**Charity Registration Number: 1137535**
**Company Registration Number: 06265354**
## **A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **REPORTS AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
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Swimming
against the tide?
We will help you find
calmer waters
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**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
||**Pages**|
|---|---|
|**Directors’/Trustees’ Report**|1 to 17|
|**Independent Examiner’s Report**|18|
|**Statement of Financial Activities/Summary Income and Expenditure Account**|19|
|**Balance Sheet**|20|
|**Statement of Cash Flows**|21|
|**Notes to the Financial Statements**|22 to 33|
**Page 1**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
The directors/trustees are pleased to present their report, together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 30 September 2021.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the notes to the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland, published in October 2019.
## **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION**
|**Charity Name:**|A WAY OUT|
|---|---|
|**Charity Registration Number:**|1137535|
|**Company Registration Number:**|06265354|
|**Registered Office:**|The Gate|
||1-2 Castlegate Quay|
||Riverside|
||Stockton-on-Tees|
||TS18 1BZ|
|**Website Address:**|www.awayout.co.uk|
|**Secretary:**|Anita Burke (resigned 26.4.21)|
|**Directors/Trustees:**|Toks Sangowawa (Chair)|
||John Robinson (resigned 26.4.21)|
||David Emerton|
||Lesley Blundell|
||Robert Thompson|
||Charlotte Benjamin (resigned 25 January 2021)|
||Andrew Malcolm|
||Catherine Neville|
||Michelle Carr|
||Gemma Scire|
|**Chief Executive:**|Sarah McManus|
|**Independent Examiner:**|Mr. J. Lester FCA|
||Baines Jewitt Limited|
||Chartered Accountants|
||Barrington House|
||41-45 Yarm Lane|
||Stockton-on-Tees|
||TS18 3EA|
|**Bankers:**|HSBC Bank plc|
||136 High Street|
||Stockton-on-Tees|
||TS18 1LR|
|**Solicitors:**|Punch Robson|
||35 Albert Road|
||Middlesbrough|
||TS1 1NU|
**Page 2**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT**
## **Governing Document**
A Way Out is a company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital, governed by its memorandum and Articles dated 27 January 2016. It is also a charity registered with the Charity Commission. The members of the charitable company guarantee to contribute an amount not exceeding £1 to the assets of the company in the event of a winding up during their period of membership and within one year of their ceasing to be a member.
## **Appointment of Trustees**
The charity currently has 8 trustees.
New trustees are appointed from time to time at the discretion of the existing trustees.
## **Trustee Induction and Training**
The current Board are familiar with the ethos and workings of A Way Out, with many of them having been involved with the charity for some time.
New trustees undergo an induction process that gives them an insight into the roles and responsibilities of trustees and the aims and objectives of the charity. Following their induction, trustees are encouraged to participate in external training events that will benefit their role and are kept informed of relevant matters by the Chief Executive.
We also operate a Trustee Mentor scheme to help support new Trustees by matching them with an existing trustee as part of their induction, sharing skill sets, expertise and building understanding around the governance structure and arrangements.
## **Organisation**
A Way Out was formed in 2002. Its founder, being brought up in the town of Stockton-on-Tees, was so moved by the abuse, poverty and addiction that was devastating the lives of young girls and young people across the area, that she started an organisation, with a group of like-minded individuals, with the aim of providing outreach and support to at-risk women and young people.
The organisation secured some charitable grants and began project work by the end of 2002. It became a registered charity in September 2004 and transferred its assets and liabilities to a charitable company limited by guarantee in October 2010. It also moved to its present site at the end of 2008 in order to provide better equipped facilities and a greater portfolio of services.
A Way Out currently employs 28 full and part-time staff members and four consultants. It is governed by a board of trustees.
In exercising their powers and duties, the trustees have had due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission.
## **Related Parties**
Other than as disclosed in note 21 to the accounts, there were no related party transactions during the year under review.
## **Pay Policy for Senior Staff**
The Board of Directors are also the charity’s trustees and, along with the Chief Executive, are the key management personnel responsible for directing and operating the charity on a day-to-day basis. All directors give their time and expertise freely and no director received remuneration in the year.
The pay of the senior staff is reviewed annually and is normally increased in accordance with cost of living increments. The trustees also benchmark against pay levels in other voluntary sector organisations of a similar size operating in the North East region.
**Page 3**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT (C** _**ontinued)**_
## **Risk Management**
Risk assessments are conducted for every activity that each of the project areas are involved with. The organisational Risk Register is reviewed by trustees via the Finance & Risk Sub-Committee on a monthly basis, along with Senior Management reviewing current and emerging risks, or those where the rating has changed. Risk is considered by trustees as part of their decision making around policy, strategy and financial matters. External risks to funding can only be reduced by allowing for diversification of funding and activities. Internal risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures to assess and monitor all transactions and projects and to ensure consistent quality of delivery for all operational aspects of the charity. These procedures are periodically reviewed to ensure that they still meet the needs of the charity.
A robust risk management policy and framework has been agreed, along with a risk appetite setting for the organisation. On a quarterly basis the whole board will review those risks and controls above the risk appetite, new and emerging risks, or those where ratings need to be changed.
A risk audit was conducted by an external consultant this year, involving staff interviews and a desk top review of our policy, procedures and risk register. Training for staff and the Board of Trustees followed, along with a number of good practice items that had been identified and some learning to enhance what we do.
## **OBJECTS AND ACTIVITIES**
## **The Current Need**
Stockton-on-Tees has gone through many changes over the past few centuries, both as the wider borough that takes this name and the large market town at its centre, where A Way Out is based.
With the River Tees running right through the heart of Stockton town, and the smaller towns and villages that make up the borough (including Thornaby, Billingham, Yarm, Eaglescliffe, Norton and Ingleby Barwick) to both the north and south, Stockton-on-Tees is now the only council area in England or Wales to be split between two ceremonial counties (Durham and North Yorkshire), a unique status that isn’t always an easy place to be.
The town of Stockton itself is a part of Stockton North and does boast a proud history of prosperity and achievement – as a major port with a thriving shipbuilding industry throughout the 17th and 18th centuries - where the world’s first passenger railway was engineered by George Stephenson in 1822, and where the chemist John Walker invented the friction match in 1827 – but sadly saw a significant demise in the later part of the 20th century.
A large number of factors contributed to this, but primarily it was the severe decline of much of the engineering industry, alongside the national economic recession of the 1980s, leading to considerable unemployment and a widening of inequality gaps.
The Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2019-2023 demonstrated the following issues of concern for women and young people in Stockton-on-Tees:
- Babies born to teenage mothers are statistically significantly worse than the national average.
- 20.6% of children are in low income families compared to 16.8% for England.
- 13.6% of people in the area have been recorded as having depression compared to 9.9% for England.
- Alcohol related admissions are statistically worse than the national average.
- Healthy life expectancy for people living in Stockton on Tees is below the national average and residents of the most deprived areas of Stockton on Tees are expected to have a shorter life expectancy of up to 20 years.
- Recorded crimes are 6% higher than crimes recorded across England.
- • 13.4% of people are in fuel poverty.
**Page 4**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
**DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **OBJECTS AND ACTIVITIES** _**(Continued)**_
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: The English Indices of Deprivation 2019 show the following geographical map of most deprived areas in England, clearly indicating Teesside in the most deprived 10% in the country:
Local and national needs assessments demonstrate the following issues of concern for women and young people, within Teesside and Stockton-on-Tees:
## _**Health and Wellbeing inequalities affecting women, families and young people in Stockton**_ **:**
- Hospital admission for alcohol misuse in under 18’s is significantly higher in the North East than the England Average (Public Health England, Child Health Profile 2021).
- Hospital admissions for substance misuse in 15 to 24 year olds is significantly higher in Stockton-on-Tees than the England Average (Public Health England, Child Health Profile 2021).
- Emergency admissions to hospital for self-harm are significantly higher in the Stockton-on-Tees area than the England average (Stockton-on-Tees Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2019-2023).
- Children in Stockton-on-Tees have worse than average levels of obesity. 37% of 11 year olds are overweight or obese compared to the England average of 34.2%.
## _**At-risk Women in Stockton:**_
- There are estimated to be around 100 women who are sexually exploited and actively engaged in street based survival sex work within the Stockton area (Barefoot research 2014).
- From regional research, 93% of on-street sex workers have used an illegal drug in the past six months; 85% had used heroin and 87% had used crack cocaine – much survival sex is self-medicating because of historic abuse and trauma and linked to very poor mental health, depression, PTSD, bipolar (The GAP Peer Research 2013 & Barefoot Research 2014).
- • Many women and young people who are sexually exploited and involved in street prostitution experience extreme violence and a range of increased health risks including exposure to blood-borne viruses and infections, abscesses, sexually transmitted infections, weakened immune system. (Barefoot Research 2014).
**Page 5**
## **A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **OBJECTS AND ACTIVITIES** _**(Continued)**_
- Cleveland Police has one of the highest recording and detection rates for sexual violence offences of comparable police forces in England and Wales.
- Binge drinking amongst women is significantly higher than average and amongst those aged 16 to 25 it is even worse.
- • The vast majority of the women and young people we encounter suffer with poor self-image, feeling victimised and excluded from mainstream activities and social networks. Many are involved in self-harming behaviour and most struggle to develop and maintain positive engagement around education, training, and employment.
- Cleveland Police recorded 5,030 reported incidents of violence and sexual offenses in Middlesbrough and 4,085 in Stockton in the last twelve months.
Despite cutbacks and austerity measures, efforts are being made to address these issues and, along with other groups and agencies, A Way Out is seeking to be part of the solution and meet the need of many individuals in our town.
The town itself has seen a recent regeneration, with significant investment and improvements to the town centre and development across the borough.
There is still much to do and the earlier statistics remain valid and deeply concerning. While it is good that redevelopment of the town is increasing public opinion and positive attitudes, for those still struggling with poverty, addiction and exploitation – those A Way Out is seeking to reach – Stockton is a very difficult place to live.
## **Organisational Summary**
A Way Out is an outreach and prevention charity which aims to engage, empower and equip vulnerable and excluded women, families and young people to live lives free from harm, abuse and exploitation and to reduce life limiting choices and behaviour.
## **The Charity’s Legal Objectives (‘the Objects’) are:**
- to relieve suffering and promote good health and the advancement of education amongst members of the community in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, particularly, but not exclusively, amongst women, children and young people;
- to provide or assist in the provision of facilities, in the interest of social welfare, for the recreation and other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances, with the object of improving their conditions of life.
## **Our Beliefs**
We believe that everyone should be able to live the life they choose without experiencing or fearing abuse, harm and exploitation.
We prevent abuse, harm and exploitation by empowering women, families and young people to have control over their lives and by tackling the injustice and inequality that they experience.
