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← Your Voice Counts

2025-03-31-accounts

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Our Year in Review

Annual Report (including the Directors’ Report) and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025

Charity registration number 1125719 Company registration number 06654142 (England and Wales)

www.yvc.org.uk

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Making a difference

“Your Voice Counts has changed my life and I can’t thank you all enough."

Emma, supported by the Communities team

“I just wanted to say what a great experience and pleasure we had yesterday whilst meeting with Denise who was supporting a person to feedback to us on their experience of our services. Denise was a huge support to this person, and it was clear she had built up a really strong and positive relationship with her. It was a real pleasure to see, and her support helped to obtain really positive outcomes to the meeting for everyone involved.”

Practice and Safeguarding Service Manager

“I can’t ever thank you enough for being on this terrible journey with me. I would have just given 2 up if I didn’t have your support. Thank you for the honest, respectful conversations.” Chase, supported by the Financial Wellbeing Service , &ee 4 ~« “I can’t thank Sarah enough because the work she does with me has really massively changed my life. With my learning disability and them using posh words in the meetings, it’s hard, but Sarah breaks it down for me. Without her help, I wouldn’t have known what to do.”

Becky, supported by a Voice for Families advocate

“I never thought I would get the chance to move homes. I really didn’t. When the housing team said to me they couldn’t help =: LEi¢ By la because of staff shortages, Paula just said ‘Carol, we’ve got some work to do.’ I knew then we could do it. Honestly, it really has been priceless.” Carol, supported by the Communities team

“My advocate Emer was wonderful - well-informed, highly experienced, honest, caring and genuinely concerned with getting me the very best outcomes. Nothing was too much trouble, she always returned telephone calls and treated me like a genuine human being. She was clearly passionate about her role and constantly encouraged me to be more assertive when faced with delays and poor service. I cannot recommend their advocacy service highly enough.”

Suzanne, supported by the Advocacy service

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Contents

Welcome from David Taylor and Christina Gates 4
Welcome from David Woolley 5
Structure, governance and management 6
Our Board 6
Objective and activities 8
Activities, achievements and performance
• Communities team highlights 9
• Self-advocacy highlights 15
• Advocacy in action 16
• Operations, Finance and Business Development
key achievements 19
Our year in numbers 22
Review of fnancial position 24
Fundraising activity 25
Plans for the future 26
Trustees' responsibilities 27
Independent Auditor's Report 28
Financial statements 32

Your Voice Counts | Greenesfield Business Centre | Mulgrave Terrace | Gateshead | NE8 1PQ

Registered Charity No. 1125719. Company limited by guarantee No. 6654142

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Welcome from Christina Gates and David Taylor

As Co-Chairs of the Your Voice Counts Board, we are pleased to introduce this year’s annual report which reflects not only the achievements of the past twelve months but also the strong governance foundations that will guide Your Voice Counts into the future.

This has been a significant year for our Board. We were delighted to welcome new trustees who have a wide range of expertise and lived experience, bringing skills and insight that strengthen our ability to oversee the charity’s work. Ensuring our governance reflects the diversity of the communities we serve is our priority and the balance of lived and learned experience on our Board continues to shape both our discussions and our decisions.

We are proud to have been involved in the development of the new five-year business strategy for Your Voice Counts. The process gave Board members the opportunity to reflect on what was achieved under our previous plan, identify emerging challenges and set a clear direction for the future. We’re confident that our new strategic goals will ensure that Your Voice Counts continues to be an organisation that is resilient, ambitious and committed to making a meaningful impact in the lives of the people we support.

Looking ahead, next year will bring changes in Board leadership as we step down from our roles – Christina after six years as Co-Chair, and David after ten years as a Trustee, including the past year as Co-Chair. A thorough recruitment process to appoint our successors will begin. We will also continue reviewing the Board’s skills and capacity to ensure development needs are identified and addressed.

We’re confident the organisation is well placed to build on its successes and navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead. Our thanks go to our fellow trustees, colleagues, volunteers, funders, partners and, most importantly, the people whose voices continue to inspire and drive our work.

David Taylor Christina Gates Co-Chair Co-Chair

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Welcome from David Woolley

This has been a year of both reflection and renewal for Your Voice Counts, as we close one strategic chapter and embark on a new five-year business strategy for our organisation.

As always, at the heart of everything we do are the voices of the people we support. Their experiences continue to shape our services, challenge us to improve and inspire us to keep pushing for change. This year, we have seen countless examples of courage and resilience — people stepping out of their comfort zones to influence decisions about their lives, to support their peers, to develop their skills and confidence and to challenge systems that don’t always work in their favour. You can see snapshots of this in action throughout this annual report.

We have also laid important foundations for the future by developing our new five-year business strategy. This really was a team effort, as we worked with our colleagues and the people we support to reflect on our previous strategic plan and identify and analyse the strengths, challenges and aims that shape our strategy for the next five years.

Financially, we have managed a challenging environment with care and foresight, making sure our resources are used where they are most needed. We are grateful to our funders and partners who share our belief in the power of advocacy and community-led support.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our journey this year. Together, we are creating communities where people are connected, included and empowered to live the lives they choose. I hope you enjoy seeing examples of this in action throughout this annual report.

