2024-03-31-accounts

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REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 06517841 (England and Wales) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1124031

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 FOR FORTALICE LIMITED

Docusign Envelope ID: A6B36306-4A40-4BEC-918A-2D3F1979B7E4

FORTALICE LIMITED

CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

	Page
Report of the Trustees	1 to 15
Report of the Independent Auditors	16 to 18
Statement of Financial Activities	19
Balance Sheet	20
Cash Flow Statement	21
Notes to the Cash Flow Statement	22
Notes to the Financial Statements	23 to 36
Detailed Statement of Financial Activities	37 to 38

Docusign Envelope ID: A6B36306-4A40-4BEC-918A-2D3F1979B7E4

FORTALICE LIMITED

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Objectives and aims

The overall objectives and aims of the Charity are

-The relief and protection of those who have been gravely or persistently maltreated by the partner with whom they are or have been living or any member of their immediate or extended family and of the children of such people

-Providing refuge accommodation in Lewis House for women who have been gravely or persistently maltreated by the partner with whom they are or have been living or any member of their immediate or extended family and of the children of such women

-Providing programmes, including early intervention, to raise awareness of domestic abuse and related issues

-To facilitate and assist programmes in partnership with those dealing with perpetrators

The Charity's mission statement is:

'To provide emergency accommodation and a range of support services to assist women, children and young people who have, or are, experiencing domestic abuse and to raise personal and public awareness of the issues relating to domestic abuse and its impact on society'.

Ensuring our work delivers our aims

The Business plan 2020-2025 has been developed and identifies targets and objectives to ensure continuity, improvement and further development of the services we provide for women, men, children and young people affected by domestic abuse.

We regularly consult with service users and stakeholders and use this feedback to review services offered by the organisation. We do this through focus groups, questionnaires, weekly house meetings and individual stakeholder feedback. We also have an abundance of cards, letters and feedback forms expressing appreciation and advocating the services offered across the organisation.

Public benefit

We have referred to the guidance in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our objectives and activities and in planning our future activities. In particular, the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives they have set through the use of funds, and we are satisfied that the criteria for public benefit are comprehensively achieved.

The focus of our work

Fortalice has successfully continued to provide a highly effective service for women, men, children and young people affected by domestic abuse.

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FORTALICE LIMITED

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

The priorities for the year have focused on;

Strengthening services and support for resident women, children, young people and families with complex needs both within our refuges and the Outreach Support Centre

• We have expanded our Children and Young person’s (CYP) team and further developed our network of working

• with children and young people’s services across the borough through Bolton Together, working in partnership with health, education and other multi agency services. We have also expanded a small proportion of our children’s work into Bury.

• We have purchased a new children and young peoples’ centre in order to meet the demand for services. In

• consultation with the children, young people and staff we have further developed the resources and services to meet the diverse and ever-changing needs of the children we work with.

• Two specialist workers provide support for women in refuge who have additional needs in terms of mental health

• or drug/alcohol misuse or both. We continue to see changes and increases in the complexity of need with victims, which has meant a considerable amount of additional work for all staff and partner agencies to ensure that victims with complex needs have the right services and support in place. We have also invested in further training for staff to ensure they are equipped with the right skills for the work we are now undertaking.

• We have secured funding for one independent sexual violence advisor (ISVA) enabling us to meet the needs of

• victims and survivors using the service. This service is heavily oversubscribed to and would benefit from another worker being in place.

• Although the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVA) service have been expanded caseloads are

• considerably higher than they should be which whilst we still meet demand does put a strain on the services.

• We secured funding for a pilot to work directly with police officers and victims. This has helped provide a more

• effective service for victims where they can access the right services at the right time for them. The aim of the pilot was to evaluate its effectiveness, share good practice and to achieve further funding which has been achieved for one more year.

Developing strategies to ensure the sustainability of the organisation for the future

• Continuous applications for grant and trust funding and tenders has been ongoing this year in order to sustain and

• develop all services in line with emerging trends.

• We continue to develop strategies for enhancing the workforce by offering student placements. We have been

• successful in recruiting new volunteers into the service enabling us to resolve some capacity issues due to increased demand. We have explored new opportunities for recruiting further volunteers which will have an improved impact on bolstering the services.

• In order to secure further funding we continue to make changes to our fundraising strategy which will be adapted

• and worked on in the next financial year.

• Our training offer is consistently reviewed with the potential to develop an online training portal as well as

• continuing to strengthen our develop partnership training across the country.

• Working in partnership with other organisations, Bolton Council, the Police and Community Safety to build a

• more streamlined holistic approach for victims has been ongoing and will help sustain and enhance our services.

• In order to meet the challenges of our work we have recruited new trustee enabling us to continue to develop the

• organisation by using new and existing skillsets to drive the strategy forwards.

Securing funding for the continuity of specific projects and core services

• Fortalice continues to work collaboratively with a bid writer, to sustain existing projects, to fund projects that

• were previously unfunded and to develop new services.

• The contracts for the refuge, IDVA and IRIS services have all been extended.

• The Healthy Relationships project is currently predominantly self-funded by the schools themselves and we

• continuously research funding streams to secure funding to ease the pressure on stretched educational budgets. We continue to see an increase in the demand for the project delivery during this last financial year.

• THRIVE funding has been awarded through the bid process, this enables us to work with Children and Young

• people who are suffering with poor mental health as a result of the effects of Domestic Abuse and Violence (DAV). The THRIVE partnership has proved to be hugely successful in identifying different ways of working and providing a diverse range of services for children and young people. THRIVE will continue to be developed to meet the diverse needs of children and young people.

• The Adult Counselling Service continues to be funded in partnership with 1Point. We have developed different

• ways of working to ensure we can meet the needs of our clients.

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FORTALICE LIMITED

for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

 The Children's counselling service continues to be funded through the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership (GMICP) have continued to see a rise in the demand for this service.

 We have secured further funding for a family cohesion worker after successfully running a pilot. This continues to offer a more holistic service for the whole family to rebuild their relationships.

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE Charitable activities

Our main activities and who we to aim to help are described below. All our charitable activities are undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit.

Who used and benefited from our services Refuge Accommodation

The local demand for services is high and although priority is given to referrals in Bolton and surrounding districts, we have provided temporary accommodation and services for women and children from many areas throughout the Northwest and further afield.

We received a total of 136 referrals which was a decrease on last year and accommodated 58 individual women and 94 children in Lewis House, the average length of stay being 32 weeks which was an increase of 19% on last year. A proportion of the referrals were unsuitable for refuge as they were found to be more in line with some housing difficulties, they were referred to housing for support. There has also been an increase of those being referred with no recourse to public funds. The complexity of need for a high proportion of our victims has greatly increased over the last year which has meant more in-depth work needing to be completed daily. Move on this year has also been difficult, due to the national housing crisis, especially where there is a lack of housing options for our larger families. This has meant some people have been with us for slightly longer than usual. There has also been significant delay with residents being awarded priority from housing. Whilst this has given us more opportunities to work with the families for longer helping them develop more skills before they move on, gaining further improved outcomes, for some it has meant we haven’t always been able to move families on who were ready which has meant their progression has been stilted. Lack of move on has equally meant we haven’t been able to offer as many victims Refuge but have worked with them in the local community to keep them safe, this has had an impact on our outreach service for which we have little funding.

Occupancy levels averaged 98% for the year with the main reason for the voids being the turnover of residents and occasional re decoration and cyclical maintenance of the flats.

Support needs have varied from low to high with a further increase in the number of women needing additional support in relation to mental health, alcohol, and substance misuse. All residents are allocated named DAV Recovery Workers and lead with their worker on developing individual person-centred support plans. A number of women have taken advantage of counselling and group work during their stay. All residents are encouraged to work with their support worker to ensure they are able to develop skills to enable them to live independent lives following their stay in the Refuge. They are invited to join in additional activities run by specialist workers and / or volunteers to build their confidence, recover from the trauma they have suffered and increase their skill set. We have seen an increase in the presenting issues and complexity of need for children entering the Refuge and have had to increase the input with children, some children have presented with suicidal ideation, behaviour issues and self-harm. We have also seen an increase in the number of children diagnosed with additional needs. We have also increased our work around the whole family approach to help stabilise the families we work with particularly where children were in the safeguarding arena.

On leaving, 46% secured their own tenancies with Local Authorities, Registered Social Landlords or Private landlords, 14% went into other short-term supported accommodation, 23% went to stay with friends or family members, 7% returned home without perp, 5% returned to perp, 5% advised of no forwarding address.

The substance misuse recovery role has been in place for just over 11 years. This post was put in place to support women who were not only subject to domestic abuse, but who also had issues relating to alcohol or the taking of both illicit and legal substances. The role has developed, using different styles that support recovery, including motivation interviewing, mindfulness, artwork, and relaxation including meditation. Personalised one to one work with residents, partnership work with local outside agencies such as Bolton Integrated Substance Misuse Service and peer support all contribute to the recovery process.