## **Our Values**
**Compassionate** : using a non-judgemental approach that builds on individual strengths and addresses recent and/or historic trauma.
**Connecting** : creating opportunities to access support through proactive outreach and by building trusting relationships.
**Caring** : providing the right support at the right time in the right place whether someone is in crisis, needing support or advocacy to address immediate needs, or ready to make lasting changes.
**Choice** : building hope for the future through individuals having the freedom to make informed decisions and opportunities to achieve their potential.
**Community** : enabling lasting change and providing support at times of need by building positive relationships with friends, family and the wider community.
**Page 6**
## **A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **OBJECTS AND ACTIVITIES** _**(Continued)**_
**Change** : addressing the causes of injustice and inequality, and wider stigma and discrimination, by ensuring that learning from lived experience is used to change the language, behaviour and views, and process and systems, of other individuals and organisations.
**Christian** values of love, truth and justice underpin everything we do to support those with a Christian faith, another faith or no faith.
## **Our Activities**
We seek to run specific projects that are aimed at vulnerable women and young people in the community, and those families most at risk of not living a healthy, safe and whole life.
We recognise that it is often those who are most vulnerable who do not access mainstream services. Our primary focus is to reach those who are most at risk and hardest to reach.
A Way Out’s core strength is our ability to reach out and engage with full acceptance and with commitment to stand with people throughout their recovery journey. Through this engagement and continued support, we can see their lives changed and full potential enabled.
## **Delivery Model**
A Way Out has five distinct programmes of work, providing services to disadvantaged, vulnerable and socially excluded groups.
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Criminal
Justice
Team
**----- End of picture text -----**
The **Liberty project** delivers an outreach, engagement and recovery service to adult women with multiple disadvantages providing trauma and gender informed support for sex workers and adult female survivors of sexual exploitation.
The **Blossom project** offers support to girls and young women aged between 13 to 24 (or 25 where a young woman has additional needs) by supporting them through difficult times experienced within their lives. We stand side by side with girls and young women to allow them to be, to realise their potential and ultimately be empowered to be in control of their own lives. The support provided by Blossom is trauma informed and focusses upon working with girls and young women to strengthen capabilities from a person centred perspective.
The **Youth project** works with children aged 8 to 16 years. It provides a safe environment in which children experiencing social and emotional difficulties can learn new skills, practise positive behaviour and build self-confidence and competency.
The **Family project, RISE** (Reaching, Inspiring, Supporting, Empowering) works with the whole family in an intensive and motivational way, supporting and empowering disadvantaged families to discover new skills and confidence and to build resilience to effect sustainable positive change.
The **Criminal Justice Team** supports women involved in the criminal justice system to move past previous offending and build a stronger future for themselves and their families.
## **Our Key Strategic Aims**
- Using ongoing learning to ensure our services are informed by and responsive to the changing needs of our clients.
- Building genuine and influential partnerships that increase our reach, impact and financial stability.
- Changing the beliefs and behaviours and policy and practice of others to overcome the challenges faced by those we support.
- Creating a culture that is empowering and inclusive so that staff and volunteers thrive.
- Providing robust leadership and governance to enable growth and future sustainability.
**Page 7**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE 2020/2021**
## **Management Team**
The organisation has maintained a strong focus upon strategic development across all services areas and increasing A Way Out’s geographic reach. In response to the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic the Management Team have maintained a critical focus upon key areas of risk and safeguarding, whilst ensuring that service delivery continues to meet needs by remaining client-led. Alongside leading the organisation through the global pandemic, A Way Out has progressed with the following developmental initiatives:
- Appointed a Covid Champion who is linked with local and regional Covid networks and shares information with all staff and volunteers.
- Completed external evaluation of Liberty, Blossom and Youth & Families programmes, sharing information at an online learning event attended by partners.
- Led and presented at various events including training to specialist Cleveland Police officers, Stockton Hate Crime Group, Health & Wellbeing Board, Tees Safeguarding Adults Board, local authority staff, partner forums and expanded networks.
- Hosted End Violence to Sex Workers day.
- Implemented and completed a new induction and empowerment programme for staff.
- Completed an organisational review which included a refresh of our purpose, values and objectives.
- Completed a full governance review in line with Charity Commission Governance Code.
- Completed Risk audit, Health & Safety audit and Safeguarding audit, trained staff and implemented findings.
- Established working group in Middlesbrough addressing sex work and sexual exploitation.
- Launched new website.
- Delivered training sessions to external partners.
- Extended involvement in internal and external training opportunities to include trustees and volunteers.
- Nurtured existing and formed new external collaborations and partnerships.
- Developed digital delivery.
- Continued our co-ordinated responses to each COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions to ensure that client support has been maintained continuing trauma and gender informed asset based approach, safety planning & risk assessments for clients, peer led support planning, community outreach, dedicated case working 1:1 support, advocacy, partnership work, digital engagement and a hybrid of home and office working. Accessed COVID-19 targeted funding to sustain this support.
- Completed a market testing of staff roles, salaries and terms and conditions.
- • Created a robust evidence base and enhanced the functionality of the main database that we utilise, Evide.
## **Governance**
During the past 12 months A Way Out has undertaken successful targeted recruitment of additional trustees and will continue to do so moving forward as part of a succession plan for the Board.
The Trustees have also:
- Successfully completed a self-assessment on the Charity Commission Governance Code strengthening arrangements, controls and processes.
- Attended annual training alongside governance workshops to direct the organisational review and support the organisation to develop and expand in a safe, structured and managed way, whilst ensuring the needs of the clients are met.
- Undertaken risk training as part of the risk audit, improving understanding, responses and practices at a strategic level.
- Overseen three internal audits and one external audit of key risk areas - health and safety, risk, finance and safeguarding, enhancing delivery and providing assurance around compliance.
- Drafted and agreed an appraisal programme for Trustees.
- Extended the membership of the Finance and Risk Committee to ensure that other areas of risk outside of finance were equally represented by the Board.
**Page 8**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** _**(Continued)**_
## **Local Influence**
- A Way Out’s Blossom Service responded to local need highlighted by partners and statutory agencies, to provide a support service to girls aged 13-16.
- A Way Out continues to be an influential member of the North East Sex Work Forum and works closely at a strategic level with Teesside Safeguarding Adults Board, Community Safety Partnerships, Health and Wellbeing Partnership, Domestic Abuse Strategic Partnerships meetings, raising awareness in relation to understanding issues around exploitation and sex work.
- A Way Out hosted the Co-ordinator for the North East Sex Work Forum, a multi-agency group that supports individuals across the North East involved in sex work and those vulnerable to sexual exploitation; the forum shares good practice and helps to inform local policy-making decisions.
- A Way Out is supporting the North East Sex Work Forum to become a charity in its own right.
- A Way Out continues to work closely with, and feed into, Police and Council-led Vulnerable, Exploited, Missing and Trafficked (VEMT) strategic and operational groups.
- Member of the Strategic VEMT Task and Finish Group for Transition sharing learning, findings, recommendations and the voice of the women and girls that we work with to inform system change and guiding principles around working with people in the transition phase.
- Member of the sexual violence data group for Cleveland looking at trends, patterns, gaps and areas for improvement to inform resources and delivery that better meets the needs of the survivors and can help strengthen prevention practices.
- Developed, alongside Stage partnerships, a sexual exploitation toolkit for practitioners and professionals to enhance and improve delivery, led by what matters to the survivors.
- A Way Out has regularly attended the Cleveland Anti-Slavery Network Meetings; Problem Solving Panels; Domestic Abuse Strategic Partnership in Middlesbrough; Hate Crime Group in Stockton; Community Safety Partnership in Stockton; Strategic and operational meetings for the North East Sex Work Forum; Cleveland Women’s Network; Big Lottery Women and Girls Initiative meetings; Stage partnership strategic and operational meetings to name but a few.
- A Way Out continues to successfully raise the profile of members of our community who have reduced opportunity to benefit from the economic growth occurring in the region, thus enabling those who experience isolation, marginalisation and multiple disadvantages to have their voices heard and to influence and bring about local change.
- Took part in regional research organised by Vonne, Applied Research Collaboration North East and North Cumbria and Public Health England looking at health inequalities and challenges during the pandemic as part of our system change work that was shared with the Heath Inequalities Advisory Group along with the Health Inequalities Impact Assessment Final Report that we contributed to.
- Member of the Child Sexual Abuse Transformation Partnership led by Cleveland PCC, piloting work with girls and young women in the transition stage from children to adult services to inform a toolkit for professionals, good practice, system change and delivery.
## **National Influence**
- A Way Out continues to be part of a consortium of eight organisations in the North East and Yorkshire influencing and contributing to research, which aims to develop the first ever national safeguarding framework to support women who have been sexually exploited.
- Contributed to national research and campaigning around housing, addiction and sexual exploitation
- Attended and helped implement a parliamentary event highlighting adult sexual exploitation, the harm, impact and the gaps in national policy, law and practice.
- Part of the Beyond the Gaze practitioners group sharing learning, good practice and challenges for sex workers with partners and leads across the country.
- A Way Out’s Blossom Project has contributed to briefing papers produced by DMSS and Tavistock Institute as part of the network of Big Lottery WGI funded projects.
- Took part in national research led by Maggie O’Neil around the value and benefits of walk and talk activities capturing good practice that made a difference during the pandemic and now beyond.
## **Community Involvement**
A Way Out attends monthly information sharing briefings with Cleveland Police and Community Safety Street Wardens to maintain awareness of arising issues in the local community which may impact those receiving support from the organisation.
A Way Out actively recruits local volunteers who are essential to the delivery of our Liberty, Blossom and Youth Services. All volunteers receive A Way Out’s core volunteer training along with specialised supplementary workshops to equip each willing supporter with background knowledge and information regarding outreach, drug and alcohol awareness and related issues.
**Page 9**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** _**(Continued)**_
## **Liberty - Women’s Engagement & Recovery Programme**
## **Project Outline:**
A Way Out’s women’s outreach and recovery programme seeks to provide unique opportunities to facilitate engagement into services and establish recovery pathways for women aged 18 plus with complex needs. Such women have needs relating to issues such as survival sex work/sexual exploitation, substance dependency, homelessness and domestic abuse. This women-only specialist service includes 1:1 support, drop-ins and structured programmes intended to help improve selfesteem, confidence and lifestyle choices with an aim to widen their long-term aspirations beyond such marginalisation, and offer a way back into mainstream services and activities.
## **Liberty Achievements Oct 20 – Sept 21:**
The Liberty team have worked under COVID-19 guidelines and organisational risk assessments in a hybrid format, working across home, office, and community bases. This enabled the team to continue to offer Trauma Informed support to clients with face-to-face appointments, doorstep/welfare checks and walk and talk sessions. The team had the opportunity to visually confirm that the women were safe, distribute harm minimisation provisions and help alleviate some of those feelings of isolation and loneliness.