David Woolley, Chief Executive, Your Voice Counts

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STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Advisors Main Auditors: Bankers: Azets Audit Services, Lloyds Bank, Bulman House, Regent Centre, Gateshead, Gosforth, NE8 1BF Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 3LS

Lloyds Bank, 17 Ellison Walk, Gateshead, NE8 1BF

Savings: Hampshire Trust Bank, 55 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 3AS Aldermore Savings, 1st Floor, Block B, Western House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6FZ

Redwood Bank The Nexus Building, Broadway, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, SG6 3TA

Our Board

Your Voice Counts is a registered charity and limited company governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association. Our Governance Handbook sets out how we ensure our governance is effective and inclusive.

Our Articles

Our Articles set out that at least 50% of our Board need to have lived experience of our services, which includes family carers of people who have used our services. We call the Directors with lived experience of our services Lived Experience Trustees. We call Directors who don’t have experience of our services Learned Experience Trustees.

Our Articles also set out that we should have a Chair and Co-Chair and that one should be someone with a learning disability and the other someone without a learning disability.

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Our Directors

Our Directors serve for a term of four years and are eligible for re-appointment by the Directors. There are no restrictions on the number of terms a Director can serve.

There are arrangements for induction, training and support of Board members, which are reviewed by our Operations Committee. Each new Board member is given an induction pack and attends an induction session with the Senior Leadership team and meets the Co-Chairs. The Operations Committee reviews the training needs of the Board members and arranges training as required.

Our Co-Chairs hold an annual appraisal of the Board and of individual Directors to ensure that the skills and time provided by Directors are used to best effect. Additionally, Board skills are kept under review to inform Board member recruitment, engagement and support.

The Board holds an annual plan which includes:

Our sub-committees include:

Board meetings

Our Board meets six times a year. Our Lived Experience Trustees also hold a pre-meeting before each Board meeting to give them additional time to prepare for the meeting. Our Lived Experience Trustees and Learned Experience Trustees also meet separately six times a year in order to explore themes and key subject areas in more detail.

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Directors during 2024/2025
APPOINTMENT DATE
Lived Experience Trustees
Preddi Bononge 16/02/2023
Gary Devlin 22/10/2024
Jessica Fielding 16/02/2023
Jason Roche 22/10/2024
David Taylor 17/06/2015
Learned Experience Trustees
Rebekah Coombes 19/08/2021
Christina Gates 15/08/2019
Matthew Ife 18/01/2018
Kirsty McNally 05/01/2025
Carl Newbrook 05/01/2025
Tom Relph 13/03/2018
Shona Crooks 03/03/2025
----- End of picture text -----

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OBJECTIVE AND ACTIVITIES

Our new organisational strategy

This year we developed a new organisational strategy to refine our priorities and identify the factors that will support us to make progress in these areas.

We worked with our staff team, stakeholders and people who use our services to write the strategy, carrying out a number of in-person sessions with these groups to discuss our current position and get their views on how we move forward. This included an all staff away day which we held in February to ensure colleagues from all our service areas contributed to the planning process.

These consultation activities provided valuable insights and suggestions which the Board and Senior Leadership team reviewed at a special away day before finalising the five-year strategic goals that underpin the strategy.

Our five-year strategic goals

Goal 1. Our Approach We build resilience and purpose, co-producing solutions and enabling connection.

Goal 1. Our Approach Enablers: We build resilience and purpose, co-producing •• Robust self-help toolkit. Flexible support. solutions and enabling connection. Goal 2: Our Growth Enablers: • We creatively address unmet need by using Technology to improve service efficiency and reach. our expertise. • Clear and compelling brand identity.

Goal 3: Our People Enablers:
We are an inclusive and sought-after
employer.		 •Dynamic and adaptable workforce.
•Accessible and collaborative workspaces.
•Living our organisational values.
•Developing our people.
Goal 4. Our Influence
We create impactful change through our
positive activism.		 Enablers:
•Effective communications strategy.
•Utilising market opportunities.
•Strong strategic leadership.

To ensure we move forward and build momentum, we identified five key actions for us to work towards during the first year of our strategy – read more about these on page 26.

Public Benefit Statement

In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance ‘Public benefit: running a charity (PB2)’. Our main activities and the people we aim to support are described in this report. All of our charitable activities focus on supporting vulnerable people - particularly those with learning disabilities and are undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit.

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ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Communities team highlights

Tackling health inequalities

Our Health and Wellbeing Facilitator team provides a specialist service in South Tyneside to help people with a learning disability and autistic people engage with health services and take positive steps to manage their health. This includes 1 to 1 support as well as delivering accessible health education and awareness raising linked to health pathways such as vaccinations, smoking cessation, cancer screening, weight management and mental health support.

We established our men’s health group this year, launching it with a special session during Men’s Health Awareness Month in November. We also delivered winter wellness workshops covering topics such as eating well, staying warm and combatting loneliness.

World Mental Health Day mindfulness session for colleagues and people we support

We held two pop-up vaccination clinics which saw 14 clients and 4 colleagues receive covid/flu vaccinations while two other clients were supported to attend their local pharmacies for vaccination.

This year we were also pleased to take part in a consultation with Skills for People and the North East and Cumbria Learning Disability Network to refresh the materials for the Structured Diabetes Education Course, ensuring the information was accurate, accessible and up to date.

Just Play Football!

We launched Just Play Football following feedback that some of the people we support would like the chance to do more sports. Sophie was keen to be involved so attended our planning meetings and co-designed the programme with us. We've since supported her to complete an Introduction to Coaching course with England Football so she can lead our sessions.