Working closely with the Substance Misuse worker, the Mental Health Co-ordinator has been in place for just over 8 years. Together, they structure support to meet the needs of those residents with additional complex issues. Residents

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

are assessed on admission to the refuge and are offered one to one sessions to ensure their mental health is consistently monitored and their wellbeing is worked with on a daily basis. The work completed by our specialist workers continues to be disseminated to the full team of DAV Recovery Workers which enhances their own continuous professional development. These posts are currently unfunded, but we recognise the need to maintain these posts and will continue to apply for funding to ensure the posts are an integral part of the service.

In order to help improve mental and emotional wellbeing for residents and those leaving the refuge, the Mental Health Co-ordinator carries out research regarding bio-psychological community resources.

This ensures the resident has a prescribing GP and pharmacy in place, notifies relevant services as applicable and where possible, the resident is provided with a guide and information on local support resources.

Due to the educational programmes that are now delivered within the refuge once again we had a number of women and young people who have gone on to find jobs in the Community or have accessed Further Education courses in order to sustain and develop their own futures meeting their own individual needs.

The diverse range of additional activities which is currently in place for residents or children enables them to develop new skill, build their confidence and start to rebuild their lives.

Outreach victim advocacy support

• Services were provided to 362 new clients, and 462 existing clients, totalling 824 clients, this included 23 male victims

• 1,604 telephone advice calls were made plus 279 contacts made via the webchat/get in touch services, email and SMS

• 89% of the new referrals were from Bolton with the remaining 11% originating from surrounding areas within Greater Manchester and Lancashire

• Referrals for services come through a variety of sources, with 61% self-referrals, 6% from family, friends or work colleagues, 8% by GMP, 9% from other Fortalice projects, 6% from Social Workers and 6% from Mental Health Services. The remaining 4% were from various professionals and support groups within the community, which is a substantial reduction on last year, this is due to us seeing a decrease in some support groups and a changeover of staff in the professional arena which has meant some lost connections for referral pathways.

Clients presented with a wide variety of issues ranging from coercive control, physical, emotional and sexual abuse to legal, housing, child contact and health issues. Clients also presented with a diverse range of mental health issues including panic and anxiety, stress and depression. Where these issues needed specialist help, we were able to signpost to relevant agencies. We referred 15 clients to MARAC for further support and risk management and assessed a further 30 clients who did not reach the threshold for referral.

Demand for The Freedom Programme is high. The benefits of these core services are widely recognised and acknowledged as having a significant impact in relation to women taking steps to escape abusive relationships and to move forward to living a life free from abuse and violence. The Freedom Programme delivered 138 sessions with 141 individual women attending, the delivery was face to face and online to meet individual needs. The Recovery Tool Kit delivered 8 sessions with 12 individual women attending. There were no Next Step sessions due to capacity issues and a lack of specific funding, we aim to put these back in place in the next year when we gain further funding.

Outreach Support Centre Adults Counselling

The Adult Counselling Service continues to operate to a high standard with the majority of referrals coming through 1Point, a Community Benefit Company. Our Chief Executive is a director of 1Point which enables some excellent partnership working. 1Point assesses potential clients for talking therapies prior to them going into therapy with a counsellor at Fortalice or one of the other members linked to 1Point. At the year end, we had 19 counsellors, 7 of which were qualified and 12 were students on placement. We also have 6 students coming through the induction process taking us to 25 counsellors in total. At the end of the year, 2,198 appointments were attended.

Training, Development and Awareness Raising

We have delivered 96 training courses to 703 individuals. We currently have 18 courses: including supporting victims of (Domestic Abuse and Violence) DAV with a learning difficulty, working with victims experiencing DAV through technology, Working with Teenagers Engaged in Abusive Relationships, Stalking Awareness, How to Work with DAV and a Trauma Informed Approach and Non-Fatal Strangulation.

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Awareness training has been delivered to Adult and Children’s Social Work teams. Three training courses are now mandatory for Social Workers. We continue to deliver DAV Champion module. The course has had positive feedback. We continue to provide training for Castle Hill as part of Bolton’s safeguarding training pool.

We deliver bespoke training packages for Schools, Colleges, DWP and private and voluntary sector providers.

Training is now mainly delivered face to face with a small number being delivered remotely. All sessions have been updated, with information and activities. Our mandatory training sessions have been developed to be full day courses enabling us to cover more content and further develop staff skills and knowledge.

We have been delivering a new project, Internet Safety , Keeping Children Safe Online for children/young people (CYP) and parents/carers. We delivered six training session to professionals and eight workshops for children and parents. In addition, we attended 3 community events within Schools where children and parents/carers had the opportunity to participate in the workshop activities. In total we delivered 18 ‘sessions’ on this project to 162 children and young people (CYP) and 97 parents/carers.

Crisis (DAV) Car

The aim of the Crisis Car is to enhance the offer to victims of domestic abuse and violence (DAV) by improving the victim’s journey helping them feel safe and confident when reporting to the police, therefore, reducing repeat victimisation.

In July 2022, prior to the funding for the current pilot, Fortalice and GMP trialled a small project working in partnership on a First Response model. In November 2022, GMP formed specialist DAV teams and it was agreed that victims would benefit more from a joint visit with a Fortalice crisis worker and a police officer, as a follow on after the initial incident rather than at the point of first response.

Since April 2023, clients are being offered appointments where a police officer completes the DASH, and potentially obtains a statement. The accompanying crisis worker will offer support to the victim, enabling them to access Fortalice services or ensure a referral pathway is open to the victim at the point of need.

Appointments are reviewed daily with the Police and Fortalice; a risk assessment takes place and volunteer Crisis Workers are assigned to the relevant cases. A briefing takes place on route to the appointment where it is agreed what roles and input is needed, with Fortalice leading on support for the victim. A follow-on call from Fortalice takes place within 7 to 10 days and 1 month later, to ensure the victim has had all the support which was required. As our services are holistic, we can move victims quickly into safe support networks, with the aim of reducing call outs to the police.

220 appointments were scheduled with a Crisis Worker during 1[st] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024, 83.5% of these were achieved. For those not achieved, the victim did not attend the agreed appointment with the police. From the 183 successful appointments, 85% of the victims accessed support from other Fortalice services including Adult Services, Children and Young People’s Services and IDVA.

Of the 183 victims visited during the period, 92 victims have answered the follow-on call after 7 days, 80 % of these victims stated that they had not needed to report to the police again. A further contact is made 1 month later, 58 victims were spoken with, 86% of victims stating that they had not needed to report to the police again.

Since the pilot started in April 2023, we have offered over 900 hours to support DAV victims in Bolton.

Children and Young People’s projects

The Children and Young People’s projects are funded by several sources and our own reserves. We have a Team Leader and eight children and young people’s workers who were based at the Outreach Support Centre until December 2023 when the team moved into the new premises on Bury New Road which is our CYP Hub. We also have a Family Cohesion Worker, working with both children and parents as part of a progression pathway. The priority for all projects is always keeping children who have been exposed to domestic abuse safe. Every individual completed a safety plan to ensure children and young people (CYP) know what to do in the event of an emergency/domestic abuse incident. Our delivery has included group work, educational modules and one to one support. 483 individual CYP have been supported and accessed 2,198 one to one sessions, with 98 family sessions and 68 parent or parent and child sessions attended. We also delivered 84 group work sessions of Breaking Free. There has been a 44% increase in the number of one-to-one sessions compared to last year.

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Children in Need

Dedicated to Overcoming Violent Experiences (D.O.VE.) ceased its community offer due to an increased demand in other organisations applying for funding from them, however it continued to support CYP in refuge. One to one support and therapeutic activities took place both in refuge and in individual CYP school settings. D.O.V.E. funding enabled 17 individual CYP to be supported with 105 one to one sessions taking place.

Breaking Free sessions were not delivered this year due to the ages of CYP in refuge there was not enough CYP of similar ages to benefit from group work.

IThrive

This project offers a range of activities through one to one, Breaking Free and Recovery Toolkit deliveries. These aim to help children and young people express their feelings and provide them with an opportunity to share their experiences in a safe and nurturing environment. As we are part of the THRIVE partnership, we can offer a more holistic progression route for children and young people enabling them to sustain the skills and confidence they gain through the Fortalice activities they have attended. There are four elements to our Thrive offer:

 Emotional Health and Well being

Currently this is our only community-based offer working with younger children. Children aged 5 – 11 years can be supported through one-to-one sessions, group work and siblings group work, which predominantly takes place in their school setting. 65 individual CYP were supported this year. 358 sessions took place with delivery of 18 group sessions. Young children can be supported for up to 12 weeks which ensures key educational learning can be embedded. It is hoped that through early intervention these young children can continue to apply their learning as they grow.

 Thrive Plus

Was funded until 31[st] August 2023 and worked with 49 individual CYP providing one to one sessions and signposting to other services. The CYP were lower-level needs and some only required one or two sessions, however when required CYP were worked with over six weeks. 136 one to one sessions were provided and 8 CYP accessed 6 sessions of Breaking Free.

• Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership (GMICP)

E nabled us to support 38 individual CYP who accessed 239 one to one sessions, a further 2 sessions were offered to parents so they could continue to support their children to use the coping tools and strategies they had learnt. These support and guidance sessions are offered to 10-19-year-olds, both in school, college and at the Outreach Support Centre.