In August we began the first phase of mobilising our evening outreach sessions. Staff carried out several scoping sessions to observe where women were working from, how many women were working and reviewed routes, ways of working and risk assessments. We collaborated with Cleveland Police District Licencing Unit and local authority CCTV teams.
The team recommenced their evening outreach in September working alongside volunteers. This enabled us to reach those women who only access our service whilst on street sex working to provide safety plans, distribute NUM alerts and harm minimisation materials. Safety plans with both clients who engage with 1:1 support and those we support on street remain central to our support and are reviewed regularly, supporting the client in recognising risk factors and making safer choices.
We have worked with partners as part of our harm reduction work to improve the safety of spaces where the women were situated which led to increased CCTV and lighting.
The outreach service has unfortunately been disrupted in September when the outreach van was stolen. This has significantly impacted our ability to reach those most at risk.
The team have now introduced a weekly brunch club in Middlesbrough, encouraging the women we meet on the streets to attend for food, drink and a safe space to access support and advice. Our aim is to also bring partners into this space to offer tailored advice around housing, substance misuse, domestic abuse, mental and physical health, and sexual health.
The team have worked with Healthwatch Stockton, sharing clients’ views on barriers to accessing healthcare and how they can be addressed and recognising the positives. The final report was sent in August to NHS CCG, to allow time for GP practices and health services to respond to the findings. There has been positive feedback and areas are being addressed and changes made.
Partnership working is key to keeping our clients at the heart of any collaboration and building positive ways of interacting and breaking down barriers, developing goals, plans and strategies. We have seen several new partnerships develop over the last 12 months.
We have developed a new partnership in Redcar and Cleveland which is a positive move forward. We have established and chair a multi-agency operational partnership group with Middlesbrough Council and other agencies, that meets monthly to focus on sex work and sexual exploitation in Middlesbrough, looking at capturing data and developing a specific Adult Sexual Exploitation strategy. A Cleveland Sex Work Strategy is being developed and led by A Way Out, North East Sex Work Forum and Cleveland PCC.
**Page 10**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** _**(Continued)**_
In Hartlepool we have built links with the Council and Thirteen to look at the need for female only Trauma Informed accommodation to better support women who have experienced sexual exploitation. This group has now expanded and incorporates several other partner agencies in the region with the specific focus around sexual exploitation; leading to improved recording, reporting, and understanding around sexual exploitation and informed strategic decisions around priorities and resources.
Our most recent partnership has been attending Multi Agency Approach to Serious and Organised Crime (MARSOC) meetings across Hartlepool, Stockton, and Middlesbrough. These meetings are a multi-agency approach to serious and organised crime and bring together agencies/partners to jointly identify, address and prioritise some of the highest offenders such as county lines/drugs, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation.
We continue to be a core member of the North East Sex Workers Forum and hold the vice chair position on a local authority Hate Crime group.
We are passionate about developing our partnership work as it is vital to encourage learning and develop joined up responses. We continue working alongside Community Safety, Health and Wellbeing board, District Licensing team, local policing teams and Safeguarding.
## **Number of unique individuals worked with over 12 month period:** 114
|Liberty Outcomes:|Change Indicators:|No:|How has the Liberty Project made an impact?|
|---|---|---|---|
|Reduction in harm and
exposure to risk experienced
by women involved in sex
work.|Women reporting violence and
threats to personal safety.|58|Overall, 58 have stated that they are able to
report violence and threats to their personal
safety. Over the last 12 months there have
been 3 Ugly Mug reports made and we have
distributed 4 alerts to those women actively
sex working. All of these women disclosed
some form of threat or violence. We continue
working with DLO’s and community safety
teams in Stockton and Middlesbrough.|
||Women reporting feeling safer
and less exposed to risk.|42|We have seen a decrease from 62 to 42
women reporting feeling safer. We continue
completing safety plans with those clients
who we regularly support and those clients
who access support on an ad-hoc basis. We
do feel that these numbers are reduced due to
the impact of COVID-19 restrictions, we
have seen a reduction of women on street sex
working, which is supported by data
collected from CCTV Community Safety.
We were also unable to deliver our evening
outreach due to COVID-19 and theft of van,
ordinarily
we
would
complete
safety
planning and support with those women we
would see during evening outreach.|
||Women
living
in
stable
accommodation.|40|We continue to work closely with housing
providers within the Stockton borough and
due to expanding our service provision into
Middlesbrough this has resulted in 40 women
accessing stable accommodation.|
**Page 11**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** _**(Continued)**_
|Liberty Outcomes:|Change Indicators:|No:|How has the Liberty Project made an impact?|
|---|---|---|---|
|Vulnerable
women
experience improved health
and emotional wellbeing.|Women
reporting
positive
benefit from participation in
AWO
healthy
living
programmes.|40|40 women have positively benefited from our
online support around health and wellbeing.
We have been unable to deliver in-house
group work during this reporting period, but
we have adapted the themes so that they
could be delivered during 1:1 sessions.|
||Women sex workers reducing
daily use of Class A drugs.|33|We continue to work in partnership with
CGL supporting and encouraging our clients
to access assistance around substance misuse.
33 women have reduced their daily use of
Class A drugs. We continued during COVID-
19 to encourage clients to access needle
exchange and mutual aid groups in the format
that they were being delivered.|
||Women reporting an increase in
self-esteem.|40|40 women have reported positive increase in
self-esteem by participating in our digital
platform of relaxation techniques and via
telephone and face to face from our in-house
Psychotherapist.|
|Women involved in sex
work are more confident to
engage
in
training
and
development opportunities.|Women
reporting
positive
benefit from participation in life
skills activities.|26|Clients have been unable to attend group
sessions but have reported benefiting from
the support they receive on a 1:1 basis, which
has increased their life skills around finances,
family relationships etc|
||Women reporting feeling more
confident
as
a
result
of
acquiring new skills.|26|26 women have reported positive increase in
self-esteem by participating in our digital
platform of relaxation techniques and
methods, safety awareness updates. 2 clients
also received support both via telephone and
face
to
face
from
our
in-house
Psychotherapist.|
## **Blossom Service**
## **Project Outline:**
In 2015/16 A Way Out successfully secured funding for a new project, Blossom, offering targeted support for young women aged 13-24 years. It is learning from our well established and recognised work with vulnerable women and those involved with on-street sex work that has helped to develop this new service area. We listened to the women on our Liberty case load and two sentiments prevailed – grateful appreciation for the life changing work that A Way Out undertakes, and heartfelt reflection from the women in wishing they had been able to engage with A Way Out when they were younger – at an age before their lives became entrenched in the cycle of addiction and sex work. Blossom now successfully engages with vulnerable young women who often ‘fall through the net’ and who are frequently left to go their own way at a time of major transition into early adulthood. These young women often feel marginalised from mainstream services, are regularly deemed as ‘troublesome’ by the public, and as ‘hard to engage’. One of the important and key aspirations of our service is also to counteract the exploitation of these vulnerable young women and avert routes into survival sex work. This service is well established in the Stockton area and the project continues to be a member of the VEMT Practitioner Group (Vulnerable, Exploited, Missing and Trafficked) and the Problem-Solving Panel.
**Page 12**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** _**(Continued)**_
## **Blossom Achievements Oct 20– Sept 21:**
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the Blossom client group. Staff have continued to offer vital 1:1 support via walk and talk appointments, wellbeing activities, telephone and individual and group support (both digitally and face to face) and have recently returned to face to face groups in August/September 2021. The poor mental health of this cohort has impacted the type of support required which has increased in its complex nature. Staff raise safeguarding concerns regularly, liaising with mental health services and police as there has been an increase in incidents of client’s self-harming and attempting suicide. This has had an impact on the team, and they have benefitted from individual and group supervision sessions as well as additional mental health training that has been sourced.
During this period we have employed a Child Sexual Abuse Transformation Worker, working with young people transitioning from child to adult services who have experienced sexual abuse in their past. Working across our four local authorities, time has been spent raising awareness of and promoting the service with a conversion to referrals into the project. The transition worker has built up links with a local college welfare team whilst visiting some clients when they have been in school/college, and it is evident that the clients on our caseload have experienced very complex and compound trauma. In the majority of cases, the young women we are supporting have had more than one experience of sexual abuse throughout their lives and this has not always been known until they have disclosed it to the transition worker during 1:1 support. In addition, we have employed a Girls and Young Women’s Project Worker, supporting girls and young women from the ages of 13 to 16 years, following demand and request from other agencies to support younger women.
Supporting girls and young women in Stockton has proved really successful and the project worker now has a full caseload of clients as well as being involved in multi-agency outreach sessions run by Stockton Council.
Blossom have consistently provided support via online and face to face sessions, on an individual and group basis, enabling women to continue to have a voice. Wellbeing packs and mindfulness activities have been extremely popular and well received in addition to food parcels for those who needed them.
Blossom’s Additional Needs worker has shared information across the organisation developing best practice to engage with clients who have diagnosed/undiagnosed additional needs, ensuring information is presented in an appropriate format.
Whilst opportunities for physical engagement with partners have been restricted we have continued to work with a wide range of services providing housing support, mental health services, STAGE project and women’s centres. The client group have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 with demand for support around mental health issues increasing whilst waiting lists for statutory provision have also increased.
## **Number of unique individuals worked with over 12 month period:** 93
|Blossom Indicators|No:|How has the Blossom Project made an impact?|
|---|---|---|
|Increased emotional resilience and wellbeing.|70|Increased confidence and self-esteem.
Increased awareness of importance of self-care and what this
means for them.|
|Increase positive engagement with a range of
support services.|64|Clients engaging with a wider range of services of support
(albeit much digital engagement).|
|Increased social capital|70|Clients reporting increased support networks.|
|Increased awareness and consideration of
diversity or peers’ views/needs in shaping
wider service provision.|68|Clients understanding of diversity and how to be more
inclusive.|
|Increased stable accommodation/ sustained
independent living.|72|Clients maintaining their own accommodation or supported
living status in a scheme or with family.|
|Reduction in problematic drug/alcohol use.|64|Clients generally do not have problematic use however those
who do are engaging with treatment services.|
|Increased recognition and awareness of
associated risks of exploitative relationships.|67|Clients
increased
understanding
and
awareness
of
unsafe/unhealthy relationships.|
|Prevention of young women entering into sex
work.|52|Clients engaging in safety planning.|
|Increased confidence and motivation to
apply/engageinwork/training.|63|Clients maintaining stable employment or education or taking
upnew employment and educationopportunities.|
**Page 13**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** _**(Continued)**_
## **Specialist Case Worker:**
This additional service is now firmly integrated into the Blossom project with 12 young women who have a disability, learning disability, learning difficulty or who present with additional needs that have not been diagnosed on caseload, accessing 1:1 support sessions and drop-ins.