Sophie said: “I felt proud when I completed the course. Coaching is a big responsibility and people look to me as a role model. I am determined to succeed and doing the football makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile. I won’t let my learning disability get in the way.”

Care and Treatment Reviews (CTRs)

This year we coordinated 18 Care and Treatment Reviews (CTRs) and held panel meetings for 15 people. CTRs provide a person-centred, independent review of a person’s care and treatment to ensure it is given in the least restrictive way. Panels are made up of Clinical Experts and Experts by Experience (EBEs) and we were pleased to recruit three new EBEs to the team - Ricky, Jodie and Chloe – and thank Ross who left this year.

18 Care and Treatment Reviews during 2024/2025

Helping people stay well

people supported
to get annual health
check
7		 people received help
to complete their
hospital passport
12		 health
appointments
made with our help
143		 people received
weight management
support
16
people supported
with smoking
cessation
2		 participants in Dry
January mocktail
class
18		 pieces of Easy
Read health info
created
18		 x 6 week health
awareness sessions
delivered
2
people supported
with cancer
screening
appointments
4		 232interventions in total

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ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Helping people manage their money

Our Financial Health team provides training and 1 to 1 casework to help people with a learning disability manage their money and overcome any financial challenges and barriers they may face. Our service is delivered with a specialist case worker and peer support worker and includes helping with benefits applications and appeals, budgeting tools, managing debt and understanding bills and housing costs.

1 to 1 support delivered this year:

----- Start of picture text -----
48 people in 59 people in 107 people
Gateshead South Tyneside in total
Vol ttt Vu ttt pal Wnt
SUPPORT PROVIDED NUMBER OF INTERVENTIONS
a
| Benefit appeals, reviews, queries and support 53
Budgeting exercises 7
Debt issues 6
|
General bills support 33
| Housing issues including Housing Benefit and rent arrears 3
JobCentre Plus appointments 5
PIP and Capability for Work claims, assessment meetings, appeals, tribunals and support 27
|
Universal Credit claims 25
TOTAL 159
|
Managing your Money
----- End of picture text -----

Our Managing Your Money course was co-developed and co-delivered with a worker with lived experience. We designed the course to simply, practically and directly address the issues that the people we support bring to us, such as:

We used simple and memorable golden rules (such as ‘Say NO when you don’t feel right’ and ‘Nobody gives anything away for free’) and discussed financial abuse and mate crime which are reoccurring issues for the people we support. Our sessions give people a space to practice saying no so they have the words and confidence to do this in a real-world situation.

Managing a household budget can be an incredibly complex task, particularly when a learning disability might limit a person’s ability to do basic sums, so we also help people work out their budget and provide practical tools such as multi-pocket folders to help keep bills and documents safe.

Mel shared with us that she was in credit with her energy bills for the first time

“

I found it helpful – especially talking about boundaries with family members and direct debits.

----- Start of picture text -----
“
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I found it helpful – especially talking about lending money to friends and who to trust. I had a friend about four years ago who took my bank card from me and started using it and ran up debts.

Case Study: Falling through the gaps

Alan has a learning disability and lives in 24-hour supported housing. He was referred to us by a Your Voice Counts advocate who noticed Alan was in financial hardship, receiving only £104 per month in benefits. Alan has a significant learning disability, lives in housing for people with high support needs and is clearly unable to work but had received no support to apply for Universal Credit since moving in a number of years ago. As soon as he was referred to us, we arranged a Universal Credit application and secured Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity without the need for assessment. Within six weeks, Alan’s income rose to £913 per month, giving him the security, stability and financial support he was entitled to.

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Developing skills, confidence and connections

Drop-in sessions

Our popular weekly drop-in sessions in Boldon, Gateshead and Jarrow are a key part of our community-based offer for people with a learning disability and autistic people.

The sessions provide opportunities for people to connect, develop friendships and take part in activities while also providing a space where our community connectors and peer support workers can engage with people around the How Am I Doing framework, identify issues and plan how further support can be accessed.

The sessions are informal to provide a relaxed and safe space for people to develop relationships with their peers and our staff but we also include structured activities so people can learn new skills and access information and services relevant to them.

----- Start of picture text -----
People supported
by Enabler
projects
Gateshead: South Tyneside:
48 120
----- End of picture text -----

The Your Voice Counts Oscars

During this year’s Learning Disability Week we organised the first ever YVC Oscars to recognise the contribution people we support have made to challenging stigma and stereotypes around learning disabilities and autism.

We presented people who had featured in our awarenessraising films with a YVC Oscar and celebrated our achievements as a group.

Cooking with Confidence

With funding from Persimmons Homes, Heart Research UK and the Oliver Ford Foundation, our Cooking with Confidence programme has continued to be popular this year. We run fortnightly sessions which are supported by a community connector and designed to help people develop skills and confidence to cook healthy meals independently.

Scott was referred to the Health and Wellbeing Facilitator team for support with his mental health and weight management. He wanted to become more active so we worked with Scott to make a plan for going back to the gym. We also introduced Scott to Cooking with Confidence – he had basic cooking skills and wasn’t sure about taking part but with support he came along and has become a regular participant. His social skills have grown, he has developed friendships and is now much more confident about cooking healthy meals for himself.

43 Cooking with Confidence participants

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ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

The YVC Young People’s Club

Young autistic people and people with learning disabilities can be at an increased risk of loneliness and social isolation so our young people's club, supported by the Morrisons Foundation, provides opportunities for young people to get together and build their skills and confidence.

The group meets every other week, supported by our community connectors and health and wellbeing facilitators.

