2023-09-30-accounts

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 2023

A WAY OUT

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

	Pages
Directors’/Trustees’ Report	1 to 34
Independent Examiner’s Report	35
Statement of Financial Activities/Summary Income and Expenditure Account	36
Balance Sheet	37
Statement of Cash Flows	38
Notes to the Financial Statements	39to 51

Page 1

The directors/trustees are pleased to present their report, together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 30th September 2023.

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.

L E G A L A N D A D M I N I S T R A T I V E I N F O R M A T I O N

Charity Name:	A Way Out
Charity Registration Number:	1137535
Company Registration Number:	06265354
Registered Office:	The Gate
	1-2 Castlegate Quay
	The Riverside
	Stockton-on-Tees
	TS18 1BZ
Website Address:	www.awayout.co.uk
Directors/Trustees:	Robert Thompson (Chair)
	David Emerton (Vice-Chair)
	Andrew Malcolm (Treasurer)
	Michelle Carr
	Julie Allan
	Hassan Al-Bahrani
	Helen Williams (appointed 24/4/2023)
Chief Executive:	Kay Nicolson
Independent Examiner:	Mr J. Lester FCA
	Baines Jewitt Limited
	Chartered Accountants
	Spitfire House
	19 Falcon Court
	Preston Farm Industrial Estate
	Stockton-on-Tees
	TS18 3TU
Bank:	HSBC Bank plc
	136 High Street
	Stockton-on-Tees
	TS18 1LR
Solicitors:	Punch Robson
	34 Myton Road
	Ingleby Barwick
	Stockton-on-Tees
	TS17 0WG

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S T R U C T U R E , G O V E R N A N C E A N D M A N A G E M E N T

Governing Document

A Way Out is a company limited by guarantee a registered charity governed by its memorandum and articles of association dated 27th 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 7 trustees.

New trustees are appointed through an open and transparent process which is ratified at Board. An annual skills audit is undertaken to ensure gaps in expertise and skills are actively recruited. Compliance with the Charity Governance Code and the development of an action plan to address gaps in governance is monitored throughout each financial year.

Trustee Induction and Training

Whilst many on the current Board are familiar with the ethos and workings of A Way Out there continues to be an induction and training for all trustees over the year. The action plan generated from compliance with the Governance Code along with information from the trustee skills audits will determine further learning and development, along with external and internal factors and context.

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 matching them with an existing Trustee as part of their induction, sharing skill sets, expertise and building understanding around the governance structure and arrangements.

Trustees have also been actively involved in shaping the induction programme for future trustees, developing webinar content and multimedia methods of engagement. Trustees have attended a training session on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) as this is becoming an increasingly important issue.

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 devastated 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 operational site at the end of 2008 in order to provide better equipped facilities and a greater portfolio of services.

A Way Out currently employs 26 full and part-time staff members and works with partners and experts. 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.

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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

Staff pay 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. All trustees give their time and expertise freely and no trustee received remuneration in the year.

Risk Management

A robust risk management policy and framework has been agreed by trustees and is used to inform decision making on policy, strategy and finance. This includes an organisational risk register that is reviewed by trustees and senior managers via the Finance and Funding Sub Committee monthly with significant changes in risk, or risks that are considered above the 'risk appetite' of the organisation, then reported to the full Board on a quarterly basis.

A risk audit was conducted in the previous year with an action plan now in operation to enhance risk management oversight. Further risk training is planned in the coming year with a refresh of the risk policy and strategic register.

O B J E C T I V E S A N D A C T I V I T I E S

The Current Need

A Way Out operates across the Tees Valley (formally known as Cleveland) whilst also maintaining its historic focus on Stockton-on-Tees. The Tees Valley consists of Hartlepool, Stockton, Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland, all of which experience significant disadvantage and score high on the indices of deprivation.

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 the town saw a significant demise in the later part of the 20th century.

A large number of factors contributed to the decline, but primarily it was the disappearance of much of the engineering industry alongside the national economic recession of the 1980s leading to considerable unemployment and a widening of inequality gaps. Whilst there is a significant economic regeneration programme now taking place, years of inequality and the current cost of living crisis have contributed to a difficult economic and social climate.

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This map taken from the End Child Poverty Campaign, shows the number and percentage of children in poverty (after housing costs) by constituency in June 2023. The darker the map the higher the poverty rate:

----- Start of picture text -----
Tees Valley
Middlesbrough: Redcar:
40.6% 35.4%
This means that there are 6,825 This means that there are 9,946
children living in poverty in this area. children living in poverty in this area.
Hartlepool: Stockton:
35.3% 32.6%
This means that there are 14,608
This means that there are 7,384
children living in poverty in this area.
children living in poverty in this area.
----- End of picture text -----

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Local and national needs assessments demonstrate the following issues of concern for women and young people within the Tees Valley:

• 20.6% of children in Stockton on Tees are in low income families compared to 16.8% in England.* Of the 120 neighbourhoods in Stockton on Tees, 39 were among the 20% most income deprived in England.^

• Of the 86 neighbourhoods in Middlesbrough, 49 were among the 20% most income deprived in England.^ 144 hospital admissions as a result of self harm in young people aged 10-24 (415 per 100,000 compared to 407 per 100,000 in England).*

• 21,541 people recorded as having depression (13.6% vs 9.9% in England).*

• Over 2,200 domestic abuse related crimes per year in Stockton on Tees.*

• 13.4% of people are in fuel poverty compared to 11.1% in England*. Around 4 out of 10 people are finding it difficult to pay their rent or mortgage^.

• 17,350 crimes were flagged as child sexual exploitation in England, from this 7% was in the North East^. 86,794 crimes were flagged as child sexual abuse in England, from this 2% were in Cleveland^. Reported cases of rape and sexual assault involving a knife for the UK were 1068. 1028 of these were in the North East with 46 taking place in Cleveland^.

• 10,084 sexual offences were reported in the North East, 2,627 / 26% of these were in Cleveland^.