Over the pandemic period, these particular clients have struggled with feelings of isolation and issues related to change in their normal routine. The service has worked well in keeping young women engaging and accessing support via regular 1:1 sessions, either via video call or telephone engagement, Facebook and text messages, online drop-in sessions, Microsoft Teams and Zoom meetings. Having a variety of means of contact has resulted in the young women engaging really well with over 90% on caseload engaging on a weekly basis and 60% engaging three or four times a week.
Overall the additional needs of these young women have increased their vulnerability during lockdown due to other support services ceasing to operate in the usual way, e.g. GP surgeries conducting telephone appointments, social services/health visitors unable to complete home visits and appointments pushed back to later dates. Many of these young women reported that the Blossom Service has been their sole support during lockdown.
## **Therapeutic Psychotherapy Counselling**
## **Service Outline:**
The psychotherapy service is set up to be an integrated part of A Way Out offering a flexible approach ensuring that clients referred for psychotherapy receive tailored support.
## **Psychotherapy Service:**
Our trauma-informed In-House Psychotherapy Service, supporting women with complex needs and struggling with historic issues, has delivered 126 sessions during the past 12 months.
In April 2021 we recruited a qualified volunteer counsellor due to the growing number of referrals, meaning that we have two qualified therapists.
- Improvement in self-development and emotional wellbeing is the focus of the therapeutic 1:1 counselling that enables safe exploration of feelings.
- A Way Out's psychotherapist also runs weekly clinics within the staff teams, equipping them with key strategies for supporting clients.
- Examples of psychotherapeutic support required include being enabled to experience unconditional acceptance, feeling valued by another and hence valuing themselves.
- There has been increasing emphasis on providing a trauma informed service.
Psychotherapy counselling support during this 12 month period (most especially during the pandemic) has been vital, demonstrated by an increase in engagement via telephone consultations, focussing on improving emotional wellbeing and self-development. During this period engagement with psychotherapy sessions has been more consistent than when sessions could take place ‘in person’. One reason for this might be that the sessions focus on supporting the client with what is going on for them in the ‘here and now’ rather than exploring deep rooted issues. This makes the sessions less intense for the client and thus, possibly, encourages further engagement from the client. The sessions are quite conversational and through this conversational approach it is possible to identify what the deep rooted issues might be without discussing them directly.
A Way Out’s Psychotherapist has also delivered on-line team training sessions around CBT, Chaos, Wellbeing, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and provides individual guidance to staff supporting clients facing multiple disadvantages and presenting with ‘complex needs.’
**Page 14**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** _**(Continued)**_
## **Youth and Families**
## **Project Outline:**
Our Youth Service (community based youth) aims to engage and empower young people (aged 8-14) at risk of poor outcomes. We deliver in two areas of deprivation within the Stockton area within schools and the community, offering vulnerable and at risk young people a full range of opportunities to be nurtured, equipped, empowered and inspired to develop positive and healthy lifestyles. The sessions provide a safe environment in which children experiencing social and emotional difficulties can learn new skills, practise positive behaviour and build self-confidence and competency.
## **Youth Service Achievements Oct 20 – Sept 21:**
The Youth Service has continued to deliver outstanding services to children and young people within Stockton on Tees. This year we have continued to deliver three after school sessions per week, 1:1 support for parents and 1:1 support for children in school over the lunchtime period. Lockdown periods have directed whether the sessions took place in school or online. COVID-19 restrictions impacted delivery of Get Active as the sports centre we would use for activities was not available. An alternative programme of sporting activities was developed and delivered by the team.
Children are referred to RELOAD via school and topics chosen by young people included:
Bullying, the future, social media, listening, healthy lifestyles and moving to a new school. Additionally our Get Active project delivered online bi-weekly health and fitness programmes in partnership with Durham University where young people take part in physical activity and learn about nutrition. The team worked holistically with families to encourage them to work together and keep active. A total of 24 clients participated in our ‘step challenge’, actively engaged on a weekly basis sending in their step counts. Across the four weeks collectively they walked a total of 2,866,219 steps, which is 1,544 miles - the equivalent of walking from Stockton past Rome and Naples right down to the bottom of the boot of Italy.
Some feedback from a family who took part “ _The girls loved the step challenge. It made them very active to walk places rather than taking the car. It made them do competitions against themselves to see who could do more steps overall. They loved doing it._ ”
We have 1:1 support for parents and children, working to address personal issues through a family worker. Support includes use of a holistic model to consider all aspects of what constitutes overall well-being.
EVO worked with Year 8 students that attended last year’s transition project. A mentor programme was delivered to focus on helping new year 7’s transition into secondary school education.
Children live in areas of Stockton identified as being in the top 10% deprived neighbourhoods in the country, with the greatest health inequalities of any English local authority, increasing rates of child poverty, inactive young people and high obesity rates (20% classified as obese by year 6). Domestic abuse has been witnessed by some children engaging in our project in addition to children living in homes where family members are involved in drug and alcohol misuse.
Face to face sessions were restricted and we continued to offer a scaled back service in line with government guidelines and local restrictions, developing strong risk assessments to ensure compliance when we did engage with young people and families. Activity packs and digital engagement tools were developed to encourage family interaction.
## **Number of unique individuals worked with over 12 month period:** 76
|Youth Service Indicators|No:|How has the Youth Service made an impact?|
|---|---|---|
|Improved relationships with family and
friends.|39|Decreased feelings of isolation.
Improved family connections and peer relationships too.|
|Improved understanding around healthy
lifestyle.|35|Improved resilience.
Increased knowledge and awareness of healthy cooking and
activities.|
|Increased self confidence and self-esteem.|38|Increased feelings of well-being (young people reporting feeling
happier).|
**Page 15**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** _**(Continued)**_
## **Families Service Achievements Oct 20 – Sept 21:**
A Way Out’s Families Service RISE, (Reaching, Inspiring, Supporting, Empowering) complements all areas of A Way Out’s projects, providing bespoke person centred support to each benefiting family by delivering a whole family approach and coordinating the work and action of partner agencies addressing need and sharing information.
## **Liberty and Blossom Family Support**
The service provides support to families of women and girls supported by A Way Out’s Blossom and Liberty Projects, enabling families to provide encouragement and support to their daughters. Families have regular 1:1 support. Awareness has been raised and Liberty RISE has also successfully built up connections with external agencies promoting the service, increasing awareness of the impact of sex working and the support available. We continued to offer support over the phone and liaised with agencies on behalf of families.
All of the families supported have increased or are working towards; improved mental health and well-being, improved resilience and improved relationships. Education around healthy relationships, mental health and wellbeing and resilience has continued, and the support offer remains a hybrid of both face-to-face support as well as telephone and text support which the families are responding really well to. Walk and talk appointments continue to be a successful way of engaging the Liberty and Blossom families and doorstop visits continue to be successful too.
In terms of development of the service, the Family co-ordinator for Liberty and Blossom has identified a need around family’s knowledge and understanding of trauma and how this has a ripple effect on the rest of the family. For example, a Blossom client’s mother is currently being supported as she has the care of her grandson. The Liberty and Blossom family coordinator was able to do a piece of work around the trauma her daughter has experienced, how this may present in her daughter as well as exploring approaches. This has had both a positive impact on the Blossom client, as well as her mother as a result of the increased understanding. Trauma plays a huge part in the lives of the families we are supporting and potentially looking at this holistically as part of the family offer would be of great benefit.
## **RISE Family Intervention Co-ordinator**
Whole family support continued with our RISE worker providing support to families and young people engaging with our Youth Service. Support was provided via walk and talk sessions, phone calls, private Facebook page and digital sessions (including chat-a-chino), raising awareness of child sexual exploitation, substance misuse, education, training, education and benefits.
Referrals to RISE have been very low over the last 12 months as schools have not identified parents or carers requiring positive parenting support and this is largely linked to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and levels of contact schools have had with parents and carers during this time. As a result we changed the focus of the delivery of this work and the RISE Family Intervention Co-ordinator devised sessions for parents/carers of children around raising their knowledge and awareness of healthy relationships, linked to the new Youth programme of work.
## **Volunteering Oct 20 to Sept 21**
A Way Out is extremely grateful for the generous assistance our services receive from our bank of volunteers. During 2020/21, A Way Out were unable to recruit new volunteers due to the pandemic; however we still had volunteers actively engaging and supporting our services. We were able to recruit a new Psychotherapy volunteer and connected with other organisations such as Catalyst to work alongside their volunteer for roles that did not require a DBS. This allowed external volunteers to support the essential work of A Way Out by collecting essential items and donations on behalf of the service. This was crucial after the theft of our A Way Out Vehicle. Despite restrictions and changes to service delivery, it is worth celebrating the 284 volunteering hours that have been generously provided to our services by the volunteers.
|Number of dedicated Volunteers|47|
|---|---|
|Number of Volunteer hours delivered|284|
**Page 16**
## **A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **ACTIVITIES, ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** _**(Continued)**_
**In 2020/21 volunteers contributed to A Way Out’s services in the following ways:**
- Worked alongside our Liberty and Blossom teams during weekly drop-ins in Stockton and Middlesbrough.
- Worked alongside our Liberty and Blossom teams during weekly outreach in Stockton and Middlesbrough.
- Prepared and packed up to 40 food parcels weekly.
- Assisted in the collection of regular food donations.
- Assisted in the maintenance of the building.
- Assisted in the sorting and storage of donations.
- Raised awareness and fundraised for A Way Out.
- Donated handmade PPE cloth face masks for clients.
- Supported the maintenance of the building by creating shelving in order to store items.
## **Criminal Justice Team**
A new project for 2021, working in partnership with Changing Lives. The Criminal Justice Team is supporting women involved in the criminal justice system to move past previous offending and build a stronger future for themselves and their families.
Pathways into offending for women are often different to those for men and can be as a result of harm, abuse and exploitation that they have experienced. Many women are disproportionately affected by harsher sentences and struggle with the separation from their children.
Our experience is that solutions for women usually lie outside of the criminal justice system through:
- Access to therapeutic support.
- Substance misuse recovery services.
- Specialist domestic abuse services.
- Improved housing.
- Debt management.
- Skills training.
- Improved healthcare.
We provide community and custody support to divert women away from reoffending. Our trauma-informed and strength based approach is focused on empowering women to meet their individual needs, with the aim of diverting from prosecution and prison, reducing the likelihood of re-offending and enabling them to reach their own potential
## **RESERVES POLICY**
It is the intention of the trustees to maintain cash-backed unrestricted general reserve funds at a minimum of three months core expenditure and they estimate that a reserve of circa £201,000 (previous year: £175,000) would cover that requirement at the present point in time. The trustees consider that, in the event of a significant reduction in the level of grants and charitable donations, this level of reserve would allow sufficient time to source new funding or to wind down the operations of the charity in an orderly manner.