During the sessions, we have access to a sports hall where the young people play games and football. We also invite guest speakers and have enjoyed hearing from the North East Autism Society, Foundation of Light and Northumbria Police this year.

Ten pin bowling and pizza nights continue to be popular but this year we also supported the group to go nightclubbing in Newcastle which for many was the first time they had experienced such an environment. It was a huge success which we hope to repeat in the coming year.

17 people aged 18 to 25 in our young people’s group

Case study: Liam

Liam attended his first session with his dad for support. He sometimes struggled to leave the house due to anxiety but was keen to make new friends and become more independent. Liam soon became one of our group regulars, developing friendships with other members and taking part in special events and activities. Since joining the group, Liam has told us that his mental health has improved, he feels less isolated and is more confident. He now volunteers at Tailored Leisure, Kayaks and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital when he is not at college and is spending more time out of the house.

Know Your Neighbourhood

Funded by the South Tyneside Know Your Neighbourhood Fund at Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, this project helped people develop their skills and confidence around how to plan and take part in social activities with peers.

Volunteers were at the heart of Know Your Neighbourhood, with people with learning disabilities and autistic people supported to take a proactive role in organising activities and running special interest groups such as our photography club, cinema group and women’s wellbeing group.

Twenty-one people who had been identified as at risk of loneliness took part, with six going on to become lived experienced volunteers (read more on page 21).

100% of participants reported that the sessions had helped to increase their understanding of different ways to manage their wellbeing, improving their quality of life, emotional wellbeing, mental health and confidence.

----- Start of picture text -----
A Know Your Neighbourhood
group trip to the cinema
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Community Voice

Our Community Voice project was funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and delivered in partnership with Sense-Ability Matters and Bliss=Ability.

The project was aimed at people who have learning disabilities, autistic people and people who are at risk of exclusion due to disability, sight loss or who are Deaf or hard of hearing. Over the year, we organised regular sessions to give people the chance to develop supportive friendships while learning new skills and accessing information and guidance from partner organisations.

Sessions were varied and designed to respond to specific issues and concerns relevant to the group, including grief awareness, communication skills and online safety. Special Black History Month and voting awareness sessions were also popular.

Community Voice voting awareness session

This year we also established a Trans Support Group to provide a safe space for the trans people we support, which included social and wellbeing activities as well as support around reporting hate crime which included a visit from a Community Engagement Police Officer who provided advice and reassurance around making a report.

“I enjoyed the session it stopped me from feeling sad.”

“It was good doing different things it was nice thinking about the things that make me happy.”

Well Connected

Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, this is a partnership with ACTS, Age UK Gateshead and Sense-Ability Matters that is designed to help the people we work with in Gateshead and South Tyneside use technology to reduce social isolation and manage their day to day lives more effectively.

Well Connected provides personalised support to help people overcome the specific challenges they face and achieve goals that matter to them. This includes learning how to set up and use email and online calendars, gaining confidence to join video calls and online meetings and using the internet to stay in touch with friends and family. We have also provided support to help people learn about online shopping, how to access training and learning resources and digital tools to take part in hobbies and activities that boost skills, confidence and wellbeing.

Stephen joined the Your Voice Counts photography group and was keen to learn how to share the pictures he takes. With our support, he learned how to take and share photos digitally, going on to become the official photographer for South Tyneside Libraries during Learning Disability Week which had a huge impact on him:

“I was well over the moon. I felt emotional when they gave me the official photographer badge.”

Stephen now regularly photographs our group activities for use on our website and social media channels.

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ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

The power of lived experience

Coaching health and social care colleagues in South Tyneside

6 Lived Experience Coaches

During International Coaching Week we attended the Yes We Can ‘Coaching... Making a Difference’ conference in Newcastle to talk about our coaching project that trains people with lived experience of learning disability and autism to be coaches for people working in the health and social care sector in South Tyneside.

The project is funded by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board in South Tyneside and directly supports South Tyneside's Learning Disability Alliance strategy that ensures the voices and views of people with a learning disability are at the centre of how services are planned and delivered in the area.

We have provided training to six coaches who now offer coaching sessions to help professionals from different health, housing and social work roles to find their own solutions to particular goals they’ve identified in their working practice.

Lindsay Henderson, Shaun Armour and Lucie Henderson presenting at 'Coaching...Making a Difference'

Working in the Communities team with lived experience

We’re very proud and vocal about the fact that a significant proportion of our workforce has lived experience of learning disabilities and autism – currently there are 15 people on our staff team working across 23 roles that we created specifically for people with lived experience.

“The Changemakers meeting is important because it has a focus on long-lasting changes to improve the accessibility of the organisation.” Ricky, Trainer and Coach

Supporting people into paid employment with us is one of the most valuable ways of ensuring our services truly meet the needs of the communities we want to support. We’ve increased the number of lived experience roles over the years (from only 7 in 2019) and with that have taken time and effort to develop our processes around how we recruit, onboard and support these colleagues in their positions.

This year we established our Changemakers group which is a space for our lived experience colleagues to meet to share their insights and suggestions about how we can help them to fulfil their potential.