 11-19s Complex Medium Cases

Complex families did not have a dedicated worker until August 2023, so the figures were predominately achieved over a six-month period. The programme is for 11–19-year-olds to increase our capacity to support more complex cases, providing interventions to CYP with a range of mental health challenges, those struggling to regulate their emotions and CAPVA. It also enabled us to work with the whole family where this was deemed necessary. During this period 26 CYP were supported with a total of 130 one to one sessions offered. This comprised not only one to one support but also twelve 1 to 1 sessions with parents, 4 whole family sessions and 4 group work sessions.

Helping ME – Bolton’s fund

Our Helping ME project differed in its offer this year and it enabled us to work not only with children and young people, but also with parent and carers and to include group work. 37 individual CYP were supported this financial year. 297 sessions in total were offered, consisting of 266 direct sessions with children and young people aged 7 – 14 years old. 22 Whole family sessions with individual CYP, their siblings and parent/carers took place, with a further 20 Parent and Child sessions with individual CYP and their parent/carer. 9 group work sessions were accessed by 9 children and young people with the aim of reducing social isolation, which was a key element for this project. The project also succeeded in rebuilding CYP confidence and self-esteem through accessing community-based sessions tailored to their interests.

Teams around Schools (TAS)

Whilst TAS remains a multi-disciplinary model with resources and expertise from a range of services, the model is being continuously reviewed and developed to ensure it meets the objectives of the model. Due to the changes in the delivery model, we have had a drop in referrals for a short time. Under the revised delivery model our aim is to continue to work with schools on building more resources for staff and CYP to enable them to support more CYP on an ongoing basis both in school and working with partner agencies. Our delivery has included 350 one to one sessions to 64 individual CYP which took place in schools. 23 group work sessions were attended by 16 children. 2 deliveries of Breaking Free took place in school settings and one utilised a local cricket club during the summer break, these helped the children develop more resilience and work through their traumas in a safe setting.

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Bury Anchor Project

The partnership has been re commissioned until January 2025. We continue to work with resident Bury children and young people (CYP) or Bury cared for children in an out-of-borough placement. We can offer up to 8 one-to-one support sessions to CYP aged 5-19 years old who have witnessed domestic abuse or who are in an unhealthy relationship of their own. We also offer group work to help children overcome the trauma of domestic abuse and/or unhealthy relationships while sharing their experiences with others in a similar situation. 104 CYP completed work and accessed 472 one to one sessions and 24 Breaking Free group work sessions.

Family Cohesion

Supports children, young people and parents for who, the domestic abuse and violence they have experienced within their homes, has impacted the parent – child relationship. They are often struggling to work cohesively as a family and often don’t have the ability to recover from their trauma. There is a mix of individual and family unit sessions to enable both parent and children to understand how their behaviour, words and actions affect others in the family. The work builds effective communication and stronger relationships. In the first year of delivery 36 parents and 84 children and young people were supported to understand how to work effectively as a family unit. 216 sessions one to one sessions were completed reaching 43 families. 34 one to one sessions with parents and a further 72 whole family sessions were delivered. These families included 46 adults and 109 children.

Children's Counselling

The children's counselling service funded through GMICP continues to be in high demand. We have 3 qualified Children's Counsellors and 2 qualified Play Therapists providing Play and Talking Therapies for children and young people aged four to seventeen and believe this to be a unique service within Bolton. The demand for this service is high with referrals coming through a variety of sources where there is a professional working with the family. This year, there were 422 therapy sessions attended for 132 individual children and young people.

iThrive Children’s Counselling

The iThrive project has continued to make great progress within Bolton; the project has supported 84 children and young people this year with schools and community venues understanding the worth of talking therapies. Alongside the difficulties that our young people faced last year of being a witness or victim of domestic abuse and violence, trauma, self-harm, school refusal, anxiety, low mood and suicidal thoughts this year we are seeing more clients with eating disorders and depression and more clients with additional needs where Autism and ADHD are a queried or confirmed diagnosis. A number of referrals cite higher levels of violence from within the home historically.

We work strategically by further developing services to meet the needs of Bolton children, Fortalice is a member of Bolton Together and our Chief Executive is a Director on the Bolton Together Board.

Identification and Referral to Improve Safety (IRIS)

The purpose of the project is to deliver domestic abuse training to clinical and administrative staff within Bolton based GP practices and to work in an advocacy role with any patient who has disclosed domestic abuse. Since the project began, we have trained staff from all the 49 doctor's surgeries across Bolton on our Clinical 1, Clinical 2, Clinical Refresher and Reception and Administration sessions. We have trained 227 staff this year across these 49 surgeries. Training continues to be updated in response to attendee’s feedback and any relevant developments from domestic abuse research or legislation changes. We have received 368 client referrals this year from GP’s requesting support from the IRIS team, 23 of these have been identified as high risk and referred to MARAC. Once a patient has received a referral from their GP into the IRIS project they are able to access ongoing support, patients continue to self-refer back to the service for continued support rather than asking to be re-referred by the GP, this will continue to take some pressures of GP surgeries.

IRIS Enhanced

In November 2022, we commenced the enhanced IRIS project which extended our services to Out of Hours GP providers including the GP Federation and BARDOC. Since the introduction of IRIS to out of hours providers we have trained 50 of their clinical and administrative staff, with the aim of increasing referrals for the out of hours service.

Independent Domestic Violence Advisory (IDVA) Service

The Independent Domestic Violence Advisor’s (IDVA’s) provide frontline services to victims of Domestic Abuse, supporting those at highest risk and advocating on their behalf. We currently have five IDVAs on our specialist team and a Service Co-ordinator who work at the Outreach Support Centre and in the community. Funding was granted for an additional IDVA due to the increased caseload and complexity of cases being received, unfortunately due to a higher increase in cases coming into the service we are consistently working over capacity with clients.

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

The aim of an IDVA is to keep the victim and any immediate family safe and reduce the risk of further abuse by providing short to medium term crisis intervention. By supporting the empowerment of the client and assisting them in recognising the warning signs of Domestic Abuse, we aim to help them regain control of their lives for positive longterm outcomes.

During the financial year, the IDVA service received 1,078 referrals for 849 individual clients, with all cases heard at the Multi agency risk assessment conference (MARAC). During the first quarter, the IDVAs were still supporting 163 victims that were referred during the previous financial year.

There continues to be an increase in the complexity of the cases referred during the last 12 months, particularly around mental health, substance misuse and the severity of abuse. These complexities have an impact on the capacity of the team; for clients who are struggling with their mental health, completing an initial safety and support plan can take the IDVA two to three hours, instead of the average time of approximately an hour.

The IDVAs are also supporting more clients in court, during Police interviews and with Clare’s Law disclosures, as well as attending an increasing number of safeguarding meetings. Whilst all of these have a further impact on the capacity of the team, they are key times of support for victims, particularly with regards to them supporting prosecution.

IDVA+ (medium risk) project

The Medium Risk IDVA service is based within the Integrated Front Door (IFD) at Bolton and referrals are received via the cases heard at Daily Risk Meetings which are all incidents that have been attended by Police where there are children within the household. Some high-risk cases may also be discussed at the meeting. The Medium Risk IDVA prepares all the research for the meeting with regards to the victim and whether they are known to domestic abuse services within Bolton. They attend the multi-agency meeting and will contact victims to offer support after the meeting. Referrals have also been received from other teams based at IFD this year, including Police, Referral and Assessment Team and other Social Workers, this has enabled victims to receive specialist support at an earlier stage to prevent escalation to high risk.

From April 2023 to the end of March 2024, 495 cases were discussed at the Daily Risk Meetings. During this period, the Medium Risk IDVAs provided support to 168 individual clients.

Basing the Medium Risk IDVA service within the Integrated Front Door means that they are available to Social Workers, Health, and Police to share their expertise with regards to domestic abuse and provide guidance to professionals as well as supporting clients. They are able to accompany social workers on home visits to help promote engagement and provide dedicated support to victims of domestic abuse. They are also able to feedback to the high risk IDVAs all the information from the meeting and be available to attend strategy meetings if the allocated IDVA is not available.

Independent Sexual Violence Advisory (ISVA) Service

The Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) provides practical and emotional support to victims of sexual abuse or violence, supporting victims through the criminal justice process, and advocating on their behalf. It is also the role of an ISVA to support victims who have decided not to report to the police, or whose cases are no longer in the criminal justice process.

There is one ISVA in the organisation who offers support to clients in the community and the refuge. An average caseload is 35 with an additional 7 residents.

To date, the ISVA service has received 326 referrals, with a notable increase in clients who require emotional support due to substantial court delays. It is not unusual for clients to be waiting until late 2025 for a court hearing. Clients often state that they feel that “their lives are on hold” until a case is heard.

Many clients have experienced historical rape or sexual abuse and have complex and enduring mental health issues because of the trauma. This can prove challenging with regards to client engagement and recovery. Nonetheless, we continue to strive to achieve the best outcome for each person.

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

SAV Counselling

We have developed a SAV counselling offer which has enhanced the ISVA service enabling clients to move into the most effective service for them at the appropriate time. From April 2023 – March 2024, we had 3 specialist counsellors offering sessions to SAV’s clients. 65 sessions were attended by 24 individual women. 16 clients reported sexual abuse by a partner or former partner, 3 reported sexual abuse by multiple perpetrators of which 2 were under the age of 18, 3 women were sexually abused by a known adult before the age of 18, 1 woman and 1 male was sexually abused buy a family member.