With net current assets/cash liquidity of £474,783 at 30 September 2021 (30.9.20: £408,012) and unspent restricted funds of £147,614 (30.9.20: £123,784), the above level of cash-backed unrestricted funds was achieved.
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
The results for the year and financial position at the year end are shown in the annexed financial statements.
**Page 17**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **DIRECTORS’/TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## **PLANS FOR THE FUTURE**
- Continue to deliver our on-line training programme offer and payment schedule to generate income in line with agreed targets providing bite-size training sessions to promote our training offer, by detailing content and learning outcomes. The training programme and its promotion will be one of our key priorities in our marketing and communications plan for 2021/22.
- Continue to adapt and flex the services in line with external changes, need and demand from clients in partnership and collaboration with other key providers, adopting a whole person approach to delivery.
- Continue to develop a robust evidence base and reporting framework to reflect best what matters to the client and their needs which will then be shared with funders, local partners and commissioners.
- Develop and implement a Communications and Marketing Strategy and Plan which will provide a structured coordinated approach to help promote the work of the charity, improve our reach and strengthen our ability to influence and bring about system change and access to social justice.
- Continue to develop collaborations with partners to help support future funding and commissioning opportunities as part of our income diversification strategy.
- Develop and implement a three year strategic business plan that provides clarity around priorities, direction of travel, a SWOT analysis and market comparison along with an operational implementation plan to enable delivery against the plan to be monitored, tracked and evaluated.
- External evaluation looking at adult sexual exploitation across Cleveland, how services within A Way Out meet the needs of survivors along with gaps in delivery elsewhere in the region and how these can best be met.
- Recruitment of three new trustees in line with skill gap analysis and as part of a structured succession plan.
- Enhance and develop the work of the Criminal Justice team aligned to the targets and outcomes within the contract.
- Recruit a Finance and Resource Manager who will be a new addition to the Senior Leadership Team enhancing and strengthening the financial management, planning and profiling of the organisation
- Roll out the Trustee and staff appraisal programmes and training for all to ensure that it is positively embraced and used.
- Continue with the annual audit programme around risk, finance, health and safety and safeguarding, developing the controls and measures and governance arrangements in the charity to ensure that we are compliant with our requirements
- Implement community fundraising quarterly newsletters to ensure that we are positively communicating with our supporters, donors, and fundraisers to let them know about the difference that they make.
- Continue to support and lead on the development of an adult sexual exploitation strategy across Cleveland.
- Continue to support and help launch the Cleveland Sex Work Strategy.
The directors/trustees have prepared this report in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
## **Approval**
This report was approved by the directors/trustees on 24 January 2022 and signed on their behalf by:
## **T. Sangowawa Chair**
**Page 18**
**INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF A WAY OUT**
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the company for the year ended 30 September 2021 which are set out on pages 19 to 33.
## **Responsibilities and Basis of Report**
As the charity trustees (who are also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your company’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
## **Independent Examiner’s Statement**
Since the company’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
4. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
## J. Lester
**Mr. J. Lester FCA Baines Jewitt Limited Chartered Accountants Barrington House 41-45 Yarm Lane Stockton-on-Tees TS18 3EA**
**Dated: 24 January 2022**
**JL/AJD**
**Page 19**
## **A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021 (including Summary Income and Expenditure Account)**
|||**Unrestricted Funds**|**Unrestricted Funds**|**Restricted Funds**|**Restricted Funds**|**Total**|**Funds**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Notes**|**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|
|||**£**|£|**£**|£|**£**|£|
|**INCOME**||||||||
|Grants and donations|**4(a)**|**52,634**|90,811|**711,926**|675,508|**764,560**|766,319|
|Income from charitable activities|**4(b)**|**2,000**|3,840|**-**|-|**2,000**|3,840|
|Investment income|**4(c)**|**193**|1,328|**-**|-|**193**|1,328|
|Other income|**4(d)**|**-**|153|**131**|200|**131**|353|
|||**________**|**________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|
|**TOTAL INCOME**||**54,827**|96,132|**712,057**|675,708|**766,884**|771,840|
|||**=======**|**=======**|**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|
|**EXPENDITURE**||||||||
|Charitable Activities|**6**|**(2,234)**|9,773|**696,056**|644,638|**693,822**|654,411|
|Raising funds|**8**|**-**|-|**8,424**|-|**8,424**|-|
|||**_______**|**_______**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|
|**TOTAL EXPENDITURE**||**(2,234)**|9,773|**704,480**|644,638|**702,246**|654,411|
|||**======**|**======**|**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|
|**Net income/(expenditure)**|**10**|**57,061**|86,359|**7,577**|31,070|**64,638**|117,429|
|**Transfers between Funds**|**16**|**(16,253)**|(24,716)|**16,253**|24,716|**-**|-|
|||**________**|**________**|**_________**|**_________**|**__________**|**__________**|
|**Net Movement in Funds**||**40,808**|61,643|**23,830**|55,786|**64,638**|117,429|
|**Reconciliation of funds:**||||||||
|Total funds brought forward|**16**|**292,897**|231,254|**123,784**|67,998|**416,681**|299,252|
|||**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|
|**Total Funds Carried Forward**|**16&17**|**333,705**|292,897|**147,614**|123,784|**481,319**|416,681|
|||**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|**========**|**=========**|**=========**|
The Statement of Financial Activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All incoming resources and resources expended derive from continuing activities.
The notes on pages 22 to 33 form part of these financial statements
**Page 20**
## **A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **Company Registration Number: 06265354**
## **BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
||||**2021**||2020|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Note**|**£**|**£**|£|£|
|**FIXED ASSETS**||||||
|Tangible assets|**11**||**6,536**||8,669|
|**CURRENT ASSETS**||||||
|Debtors|**12**|**57,340**||27,710||
|Cash at bank and in hand||**547,663**||624,695||
|||**__________**||**__________**||
|||**605,003**||652,405||
|**CREDITORS: Amounts falling due**||||||
|**within one year**|**13**|**(130,220)**||(244,393)||
|||**__________**||**__________**||
|**NET CURRENT ASSETS**|||**474,783**||408,012|
||||**__________**||**__________**|
|**NET ASSETS**|||**481,319**||416,681|
||||**=========**||**=========**|
|**FUNDS**|**16 & 17**|||||
|Unrestricted funds|||**333,705**||292,897|
|Restricted funds|||**147,614**||123,784|
||||**__________**||**__________**|
|**TOTAL FUNDS**|||**481,319**||416,681|
||||**=========**||**=========**|
The directors/trustees are satisfied that the charitable company is entitled to exemption from audit under Section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 for the year ended 30 September 2021.
The members have not required the charitable company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2021 in accordance with Section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for:
- (i) ensuring that the charitable company keeps accounting records which comply with Sections 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006, and
- (ii) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company as at the end of the financial year and of its profit or loss for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of Sections 394 and 395, and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements, so far as are applicable to the charitable company.
These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
These financial statements were approved by the directors/trustees on 24 January 2022 and signed on their behalf by:
**T. Sangowawa R. Thompson Director/Trustee Director/Trustee**
The notes on pages 22 to 33 form part of these financial statements
**Page 21**
## **A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
||**Notes**|**2021**|2020|
|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**|£|
|Cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities|**23**|**(77,676)**|149,863|
|||**-------------**|**--------------**|
|Cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities:||||
|Interest receivable||**193**|1,328|
|Purchase of tangible fixed assets||**(4,829)**|(5,652)|
|Sale of fixed assets||**5,280**|-|
|||**_______**|**________**|
|Net cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities||**644**|(4,324)|
|||**-----------**|**------------**|
|**Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in year**||**(77,032)**|145,539|
|**Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year**||**624,695**|479,156|
|||**__________**|**__________**|
|**Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year**||**547,663**|624,695|
|||**=========**|**=========**|
|**Cash and cash equivalents consist of:**||||
|Cash at bank and in hand||**547,663**|624,695|
|||**=========**|**=========**|
The notes on pages 22 to 33 form part of these financial statements
**Page 22**
## **A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 1. **CHARITY INFORMATION**
The charity (registered number 1137535) is a public benefit entity incorporated in the UK on 1 June 2007 as a company limited by guarantee. The company remained dormant until October 2010 when all of the assets and liabilities were transferred from the former unincorporated charity, which was founded in 2002. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. The address of the registered office is given in the charity information on page 1 of these financial statements. The objective of the charity’s operation and principal activities is to improve the health and wellbeing of women and young people.
## 2. **BASIS OF PREPARATION OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
## **Basis of Preparation and Assessment of Going Concern**
The charity constitutes a public entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable accounting standards, the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011 and the Companies Act 2006. The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern.
## 3. **ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
## **Income Recognition**
All incoming resources are included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is legally entitled to the income, after any performance conditions have been met, the amount can be measured reliably and it is probable that the income will be received.
## (a) **Grants and donations**
- Where donors specify that grants and donations given to the charity must be used in future accounting periods, the income is deferred until those periods.
- Where donors impose conditions which have to be fulfilled before the charity becomes entitled to use such income, the income is deferred and not included in incoming resources until the pre-conditions for use have been met.
When donors specify that grants and donations, including capital grants, are for particular restricted purposes, which do not amount to pre-conditions regarding entitlement, this income is included in incoming resources of restricted funds when receivable.
## (b) **Gift aid recoverable on donations and gifts**
Gift aid recoverable is included in incoming resources in the same period as the gift to which it relates.
## (c) **Fees and similar income**
Fees receivable and charges for services provided are accounted for in the period in which the service is provided.
## (d) **Investment income**
Investment income is included when receivable by the charity.
## (e) **Gifts in kind**
Gifts in kind are accounted for at a reasonable estimate of their value to the charity or the amount actually realised.
Gifts in kind for sale or distribution are included in the financial statements as gifts only when sold or distributed by the charity.
Gifts in kind for use by the charity are included in incoming resources when receivable.
## (f) **Donated services and facilities**
Donates services and facilities are only included in incoming resources (with an equivalent amount in resources expended) where the benefit to the charity is reasonably quantifiable, measurable and material. The value placed on these resources is the estimated value of the service or facility received.
**Page 23**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 3. **ACCOUNTING POLICIES** _**(Continued)**_
## (g) **Volunteer help**
The value of any volunteer help received is not included in the financial statements.
## (h) **Resources Expended**
Resources expended are accounted for on an accruals basis, inclusive of attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.