Roles for colleagues with lived experience

1 8 4 4 2 1 3 Commissioning Peer Support Project Workers Quality Care and Treatment Financial Health Travel Officer Workers Checkers Review Experts by Support Worker Champions Experience

Equal People

Our Equal People self-advocacy groups meet in Gateshead and South Tyneside every month to discuss improvements to local health and social care services. Representatives from local organisations also attend to present service design proposals and get feedback and insight from members of the groups. The Equal People groups also offer advice about how to make service resources accessible and can provide Easy Read resources on request. This year, the groups supported:

Chloe, Equal People Peer Support Worker

23 Equal People members

Gateshead: ‘eS __ South Tyneside: 10 people Eun Pon3) 13 people

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ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Self-advocacy highlights

We support the Speaking Up Together self-advocacy group which connects and empowers people to share their views and speak up for what they want and need. Here the group shares their highlights from this year.

Access: Newcastle Cathedral

The focus of our work this year has been our Heritage Lottery funded project ‘Access: Newcastle Cathedral’. As part of this project group members planned and delivered an accessible history course based around the cathedral. Sessions were planned with people with learning disabilities in mind.

During each session we would focus on an interesting feature of the cathedral and look at its history (the Vampire Rabbit was a favourite!). We also enjoyed craft activities relating to what we found, for example making glass coasters inspired by the stained-glass windows we had seen. This work features on the cathedral’s website and blogs from group members.

Policies

This year our board have spent some time developing an accessible volunteer policy as well as a safeguarding policy.

We designed our own accessible training around safeguarding which all of our board members have completed and which we delivered to volunteers from Your Voice Counts too.

Charitable status

We are waiting to hear back from the Charity Commission about our application for charitable status. Watch this space for updates.

There was an exhibition about Speaking Up Together held at the cathedral. We also planned and delivered guided tours of the building with members of the group taking turns to be tour guides.

Be Cancer Aware

Speaking Up Together have continued our involvement in this project. We welcomed two new trainers, Jodie McCarthy and Victoria Thirkell, who now join Derek Peters as peer educators.

The training is designed by and for people with learning disabilities and focuses on recognising the early signs and symptoms of cancer, the importance of going to your GP and of attending your screenings.

This year we have delivered this training to tenants at Danesfield, members of the Your Voice Counts Health and Wellbeing Group and the Ability Sports and Social Group.

Plans for the coming year

We have just been awarded a grant from English Heritage Community Connections for a project around Bessie Surtees House in Newcastle. The focus of this will be bringing to life the history of the house for people with learning disabilities, autistic people and people who cannot physically access all areas of the house.

Find out more

If you’re interested in finding out more or joining Speaking Up Together please email joanne.speakinguptogether@gmail.com or visit www.facebook.com/speakinguptogether.

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ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Advocacy in action

This year we supported over 3,150 people across our advocacy services. From safeguarding concerns to support during big life decisions, we made sure that people's rights, voices and choices were at the heart of every conversation.

New referrals
Total cases
~~a Rs~~
~~EE~~		 New referrals
Total cases
~~a Rs~~
~~EE~~		 2023/2024
1,842
2,623
~~a~~
~~Rs~~
~~ee ~~		 2024/2025
1,922
3,152
~~ee~~		 Growth
Up4.3%
Up20.2%
~~eee~~
Our advocacy services Our advocacy services
• Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) • Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) • Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) • Relevant Person's Representative (RPR)

Our advocacy services

We received referrals from families, community teams, hospitals and the voluntary sector as well as self-referrals from people who reached out for support themselves.

Statutory advocacy referrals received this year

How we spent our time

Advocacy is about being there when people need a voice - and this year, that meant showing up in all kinds of ways. From listening, explaining rights and preparing for meetings, to following up with professionals, our advocates dedicated thousands of hours to making sure people were heard.

----- Start of picture text -----
28,804 hours in total providing advocacy services which included:
(up 27.8% from 2023/2024)
20,985 miles 4,400 IMCA 3,480 Care 13,000 RPR 3,530 IMHA
travelled hours Act hours hours hours
to meet people where supporting people supporting people spent visiting, listening helping people
they were, including who lacked to be involved in and representing understand and
in their homes, capacity during life- needs assessments, people deprived of exercise their rights
care settings and changing care planning and their liberty under under the Mental
community spaces decisions safeguarding enquiries DoLS Health Act
----- End of picture text -----

Meeting people where they feel safe

Sarah, a young adult with a learning disability, was facing the challenges of a child protection process.

She struggled with formal meetings, finding them overwhelming and difficult to navigate. Recognising this, her

advocate collaborated with the Communities team, who run regular drop-in sessions that Sarah had attended before and felt comfortable in.

By working together, the advocate and Communities team created a supportive, familiar environment where Sarah felt safe and empowered to express her concerns. This joint approach ensured that Sarah’s needs were met in a person-centred way, highlighting how integrated working between teams can provide more effective, compassionate support for individuals going through challenging circumstances.

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Meeting people at critical moments

Our IMCA and Care Act advocates were involved in over 170 safeguarding cases, helping people understand what was happening and speak up during complex, often distressing processes. We also worked with professionals to help them better understand people’s wishes and best interests.

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AMS &
ral tt = Pil tnt (YS24)
Over 40 nnn Almost 160 | Over 90 7 | More than 70 iaveteh Over 70 00 0
IMCA reviews of care changes of serious medical IMCA safeguarding Care Act needs
accommodation treatment decisions cases assessments
[afta - :
=) o0 0 f fiorsMal = ( )
More than 50 Almost 100 Nearly 150 Over 1,550
care and support plan safeguarding enquiries DoLS IMCA referrals people supported via
preparations (Care Act) paid Relevant Person’s
Representatives (RPRs)
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Expanding our NHS Independent Complaints Advocacy Service into Newcastle

In October, we became the statutory provider of NHS Complaints Advocacy services in Newcastle as well as continuing to deliver the service in Gateshead.