Healthy Schools Project

The aim of the project is to educate children on safe and healthy relationships, raise awareness of domestic abuse and other impacting factors which affect relationships. The interactive sessions have clear aims and objectives which are demonstrated in the schemes of work and lesson plans. The delivery is mapped to the Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum. Staff who deliver the project have a teaching background and have experience working with children and young people.

Children's emotional well-being and safety remains at the forefront of all of our deliveries and we aim to offer flexibility to meet both the needs of schools and the individual needs of children. In the last academic year we have accommodated several last minute requests from headteachers to enable children to access to the programmes that we offer including the healthy relationships project and hate crime sessions. We have noticed an increase in need for the hate crime sessions within schools.

This year we have educated 2,910 children which is an increase on last year, in 97 classes across 55 schools in Bolton and Bury on healthy relationships and hate crime. We saw an increase in Autumn deliveries which lead to recommendations later in the year. Due to budget restraints and staff issues within High Schools we were unable to deliver to high schools this year but have made contacts to reinstate these relationships for the next academic year with communication ongoing with several special schools within Bolton as well.

The programme has been adapted once again to reflect the needs of the schools. The sessions have received excellent feedback from head teachers, teachers and pupils. All of the schools we have delivered to this academic year have already booked for next year. As a result of our deliveries some schools have reported that children have been sharing more information about their home lives and seeking out additional support from school staff and other services such as the Children and Young People’s Team and children’s counselling at Fortalice.

Children Services (Refuge)

94 individual children and young people have accessed services at Lewis House during this year. Services include play sessions, after-school, computer and youth club sessions, school holiday activities, family sessions including family activity days, and school-ready and individual one-to-one support sessions.

We are still seeing a significant number of children with support plans who are subject to child action or protection plans, these children need additional support from our team of workers on a one-to-one basis. The services provided are creative, innovative, structured and supportive, addressing the individual needs of those in their care. The team are continually monitoring demand which enables them to respond to the diverse range of Children's needs in a continually changing environment. To keep abreast of emerging trends, demands and needs staff have forged links with many other agencies and service providers, locally and nationally.

Our Children’s workers provided 119 childcare sessions for parents who attended the Freedom Programme, we provided 69 sessions of mum and me time which helps parents reform relationships with their children and also provided a number of one-off childcare sessions.

We have an outstanding Ofsted registered nursery on site at the Refuge. During this year 50% of children who attended the sessions had additional speech and language needs.

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Children’s Transition

Facing the Future provides emotional and practical support for children and young people who are moving from our Refuge settings in Bolton and Bury into their new community. The Children’s Transition Worker supports children/young people for up to 3 months promoting stability by helping them successfully adjust to their new lives on the next phase of recovery. The project seeks to minimise the risk of families leaving a place of security and safety and becoming vulnerable by giving them transitional support enabling them to develop confidence and support links in the local community.

The Worker has supported children on a one-to-one basis for up to 12 weeks during their transition from Refuge to the community, guiding to support their emotional well-being and challenging behaviours. The project has supported 35 children in this financial year. The project follows a Whole Family Approach, with support being offered to the parent around their own emotional wellbeing and routines, boundaries, relationship building and general parenting in order to build some stability for the family moving forwards. Referrals have also been completed for our internal Family Cohesion Project to continue support for the family beyond 12 weeks, were required.

Families have been supported practically on an individual needs-led basis, with support given to secure school places, GP’s, Health Visitors and Nursery places and to help the families build links within their local community. School visits ensure that children are settling in well and on track with development and learning, as well as giving the teacher opportunity to share any concerns or positive feedback.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

This period has again been successful with the Charity generating a surplus of £77,711 compared with a surplus of £180,370 last year. This year’s surplus includes an unrealised gain on investments of £49,576 (2023 – unrealised loss £25,599).

Principal funding sources

The principal funding sources for the Charity are currently by way of grant and contract income from Bolton Council (BC). The two main sources are:

• Adult Services accommodation based housing related support services

• Housing Benefits

Funding received from Bolton Council in relation to accommodation-based housing related support services and Housing Benefits represents 10.62% (2023 – 10.59%) and 25.33% (2023 – 23.45%) respectively of total incoming resources from charitable activities.

Investment policy and objectives

The investment objective of the Charity is to make investments which will provide an overall return on the portfolio, while maintaining the real purchase power of the portfolio over time and providing reasonable growth.

Under the Trustees Act 2000, the trustees have the same full and unrestricted powers of investing and transposing investments as if they were beneficially entitled thereto.

The investment funds held yielded income of £25,229 (2023 - £15,155) and as at 31 March 2024 they had a market value of £543,021 (2023 - £495,598). Details are shown in note 14 to the accounts.

Reserves policy

The trustees review the Charity's requirements for reserves annually, in the light of the major risks facing the charity.

As agreed at the management meeting on 30[th] April 2019, the trustees consider that in order to ensure the continuous provision of the Charity's services, they aim to maintain a general fund equal to 9 months of budgeted expenditure. However, to ensure a continuous delivery of services and remove possible constraints, the Trustees have agreed a general fund of between 6 and 9 months of budgeted expenditure with the intention to stay as close to 9 months as practical.

At the year end the Charity's unrestricted and undesignated reserves stood at £1,093,362 which represent just over 6 months of budgeted expenditure. During the next financial year an extension will be added to our Children and Young People’s (CYP) hub, offering an enhanced base for CYP services and training delivery. This extension will impact upon our level of free reserves, the finance and investment sub-group is mindful of reserve levels and will endeavour to keep

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

them within policy.

The net book value of tangible fixed assets is included in the designated fund, these assets are used by the charity in the furtherance of its objectives and are not free reserves.

Future plans

The Business plan continues to be influenced by reduced funding and an increase in demand for services. Fortalice has continued to develop highly effective ways of working to meet the emerging trends and the needs of the diverse range of victims, children and families affected by domestic abuse.

In line with the business plan, we will continue to further develop our core services to meet the ever changing needs of the victims, families, children and young people who access services at the Refuge, CYP hub and Outreach Support Centre. This will include recruiting new volunteers and further developing new ways of working with our team of highly skilled volunteers.

In conjunction with Management, we will monitor the Business Plan 2020–2025 and develop a new business plan for 2025 to 2030.

To secure funding for core services, new projects and projects where funding is due to end to ensure continuous delivery of services.

To maintain and further develop group work and advice sessions at the Outreach Support Centre providing increased opportunities for all victims to access the right services at the right time meeting individual needs.

Due to changes in how GMICP are allocating funding to 1Point we will need to find alternative funding to continue to provide this invaluable service where we currently offer almost 3,000 counselling appointments per year.

The objective of further developing our services will be to reach a more diverse range of communities and varying issues around domestic abuse. This will include identifying and working with a range of partners to achieve our goals. We have new projects next year which are authentic voice capturing the voices of children to shape services going forwards crisis car working with the police, expansion of CYP services. We intend to make alterations at our Outreach Support Centre by adding a video suite for the police to undertake video interviews with victims, we are also working in partnership with Rape Crisis by offering a room for them to deliver a specialist counselling service.

Due to the success of Family Cohesion project, we have been asked to pilot a new project in partnership with Bolton Council called Family conferencing which mirrors aspects of the Family Cohesion model.

To continue to develop more projects within Children’s Services to meet the ever increasing demand, our aim is to continue to expand the number of children and young people’s workers to enable us to manage the demand for the service. We are also planning to undertake an extension on the CYP hub to accommodate the additional staff and services. We will work with our children and young people to develop a Youth Council specifically relating to domestic abuse and the issues it raises for children and young people. We will also enable our CYP staff to further develop their skills to meet the ever changing complexities of the CYP we work with.

To work with Bolton Together and the THRIVE partnership in providing and securing further funding to maintain the range of services for children and young people in Bolton.

To continually and develop our education programmes in Schools and in the community, reaching more children with the aim of breaking early cycles of domestic abuse and unhealthy relationships. This development will be done through evaluating the programmes and working with our children and young people’s advisory panels and staff working in educational settings.

Working with the IRIS national team to identify new projects and more innovative ways of working to enhance the delivery, specifically appertaining to more effective ways of delivering training to the GP surgeries enabling easier access for them. This will ensure patients have appropriate routes into DAV services to keep them safe We will participate in a new research piece of work, named IRIS plus which will commence in November 2024.

The IDVA service will be continually developed maximising opportunities to keep all high risk victims safe and to contribute to the local DAV strategy through feedback from Victims, this will be completed in conjunction with the

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

MARAC review across Greater Manchester.

To continue to develop new partnerships with the aim meeting the objectives domestic abuse bill enabling a more diverse service to victims and survivors who need domestic abuse services. Our Chief Executive sits on various boards and panels across Bolton and Greater Manchester ensuring Fortalice and victims can contribute and co-produce domestic abuse strategies and implementation plans.

Our fundraising and social media strategy need to be further developed with the aim of assisting the organisation in achieving its fundraising target in meeting the shortfall. The Chief Executive will work with the Finance Director, bid writer and fundraiser to identify specific funding for projects.