Certain expenditure is directly attributable to specific activities and has been apportioned to the costs of those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
## (i) **Tangible Fixed Assets**
Fixed assets are included at cost less depreciation unless details of cost are not available. Where details of cost are not available, fixed assets are included at an estimated value. Where neither details of cost nor estimated values are available, fixed assets are not shown in the financial statements.
## (j) **Depreciation**
Tangible fixed assets are depreciated over their estimated useful lives as follows:
Leasehold property - straight line over the initial primary term of the lease (3 years) Fixtures, fittings and equipment - 33.33% per annum straight line Motor vehicles - 25% reducing balance
## (k) **Pension Costs**
Contributions payable to a group personal pension and individual personal pension schemes are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.
## (l) **Financial Instruments**
The charity has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial assets held at amortised cost comprise cash at bank, together with trade and other debtors. Financial liabilities held at amortised cost comprise trade and other creditors.
## (m) **Fund Accounting**
Funds held by the charity are either:
- _**unrestricted funds**_ - these are funds which can be used in accordance with the objects of the charity at the discretion of the trustees. They may include designated funds which have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes.
- _**restricted funds**_ - these are funds which can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity; whether it be for the purchase or construction of a fixed asset or in respect of a specific project. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. Once the restrictions imposed by the provider of the grant/the donor have been observed, the fund is then transferred to unrestricted funds.
## (n) **Operating Leases**
Rentals applicable to operating leases, where substantially all of the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged against revenue on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.
- (o) **Hire Purchase and Finance Lease Commitments**
Assets obtained under hire purchase contracts or on finance leases are capitalised in the balance sheet. Those held under hire purchase contracts are depreciated over their estimated useful lives. Those held under finance leases are depreciated over their estimated useful lives or the lease term, whichever is the shorter.
**Page 24**
**A WAY OUT**
## **(A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 4. **INCOME BREAKDOWN**
|4.|**INCOME BREAKDOWN**|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|(a)|**Grants and Donations**|**Unrestricted**|**Funds**|**Restricted Funds**||**Total**|**Funds**|
|||**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|
||**Grant and Contract Income:**|**£**|£|**£**|£|**£**|£|
||Accenture|**-**|-|**8,333**|-|**8,333**|-|
||Access to Work|**-**|-|**2,411**|-|**2,411**|-|
||Anonymous|**-**|-|**-**|4,000|**-**|4,000|
||Ashburn Charitable Trust|**3,000**|3,000|**-**|-|**3,000**|3,000|
||Awards for All|**-**|-|**9,167**|-|**9,167**|-|
||Ballinger Charitable Foundation|**-**|-|**15,000**|16,000|**15,000**|16,000|
||Big Lottery Fund|**-**|-|**155,619**|220,232|**155,619**|220,232|
||Billingham Legacy Foundation|**-**|-|**360**|-|**360**|-|
||Brock Cowan|**-**|600|**-**|-|**-**|600|
||Cash for Kids|**-**|-|**989**|-|**989**|-|
||Changing Lives (STAGE)|**-**|-|**29,695**|35,752|**29,695**|35,752|
||Charles Hayward Foundation|**-**|-|**24,000**|-|**24,000**|-|
||Children in Need|**-**|-|**37,565**|39,100|**37,565**|39,100|
||Clay Hill Trust|**-**|4,000|**-**|-|**-**|4,000|
||Cleveland PCC (COVID-19)|**-**|-|**3,215**|10,715|**3,215**|10,715|
||Cleveland PCC (SAAS)|**-**|-|**4,681**|-|**4,681**|-|
||Cleveland PCC (STAGE)|**-**|-|**7,997**|-|**7,997**|-|
||Co-op|**-**|-|**3,124**|3,285|**3,124**|3,285|
||County Durham Community Foundation (DCMS)|**-**|-|**8,727**|11,587|**8,727**|11,587|
||County Durham Community Foundation (TT)|**-**|-|**3,333**|-|**3,333**|-|
||County Durham Community Foundation (iwill)|**-**|-|**2,500**|-|**2,500**|-|
||County Durham Community Foundation (NESWF)|**-**|-|**6,250**|-|**6,250**|-|
||County Durham Community Foundation (Pattinsons)|**-**|-|**500**|-|**500**|-|
||CSA Transformation Fund|**-**|-|**32,867**|-|**32,867**|-|
||Durham Community Partnership|**-**|-|**-**|7,500|**-**|7,500|
||Durham Community Partnership (Growth &|||||||
||Resilience Fund)|**-**|-|**15,100**|3,775|**15,100**|3,775|
||Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation|||||||
||Company|**-**|-|**10,327**|30,000|**10,327**|30,000|
||Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation|||||||
||Company (Divert)|**-**|-|**8,522**|29,768|**8,522**|29,768|
||Changing Lives (Criminal Justice Team)|**-**|-|**48,865**|-|**48,865**|-|
||ESF|**-**|-|**-**|6,576|**-**|6,576|
||Garfield Weston|**-**|-|**20,000**|30,000|**20,000**|30,000|
||Greggs Foundation|**-**|-|**-**|160|**-**|160|
||Henry Smith Charity|**-**|-|**-**|28,800|**-**|28,800|
||HMRC - furlough grants|**-**|11,644|**-**|-|**-**|11,644|
||Homeless Link|**-**|-|**11,325**|18,874|**11,325**|18,874|
||Hudson Charitable Trust|**-**|-|**-**|750|**-**|750|
||Joseph Rowntree Trust|**450**|-|**-**|-|**450**|-|
||Lloyds Bank Foundation|**-**|-|**29,167**|32,715|**29,167**|32,715|
||Marsh Charitable Trust|**-**|400|**-**|-|**-**|400|
||Middlesbrough Borough Council|**-**|546|**9,355**|2,000|**9,355**|2,546|
||Ministry of Justice|**-**|-|**53,548**|14,800|**53,548**|14,800|
||Pilgrim Trust|**-**|-|**6,250**|-|**6,250**|-|
||Smallwood Trust|**-**|-|**47,495**|7,084|**47,495**|7,084|
||St. James’ Place Foundation|**-**|-|**-**|10,000|**-**|10,000|
||Stockton Borough Council|**-**|-|**36,667**|-|**36,667**|-|
||Tees Valley Community Foundation|**-**|-|**-**|1,000|**-**|1,000|
||Tesco/Groundwork UK|**-**|-|**-**|500|**-**|500|
||The Anchor Foundation|**-**|-|**-**|2,500|**-**|2,500|
||The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation|**-**|17,500|**23,333**|32,084|**23,333**|49,584|
||The Mercers’ Company|**-**|-|**13,925**|21,229|**13,925**|21,229|
||The Tudor Trust|**-**|2,000|**-**|3,333|**-**|5,333|
||The Vardy Foundation|**-**|-|**20,000**|30,000|**20,000**|30,000|
||Virgin Money Foundation|**-**|6,000|**-**|20,660|**-**|26,660|
|||**________**|**________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|
|||**3,450**|45,690|**710,212**|674,779|**713,662**|720,469|
||**Donations**|**49,184**|45,121|**1,714**|729|**50,898**|45,850|
|||**________**|**________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|
||**Total Grants and Donations**|**52,634**|90,811|**711,926**|675,508|**764,560**|766,319|
|||**=======**|**=======**|**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|
The charity benefits greatly from the involvement and enthusiastic support of its many volunteers. In accordance with accounting standards, the economic contribution of general volunteers is not reflected in the accounts.
**Page 25**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 4. **INCOME BREAKDOWN** _**(Continued)**_
|(b)|**Income from Charitable Activities**|**Unrestricted**|**Funds**|**Restricted**|**Funds**|**Total Funds**|**Total Funds**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|
|||**£**|£|**£**|£|**£**|£|
||Miscellaneous income|**2,000**|3,840|**-**|**-**|**2,000**|3,840|
|||**======**|**======**|**=====**|**=====**|**======**|**======**|
|(c)|**Investment Income**|**Unrestricted**|**Funds**|**Restricted**|**Funds**|**Total Funds**||
|||**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|
|||**£**|£|**£**|£|**£**|£|
||Bank interest receivable|**193**|1,328|**-**|**-**|**193**|1,328|
|||**=====**|**======**|**=====**|**=====**|**=====**|**======**|
|(d)|**Other Income**|**Unrestricted**|**Funds**|**Restricted**|**Funds**|**Total Funds**||
|||**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|
|||**£**|£|**£**|£|**£**|£|
||Sundry income|**-**|153|**131**|200|**131**|353|
|||**=====**|**=====**|**=====**|**=====**|**=====**|**=====**|
## 5. **RESOURCES EXPENDED - CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES BY PROJECT**
For details of project costs, see note 16.