This is a vital service that helps people navigate the NHS complaints process and the expansion into Newcastle was a highlight of our year as we work to grow our reach across the region.

Spotlight on volunteers

This year, we welcomed new volunteers and interns into our advocacy teams. One intern, studying health and social care, joined us in Newcastle and quickly made a difference by helping advocates prepare visit packs, follow up referrals and sit in on meetings where appropriate. With support and supervision, they began to develop the skills and confidence needed for a future in person-centred work.

“I didn’t realise how powerful advocacy could be until I saw it for myself. Just listening and taking someone seriously can change everything for them.”

Through their involvement, the volunteer also helped us improve how we explain advocacy to people who’ve never used it before. They’ve helped shape how we communicate — not just with those we support, but across teams and services.

Volunteers were also placed in local care homes where they visited residents in between formal advocacy visits. This provided support to our advocates while also providing extra opportunities for concerns to be raised or noticed.

"Thank you, the residents have all thoroughly enjoyed time with the volunteers, time reminiscing and chatting about their lives has had a positive effect. It’s just so nice for them to tell their stories to other people not just the staff."

Care home manager

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Activities, achievements and performance

Raising standards, sharing voices

This year, we’ve continued to raise awareness of advocacy through:

Dementia Action Week

In May, our senior advocates were pleased to meet up with other professionals working across Gateshead at a special event organised by the Admiral Nurse service.

"It was a very busy day with lots of interesting stalls, talks and presentations from committed, enthusiastic and varied professionals who were very glad to be sharing their service, roles , and plans. Events like these are a great chance to keep up to date with what others are doing and also share our own ideas and aa learning”

Terri, Senior Advocate

Standing strong in child protection - Voice for Families

Julia, one of our specialist advocates, supported a parent during child protection proceedings. The process had been overwhelming:

“They didn’t understand I was autistic… Julia explained it. She checks if I’m understanding, and she asks if I need a break.”

By explaining things clearly, helping professionals slow down and listen, and supporting the parent to have their voice heard, Julia helped create space for better

understanding. As well as support at meetings, Julia helped the parent understand written reports, prepare questions, and think about next steps. The parent was also supported to build confidence outside of child protection — connecting with others, attending drop-ins, and getting help with their diabetes.

This case shows that advocacy is about more than just formal meetings — it’s about standing alongside someone and helping them stay strong through the most difficult moments.

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ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Operations, Finance and Business Development key achievements

Our team of operations, finance and business development colleagues works behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly and ensure we have the people and processes we need to be successful.

Our People

Nikki Terry joined us this year as our Head of HR, a role we created to lead on the development of our organisational culture, leadership and people policies. Over the year, Nikki has been busy reviewing our policies and processes and identifying areas we can develop to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive employer of choice.

Nikki Terry

Looking Ahead Together

Looking Ahead Together was the theme of our all staff away day which we held in February following feedback that colleagues wanted more opportunities to meet as a whole staff team. During the session, we wanted to reflect on the last five years and work together to develop our new business strategy that will guide the next five years of our work.

It was a fantastic day where we shared key achievements from each service area, including our individual, team and organisational accomplishments as well as ‘wow’ moments that stood out as giving us job satisfaction and making us proud.

During the day, the Senior Team introduced our new five year goals that underpin our new business strategy and the key actions we will focus on during the year ahead. We worked together to identify opportunities and challenges that we may face and explore solutions that will help us achieve our goals. (Read more about our new strategy on page 9.)

Some of our WOW moments

Completing the
ICB peer research
project		 The YVC Oscars Celebrating
together at
Christmas		 Seeing NDTI
highlight our
advocacy work
Getting out of my
comfort zone		 Making a difference
to a safeguarding
case		 Launching Oliver’s
Training		 Seeing the people
we support achieve
their own goals

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In November we arranged a session with Be Magnificent CIC. Colleagues from different teams took part to understand more about different learning styles and how we can apply this insight to working with each other and the people we support.

“It was a very informative session, and we all took a lot away from it.” Ady, Senior Community Connector

Board and Governance

After a very successful recruitment round earlier in the year, we were pleased to welcome new trustees Kirsty Ann McNally, Carl Newbrook and Shona Crooks who have further diversified and strengthened the skills of the Board. This year we have also been succession planning for the departure of our long-standing Co-Chairs who will step down next year. While we are sad that it is time to say goodbye to two trustees who have been involved with the organisation for so long and given so much, we also recognise the fresh opportunities that new leadership will bring next year.

Operations

Ensuring our office spaces meet the evolving needs of our staff and services is a key priority for us so this year we reviewed our current office arrangements and explored alternative options to better support our work. In February, we were pleased to open a new base at Regent Centre in Newcastle which provides us with a centrally located and accessible space for the delivery of our advocacy service in the city.

We have also been seeking a new location for our head office and are pleased we have been able to secure space at John Haswell House in Gateshead. This is a well-established hub for voluntary organisations and we look forward to relocating there in the coming year.

Co-Production

Our Co-Production team has become established this year, building strong relationships with key partners and connecting with organisations that support our efforts to engage people who use services. While we’ve attended a range of meetings and events, we’ve also been trialling other co-production channels, such as launching our YVC Advocacy Chat Facebook group to provide an online space for people to share their insights, experiences and ideas.

Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training

We have continued to work with our partners in Good Life Collaborative to roll out Oliver's Training across the region and have been developing capacity to do this at scale by recruiting and supporting Expert Trainers to co-deliver sessions to local health and social care staff. We have been promoting our Tier 1 and Tier 2 modules as well as offering Tier 2 taster sessions to raise awareness of our training offer.

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Volunteering

Our Volunteer Coordinator Ann supported 38 volunteers, including 18 new volunteers who were recruited throughout the year.

17 volunteers

with lived experience

21 volunteers

volunteers without lived experience

403.5 hours of volunteering

Many of our lived experience volunteers move into volunteering with us after engaging with our Communities service. To recruit other volunteers, we advertise using our website and social media, via partners and through promoting our opportunities at volunteer and recruitment fairs and networking events across the region.

The impact of our volunteers

Our volunteers have a huge impact on our organisation. They support us in a range of roles, from directly working with people in our sessions for people with a learning disability and autistic people, to providing back office admin support, to carrying out internships and placements within our advocacy team.

This year we recognised the contribution our volunteers make and thanked them through special celebration events to mark International Volunteer Day and Volunteers Week.

We provide training and support to enable volunteers to fulfil their roles and to help them meet their own volunteer and career goals. Our Volunteer Coordinator Ann provides a range of training as well as organising external providers where needed.

Developing our volunteers, Red Cross Everyday First Aid training

Case study: Know Your Neighbourhood

Our Know Your Neighbourhood project tackled social isolation by helping people with a learning disability and autistic people to develop their skills, confidence and social networks. Six volunteers with lived experience were at the heart of the project, who were supported by two other volunteers to organise and run social activities for people with a learning disability and autistic people.

Jodie has gone on to secure paid employment with Your Voice Counts as a trainer and member of our Care and Treatment Review panel.

Jodie volunteered with our Know Your Neighbourhood project, supporting her peers to take part in groups including our photography club and diabetes support sessions. Jodie has a learning disability and a hearing impairment and is passionate about teaching British Sign Language and helping others to join in and feel supported.

“I think volunteering has helped me become more confident to speak in a larger crowd. It gives other people confidence to volunteer because if they see me then they think they can do it too. I want to help people with their confidence.”

Volunteer Coordinator Ann Henderson with Jodie

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Our year in numbers

Communities: 168

people supported in total

159 232 financial wellbeing health interventions interventions

Advocacy:

3,152 cases open

28,804 20,985

miles travelled delivering services

hours spent providing advocacy

Community fundraising :

£1,571

8

Great North Run entrants

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Our team:

23 roles for people with lived experience

18

new volunteers recruited

403.5 hours of volunteering

Our finances:

£1,769,164 £1,734,834 Income Expenditure

How we spent it: 1% Other 28% Running costs 33% Communities

38% Advocacy

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REVIEW OF FINANCIAL POSITION

Your Voice Counts aims to maintain a robust financial position in the face of continuing economic uncertainty in order to continue delivering much needed services to the people we support.

The charity receives most of its funding from statutory sources and grants from foundations and charitable trusts. Our internal structure comprises Advocacy, Communities and Operations and is aligned to our funding sources. We seek to recover our full costs from all projects.

This year, we have been pleased to continue to benefit from contract and services income and from the generosity of grant funders, allowing us to continue to grow our income despite the challenging economic environment: £1,769,164 (2024 £1,489,712).

We are extremely grateful to our existing funders, including Henry Smith Foundation and The Lottery & Access to Justice Foundation, and our new funders who have supported us this year: the Motability Foundation, Karbon Homes Community Investment Fund, and Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust.

We have continued to control our costs and are reporting expenditure of £1,734,834 (2024 £1,628,781). Trustees continue to monitor financial controls, performance and stewardship via a bi-monthly Finance and Governance Committee. Review of business development remains a standing agenda item and we have continued to invest in our Business Development function in order to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

This year we are reporting an in-year surplus of £34,330 (2024 deficit: £139,069). This leaves us with overall reserves of £609,565 (2024: £575,235). Trustees take a forward-looking and proactive approach to financial management and so have again taken the decision to designate funds this year. These funds are for projects we are undertaking over the next year to improve the infrastructure and capacity of the organisation for the benefit of our clients. Many of the infrastructure improvement projects of the last few years have now come to a successful end so we are designating fewer funds this year. This has led to an increase in free reserves. The areas we are investing in are:

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Business Co-production: Volunteer
Development: Coordinator:
£2,975 £4,583 £2,069
Marketing and Company HR
Communications: Secretary: Manager:
£5,000 £4,954 £4,211
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We hold between three and six months necessary operating expenses as a minimum reserve. Based on the accounts for the year to 31 March 2025, three months would equate to £254,039 and six months to £508,078. Our free reserves (unrestricted funds not invested in tangible fixed assets) stand at £278,081 (2024: £277,747). Our reserves policy is reviewed annually by the Finance Committee.

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FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY

Your Voice Counts takes a proactive and structured approach to fundraising and complies with 'Charity fundraising: a guide to trustee duties (CC20).' A fundraising strategy is in place and is updated each year and reviewed by Trustees. A donations policy is also in place. These were developed using Charity Commission, Fundraising Regulator and Institute of Fundraising guidance.

Your Voice Counts undertakes minimal public fundraising as most of our funding comes from statutory sources and grant funders. The charity does not use a professional fundraiser. The charity has a Business Development function which is managed by the Head of Finance. Fundraising is a standing agenda item on the Finance and Governance Committee and this sub-committee of the Board scrutinises all fundraising activity.

