcncral fund 70.385 (42,590) 38,929 66,724 Restrlcted funds Hub funding Oiitreach Tenancy support Welfare provision Activilics 2,532 11,258 18,959 7,033 7,446 78,447 {269) {16,4601 19,299 20,887 (11,428) (10,677) 12,499) (2.563) (11,762) 69,551 312 16,571 47.228 101,904 (38,929) 110,203 TOTAL FUNDS 117.613 59,314 176,927 A CiliTcnl year 12 inonihs and prior ycar 12 moiiihs coimbiiicd iicl movcmciit in fuiids, incliidcd in tlic abovc arc as follows.. Incoming rcsourccs Rcsourccs ¢xp¢nd¢d Movcmcnt in funds Unrestrlcted funds Gciicral fuiid 1 $7,684 (230,274) (42,590) Rcstrlctcd funds I Ilib fuiiding, Oiitrcach Tciiancy support Wclfarc provision Activilics 364,167 2,999 20,000 42,987 65,129 (285,720) 13,268) (36,460) (23,C)88) (44,242) 78,447 (2CI9) (1 (1,460) 19,299 20,887 495,282 (393,378) 101.904 TOTAL FUNDS 682,966 {623,652) 59,314 FUND DESCRIPTIONS (a ) Unrestricted funds Unrestricted lld8 represent the free funds of the charity. (b) Restricted funds Hub The hub provides a drop-in service and appointments for vulnerable homeless people with the aim of supporting thein liolistically. Outreach Streel outreach to engJage people who are rougTh sleepingF and encouragye them to access services and find accommodation. Page 10 continued...

Pathways of Chesterfield Notes to the Financial Statements - continued For The Year Ended 31 March 2024 10. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS- continued Tenancy support Provision ot. support to p¢opl¢ moving out of hom¢l¢ssn¢ss with their tenancy. Welfare provision Welfare provision for clients including mobile telephones, home starter packs and rent in advance. Actlvitles Activities and volunteer co-ordinator role to provide activity groups and co-ordinate volunteers. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES There were no related party transactions for the year ended 31 March 2024. Pagell

2024-03-31-accounts

Annual report 2023/2024

Chair’s Introduction

Chair’s Introduction

Cathy Madden

Chair of the Trustees

CEO’s Report

CEO’s Report

Paths to recovery

CEO’s Report

Women’s service

Trauma informed care

Partnership working

CEO’s Report

Lived experience

CEO’s Report

Communications

Looking forward

Sian Jones

CEO

Nathan’s Story

Nathan’s Story

The Support We Offer

Recovery Service

Housing

Housing

Housing

Specialist Nurses

Michael and Sarah’s Story

Michael and Sarah’s Story

Tenancy Support

Activity Groups

Tammy’s Story

Tammy’s Story

Out of the shadows

Homelessness and Recovery

Homelessness and Recovery

Recovery and Homelessness – How does it work?

Adam’s Story

Volunteers

Finances

Finances

Thank you

Board of Trustees

www.pathwaysofchesterfield.co.uk