• Stockton on Tees Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy https://bit.ly/46I6j0N ^ Office of National Statistics https://www.ons.gov.uk/ + www.police.uk

Breakdown of Crime in Cleveland by Borough (Cleveland Police area - Tees Valley)

----- Start of picture text -----
Hartlepool Middlesbrough Redcar & Cleveland Stockton on Tees
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Anti-social behaviour BurglaryCriminal damage DrugsPossession of a weaponOther Public order RobberyShopliftingVehicle crimesexual o�ences Theft
----- End of picture text -----

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----- Start of picture text -----
North Yorkshire
14.2%
Cleveland
20.2%
Violence and Sexual Offences recorded by
Cleveland Police Force in the North
between
October 2022 and September 2023
Cumbria
10.8%
Northumbria
36.9%
Durham
17.9%
----- End of picture text -----

Data taken from: https://data.police.uk/

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Health and Wellbeing inequalities affecting women, families and young people in the Tees Valley:

This year A Way Out has been actively engaged with over 100 women who have been sexually exploited and / or actively engaged in street-based survival sex work within the Stockton and Middlesbrough areas. This figure is comparable with information contained within research conducted by Barefoot Research in 2014. From regional research and current caseload figures, over 90% of on-street sex workers have used an illegal drug in the past six months; 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).

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• Many women and young people who are sexually exploited and involved in on street sex work 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).� This information remains true and is evidenced in the work A Way Out continues to undertake.

• Cleveland Police Force has one of the highest recording and detection rates for sexual violence offences of� comparable police forces in England and Wales.

• Sex workers often experience multiple, repetitive and regular sexual violence attacks and are�disproportionately represented in the police’s rape and sexual assault figures with less than 5% of offenders�receiving positive court outcomes, such as a charge, caution or sentence.

• Binge drinking amongst women is significantly higher than average and amongst those aged 16 to 25 it is� significantly worse. Many 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.

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. Focus is on developing a multi-agency systems-based approach to address unmet need, multiple disadvantage and trauma.

A Way Out:

Summary (What):

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.

The Charity’s purpose is to:

Inspire – through shared beliefs, values and goals, to build understanding, trust and commitment.

Inform – by offering clear choices, options and priorities, enabled by evidence based decision making that responds to gaps and trends, driven by the needs of those we support, not opportunity.

Influence – by clearly defining what is unique and special about A Way Out and understanding how we can work with partner organisations to achieve wider change.

Vision / Mission (Why):

We believe that no one should experience or fear abuse, harm and exploitation (our vision).

We prevent abuse, harm and exploitation by empowering women, families and young people to overcome the challenges they face and tackling the injustice and inequality that they experience (our mission).

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This is informed by values of:

love - being accepted without judgement or stigma hope - overcoming trauma and recognising potential freedom - living lives free from abuse, harm and exploitation

A Christian ethos of love, truth and justice underpins everything we do to support those with a Christian faith, another faith or no faith.

Approach (How):

The individuals we support confirm through monitoring and evaluation that we are unique in:

• providing multiple opportunities to engage (in-person or online) without complex referrals and assessments or eligibility criteria or the need for a specific diagnosis (e.g. mental ill health) – including proactive street / community based outreach to engage those who choose not to access other services because of previous negative experience (such as parents who have had children removed) or fear being discriminated or stigmatised(such as street based sex workers), as well as those who are ineligible or excluded. not placing arbitrary limits on who is eligible, the support provided and for how long, and instead offering opportunities to access and move between a range (or lifecycle) of support that follows changing needs – including increasing support rather than imposing sanctions or exclusions when disengagement takes place and celebrating achievements, no matter how small, to build hope for the future – specific examples of our holistic (wrap around) approach also

• includes our co-design of Stage and Sage Program to provide solution focused and shame sensitive interventions.

• providing gender- and trauma-informed, strengths based, inclusive support that enables and addresses historic and/or recent abuse, harm and exploitation and overcoming the inequality and injustice that lead to isolation and vulnerability – including flexible one to one and group support that addresses all the challenges faced, is responsive to changing needs, builds on strengths, and enables those using our services to ‘be’ before they are expected to ‘do’, so that informed choices about the future can be made – additional support (including access to our psychological pathway for ‘non engagers) is available to address challenges such as addiction, homelessness, mental and/or physical ill health, learning difficulties / disabilities, poverty etc. - we are also partnering with ReNew to develop our specialism in forensic service provision.

• training/supporting (including clinical supervision) staff and volunteers to build consistent and positive relationships as ‘trusted adults’(particularly those who do not have positive relationships with friends / family or wider support networks) and address trauma (including implementing our trauma recovery model and addressing the vicarious trauma staff and volunteers may experience).

• creating opportunities for voices to be heard and lived experience shared to influence the language, behaviour and views of others and achieve wider system change - including participating in or delivering local/national campaigns to address the issues faced (e.g. 'reclaim the streets') and/or influencing policy and practice and co-designing services with partners such as local authorities, NHS, police etc.

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Actions / Priorities (Who, What, Where and When):

Our long term goal is that women, families, children and young people who are at risk of or experience harm, abuse or exploitation have access to support that provides:

• Compassion - using a non judgmental approach that builds on individual strengths and addresses recent and/or historic trauma.

• Connections – creating opportunities to access support through proactive outreach and by building trusting relationships.

• Care – 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.

• 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, views, of other individuals and policy and practice of organisations.

This includes working with other organisations to prioritise outreach, facilitate referrals, coordinate support and share learning to create new opportunities to prevent abuse, harm and exploitation and, particularly, to engage and support those whose needs are not met by other services.

Our priorities including working with:

• the police, probation and others within the criminal justice system to reduce the risk of clients becoming a victim and / or perpetrator of crime and prevent reoffending - including creating new opportunities to address the causes and consequences of offending such as trauma.

• local authorities, the NHS and their partners to ensure addiction, homelessness, mental health, poverty and other services provide coordinated and holistic support – including identifying and addressing unmet needs and gaps in provision or creating new opportunities for intervention / prevention. charities and community groups to increase our impact through collaborative working including as a subcontractor to larger organisations delivering universal services – including providing additional support for clients with protected characteristics and/or higher levels of unmet need and unmanaged risk.