## 6. **ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES**
||**Unrestricted**|**Funds**|**Restricted Funds**|**Restricted Funds**|**Total**|**Funds**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|**2021**|2020|
||**£**|£|**£**|£|**£**|£|
|Direct project costs|**-**|-|**35,348**|30,056|**35,348**|30,056|
|Grants to individuals|**-**|-|**11,847**|-|**11,847**|-|
|Monitoring and evaluation|**-**|-|**9,820**|14,507|**9,820**|14,507|
|Fundraising expenses|**-**|-|**246**|1,176|**246**|1,176|
|Marketing|**-**|-|**-**|306|**-**|306|
|External supervision|**-**|-|**4,260**|2,425|**4,260**|2,425|
|Volunteer expenses|**-**|-|**24**|312|**24**|312|
|Salaries|**-**|10,000|**409,291**|356,789|**409,291**|366,789|
|Pension costs|**-**|-|**12,144**|10,682|**12,144**|10,682|
|Staff recruitment|**-**|-|**1,411**|1,988|**1,411**|1,988|
|Training|**-**|-|**4,347**|7,197|**4,347**|7,197|
|Office rent and service charges|**-**|-|**19,888**|19,699|**19,888**|19,699|
|Cleaning and waste disposal|**-**|-|**1,594**|3,569|**1,594**|3,569|
|Insurance|**-**|-|**3,270**|2,925|**3,270**|2,925|
|Rates and water|**-**|-|**208**|460|**208**|460|
|Heat and light|**140**|(227)|**2,068**|4,512|**2,208**|4,285|
|Telephone and IT support|**-**|-|**8,919**|7,331|**8,919**|7,331|
|Printing, postage and stationery|**-**|-|**1,014**|2,304|**1,014**|2,304|
|Repairs and maintenance|**-**|-|**1,592**|2,058|**1,592**|2,058|
|Legal and professional fees|**-**|-|**5,217**|4,590|**5,217**|4,590|
|Consultancy fees|**-**|-|**5,813**|12,208|**5,813**|12,208|
|Bank charges|**-**|-|**135**|167|**135**|167|
|Staff expenses|**-**|-|**4,503**|8,715|**4,503**|8,715|
|Motor expenses|**982**|-|**10,914**|4,422|**11,896**|4,422|
|Licence fees|**-**|-|**768**|873|**768**|873|
|Depreciation|**828**|-|**5,038**|3,739|**5,866**|3,739|
|Profit on disposal of motor vehicle|**(4,184)**|-|**-**|-|**(4,184)**|-|
|Support costs - see below|**-**|-|**79,448**|88,445|**79,448**|88,445|
|Governance costs - see below|**-**|-|**56,929**|53,183|**56,929**|53,183|
||**________**|**________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|
||**(2,234)**|9,773|**696,056**|644,638|**693,822**|654,411|
||**=======**|**=======**|**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|
## **A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 7. **ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT AND GOVERNANCE COSTS**
||**Basis of**|**Support**|**Governance**|**Total**|Support|Governance|Total|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Apportionment**|**Costs**|**Costs**|**2021**|Costs|Costs|2020|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**|£|£|£|
|Salaries and national insurance|Staff role|**61,221**|**44,064**|**105,285**|61,798|45,106|106,904|
|Pension costs|Staff role|**1,714**|**1,171**|**2,885**|1,731|1,225|2,956|
|Training|Staff time|**40**|**-**|**40**|-|-|-|
|Business development|Time|**12,715**|**4,854**|**17,569**|20,631|2,292|22,923|
|Office rent and service charges|Staff time|**2,209**|**-**|**2,209**|2,198|-|2,198|
|Cleaning and waste disposal|Staff time|**177**|**-**|**177**|397|-|397|
|Rates and water|Staff time|**23**|**-**|**23**|51|-|51|
|Heat and light|Staff time|**245**|**-**|**245**|476|-|476|
|Telephone and internet charges|Staff time|**991**|**-**|**991**|814|-|814|
|Printing, postage and stationery|Staff time|**113**|**-**|**113**|256|-|256|
|Staff expenses|Direct|**-**|**-**|**-**|93|-|93|
|Accountancy|Governance|**-**|**6,840**|**6,840**|-|4,560|4,560|
|Trustee meeting costs|Governance|**-**|**-**|**-**|-|-|-|
|||**________**|**________**|**__________**|**________**|**________**|**__________**|
|||**79,448**|**56,929**|**136,377**|88,445|53,183|141,628|
|||**=======**|**=======**|**=========**|**=======**|**=======**|**=========**|
**Page 27**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 8. **FUNDRAISING COSTS**
|**FUNDRAISING COSTS**|||
|---|---|---|
||**2021**|2020|
||**£**|£|
|Salaries and national insurance|**8,324**|-|
|Pension costs|**100**|-|
||**_______**|**____**|
||**8,424**|-|
||**======**|**====**|
|**STAFF COSTS AND REMUNERATION OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL**|||
||**2021**|2020|
||**£**|£|
|Salaries and wages|**494,769**|458,609|
|Social security costs|**28,131**|10,775|
|Agency costs|**-**|4,309|
||**__________**|**__________**|
||**522,900**|473,693|
|Pension costs (note 22)|**15,129**|13,638|
||**__________**|**__________**|
||**538,029**|487,331|
||**=========**|**=========**|
9. **STAFF COSTS AND REMUNERATION OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL**
The total employment benefits, including employer pension contributions, of key management personnel were £51,244 (2020: £49,838).
No employees earned £60,000 per annum or more.
No remuneration was paid to trustees in the year. No expenses were reimbursed to trustees in the year.
The charity has indemnity insurance on behalf of the trustees, officers and directors. The cost of the premium included in these financial statements is £710.12 (2020: £690.12).
The average monthly number of staff employed by the charity during the year was as follows:
||**2021**|2020|
|---|---|---|
||**No.**|No.|
|Direct charitable work|**23**|22|
|Administrative|**3**|4|
||**____**|**____**|
||**26**|26|
||**====**|**====**|
The full-time equivalent number of staff employed by the charity during the year was 21 (2020: 21).
## 10. **NET INCOMING RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR**
This is stated after charging:
|||**2021**||2020|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**£**||£|
|Depreciation of tangible fixed assets||**5,866**||3,739|
|Profit on disposal of motor vehicle||**(4,184)**||-|
|Independent Examiner’s fees:|||||
|- Accountancy services|**3,240**||2,735||
|- Independent examination|**2,160**||1,825||
|- Under provision re previous year|**1,440**||-||
||**________**||**________**||
|||**6,840**||4,560|
|||**======**||**======**|
**Page 28**
**A WAY OUT**
## **(A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
|11.|**TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||**Fixtures,**|||
|||**Leasehold**|**Fittings and**|**Motor**||
|||**Property**|**Equipment**|**Vehicles**|**Total**|
|||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
||**Cost/Valuation**|||||
||At beginning of year|**127,294**|**57,309**|**9,500**|**194,103**|
||Additions at cost|**-**|**4,829**|**-**|**4,829**|
||Disposals|**-**|**-**|**(9,500)**|**(9,500)**|
|||**__________**|**________**|**_______**|**__________**|
||At end of year|**127,294**|**62,138**|**-**|**189,432**|
|||**=========**|**=======**|**======**|**=========**|
||**Depreciation**|||||
||At beginning of year|**127,294**|**49,736**|**8,404**|**185,434**|
||Charge for the year|**-**|**5,866**|**-**|**5,866**|
||Disposals|**-**|**-**|**(8,404)**|**(8,404)**|
|||**__________**|**________**|**_______**|**__________**|
||At end of year|**127,294**|**55,602**|**-**|**182,896**|
|||**=========**|**=======**|**======**|**=========**|
||**Net Book Value**|||||
||At beginning of year|**-**|**7,573**|**1,096**|**8,669**|
|||**======**|**======**|**======**|**======**|
||At end of year|**-**|**6,536**|**-**|**6,536**|
|||**======**|**======**|**======**|**======**|
|12.|**DEBTORS**|||||
|||||**2021**|2020|
|||||**£**|£|
||**Due within one year:**|||||
||Grant/contract income receivable|||**46,881**|15,513|
||Prepayments and accrued income|||**5,179**|12,197|
||Other debtors|||**5,280**|-|
|||||**________**|**________**|
|||||**57,340**|27,710|
|||||**=======**|**=======**|
|13.|**CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year**|||||
|||||**2021**|2020|
|||||**£**|£|
||Creditors and accruals|||**11,595**|11,019|
||Grants received in advance (see note 14)|||**118,625**|233,374|
|||||**__________**|**__________**|
|||||**130,220**|244,393|
|||||**=========**|**=========**|
**Page 29**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 14. **DEFERRED INCOME**
Grants received in advance relate to monies received during the year which are specified to be spent in a future period as follows:
||**Balance**||**Balance**||
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Received**||**Received**||
||**in advance**|**Received**|**in Advance**||
||**as at 1.10.20**|**in Year**|**as at 30.9.21**|**Per SOFA**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Accenture|**-**|**10,000**|**(1,667)**|**8,333**|
|Arnold Clark|**-**|**1,000**|**(1,000)**|**-**|
|Awards for All|**10,000**|**-**|**(833)**|**9,167**|
|Big Lottery Fund|**74,350**|**81,269**|**-**|**155,619**|
|Catalyst|**-**|**16,239**|**(16,239)**|**-**|
|Cleveland PCC (COVID-19)|**3,215**|**-**|**-**|**3,215**|
|Cleveland PCC (SAAS)|**-**|**14,041**|**(9,360)**|**4,681**|
|Co-op|**-**|**3,749**|**(625)**|**3,124**|
|County Durham Community Foundation (DCMS)|**6,109**|**2,618**|**-**|**8,727**|
|County Durham Community Foundation (TT)|**3,333**|**-**|**-**|**3,333**|
|County Durham Community Foundation (iwill)|**-**|**5,000**|**(2,500)**|**2,500**|
|County Durham Community Foundation (NESWF)|**-**|**7,500**|**(1,250)**|**6,250**|
|Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company (Outreach)|**7,500**|**2,827**|**-**|**10,327**|
|Durham Community Partnership (Growth & Resilience Fund)|**18,875**|**-**|**(3,775)**|**15,100**|
|Garfield Weston Foundation|**30,000**|**-**|**(10,000)**|**20,000**|
|Homeless Link|**11,325**|**-**|**-**|**11,325**|
|Lloyds Bank Foundation|**6,250**|**25,000**|**(2,083)**|**29,167**|
|Middlesbrough Borough Council|**-**|**18,710**|**(9,355)**|**9,355**|
|Smallwood Trust|**10,416**|**45,412**|**(8,333)**|**47,495**|
|Stockton Borough Council|**-**|**40,000**|**(3,333)**|**36,667**|
|Tees Valley Community Foundation|**-**|**2,500**|**(2,500)**|**-**|
|The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation|**23,333**|**-**|**-**|**23,333**|
|The Mercer Company|**8,668**|**21,029**|**(15,772)**|**13,925**|
|The Vardy Foundation|**20,000**|**30,000**|**(30,000)**|**20,000**|
||**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|**__________**|
||**233,374**|**326,894**|**(118,625)**|**441,643**|
||**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|
## 15. **OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS**
The following operating lease payments are committed to be paid within one year:
||**Land and**|Land and|
|---|---|---|
||**Buildings**|Buildings|
||**2021**|2020|
|On leases expiring:|**£**|£|
|Within 1 to 2 years|**-**|-|
|Within 2 to 5 years|**21,600**|-|
|After 5 years|**-**|21,600|
||**=======**|**=======**|
**Page 30**
## **A WAY OUT**
## **(A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 16. **MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**
||Balance|||**Transfers**|**Balance**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Restricted Funds:**|as at|**Incoming**|**Outgoing**|**Between**|**as at**|
|**Core Costs, Projects and Support Services**|1.10.20|**Resources**|**Resources**|**Funds**|**30.9.21**|
||£|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Core Services|6,259|**262,868**|**257,841**|**30,742**|**42,028**|
|Liberty|47,323|**121,719**|**124,340**|**(8,744)**|**35,958**|
|Psychotherapy|-|**4,451**|**6,500**|**2,081**|**32**|
|Youth Services|15,060|**44,075**|**43,292**|**(2,080)**|**13,763**|
|Family Services|160|**15,263**|**13,405**|**-**|**2,018**|
|Blossom|16,274|**101,223**|**104,264**|**(2,407)**|**10,826**|
|Blossom Specialist|13,059|**18,031**|**24,053**|**-**|**7,037**|
|Building Capacities|2,954|**-**|**-**|**(2,954)**|**-**|
|STAGE Project|-|**30,863**|**24,721**|**-**|**6,142**|
|North East Sex Work Forum|1,904|**6,250**|**6,352**|**-**|**1,802**|
|Monitoring & Evaluation|9,958|**7,931**|**9,820**|**-**|**8,069**|
|Cleveland DIVERT|2,425|**7,265**|**9,798**|**108**|**-**|
|Prison Mentor|6,353|**688**|**7,146**|**105**|**-**|
|Training|78|**7,533**|**7,611**|**-**|**-**|
|COVID-19|1,977|**-**|**-**|**(1,977)**|**-**|
|Community Engagement Officer|-|**9,167**|**8,994**|**1,379**|**1,552**|
|Vehicle|-|**10,655**|**10,655**|**-**|**-**|
|Criminal Justice Team|-|**40,742**|**33,841**|**-**|**6,901**|
|Client grants|-|**23,333**|**11,847**|**-**|**11,486**|
||**_________**|**__________**|**__________**|**________**|**_________**|
||123,784|**712,057**|**704,480**|**16,253**|**147,614**|
||**--------------**|**---------------**|**---------------**|**-------------**|**--------------**|
|**Unrestricted Funds**|292,897|**54,827**|**(2,234)**|
**(16,253)**|**333,705**|
||**---------------**|**-------------**|**----------**|**-------------**|**---------------**|
|**Total Funds**|416,681|**766,884**|**702,246**|**-**|**481,319**|
||**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|**======**|**=========**|
|**Previous year:**||||||
||Balance|||**Transfers**|**Balance**|
|**Restricted Funds:**|as at|**Incoming**|**Outgoing**|**Between**|**as at**|
|**Core Costs, Projects and Support Services**|1.10.19|**Resources**|**Resources**|**Funds**|**30.9.20**|
||£|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Core Services|4,299|202,343|228,948|28,565|6,259|
|Liberty|25,139|166,096|139,350|(4,562)|47,323|
|Psychotherapy|2,685|4,815|7,500|-|-|
|Youth Services|6,017|54,536|45,420|(73)|15,060|
|Family Services|-|13,790|13,890|260|160|
|Blossom|3,938|85,371|74,844|1,809|16,274|
|Blossom Specialist|9,244|27,300|23,485|-|13,059|
|Building Capacities|8,024|-|5,070|-|2,954|
|STAGE Project|(179)|26,521|26,521|179|-|
|North East Sex Work Forum|581|15,000|13,677|-|1,904|
|Monitoring & Evaluation|6,316|18,149|14,507|-|9,958|
|Cleveland DIVERT|1,732|20,535|19,842|-|2,425|
|Prison Mentor|202|28,005|20,892|(962)|6,353|
|Training|-|2,562|2,484|-|78|
|COVID-19|-|10,685|8,208|(500)|1,977|
||**________**|**__________**|**__________**|**________**|**_________**|
||67,998|675,708|644,638|24,716|123,784|
||**-------------**|**---------------**|**---------------**|**-------------**|**--------------**|
|**Unrestricted Funds**|231,254|96,132|9,773|(24,716)|292,897|
||**---------------**|**-------------**|**----------**|**-------------**|**---------------**|
|**Total Funds**|299,252|771,840|654,411|-|416,681|
||**=========**|**=========**|**=========**|**======**|**=========**|
Transfers between funds are as agreed by the Board of Trustees.