Our IT system and Information Governance will continue to be further developed over the next year in line with our company action plan.

A key focus for all our work will be early intervention, high, middle and low tier domestic abuse, working with adult victims and children.

The Management Committee together with the Chief Executive and Finance Director will support the above priorities whilst maintaining a high standard of service and will monitor through a series of sub-groups ensuring policy and working practices comply with and surpass the quality standards of regulating bodies and funders.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Governing document

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 28th February 2008 and registered as a Charity on 13th May 2008. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objectives and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. In the event of the company being wound up members are required to contribute an amount not exceeding £10.

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees and management committee

There is a broad mix of knowledge and skills represented on the management committee to reflect the client group we serve and to provide the management skills required for the smooth running of the organisation. The Directors are also committee members and hold official positions as Chair, Secretary and Treasurer for the organisation.

All members of the Management Committee, apart from the Chief Executive, give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity. Any expenses reclaimed from the charity are set out in the notes to the accounts.

Hilary Eastham, Sylvia Swain, Ian Hepburn and Rick Jackson retire by rotation and all, except Hilary Eastham, offer themselves for re-election. We would like to take this opportunity to record our thanks to Hilary for her dedicated service as a volunteer, Trustee and Treasurer, her support has been invaluable.

Organisational structure

Fortalice is headed by a committee of 13 directors and 1 management member who meet on a regular basis to monitor and give guidance and direction in respect of the services provided by the organisation.

The full committee meets quarterly with additional sub group meetings addressing specific issues in relation to Business development, finance and investment, HR, monitoring and evaluation, health and safety and marketing and publicity.

Day to day service delivery is managed by the Chief Executive reporting back to full committee meetings.

Services are provided across the organisation by three teams:

Adult Residential Services :

-Providing services, support and temporary accommodation at our refuge in Bolton.

Outreach Services:

-Providing a range of non-residential support services and domestic abuse training programmes, interventions and outreach at the Outreach Support Centre and at external venues within the local community

Children's Services:

-Providing early intervention, crisis intervention and support services; education on healthy relationships and support for children in the refuge, the CYP Hub, Outreach Support Centre and at external venues within the local community.

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FORTALICE LIMITED

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

The teams comprise of 65 paid part-time and full-time workers and a contingency of volunteers working in all areas across the organisation.

Volunteers play a significant role within the organisation and their contribution greatly enhances the quality of services we are able to offer. This creates 'added value' to the service and clearly demonstrates efficiencies in terms of cost and value for money. In return, we offer a high level of training and opportunities to improve skills, knowledge and expertise to enhance their own personal and professional development. Unfortunately, the majority of volunteer roles were put on hold for over two years due to Covid however, we have started to integrate them back into the organisation during this financial year.

Fortalice has provided an increased number of placements for student counsellors, social work students and work experience placements, all of which have gained knowledge and expertise through their time with the organisation.

Our quality assurance processes ensure that we are effectively monitoring and reviewing our working practices, this has ensured that we consistently meet the needs of the client base and work within the constraints of our financial budgets. The continuous evolving working practice with residents has enabled us to measure the success of the service against specific outcomes.

Induction and training of new trustees

A Trustee induction programme is in place and subject to review through consultation with the management team. All members are required to undertake training relevant to their adopted role and to increase their own awareness and knowledge of issues relating to domestic abuse and its effects within society.

All Trustees and committee members are encouraged to visit the project to become familiar with the staff team and the day to day work of the organisation.

Related parties

Services provided by Fortalice respond to both local, regional and national strategies and we continue to be a key member of strategic partnerships within Bolton and the North West. Our association with other voluntary organisations through collaborative partnership working continues and we have undertaken joint training and aim to develop and strengthen the association further in the immediate and long term future.

We have strong established links with mental health and social care agencies to enhance the support we offer to service users to ensure additional needs are addressed and met and the risk of re-victimisation is greatly reduced.

Through training we are able to raise awareness of the effects domestic abuse has on society and this year we have responded to the additional demand for training to a number of agencies throughout the borough.

Risk management

The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure that appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurances against fraud and error.

There are strict internal controls in relation to financial transactions and an annual review of external factors that may affect the Charity's viability.

We continually review our policy and procedures in relation to risk factors at all levels and health and safety controls are in place throughout the organisation.

24 hour on-site staff cover at the Refuge sites and minimum staffing levels in all areas has been achieved at all times throughout the year.

Clients are consulted on risk and contribute to the annual assessments.

Policies and procedures are in place to safeguard all clients and in addition to stringent security checks at the point of recruitment; we undertake induction training with all paid staff and volunteers in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

There are procedures in place giving clients the opportunity to raise issues either independently or as a group at house meetings and concerns or complaints can be raised formally or anonymously with a record kept of each issue and

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FORTALICE LIMITED

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

outcome. Consultations are undertaken on a regular basis to ensure all victim and survivor needs are met. Residents also help to evaluate the service through questionnaires and discussion groups.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Company number 06517841 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number 1124031

Registered office 43 Bradford Street The Haulgh Bolton BL2 1HT

Trustees

Mrs D M Hawkins Dr (h.c.) G Smallwood MBE Ms H J Eastham Mrs S Swain Mrs J Smith Ms L Lee Mrs A Brown Ms S Collier Mrs S White – Resigned 31.07.2024 Reverend I Hepburn Mr R Jackson Cllr C L Thomas – Appointed 01.09.2023 Mr J P Rayner – Appointed 29.04.2024

Company Secretary

Mrs S Swain

Auditors

Sumer Auditco Limited The Beehive City Place Gatwick RH6 0PA

Bankers

National Westminster Bank plc 24 Deansgate Bolton BL1 1BN

Solicitors

KBL Solicitors LLP New Mansion House 63-65 Chorley New Road Bolton BL1 4QR

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REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Investment brokers

Chartered Wealth Management The Lightwell 61/63 Brown Street Manchester M2 2JG

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees (who are also the directors of Fortalice Limited for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Report Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the trustees are required to

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charity SORP;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

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

In so far as the trustees are aware:

• there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company's auditors are unaware; 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 auditors are aware of that information.

AUDITORS

Sumer Auditco Limited were appointed as auditor to the Charity and are deemed to be reappointed at the forthcoming Annual Geneal Meeting.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

16/11/2024 | 10:43 AM GMT

Approved by order of the board of trustees on …………. and signed on its behalf by:

Mrs D M Hawkins – Trustee

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REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE MEMBERS OF FORTALICE LIMITED

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Fortalice Limited for the year ended 31 March 2024 which comprise the statement of financial activities including the income and expenditure account, balance sheet, cash flow statement and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company's affairs as at 31 March 2024 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 Charity 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 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 trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. 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.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

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

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

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REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE MEMBERS OF FORTALICE LIMITED

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the Charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Annual Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where 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 necessary for the purposes of our audit.

• the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies exemption from the requirement to prepare a Strategic Report or in preparing the Report of the Trustees

Responsibilities of the trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees Responsibilities set out on page eleven, 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 they 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 Charity’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 Charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative to do so.

Our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below:

We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from our general commercial and sector experience, and through discussions with the directors (as required by auditing standards) and discussed with the directors the policies and procedures regarding compliance with laws and regulations. We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit. The potential effect of these laws and regulations on the financial statements varies considerably.

Firstly, the company is subject to laws and regulations that directly affect the financial statements including financial reporting legislation and taxation legislation. We assessed the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related financial statement items.

Secondly, the company is subject to many other laws and regulations where the consequences of non-compliance could have a material effect on amounts or disclosures in the financial statements, for instance through the imposition of fines or litigation. We identified the following areas as those most likely to have such an effect: Companies Act 2006, Charities Act 2011, Health and Safety at Work Act and Employment Law.

Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the directors and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. Through these procedures we did not become aware of any actual or suspected non-compliance.

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material

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misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of nondetection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

• We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined below to detect material misstatement due to fraud:  Matters are discussed amongst the audit engagement team regarding how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud

• Identifying and assessing the design and effectiveness of controls that management have in place to prevent and detect fraud

• Detecting and responding to the risks of fraud following discussions with management and enquiring as to whether management have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council's website at: [www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities]. This description forms part of the 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 auditors' 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. Alex Hesketh FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) [teSignedD811F4480CE249E...by:Hesketh for and on behalf of Sumer Auditco Limited The Beehive City Place Gatwick RH6 0PA

17/11/2024 | 6:00 PM GMT Date: ……………….

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FORTALICE LIMITED

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Unrestricted funds £ INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies 148,813 Charitable activities Operation of Women's Refuge & Support Centre 511,090 Other trading activities 59,269 Income from investments 25,229 Total 744,401 EXPENDITURE ON Charitable activities Operation of Women's Refuge & Support Centre 670,068 NET INCOME BEFORE INVESTMENTS GAINS/(LOSSES) 74,333 Net gains/(losses) on investments 49,727 NET INCOME 124,060 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward 1,625,732 Transfers between funds - TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 1,749,792	Restricted funds £ - 1,098,921 - - 1,098,921 1,145,270 (46,349) - (46,349) 175,675 - 129,326	31.3.24 Total funds £ 148,813 1,610,011 59,269 25,229 1,843,322 1,815,338 27,984 49,727 77,711 1,801,407 - 1,879,118	31.3.23 Total funds £ 179,862 1,579,015 74,505 15,155 1,848,537 1,644,828 203,709 (23,339) 180,370 1,621,037 - 1,801,407

CONTINUING OPERATIONS

All incoming resources and resources expended arise from charitable activities during the period.