Monitoring / Review

• using a balanced scorecard to measure our success in achieving internal and external targets.

• capturing further quantitative and qualitative data as part of the ongoing monitoring of our services.

• providing reports to staff and Board meetings. confirming progress made in our annual report.

• including evaluation within bids and tenders wherever possible.

• and then use learning from this to review our business plan annually.

• Evidence will also be used to co-design services with those we support, in individual supervision and team and board meetings, and in workshops / meetings with partners, to create shared learning and identify and promote opportunities for continuous improvement.

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Liberty is an outreach, engagement and recovery service for women who experience multiple disadvantages, are socially isolated, involved in on street sex work, and fear the consequences of accessing support. We aim to increase stability around mental health and wellbeing, substance misuse, personal safety and accommodation. Reduce criminalisation, repercussions from perpetrators, having children removed into care, or being stigmatised by professionals and addressing wider system changes are also a priority

Proactive engagement, through a range of interventions such as community based appointments, walk and talk sessions, daytime and evening outreach utilising our vehicle where we distribute condoms, personal safety leaflets, food and snacks and one to one support. Outreach is delivered by staff, volunteers and partner agencies eg substance misuse and local authority. Referrals are received from a range of agencies such as health, local authority, third sector organisations, probation. Women also self refer. Our approach is gender and trauma informed with personalised one to one and group interventions, so women can address the abuse, harm and exploitation they experience.

STAGE provides trauma informed and personalised support for women who have been groomed for sexual exploitation by both groups and individuals and consequently experience multiple challenges including mental ill health. It is integrated within the delivery of Liberty and Phoenix Women to provide additional targeted support for women experiencing abuse, harm and exploitation.

The STAGE partnership is led by Changing Lives, includes the Angelou Centre, Ashiana, Basis, GROW, Together Women and the Women’s Centre, and undertakes research into survivor experiences to influence policy and practice as well as providing targeted support.

Phoenix Women provides specialist support for adult women in the criminal justice system as they transition from the prison gates to the community recognising that pathways into offending for women are often different to that of men because of the abuse, harm and exploitation they experience and their sentences are often harsher. Trauma and gender informed, shame sensitive, and strength-based community and custody group and one to one support empowers women to move past previous offending and build a stronger future for themselves and their families.

This work is led by Changing Lives as part of a wider Ministry of Justice (MOJ) contract.

Women accessing Liberty confirmed that the abuse, harm and exploitation they experience may have been reduced, or even prevented, had support been available sooner. Unity therefore provides the right support at the right time for children and young people (up to 25 years old) as they transition to adulthood including trauma informed and person centred one to one and group interventions as well as digital engagement and peer support.

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The Blos som Project supports girls and young women aged 13-24 (or up to 25 years if they have additional needs such as learning difficulties / disabilities) , who experience multiple unmet needs and disadvantages. One to one and group, trauma informed and person centred, interventions build their resilience and prevent abuse, harm and exploitation and opportunities to lead campaigns, events and projects further ensure their voices are heard.

The VAWG advocacy project reaches, engages and empowers girls and young women aged 16 - 26 who are experiencing or have experienced gender-based violence against them. Through collaborative assessment, person centred and trauma informed support and advocacy, we ensure they know their rights and can recognise and address VAWG.

Evolve supports children and young people aged 9-16 years. Delivered within schools and the community as a 6-week educational program which equips them with the knowledge, awareness and resources they need to identify unhealthy relationships and how to access support.

We have also developed services that provide additional support to those accessing our services and their families :

The RISE family project provides one to one and group work to increase wellbeing and improve relationships for families of individuals accessing other A Way Out services.

Our Psychological Pathway is integrated within Liberty, Blossom, Phoenix and our Family Project and provides additional support, including a non-engager strategy, one to one and group therapeutic support, as well as shame sensitive and solution focused interventions, for those who struggle to engage because of historic trauma and challenges such mental ill health. Staff and volunteers also benefit from additional support and opportunities for reflective learning, particularly when working with clients who face barriers to engagement such as discrimination and stigma or trauma.

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I M P A C T

The impact of our services is evidenced by recent external evaluation (Barefoot 2019 and Sunderland University 2022), involvement in national projects (e.g. STAGE - working with 7 other charities/public sector partners to support vulnerable women who have been groomed by gangs) and awards (e.g. NEPACS Ruth Cranfield 2019) as well as our track record of securing grants and contracts to develop and deliver services.

Through the delivery of our services, and the completion of SWOT and PESTLE analysis and risk assessments we have also learned that individuals who experience and/or are at risk of abuse, harm and exploitation:

• face growing challenges including addiction, homelessness, mental and/or physical ill health including learning difficulties / disabilities, poverty etc because of the trauma they have experienced

• fear (often based on previous experience) they will not be taken seriously or will experience discrimination and stigmatisation and/or repercussions (e.g. criminal convictions) if they disclose abuse, harm and exploitation (particularly VAWG – violence against women and girls)

• find accessing services increasingly difficult (because of complex referrals, narrowing eligibility criteria, increasing exclusions etc) and often only receive support after abuse, harm and exploitation has taken place (e.g. when in contact with the police, attending A&E, taken into care etc) rather than when this could have been prevented

are inherently resilient because of the challenges they face and have strengths they can build on.

And that we can best respond to this by continuing to;

• work with, rather than to or for, those we support to ensure they are equal participants in the process of designing, delivering, and monitoring and evaluating, our services, rather than just recipients

• provide specialist and trauma and/or gender informed, interventions by building the skills and experience of our staff and expanding our services

• build our evidence base to better understand the complex and changing unmet needs of those we support and how best to engage and support them

• work collaboratively with partner organisations to share learning and resources, inform policy and practice, and promote wider system change.

Our Blossom service was awarded Winner of the High Sheriff of County Durham Award 2023 Our Liberty and Stage services were awarded the Health and Wellbeing Impact Award at the Catalyst Conference 2023.