**Page 31**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 16. **MOVEMENT IN FUNDS (** _**Continued**_ **)**
## **Restricted Funds:**
_**Core Services**_ - this relates to the Chief Executive Officer, Service Managers, Business Development, Administration, Finance and centre running costs (e.g. utilities). Restricted funding includes Big Lottery Women & Girls, Garfield Weston, Tudor Trust and Lloyds Bank Foundation.
_**Liberty**_ - delivers an outreach, engagement and recovery service to adult women who experience multiple disadvantages, providing trauma and gender informed support for sex workers and adult female survivors of sexual exploitation. Restricted funding includes Big Lottery, Charles Hayward, Smallwood Trust, Homeless Link, Middlesbrough Borough Council and County Durham Community Foundation.
_**Psychotherapy**_ - this relates to our in-house psychotherapeutic counselling service. Restricted funding includes Big Lottery Women & Girls and Henry Smith.
_**Youth Services**_ - working exclusively with vulnerable young people in two areas with high levels of deprivation to intervene and break the cycle of disadvantage, and prevent related issues before they become entrenched. Restricted funding includes Children in Need, Ballinger Charitable Foundation and St. James’ Place.
_**Family Services**_ - (RISE) Reach, Inspire, Support and Empower families in need who are struggling with a range of complex issues which weaken the family unit and compound disadvantage. Working with the whole family in an intensive and motivational way, supporting and empowering them to make changes and achieve better outcomes. Restricted funding includes Children in Need.
_**Blossom**_ - offers trauma and gender informed support to girls and young women aged between 13 to 24 (or 25 where a young woman has additional needs) to prevent exploitation and harm; enabling them to reach their full potential. Restricted funding by Big Lottery, Accenture, County Durham Community Foundation, Cleveland PCC and ESF.
_**Building Capacities**_ - funding from Big Lottery to help the charity build its skills, knowledge and confidence so that it delivers outcomes to beneficiaries more effectively and sustainably.
_**STAGE Project**_ - a partnership of six charities across the North East and Yorkshire helping women affected by sexual exploitation and grooming. The STAGE Project provides a range of one-to-one support, drop-ins and specialist group work programmes, as well as specialist work in custody. Together these provide a therapeutic approach to help women recover from the impact of recent and historic grooming and exploitation. The project is one of 10 chosen by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to receive the restricted proceeds from the 5% tax on tampons and sanitary towels.
_**North East Sex Work Forum (NESWF)**_ - a multi-agency not-for-profit regional group aiming to give a voice to people involved in or exploited through the sex industry across the North East, enabling them to shape and contribute to service provision and respond to their needs. Restricted funding from County Durham Community Foundation and Cleveland PCC provides for a part-time NESWF Co-ordinator.
_**Monitoring & Evaluation**_ - funding towards additional costs of the Liberty and Blossom projects. Restricted funding from Big Lottery.
_**Cleveland DIVERT**_ - a voluntary, multi-agency adult offender diversion scheme as part of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s strategy to reduce re-offending by providing offenders with the opportunity to address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour and prevent them re-offending. The scheme targets low and medium level offenders and offers them a credible alternative to criminal prosecution. Restricted funding from Cleveland PCC.
_**Prison Mentor**_ - restricted funding from Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company provides for a full-time Prison Mentor who supports females in prison to strengthen and build resilience through Pathway 9. The Mentor specifically engages with women offenders who disclose involvement with sex work, preparing them for release by creating robust resettlement plans, identifying and recognising any triggers upon release in order to reduce the incidence of women re-attaching to former networks and returning to substance misuse.
_**Training**_ - restricted funding to develop and deliver an evidence based training programme to equip partners to develop and deliver services for isolated and vulnerable individuals. Restricted funding from County Durham Partnership (Growth & Resilience Fund).
**Page 32**
**A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
## 16. **MOVEMENT IN FUNDS (** _**Continued**_ **)**
_**COVID-19**_ - restricted funding from County Durham Community Foundation, Tees Valley Community Foundation, Tesco Groundworks and Ballinger Charitable Trust to provide weekly parcels for isolated and vulnerable clients that are currently accessing our services. Each parcel is tailored to the age(s) and number of recipients and contains information (including government guidance and other sources of support), food, hygiene products and activities (for children and/or parents) so that they do not have to leave the house whilst socially isolating.
_**Community Engagement Officer**_ - restricted funding from Awards for All to create new opportunities to work and fundraise with volunteers and with community groups, charities, local businesses and other partners to raise awareness and understanding of A Way Out and increase the number of beneficiaries accessing our services.
_**Vehicle**_ - restricted funding from the Ministry of Justice to support the additional community based work that was needed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
_**Criminal Justice Team**_ - restricted funding through Changing Lives as part of a Ministry of Justice contract to work with female offenders across Cleveland supporting them to transition and integrate back into the community through rehabilitation and resettlement services that will also positively reduce re-offending rates.
_**Client Grants**_ - restricted funding from Smallwood Charitable Trust to offer grants to clients as a method of assisting with housing stability and financial resilience.
## 17. **ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS**
||**Tangible**|**Net**||
|---|---|---|---|
||**Fixed**|**Current**||
||**Assets**|**Assets**|**Total**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Restricted funds|**-**|**147,614**|**147,614**|
|Unrestricted funds|**6,536**|**327,169**|**333,705**|
||**_______**|**__________**|**__________**|
||**6,536**|**474,783**|**481,319**|
||**======**|**=========**|**=========**|
## 18. **FUNDS OF THE CHARITY**
Unrestricted funds comprise those funds which the trustees are free to use in accordance with the charitable objects, although the trustees may decide to designate part of these funds for specific purposes.
Restricted funds are funds which have been given for particular purposes and projects.
## 19. **TAXATION**
HM Revenue & Customs have approved the charitable status of A Way Out and its income is therefore exempt from tax under Sections 505 and 506 of The Taxes Act 1988, provided that such income is applied for charitable purposes.
## 20. **CONTROLLING PARTY**
Throughout the year, the charity was under the control of the Board of Trustees.
## 21. **RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS**
The total amount of donations received without conditions from trustees in the year to 30 September 2021 was £1,500 (2020: £1,651).
Other than the above, there were no reportable related party transactions (2020: none).
## 22. **PENSION COSTS**
The charity operates a group personal pension scheme. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity, being invested by the insurance company. The pension costs charged in the financial statements represent contributions payable by the charity in the year and amounted to £15,129 (2020: £13,638).
**Page 33**
## **A WAY OUT**
## **(A Company Limited by Guarantee)**
## **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2021**
|23.|**RECONCILIATION OF NET MOVEMENTS IN FUNDS TO**|||
|---|---|---|---|
||**CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES**|**2021**|2020|
|||**£**|£|
||Net movement in funds|**64,638**|117,429|
||**Add:**Depreciation charge|**5,866**|3,739|
||**Less:**Profit on disposal of fixed assets|**(4,184)**|-|
||Interest receivable|**(193)**|(1,328)|
||Decrease/(increase) in debtors|**(29,630)**|10,695|
||Increase/(decrease) in creditors|**(114,173)**|19,328|
|||**__________**|**__________**|
||**Cash Flow from Operating Activities**|**(77,676)**|149,863|
|||**=========**|**=========**|
## 24. **FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS**
At the year end, the charity had financial assets at amortised cost of £599,824 (2020: £640,208) and financial liabilities at amortised cost of £11,594 (2020: £11,019).
The income attributable to the charity’s financial instruments is summarised as follows:
||**2021**|2020|
|---|---|---|
|Interest receivable:|**£**|£|
|Financial assets at amortised cost|**193**|1,328|
||**=====**|**======**|