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FORTALICE LIMITED

BALANCE SHEET At 31 March 2024

		31.3.24	31.3.23
	Notes	£	£
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets	13	636,599	636,892
Investments	14	543,021	495,598
		1,179,620	1,132,490
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors	15	83,534	125,816
Cash at bank and in hand		866,054	766,202
		949,588	892,018
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year	16	(250,090)	(223,101)
NET CURRENT ASSETS		669,498	668,917
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT
LIABILITIES		1,879,118	1,801,407
NET ASSETS		1,879,118	1,801,407
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds		1,749,792	1,625,732
Restricted funds		129,326	175,675
TOTAL FUNDS		1,879,118	1,801,407

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small charitable companies.

16/11/2024 | 10:43 AM GMT

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on ………………. and were signed on its behalf by:

Mrs D M Hawkins -Trustee F8C581CD0C1148D.

Ms H J Eastham -Trustee [t 9BA257A07979401& by:

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FORTALICE LIMITED

CASH FLOW STATEMENT for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Notes Cash flows from operating activities: Cash generated from operations 1 Net cash provided by operating activities Cash flows from investing activities: Investment income Purchase of investments Purchase of tangible fixed assets Movement in fair value of investments Net cash used in investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reporting period Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the reporting period Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period	31.3.24 £ 133,000 133,000 25,229 - (10,954) (47,423) (33,148) 99,852 766,202 866,054	31.3.23 £ 475,905 475,905 15,155 - (341,411) 25,026 (301,230) 174,675 591,527 766,202

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NOTES TO THE CASH FLOW STATEMENT for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

1. RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) TO NET OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net income for the reporting period (as per the statement of financial activities) Adjustments for: Depreciation charges Investment income received (Increase)/decrease in debtors Increase in creditors Profit on sale on disposal of fixed assets Net cash provided by operating activities	CASH FLOW FROM 31.3.24 31.3.23 £ £ 77,711 180,370 11,247 11,845 (25,229) (15,155) 42,282 268,255 26,989 - 30,590 - 133,000 475,905

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charitable company, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Companies Act 2006. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Assessment of going concern

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

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Grants received from local authorities are credited to income on an accruals basis.

Self-generating income represents monies due as rent and is accounted for on an accruals basis. Monies received in advance are shown as current liabilities and monies owing as debtors.

Income from legacies is recognised on a receivable basis.

All voluntary income is included in income on receipt.

Donated services and facilities are included in income at a valuation which is an estimate of the financial cost borne by the donor where such a cost is quantifiable and measurable. No income is recognised when there is no financial cost borne by a third party.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, 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 accounted for on an accruals basis.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

Expenditure has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation which is provided in annual instalments over the estimated useful lives of the assets.

Leasehold buildings are depreciated to write down the cost less estimated residual value over the remaining useful life by equal annual instalments. It is the trustees' policy to maintain all buildings to such a standard that their estimated residual value is not less than their cost at any given time. Therefore, in the opinion of the trustees, no depreciation charge is required.

Small items of equipment and furniture are not capitalised but are written off on acquisition through the income and expenditure accounts.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES - continued

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates:

Improvements to property - 2%/10% on cost Computer equipment - 33% on reducing balance Motor Vehicles - 25% on cost

Fixed asset investments

Investments are a form of basic financial instrument. Listed investments are initially recognised at their transaction value and subsequently measured at their fair value as at the balance sheet date using the closing quoted market price. The statement of financial activities includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluation and disposals throughout the year.

Unlisted investments are recognised at their cost value within the balance sheet.

Realised gains and losses

All gains and losses are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities as they arise. Realised gains and losses on investments are calculated as the difference between sales proceeds and their opening carrying value or their purchase value if acquired subsequent to the first day of the financial year. Unrealised gains and losses are calculated as the difference between the fair value at the year end and their carrying value. Realised and unrealised investment gains and losses are combined in the Statement of Financial Activities.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company's pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

Hire purchase and leasing commitments

Lease payments under operating leases, where substantially all the risks and benefits remain with the lessor, are charged as expenses in the periods in which they are incurred.

Government grants

Government grants are recognised at the fair value of the asset received or receivable when there is reasonable assurance that the grant conditions will be met and the grants will be received.

A grant that specifies performance conditions is recognised in income when the performance conditions are met. Where a grant does not specify performance conditions it is recognised in income when the proceeds are received or receivable. A grant received before the recognition criteria are satisfied is recognised as a liability.

Financial Instruments

The following assets and liabilities are classified as financial instruments; trade debtors, rents receivable, trade creditors and other creditors.

Trade debtors, rents receivable, trade creditors and other creditors are measured at the undiscounted amount of the cash or other consideration expected to be paid or received.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

2. DONATIONS AND LEGACIES

Donations Legacy income Analysis of donations received during the period: Date Donor Various Anonymous donations and amounts of £500 or less Various Various Enthuse Just Giving Various Greenhalgh’s / David Smart Camino de Santiago walk Various 01.06.23 20.12.23 Various 08.01.24 01.02.24 18.05.23 Various 01.07.23 19.06.23 15.03.24 Various 06.09.23 05.12.23 18.12.23 09.12.23 Cowgill Holloway LLP Golf Day Mayor of Bolton’s Charity 2022/23 PMJ Capital Ltd Beaverbrooks Charitable Trust Bradshaw Gass Trust Cormar Carpet Co. Lancashire Ladies Fundraising Group Starts with You Horwich Rotary Ladies & Inner Wheel Club of Horwich Bolton Golf Association Ladies UK Plumbing Supplies Kearsley & Ringley Conservative Club Tony Rumbelow Mr & Mrs Pieczonka D.R.A. Limited Cadets M&S bag pack 24.11.23 Buckingham Emergency Food Appeal 06.01.24 Bolton School of Dance & Drama 19.12.23 Bolton School Girls Division (Ceremony of Carols) 27.06.23 Rotary Club of Horwich Various Rotary Club of Westhoughton Various Evora Global 04.01.24 St Vincent De Paul RC Church 12.01.24 Holiday Inn, Bolton 17.05.23 Yorkshire Building Society	31.3.24 £ 144,446 4,367 148,813	31.3.23 £ 179,862 - 179,862 £ 35,732 29,509 27,534 9,928 6,920 4,000 4,000 3,850 2,750 2,000 2,000 1,700 1,683 1,150 1,090 1,089 1,000 1,000 1,000 892 800 725 651 623 600 600 565 539 516 144,446

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FORTALICE LIMITED

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

3. OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

			31.3.24	31.3.23
			£	£
	Fundraising events		22,954	14,702
	Other income		36,315	59,803
			59,269	74,505
4.	INVESTMENT INCOME
			31.3.24	31.3.23
			£	£
	Deposit account interest		14,962	4,312
	Investment income		10,267	10,843
			25,229	15,155
5.	INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
			31.3.24	31.3.23
		Activity	£	£
	Charge to residents	Operation of Women's Refuge & Support
		Centre	511,090	476,077
	Grants	Operation of Women's Refuge & Support
		Centre	1,098,921	1,102,938
			1,610,011	1,579,015

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

5. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES - continued

Grants received, included in the above, are as follows:

Bolton Council - Vulnerable Children & Young People Bolton Council - Adult services 1point Bolton Council - Iris Project FFE Funding Bolton Together – Thrive Bolton Together - iThrive Counselling Bolton Together – iThrive 11-19 years Children in Need, D.O.V.E. Bolton CCG - Children’s Counselling Bolton CCG - Teams Around Schools Bolton Fund – Round 14 Health and Wellbeing Bolton Fund – Round 21 Children getting the best start in life Bolton Fund – Round 18 Safe, strong & cohesive communities Bolton Fund – Round 23 Health and wellbeing Bolton Fund – Round 29 Standing Together Bolton Fund – Round 33 Household Support Fund Bolton Fund – Round 36 Positive Activities for Bolton Bolton Fund – Round 43 Standing Together GMCA – ISVA GMCA Crisis Car The Circle Fund Bolton Together – Emotional Health and Wellbeing Bolton Together – Thrive Plus Bolton Together – Internet Safety Bolton Council - IDVA Garfield Weston Foundation Zochonis Charitable Trust Morrisons Foundation Amazon Community Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund North West Young People’s Development Trust Albert Gubay Foundation Albert Gubay Foundation - Capital Grant Masonic Charitable Fund Safenet Bury Refuge Schroder Charity Trust James Tudor Foundation The Grace Trust JD Foundation HAF The Leigh Trust Charles Hayward Foundation 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust ASDA Foundation TLC Bury CYP Domestic Abuse Partnership	31.3.24 £ 28,805 195,840 52,620 107,939 16,907 24,950 38,720 27,826 9,935 21,872 60,814 - 1,250 - 6,214 3,605 - 20,850 4,166 42,000 37,500 - 36,936 7,500 7,471 194,385 - - 19,093 1,000 - - - - 19,973 10,500 4,000 5,000 1,250 5,000 - - 20,000 5,000 - 60,000 1,098,921	31.3.23 £ 28,805 195,840 36,277 84,697 18,625 25,309 38,720 - 45,702 21,215 58,988 7,371 13,748 9,839 8,700 490 10,320 - - 40,000 - 5,000 36,936 18,000 5,336 161,548 25,000 5,000 - 1,000 2,000 10,000 29,182 38,244 19,973 21,000 - - - - 8,777 5,000 20,000 5,000 1,296 40,000 1,102,938