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T H E O R Y O F C H A N G E
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O R G A N I S A T I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T

The last financial year has yielded some significant operational opportunities, challenges and changes for the Charity which include the following:

• A full review of service delivery to create two distinct operational service areas (Unity and Horizon).

• A review of workforce roles and a move to harmonised terms and conditions across both new service areas.

• Exciting new work with Ingeus, a large charity with an excellent reputation for delivering services to individuals in the criminal justice system. This work has enabled A Way Out to expand our psychological services.

• Evaluation work with both Sunderland University (evaluation of Evolve) and Barefoot Research (evaluation of Liberty/Stage) both of which have enabled learning and further developments of those project areas.

• A second year of the staff survey which has provided excellent feedback to drive and develop the work of our workforce advisory group and staff wellbeing committee.

• A project to capture the voices of women working with our Liberty / Stage projects and an example of fantastic collaboration with the North East Sex Workers Forum.

• A collaborative partnership with VONNE to deliver a research project engaging with young people and their access to mental health provision.

• A partnership with Cleveland Police to develop joint working around women at risk of or subject to Adult Sexual Exploitation.

• Joint leading and partnering Cleveland Police in their Operation Beech (a time limited police operation to reduce sexual and violent offences perpetrated against women who were on street sex working).

• Participation in the Cleveland Sex Work Strategy being delivered by the North East Sex Workers Forum.

• A partner in the Changing Futures Programme across the South Tees area.

• The opening of an outstanding new building in Middlesbrough which will be operational imminently in the new financial year.

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.

Trustees have also

• Reviewed and approved the Business Plan.

• Undertaken a review of the Trans Position Statement.

• Undertaken a review of the Decriminalisation of Sex Work Position Statement

• Reviewed the A Way Out Mission, Vision and Values.

• Reviewed the Strategic Objectives for the charity.

• Undertaken a staff role review, harmonising roles to enable staff to work across projects should the need arise. Agreed to the formal appraisal system being implemented for staff and trustees.

• A full governance review has taken place alongside a self-assessment of the Charity Commission Governance Code.

L O C A L I N F L U E N C E

• A Way Out’s Blossom Service has been recommissioned by the Local Authority to respond to the local need identified by multiple agencies and is further developing the 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 the 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 has been asked to sit on Teesside Safeguarding Adult’s Board in an advisory capacity to ensure Adult Sexual Exploitation is given due regard in all areas and discussions.

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• A Way Out continues to work closely with Cleveland Police and Council-led Vulnerable, Exploited, Missing and Trafficked (VEMT) strategic and operational groups to support work with young people experiencing these issues. Member of the Strategic VEMT Task and Finish Group for transitions, 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.

• Embedded, 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 Northeast 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 providing those who experience isolation, marginalisation and multiple disadvantages to have their voices heard and to influence and bring about local change.

• 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.

• A Way Out is an advisory member of the Teesside Safeguarding Adults Board (TSAB) and are consulted on issues linked to adult sexual exploitation.

• Attendance at Safer Stockton Partnership meetings

N A T I O N A L I N F L U E N C E

• 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 policy and influencing via the Stage project to improve women’s access to justice and health care. Part of the Beyond the Gaze practitioners group sharing learning, good practice and challenges for sex workers with partners and leads across the country.

Engaging with Beyond the Streets to develop practice and skills across England.

• As part of the Stage project, A Way Out have participated in a number of webinar events to raise the profile of women’s experiences of service provision when they have been subject to adult sexual exploitation and are actively campaigning for ASE to be recognised in law with a statutory definition. This is culminating in an event at Parliament in the next financial year.

C O M M U N I T Y I N V O L V E M E N T

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.

Our Liberty and Stage team have been working with Cleveland Police on Operation Beech working to decrease violent crime relating to sex work in the Newport area of Middlesbrough.

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A Way Out has recently secured funding through Safer Streets, to work with the community around harm reduction for women who are on street sex working.

Actively work alongside local CCTV when out on evening outreach.

A Way Out actively recruits local volunteers who are essential to the delivery of our Horizon and Unity 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.

Our Volunteer Co-ordinator actively engages with the local church network, raising awareness, recruiting volunteers and fundraising.

Engaging with local councillors to promote a safe environment for the community we work with.

V O L U N T E E R S

A Way Out is extremely grateful for the generous assistance our services receive from our bank of volunteers. During 2022/2023, we were able to return to twice weekly outreach sessions and improve our links with local universities to increase our pool of potential volunteers.

We were also able to recruit a new Psychotherapy volunteer. We have been grateful for the support of local organisations who have given time to help us improve our building, and to other groups who regularly collect food for our food bank.

----- Start of picture text -----
SUPPORT
11 number of dedicated volunteers.
376 number of volunteer hours delivered.
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Achievements October 2022 to September 2023: Our team of dedicated volunteers:

• Worked alongside our Liberty team during twice weekly outreach in Stockton and Middlesbrough. Supported with Psychotherapy sessions for clients.

• Assisted in the collection of regular food donations.

• Raised awareness and fundraised for A Way Out.

• Supported with fundraising events.

• Revamped our Liberty lounge to create a more welcoming and trauma informed space.

• Supported the maintenance of the building by updating our counselling room to create a more trauma informed space and removed fittings from the Blossom Projects room in expectation of creating a more useful space for one to one sessions.

Assisted in the maintenance of the building.

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O U T R E A C H A N D R E C O V E R Y

Project Outline:

A Way Out’s Liberty and STAGE projects seeks to provide unique opportunities to facilitate engagement into services and establish recovery pathways for women aged 18 plus experiencing multiple disadvantages. Such women have needs relating to issues such as sex work/sexual exploitation, substance dependency, homelessness, and domestic abuse. This women-only specialist service includes one to one support, drop-ins and structured programmes intended to help improve self-esteem, 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.

Achievements October 2022 to September 2023:

During this year Liberty and STAGE have continued to offer support to women across Teesside and Liberty have recently extended that support reach to Hartlepool and Redcar/Cleveland.