The charity regularly seeks input and advice from Lived Experience Trustees and Learned Experience Trustees on the impacts of all its activities, including fundraising, on vulnerable people and no issues with its fundraising activity have been raised.

This year, a two-year grant from the Motability Foundation has enabled us to lead on developing a Travel with Confidence programme in partnership with five other NorthEast organisations. The project addresses a significant gap in support by providing travel training and travel buddy support to help people with learning disabilities develop their skills and confidence in traveling independently.

A total of £1,571 was also raised through our annual Great North Run campaign which saw eight charity runners take part in the race on our behalf this year.

Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. The Trustees have reviewed and considered relevant information, including the annual budget and future cash flows in making their assessment. Based on these assessments, the Trustees have concluded that they can continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual report and accounts.

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PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

Our new organisational strategy sets out five key actions for the year ahead to focus our work and ensure our day-to-day actions make a real contribution towards achieving the 5-year objectives set out in the strategy.

Our key actions for 2025/2026

1. Invest in and refine our approach to coproduction

We want to grow our capacity so that we can develop our co-production approach. We’ve identified grant funding opportunities that may be able to support us and have submitted bids that, if successful, will enable us to build on our successful Community Voice and Know Your Neighbourhood projects. We’ll also be reviewing our organisational structure to ensure our Co-Production Worker team has the right resources and leadership to take this work forward.

We also want to build on our experience and learning from working with the North East North Cumbria Integrated Care Board through the roll out of Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training across the region. As part of the Good Life Collaborative, we’ll be working to build capacity by recruiting more people with a learning disability and autistic people into Expert Trainer roles and using our expertise as a lived experience employer to make sure the Trainers have the support they need to be successful.

2. Improve our data capture so that we are intelligence/data led

We want to improve how we collect and use data to inform our decision-making and help us to have a better understanding of our impact. A Data and Reporting Task and Finish Group, chaired by a Board member, will lead this work during the year ahead. We'll also be exploring options for new systems that will manage our people data so we can respond more effectively to emerging needs and trends.

3. Embed a community-led approach across our services with a focus on connecting people and building networks of support.

We want to embed our community-led approach across all of our services. We’ll be working with our commissioners to help shape what advocacy contracts should look like in the

future, with a focus on including non-statutory advocacy within contracts. We’ll also explore how to use our existing model of community-based services to reach new people who need advocacy support, as well as launching new drop-in groups to expand our offer for people with a learning disability and autistic people.

We also want to build capacity and resilience in communities so people can advocate for themselves so we will work to develop a comprehensive self-help and self-advocacy offer to empower people to speak up for what they want and need.

4. Develop our people and provide them with the tools/skills to be great in their roles.

We are committed to supporting our staff to thrive. With our Head of HR now in post, we plan to develop an internal leadership programme to build the confidence and capabilities of our managers so they can support our teams to be great in their roles. We also plan to review our staff training programme and explore how we can build on our growing team of lived experience trainers to deliver a more comprehensive in-house offer.

5. Improve our messaging.

We want to raise our profile and broaden our reach so that we can influence more effectively on behalf of the people we support. A refreshed Communications and Marketing Strategy, developed with external expertise, will help us clarify our voice, amplify our impact and campaign more actively for change.

We’ll also be working more closely with our local Safeguarding Adults Boards and other system leaders to proactively share data, themes and trends in order to positively influence the quality of health and social care services across the region.

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Your Voice Counts TRUSTEES' REPORT

Disclosure of information to auditor

Each trustee has taken steps that they ought to have taken as a trustee in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity's auditor is aware of that information. The trustees confirm that there is no relevant information that they know of and of which they know the auditor is unaware.

Reappointment of auditor

In accordance with section 485 of the Companies Act 2006, a resolution for the re-appointment of Azets Audit Services as auditors of the charity is to be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

07 October 2025 The annual report was approved by the trustees of the charity on .................... and signed on its behalf by:

Christina Gates 07 Oct 2025 10:59:10 BST (UTC +1)

......................................... C D Gates Trustee

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Simon Brown 14 Oct 2025 07:35:49 BST (UTC +1)

14 October 2025

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The financial statements on pages 31 to 45 were approved by the trustees, and authorised for issue on ....................13 October 2025and signed on their behalf by:

Matt Ife 13 Oct 2025 11:36:00 BST (UTC +1) ......................................... M Ife Trustee

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13 October 2025 The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on ..............cccccce

Matt Ife 13 Oct 2025 11:36:00 BST (UTC +1)

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Plans for the future

Thank you to all of our partners and funders who supported us during 2024/2025.

We are grateful for your support and look forward to more jointworking so we can continue to support the people who need us.

Access to Justice Foundation

Arnold Clark Community Fund

Baily Thomas Charitable Fund

Barbour Foundation

Bernicia Community Fund

Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust

Charities Aid Foundation

Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland

Henry Smith Foundation

Karbon Homes Community Investment Fund

Motability Foundation

National Lottery Fund

The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington

www.yvc.org.uk

AX

t: 0191 478 6478 e: yvc.uk@nhs.net

48 | Our year in review and trustees’ report

Your Voice Counts | Greenesfield Business Centre | Mulgrave Terrace | Gateshead | NE8 1PQ Registered Charity No. 1125719. Company limited by guarantee No. 6654142