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Restricted income, included in the above, are as follows:

Bolton Council - Vulnerable Children & Young People Bolton Council - Adult services 1point Bolton Council - Iris Project FFE Funding Bolton Together – Thrive Bolton Together - iThrive Counselling Bolton Together – iThrive 11-19 years Children in Need, D.O.V.E. Bolton CCG - Children’s Counselling Bolton CCG - Teams Around Schools Bolton Fund – Round 14 Health and Wellbeing Bolton Fund – Round 21 Children getting the best start in life Bolton Fund – Round 18 Safe, strong & cohesive communities Bolton Fund – Round 23 Health and wellbeing Bolton Fund – Round 29 Standing Together Bolton Fund – Round 33 Household Support Fund Bolton Fund – Round 36 Positive Activities for Bolton Bolton Fund – Round 43 Standing Together GMCA – ISVA GMCA Crisis Car The Circle Fund Bolton Together – Emotional Health and Wellbeing Bolton Together – Thrive Plus Bolton Together – Internet Safety Bolton Council - IDVA Garfield Weston Foundation Zochonis Charitable Trust Morrisons Foundation Amazon Community Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund North West Young People’s Development Trust Albert Gubay Foundation Albert Gubay Foundation - Capital Grant Masonic Charitable Fund Safenet Bury Refuge Schroder Charity Trust James Tudor Foundation The Grace Trust JD Foundation HAF The Leigh Trust Charles Hayward Foundation 29thMay 1961 Charitable Trust ASDA Foundation TLC Bury CYP Domestic Abuse Partnership	31.3.24 £ 28,805 195,840 52,620 107,939 16,907 24,950 38,720 27,826 9,935 21,872 60,814 - 1,250 - 6,214 3,605 - 20,850 4,166 42,000 37,500 - 36,936 7,500 7,471 194,385 - - 19,093 1,000 - - - - 19,973 10,500 4,000 5,000 1,250 5,000 - - 20,000 5,000 - 60,000 1,098,921	31.3.23 £ 28,805 195,840 36,277 84,697 18,625 25,309 38,720 - 45,702 21,215 58,988 7,371 13,748 9,839 8,700 490 10,320 - - 40,000 - 5,000 36,936 18,000 5,336 161,548 25,000 5,000 - 1,000 2,000 10,000 29,182 38,244 19,973 21,000 - - - - 8,777 5,000 20,000 5,000 1,296 40,000
		1,102,938

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

6. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES COSTS

Direct costs Support costs (See note 7) (See note 8) £ £ Operation of Women's Refuge & Support Centre 1,779,523 35,815 DIRECT COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES 31.3.24 £ Trustees' remuneration etc. 66,520 Staff costs 1,231,396 Water rates and service charges 17,376 Insurance 12,026 Light and heat 63,732 Telephone 12,072 Postage and stationery 4,843 Sundries 2,383 Cleaning materials 6,229 Window cleaning 2,250 Gardening 1,601 Furniture, equipment and maintenance 23,609 Health and safety 165 Irwell Valley Homes Rent 148,973 Children's activities 7,836 Resident’s expenses 1,467 Travel & transport 10,548 Computer costs 28,799 Interpreting 5,231 Repairs, renewals & maintenance 24,351 Subscriptions 2,324 Training costs 9,696 Refreshments 413 Emergency provisions 35 Outreach Support Centre activities 4,309 Support, supervision and counselling services 660 Fundraising expenses 29,341 Children's counselling 17,092 Publicity and advertising 2,895 Bad debt expense 1,155 Bank charges Legal and professional fees 1,451 25,340 Depreciation 11,247 Profit on sale of tangible fixed asset - Investment portfolio charges 2,158 1,779,523		Totals £ 1,815,338 31.3.23 £ 63,470 1,146,711 12,513 10,433 49,547 11,113 4,580 3,475 4,664 1,965 1,853 19,320 135 144,681 11,732 2,299 9,143 14,805 3,903 20,200 1,954 15,719 412 36 6,522 1,135 6,573 16,880 2,806 - 1,493 16,100 11,845 - 2,116 1,620,133

7. DIRECT COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Included within the staff costs is an amount totalling £987,234 (2023: £900,153) which relate to restricted fund expenditure.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

8. SUPPORT COSTS

Operation of Women's Refuge & Support Centre	Governance costs £ 35,815

9. NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)

Net income/(expenditure) is stated after charging/(crediting):

	31.3.24	31.3.23
	£	£
Auditors' remuneration	12,000	7,800
Auditors' remuneration for non-audit work	1,116	1,095
Bookkeeping	7,800	3,836
Depreciation - owned assets	11,247	11,845

10. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

Trustees' salaries Trustees' social security Trustees' pension contributions to money purchase schemes	31.3.24 £ 58,396 6,803 1,321 66,520	31.3.23 £ 55,417 6,732 1,321
		63,470

One trustee received remuneration during the period. The trustee's remuneration is in accordance with the memorandum and articles of association of the reporting entity.

Trustees' expenses

There were no trustees' expenses paid for the year ended 31 March 2024 nor for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Professional indemnity insurance has been taken out on behalf of trustees at a cost of £1,534 (2023: £1,431).

11. STAFF COSTS

	31.3.24	31.3.23
	£	£
Wages and salaries	1,129,520	1,049,567
Social security costs	82,094	78,763
Other pension costs	19,782	18,381
	1,231,396	1,146,711

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

31.3.24 31.3.23 Management and administration 10 9 Lewis House, Outreach Support Centre and CYP Hub 55 53 65 62	31.3.24 31.3.23 Management and administration 10 9 Lewis House, Outreach Support Centre and CYP Hub 55 53 65 62	31.3.24 31.3.23 Management and administration 10 9 Lewis House, Outreach Support Centre and CYP Hub 55 53 65 62
	65	62

One trustee received emoluments in excess of £60,000.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

12. COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted funds £ INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM Donations and legacies 179,862 Charitable activities Operation of Women's Refuge & Support Centre 476,077 Other trading activities 74,505 Investment income 15,155 Total 745,599 EXPENDITURE ON Charitable activities Operation of Women's Refuge & Support Centre 600,426 NET INCOME BEFORE INVESTMENTS 145,173 Net gains/(losses) on investments (23,339) NET INCOME 121,834 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward Transfers between funds 1,503,898 - TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 1,625,732	Restricted funds £ - 1,102,938 - - 1,102,938 1,044,402 58,536 - 58,536 117,139 - 175,675	Total funds £ 179,862 1,579,015 74,505 15,155 1,848,537 1,644,828 203,709 (23,339) 180,370 1,621,037 - 1,801,407

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

13. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

ANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Long leasehold Improvements to property Computer equipment Motor vehicles £ £ £ £ COST At 1 April 2023 457,179 213,257 16,296 10,995 Additions 6,850 - 4,104 - Disposals - - - - At 31 March 2024 464,029 213,257 20,400 10,995 DEPRECIATION At 1 April 2023 - 38,459 12,755 9,621 Charge for year - 7,326 2,548 1,373 Disposals At 31 March 2024 - - - 45,785 - 15,303 - 10,994 NET BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2024 464,029 167,472 5,097 1 At March 2023 457,179 174,798 3,541 1,374	Totals £ 697,727 10,954 - 708,681
	60,835 11,247 - 72,082 636,599	60,835 11,247 - 72,082
	636,892

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

14. FIXED ASSET INVESTMENTS

Market Value 1.4.23 Additions/ Disposals Interest UK Listed £ £ £ Unrestricted COIF Investment Fund 7,381.54 Units 138,305 - - COIF Global Equity Fund 58,690.40 Units 150,793 - - COIF Property Fund 42,673.04 Units 46,573 - - CWM Portfolio 159,926 - (146) 495,597 - (146) Market Value 2024 £ UK Listed Unrestricted COIF Investment Fund 7,381.54 units 150,824 COIF Global Equity Income Fund 58,690.40 units 173,712 COIF Property Fund 42,673.04 units 44,171 CWM portfolio 174,313 543,020 Market Value 2024 UK Unlisted Unrestricted 1Point NW Limited 1 1 Total Investments 543,021	Market Value 1.4.23 Additions/ Disposals Interest UK Listed £ £ £ Unrestricted COIF Investment Fund 7,381.54 Units 138,305 - - COIF Global Equity Fund 58,690.40 Units 150,793 - - COIF Property Fund 42,673.04 Units 46,573 - - CWM Portfolio 159,926 - (146) 495,597 - (146) Market Value 2024 £ UK Listed Unrestricted COIF Investment Fund 7,381.54 units 150,824 COIF Global Equity Income Fund 58,690.40 units 173,712 COIF Property Fund 42,673.04 units 44,171 CWM portfolio 174,313 543,020 Market Value 2024 UK Unlisted Unrestricted 1Point NW Limited 1 1 Total Investments 543,021	Charges Gain/ (Loss) Market Value 31.3.24 £ £ £ - 12,519 150,824 - 22,919 173,712 - (2,402) 44,171 (2,158) 16,691 174,313 (2,158) 49,727 543,020 Cost 2024 Market Value 2023 Cost 2023 £ £ £ 125,000 138,305 125,000 125,000 150,793 125,000 50,000 46,573 50,000 150,000 159,926 150,000 450,000 495,597 450,000 Cost 2024 Market Value 2023 Cost 2023 1 1 1 1 1 1 450,001 495,598 450,001
	(146)

15. DEBTORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Trade debtors Rents receivable Prepayments and accrued income Other debtors CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR Trade creditors Social security and other taxes Other creditors Accruals and deferred income	31.3.24 £ 45,098 17,646 20,790 - 83,534 31.3.24 £ 11,928 21,951 4,511 211,700 250,090	31.3.23 £ 95,391 11,993 18,433 - 125,816 31.3.23 £ 7,028 21,156 5,923 188,994 223,101

16. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

17.	LEASING AGREEMENTS
					31.3.24		31.3.23
	Minimum lease payments under	non-cancellable operating	leases			£	£
	Within one year				168,890		150,819
	Between two and five years				65,763		16,575
	Total				234,653		167,394
18.	ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS	BETWEEN FUNDS
		Unrestricted	Restricted		31.3.24		31.3.23
		Funds		Funds	Total Funds		Total Funds
		£		£	£		£
	Fixed assets	1,149,025	30,595		1,179,620		1,132,490
	Current Assets	696,889	252,699		949,588		892,018
	Current Liabilities	(96,122)	(153,968)		(250,090)		(223,101)
		1,749,792	129,326		1,879,118		1,801,407
19.	MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

Unrestricted funds Undesignated fund Designated Funds Restricted funds Operation of refuge TOTAL FUNDS	At 1.4.23 Net movement in funds £ £ 972,833 120,529 652,899 3,531 1,625,732 124,060 175,675 (46,349) 1,801,407 77,711	At 31.3.24 £ 1,093,362 656,430
		1,749,792 129,326
		1,879,118

Net movement in funds, included in the above are as follows:

Unrestricted Funds Undesignated Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Operation of Refuge TOTAL FUNDS	Incoming Resources £ 744,401 - 744,401 1,098,921 1,843,322	Resources Movement Expended Transfer In Funds £ £ £ (612,918) (10,954) 120,529 (7,423) 10,954 3,531 620,341 - 124,060 (1,145,270) - (46,349) (1,765,611) - 77,711	Resources Movement Expended Transfer In Funds £ £ £ (612,918) (10,954) 120,529 (7,423) 10,954 3,531 620,341 - 124,060 (1,145,270) - (46,349) (1,765,611) - 77,711
			77,711

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

19. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS - continued

The accumulated undesignated funds are for the purpose of providing relief and protection of women, men, children and young people who have been gravely or persistently maltreated by the partner with whom they are or have been living or by any member of their immediate family and of the children of such women.

The designated fund relates to the net book value of tangible fixed assets used in the furtherance of the charity's objectives and the balance left on various funds designated by the Trustees.

The balance on the restricted fund represents amounts received during the financial year in respect of the following projects;

The Healthy Relationships Project which educates children about acceptable behaviours in relationships. The delivery equips children with the knowledge, understanding and the skills required to develop healthy relationships. The project addresses unhealthy/abusive relationships, how to recognise these and where to get help.

Monies received specifically to purchase radiator covers following a Health and Safety review at Lewis House.

1Point North West, monies received to deliver adult counselling services at Outreach Support Centre.

Children in Need Grants for Children’s Services in the refuge, these monies fund the D.O.V.E (Dedicated to Overcoming Violent Experiences) project, delivering Breaking Free and Just For You sessions.

GM Police Bolton ARIS Fund, monies received to produce a video which will be used as a resource and training tool.

Bolton CCG Children’s Counselling, additional monies received to increase the number of play and talking therapy appointments in order to meet the increased demand seen during coronavirus lockdowns.

Box Power CIC, monies to fund activities and trips for children residing in the refuge.

Masonic Charitable Foundation, this grant supports 5–16-year-olds who move on from the refuge to help them transition to community life and deal with the trauma they’ve experienced. A Project Worker and community volunteers will work with the child to build new networks of support.

Albert Gubay Summer House, funds to provide a stand-alone structure in the grounds of the refuge to give the women and children we work with a space away from the refuge building to do specific pieces of work such as art therapy or counselling. The fund reduces each year by the annual depreciation charge.

The Manchester Guardian Society Charitable Trust, Duchy of Lancaster and Bolton Street Angels, one-off grants and donations towards the cost of electronic signing in system at both the Refuge and Outreach Support Centre.

Charles Hayward Foundation, received to support outreach recovery work for Children and Young People, the grant assisted with shortfall on overall planned children’s services budget.

29[th] May 1961 Charitable Trust, received to support outreach recovery work for Children and Young People, the grant assisted with shortfall on overall planned children’s services budget.

GMCA ISVA, monies to provide practical and emotional support to victims of sexual abuse or violence, supporting victims through the criminal justice process, and advocating on their behalf.

These balances are all budgeted to be expended over the next financial year.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

20. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

KBL Solicitors LLP have invoiced Fortalice £2,400 (2023: £8,925) in the year for services. At the year-end Fortalice owed £nil (2023: £nil) to KBL Solicitors LLP.

KBL Solicitors LLP are a related party by virtue of Sarah Collier being a director & trustee of Fortalice and an Employment Law Partner at KBL Solicitors LLP.

1Point have granted restricted income to Fortalice of £52,620 (2023: £36,277) in the year.

Bolton Together have granted restricted income of £143,403 (2023: £124,301) in the year.

1Point and Bolton Together are related parties by virtue of Gill Smallwood being both a director & trustee of Fortalice and a director at 1Point and Bolton Together.

21. ULTIMATE CONTROLLING PARTY

The company was controlled by the Board of Trustees throughout the year under review.

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Docusign Envelope ID: A6B36306-4A40-4BEC-918A-2D3F1979B7E4

FORTALICE LIMITED

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS Donations and legacies Donations Legacy income Other trading activities Fundraising events Other income Investment income Deposit account interest Investment income Charitable activities Charge to residents Grants Total incoming resources EXPENDITURE Charitable activities Trustees' salaries Trustees' social security Trustees' pension contributions Wages & salaries (Excl NI) Social security Pensions Water rates and service charges Insurance Light and heat Telephone Postage and stationery Sundries Cleaning materials Window cleaning Gardening Furniture, equipment and maintenance Irwell Valley Homes Rent Children's activities Resident’s expenses Travel & transport Computer costs Interpreting Carried forward	31.3.24 £ 144,446 4,367 148,813 22,954 36,315 59,269 14,962 10,267 25,229 511,090 1,098,921 1,610,011 1,843,322 58,396 6,803 1,321 1,129,520 82,094 19,782 17,376 12,026 63,732 12,072 4,843 2,383 6,229 2,250 1,601 23,774 148,973 7,836 1,467 10,548 28,799 5,231 1,647,056	31.3.23 £ 179,862 - 179,862 14,702 59,803 74,505 4,312 10,843 15,155 476,077 1,102,938 1,579,015 1,848,537 55,417 6,732 1,321 1,049,567 78,763 18,381 12,513 10,433 49,547 11,113 4,580 3,475 4,664 1,965 1,853 19,455 144,681 11,732 2,299 9,143 14,805 3,903 1,516,342	31.3.23 £ 179,862 - 179,862 14,702 59,803 74,505 4,312 10,843

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Docusign Envelope ID: A6B36306-4A40-4BEC-918A-2D3F1979B7E4

FORTALICE LIMITED

DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

Charitable activities Brought forward Repairs, renewals & maintenance Subscriptions Training costs Refreshments Emergency provisions Outreach Support Centre activities Support, supervision and counselling services Fundraising expenses Children's counselling Publicity and advertising Bad debt expense Bank charges Legal & professional fees Depreciation Profit on sale of tangible fixed asset Unrealised/realised (gain)/loss on investments Investment portfolio charges Support costs Governance costs Auditors' remuneration Auditors' remuneration for non-audit work Bookkeeping Legal & professional fees Total resources expended Net income	31.3.24 £ 1,647,056 24,351 2,324 9,696 413 35 4,309 660 29,341 17,092 2,895 1,155 1,451 25,340 11,247 - (49,727) 2,158 1,729,796 12,000 1,116 7,800 14,899 35,815 1,765,611 77,711	31.3.23 £ 1,516,342 20,200 1,954 15,719 412 36 6,522 1,135 6,573 16,880 2,806 - 1,493 16,100 11,845 - 23,339 2,116 1,643,472 7,800 1,096 3,836 11,964 24,696 1,668,168 180,370

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