These projects continue to see women engaging on caseload with an allocated support worker with walk and talk, doorstep checks and one to one sessions. We also continue to support women via our evening on street outreach sessions, alongside a cohort of dedicated volunteers and staff from other teams within A Way Out.

We have increased our evening outreach delivery to two nights per week which has enabled us to provide greater support to women who are on-street sex working. This has increased our presence on the street and in the local community and in turn will hopefully encourage those women who are new to us or hesitant about engaging with us to feel confident knowing we offer a safe space and provision that can be accessed without any judgement or expectation.

During on-street outreach, we continue to work closely with Community Safety teams across Middlesbrough and Stockton, linking in with CCTV and use of their radios in case of emergency. The Community Safety teams update us during the sessions of any vulnerable women they see on the streets that we can engage with.

Safety remains central to our work, and we offer safety advice to the women while they are working via a safety card and for those women on caseload, we complete structured safety plans with them. The women have highlighted that having safety cards, safety plans and reviewing them with their worker increases feelings of being safer when working. They also highlight the use of National Ugly Mugs, both receiving alerts from Liberty Staff and being able to make reports through the team and maintain their anonymity. We provide condoms, wipes, needle exchange, one to one sessions, outreach sessions and drop-in sessions.

The team have worked alongside Cleveland Police during Operation Beech, after identifying high numbers of crime such as rape and sexual assault to women who had links to on street sex working. As a result of this extra support is offered to those women identified as being at most risk of harm. The team support a weekly drop-in that is run by the police for women in Middlesbrough, which runs alongside our evening street outreach sessions.

Page 18

Partnership working is integral to offering the best support to the women we work with and Liberty and STAGE codeliver weekly drop-in sessions at a local supported accommodation setting for female residents. We look at many issues from health and wellbeing, sexual health, empowerment and practical sessions around housing, finances/budgeting. These groups are well attended, and feedback from the women is very positive around building confidence, feeling empowered to make independent decisions and building on life skills.

Our Sexual Exploitation worker (STAGE) has been involved in working groups across the North East and Yorkshire. They have been looking at barriers that women who have been sexually exploited face in accessing support around various issues such as access to justice, health, housing, BAME, transition from Child Sexual Exploitation to Adult and how support changes with that. These working groups have provided evidence and research to start the process of challenge and change.

O U T C O M E S - 129 Unique Individuals

----- Start of picture text -----
IMPROVED WELLBEING
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
women have reported an increase in self-esteem by
81
participating in a variety of group and one to one sessions.
women have benefited from engaging with staff via Walk &
75 Talk sessions, doorstep checks, one to one’s and engaging
with our in-house psychotherapist.
women have engaged with the team both on caseload and
129
during our delivery of weekly on street outreach sessions.
----- End of picture text -----

IMPROVED LIFESTYLE

----- Start of picture text -----
women have reported to have remained in treatment and
15
engaged with local substance misuse services to maintain this.
women remain in stable accommodation. During COVID these
numbers were higher due to government guidelines around
25
provisions to the homeless, rough sleepers and tighter
restrictions around evictions.
women to access health care appointments, this includes
21 registering with GP and Dentists and accessing mental
health and sexual health services.
----- End of picture text -----

Page 19

REDUCE HARM

10

32

74

women have disclosed Rape and Sexual Violence. 3 women have made reports to Police. The team support women in accessing support from SARC, if a decision is made to report to police then women are also supported to deal with this process and their decision making.

women have disclosed nonsexual acts of violence/threats of violence made to them. If these offenses occur whilst the women are sex working, they will often disclose further details to their worker and consent to a report being made by the Liberty team to National Ugly Mugs where this can be shared with other sex workers allowing for wider safety awareness.

women have stated they feel safer with support from the team via Safety Plans, On street Outreach, National Ugly Mug alerts and having a safe space within A Way Out via one to one and group sessions.

Thank you for listening. Why don’t other people listen like you do?

I don‘t know what I would have done without your support, you have gone above and beyond my expectations

I can’t believe I cried...in a nice way, as I don’t normally let my guard down and show my emotions after being hurt so many times

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P H O E N I X W O M E N C R I M I N A L J U S T I C E S E R V I C E S

Project Outline:

The Criminal Justice Project commenced in 2021 and is now fully embedded into the organisation. The project, now known as Phoenix Women, works in partnership with Changing Lives and the National Probation Service covering the areas of Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland. The women are referred to our case workers by Probation Officers who have identified specific pathways to help and encourage them to move past previous offending and build a stronger and fulfilling future for themselves and their families. Those pathways include, accommodation, emotional 75 wellbeing, family and significant others, addiction and recovery, education, training and employment, lifestyle and associates and finance, benefit and debt.

Achievements October 2022 to September 2023:

Pathways into offending for women are often different to that of men and can be because 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, in addition to experiencing structural inequality, marginalisation and increased risk of harm.

In our experience the women often have a wide range of vulnerabilities. To help build resilience we work with several agencies outside of the criminal justice system who can provide specialist support for issues such as; substance misuse, domestic abuse, housing, debt management and emotional wellbeing. We work hand in hand with these agencies to provide trauma informed support for the women.

Many of the women we work with have trust issues. It takes time, patience and understanding to break down barriers to create a positive working relationship. The team work with commitment and passion to create a safe space, where women feel able to open up and begin to make steps towards a more fulfilling future.

Intervention Delivery

The interventions we deliver are directly related to the 7 pathways identified above. We aim to ‘meet women where they are’ providing interventions that are adaptable to meet individual need, effective and relevant. We have provided the following:

Supporting clients with accommodation issues

• Assisting women to set up accommodation bidding systems such as Tees Valley home finder. Many of the women would struggle to do this without the support of their community coach.

• Managing a tenancy, which would include support with budgeting, paying bills.

Emotional wellbeing

Support to access and attend counselling sessions.

• Activities to build self-esteem and resilience.

• One of the team recently supported a woman with a final contact session with her child, who has been placed for adoption.

• ITEC, recently delivered a 3-week course around emotional well-being. This included a focus on physical as well as emotional well-being.

Supported to address issues within their families

Support around healthy relationships,

• Working alongside A Way Out’s family workers to support parents and children with challenges they are facing. Supporting survivors of domestic abuse to understand perpetrator behaviour.

Supported through addiction and recovery

• Support to attend addiction services. Relapse Prevention.

Page 21

Education, Training and Employment

• Purchasing tablets, laptops to provide a platform for accessing training.

• We were able to purchase a sewing machine to allow a woman to attend an online sewing course with a view to increase employability.

Support to identify positive and negative relationships

Work around healthy relationships

Looking at circle of friends using a red flag system, i.e., identifying positive and negative influences.

Supported with benefits, money management and debt

Budgeting.

• Compiling a cookbook, based on ‘Cooking on a Budget’. This was peer led, by a woman who had previously worked as a chef.

• Supporting woman to access specialist debt management, including CAB. This led to a successful application for a Debt Recovery Order. Not only did it have an impact on the woman’s financial situation, but it also had a positive outcome on her emotional wellbeing.

Supported in the transition between custody and community

• The transition from Custody to the community can be a difficult and challenging experience for women. As part of social inclusion, we have picked up a woman upon release from Low Newton and transported her to her Probation appointment.

Group work commencement

• A Way Out has been successful in securing a 2nd building. This a warm, comfortable, trauma informed space, where we can provide one to one and group work interventions.

• A group focusing on emotional well-being has just concluded. Group members shared positive feedback and expressed an eagerness to engage in other groups.

• We have Sage, a solution focused programme, which is a strengths-based, future focused way of working with clients to help them discover and then work towards, a better future.

• We have group work sessions planned around each of the referral pathways and look forward to working alongside the women and provide them with relevant and effective sessions. Lived experience developing the group work (cooking course).

We are delighted to see the progress made during the women’s journey with us. Whilst the work can be challenging, we have many success stories.

Helen has been working with us for some time, she has been consistent in her engagement and has shared how valuable she has found the support provided by her community coach. She is just about to embark upon a new journey as a peer mentor for the probation service. This is a great achievement, and we are so proud of the steps that Helen has taken to get to the point where she is able to take up this role. We have every confidence that she will do a great job and be an asset to the Probation service, and the women that she meets in her capacity as a peer mentor.

We have worked hard to provide a trauma informed space in Middlesbrough, which has been described by one of our women as a “warm and welcoming space”. We are so pleased that our Middlesbrough building is now up and running. We are looking forward to using this to provide a place and space for women to grow and develop.

----- Start of picture text -----
Thank you for everything you
have done for me, I don’t know
what I would have done
without your support
----- End of picture text -----

Kim has gone from strength to strength and as she comes to the end of her time with us, she is embarking on a new experience as a peer mentor for the Probation service

Page 22

----- Start of picture text -----
OUTCOMES
115 unique individuals
68 supported with their accommodation issues
46 supported through addiction and recovery
19 in education, training and employment
76 supported to improve their emotional wellbeing
41 supported to address issues within their families
35 supported with benefits, money management and debt
42 supported to identify positive and negative relationships
supported in the transition between custody and the
9
community
I am happy with the relationship
that is building between A Way Out
and Ingeus, it is only going to
I just wanted to say a big thank you for
strengthen the support available to
the work you are undertaking with
those ladies on programme
Bea. She was absolutely buzzing (her
Ingeus words) when talking about the support
you’ve offered, especially in terms of
setting up her tenancy
Probation Officer
----- End of picture text -----*

Page 23

----- Start of picture text -----
44
75
----- End of picture text -----

S U P P O R T F O R Y O U N G W O M E N

Project Outline:

The Blossom Project supports girls and young women aged 13-24 (or up to 25 years if they have additional needs such as learning difficulties / disabilities), who experience multiple unmet needs and disadvantages. One to one and group, trauma informed and person centred, interventions build their resilience and prevent abuse, harm and exploitation and opportunities to lead campaigns, events and projects further ensure their voices are heard.

Blossom accepts referrals from a wide range of sources including Social Care (both childrens’ and adults’) education, health, housing schemes, mental health services (statutory and voluntary) as well as self-referrals. The girls and young women we support have a range of presenting needs upon referral including; sexual assault and harassment, low selfesteem and worth, lack of confidence, low resilience and struggling to regulate emotions, to name but a few. The support is focussed, exploring with the client what they want to work on first, together identifying actions and working together to co-produce their support goals.

The support offered is flexible and can be adapted to suit the changing needs of the clients. For example, support can take place in person, digitally as well as a combination of these to suit clients’ needs. The support is very much tailored to their individual needs to ensure clients feel comfortable in their sessions. The support is also not time constricted in that clients can access support for however long they need it and they can also access ad hoc support once exited from support if they find they need this again. The girls and young women who have accessed Blossom tell us that this is one of the most important things to them; that they are listened to, felt heard and not judged and that support is there for them when they need it. Our clients co-produced outcomes that they felt are most important to them to achieve during their support journey with Blossom; to be confident, to be safe (at home and contextually), to be healthy (mentally and physically) to increase confidence and to gain knowledge and awareness of issues that matter to them.

Achievements October 2022 to September 2023:

Across the past year the support process/journey of support for Blossom clients has been revised which has provided a more structured way of working with clients which has been effective. Clients set their support goals with their keyworker which are then reviewed at set intervals to review progress and change direction where needed.

Within the past year we have also set up a co-location arrangement with a Stockton Council’s children’s department. This arrangement is working well and has helped streamline referrals and continues to evidence demand for the Blossom service.

Additionally, earlier this year received a High Sheriff Youth Award from the County Durham Community Foundation. The award recognises our commitment to improving the lives of children and young people in our community. We were delighted to receive this award, which is testament to the work undertaken in Stockton with the children and young people we support.

Page 24

You’re the only person that actually listens to me and never judged me in any situation. I feel comfortable telling you anything I don’t know what I’m gonna do!

OUTCOMES

51 unique individuals

43

young women self-report increased or maintained how confident they feel.

37

young women self-report feeling safe within their home environment.

43

young women self-report feeling safe outside of their home environment.

39

young women self-report maintained or increased physical health.

41

young women self-report maintained or increased mental health and well-being.

42

young women self-report an increased ability to make and maintain relationships with others.

47

young women self-report feeling confident to seek support with their health.

48

young women self-report having increased knowledge/awareness of topics they did not know before (as a result of Blossom 1:1 or group work).

Page 25

44

V I O L E N C E A G A I N S T W O M E N A N D G I R L S

Project Outline:

The Violence Against Women and Girls advocacy project reaches, engages and empowers girls and young women aged 16 - 26 who are experiencing or have experienced gender-based violence against them. Through collaborative assessment, person centred and trauma informed support and advocacy, we ensure they know their rights and can 75 recognise and address VAWG. This service supports girls and young women who are resident in Stockton, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland.

Our VAWG project accepts referrals from a wide range of agencies similar to those that refer into Blossom as well as self-referrals. The young women supported have a wide ranging need around the gendered violence they have experienced, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, rape, sexual abuse (historic), stalking and domestic abuse and coercive control. As a result of these experiences the young women often present with secondary needs such as poor mental health and emotional wellbeing, ability to regulate emotions, lack of confidence and self esteem, body image issues as well as eating disorders.

As with the Blossom service offer, support is flexible and person centred to suit the clients individual needs and circumstances. Clients can access one to one support where they feel most comfortable. In person this can be at A Way Out office, within the community as well as an education establishment. Clients can also access digital support to suit their needs too, this is helpful for clients who are in full time work or education. Client feedback to date evidences that being listened to and feeling cared for is different to support they have previously received.

Achievements October 2022 to September 2023:

In terms of partnership working the VAWG worker has worked closely with staff from Blossom and Families, helping to co-deliver group sessions, completing initial assessments together and working jointly with clients. The VAWG worker has also completed joint outreach sessions with the Blossom young people’s worker and with Cornerhouse youth project who are based in Stockton. Undertaking the outreach has allowed the VAWG worker to raise further awareness of the service. The VAWG worker has also continued to complete outreach sessions with the Liberty team across Middlesbrough and Stockton on an evening to again reach more women.

The VAWG worker has met with the Education Collective and as a result has attended a Freshers Event at Redcar & Cleveland college, this event allowed the VAWG worker to speak to many young people from across Redcar and Cleveland, provide them with information about the services A Way Out offer as well as raise awareness around VAWG. The VAWG worker has also attended the Hartlepool Domestic Abuse Local Strategic Partnership meeting, where they were given the opportunity to speak, this allowed them to share information on VAWG and the referral process as well as meet with other local professionals and agencies. The presence of the VAWG worker at such networking opportunities has raised awareness of local professionals of VAWG issues and how/where to refer young women who may need support.

Although I only see you for one hour a week, the sessions have helped me so much. I always leave feeling more positive and ready to take on the week ahead. I just wanted you to know that I have applied for Uni to study dance, something I never thought I’d have the confidence or drive to do before we started our work. I’m so excited. Thank you.

Page 26

I actually really look forward to our sessions, I feel like you listen and actually care rather than it just being your job. I didn’t think things were going to get better but since we started completing our work they really have

I’ve been practicing the work we completed on healthy boundaries with my friends and work colleagues, it’s really helped me to communicate better and I feel so much better about the future. Thank you

I’ve been looking forward to my session all week, I always feel so much better after being here

OUTCOMES

2 1 unique individuals

10

12

9

11

young women self-report feeling safe

young women self-report improved health and well-being

young women self-report feeling more knowledgeable and informed around the Criminal Justice process

young women self-report ability to return to lifestyle or adjust to changes

Page 27

Y O U T H

Project Outline:

Evolve supports children and young people aged between 9-16 years. Delivered within schools and the community as a six week educational program which equips them with the knowledge, awareness and resources they need to identify unhealthy relationships and how to access support. The remit of the support is early intervention group work delivered over six weeks, ensuring that children and young people are educated around topics such as; respect, boundaries, recognising harm and abuse, expressing emotions, safety planning, gender and role expectations, contextual safety among much more. The programme is age and stage appropriate and tailored in partnership with the school to meet the needs of the cohort of the young people referred.

The presenting needs of the children and young people we have support have been varied. The presenting needs of secondary school aged children have included vulnerable, risk of exclusion, easily influenced/led, parental illness, chaotic home life, poor attendance, anxiety, social conflicts, social media exploitation and antisocial behaviour. Presenting needs of the primary school ages children have included low confidence/self-esteem, no friendship groups/struggles with friendships, domestic abuse in the home, lack of appropriate boundaries and lack of positive relationships.

Achievements October 2022 to September 2023:

Evolve has continued to develop across the past year and we have continued to work in schools we already had links with, alongside some new ones. We have supported a group of year 5 children in a Primary School in Middlesbrough that we have never delivered in before.

The Evolve programme has grown to encompass topics to address specific issues that have been identified by the schools as impacting their children and young people. Sessions have been amended and adapted to ensure the content is meeting the needs of the young people. A new partnership has been established with Abbey Hill School and Evolve is due to be delivered there following the October half term.

----- Start of picture text -----
I was counting down the
seconds ‘til this lesson!
Primary School Pupil
I think these sessions have been really
good and useful. It made me reflect on a
lot of things and has had a positive
impact on me. Thank you!
Secondary School Pupil
The week before last, I felt
invisible/isolated, last week I
felt sort of isolated. Today, I
am happy.
Primary School Pupil
----- End of picture text -----

Page 28

OUTCOMES

----- Start of picture text -----
71 unique individuals
50 now understand what a healthy relationship is.
understand how they should be treated in their
50 relationships.
46 understand the red and green flags of relationships.
46 understand how to stay safe online.
if they were in a situation that was unsafe, they would know
41 what to do.
----- End of picture text -----

F A M I L I E S

Project Outline:

The RISE family project provides one to one and group to increase wellbeing and improve relationships for families of individuals accessing other A Way Out services. Via internal referral, any clients who are accessing another A Way Out service can receive support for any of their family members who may need it. Support is provided at the right time to ensure that the families receive the support they need. Depending on which service area their client is linked to, presenting needs can vary significantly from; parenting support, money management and budgeting, understanding trauma and its impact, mental health and emotional well-being, supporting with caring responsibilities and advocacy and liaison with other services.

Like the other projects the support is flexible and can be adapted to meet the clients needs. Both face to face and telephone support has been invaluable to the cohort of individuals supported across the last year. Support plans are developed in partnership with clients to ensure that they are integral to leading the support. Via a trauma informed, person centred, solution focussed approach, clients and families are supported to come up with their own solutions to issues they are experiencing, ultimately empowering them to be in control of their own lives.

Achievements October 2022 to September 2023:

During this timeframe there have been a number of successes. Firstly, we have been able to expand our family offer following securing additional funding from Trusthouse Charitable Foundation. The position was advertised in February 2023 and the successful applicant commenced their role in March 2023. The additional Family Co-ordinator has enabled the expansion of RISE across all of the A Way Out project areas, across both service areas supporting adults as well as children and young people.

We have integrated the Family Co-ordinators within our wider service provision to ensure that all staff understand the remit of the support that can be offered to family members of A Way Out clients. This has included one Family Coordinator being involved in and now leading on Liberty outreach sessions, co-delivering Blossom group sessions and supporting initial assessments where there is a family need identified.

Page 29

It’s reassuring knowing that I have you should I need you.

Thanks for the food, I’m really struggling

I’m happy my daughter is back to school and seeing her keyworker regularly. Her keyworker is a godsend

OUTCOMES

6 unique families

4

4

4

5

reported a positive improvement in their mental health and overall well-being.

reported a positive improvement in their family relationships.

reported improved resilience.

reported that they found the service useful.

reported that they didn't have suggestions to improve the service.

6

Page 30

T H E R A P E U T I C P S Y C H O T H E R A P Y C O U N S E L L I N G

psychotherapy

Service Outline:

The psychological service and psychological pathway work across all projects. The key role of the service is to provide psychological support. The service has evolved over time and continues to evolve according to the needs of the clients and the organisation.

Key functions of the service:

• Provide psychological support to clients either through 1 to 1 psychotherapy and / or therapeutic programmes. Support staff working with clients with complex mental health needs through regular “clinics”; ad-hoc clinics; developing & delivering training programmes on psychological topics.

• Support volunteer counsellors / psychotherapists through meetings and supervision.

• Supporting trainee counsellors and psychotherapists on placement with A Way Out through supervision and training. When there are trainees on placements written reports are required by the training organisation.

Examples of training programmes developed and delivered through the psychological services:

• Establishing & maintaining the therapeutic relationship.

• Working with chaotic behaviours.

• When the client gets inside your head.

• Trauma informed services.

• Empowering conversations. Attachment.

Client experiences:

The clients we see at A Way Out have experienced trauma in their lives. Some of the clients we work with have experienced multiple traumatic experiences. The trauma can be from childhood or as adults and has included:

• Growing up in a violent household.

• Sexual abuse.

• Parents with addiction issues.

• Parents selling drugs from the house – one client disclosed “scary people coming to the house”. Multiple foster placements.

• Parents unable to provide positive emotional nurturing.

• Ignored as children; in a couple of cases the clients had very ill siblings who took up the parents’ attention to the exclusion of the client.

• Being attacked when sex working.

• Many other adverse childhood events.

We work with clients who have diagnosed mental health conditions. The most common one is “Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder”. However, women who are given this label are more likely suffering from complex posttraumatic stress. Invariably these are the women who have experienced multiple traumas. Their behaviours can be chaotic and challenging. Mental health services tend to regard this client group as “incurable” and label them as “attention seeking”. The therapy needed by this client group is the therapeutic relationship, however because of their experiences they struggle with being in a “healthy” relationship. Therein lies the challenge and the paradox of working with this client group.

1 to 1 Psychotherapy – how we work with the clients

When clients are referred into psychological services for 1 to 1 psychotherapy a lot of time is given to establishing and maintaining the therapeutic relationship. For a lot of clients this phase of the psychotherapy is as much as they can cope with especially those who did not receive positive emotional nurturing.

The approach taken with clients is to establish a safe space for the client and to avoid forcing conversations about what’s happened in their life. This avoids retraumatising the client.

Page 31

Psychological Services Pathway

During the year the Psychological Service Pathway was developed and launched. The aim of the pathway is to help us understand where a client might be in relation to the level of mental health support they require.

Initially the pathway consisted of 3 phases:

• Pre-Engagement – at this stage we may meet people during outreach or they have just been referred to A Way Out. Awareness – at this stage the client might decide that they want psychotherapy

Ready for more intense input – at this stage the client is ready to deal with what has happened to them.

When the pathway had been in use for a few months a pattern emerged regarding the awareness stage. The pattern is that the client starts the psychotherapy and then maybe realises that it’s a tough process and disengages. The awareness stage of the pathway has been amended to reflect the new understanding of this stage.

----- Start of picture text -----
Pre-Engager Strategy Client has "awareness" Client "ready for more Client "out and about" in
intense input" the world
Client has a key worker; maybe
e.g. new clients, clients we only has disclosed what's happened to Attending appointments; talking Client has made positive changes
see on outreach, clients who them (ACE's); might be about wanting more stability; in
engage erratically. experiencing psychological treatment with other agencies
At this stage the client might not distress; wondering why they and attending those
cope with "structure" such as a behave the way they do; appointments. Asks for therapy.
regular appointment time. attending appointments however
there are still some "non-
attendance". Probably not ready
for one to one psychotherapy
Support/Approaches Support/Approaches Support/Approaches Support/Approaches
Psychological support
programmes such as Focus on "resourcing of self"
"Trauma informed" conversations psychoeducation around trauma through psychotherapy; support Toolkit for sustaining the positive
- focus on strengths and assets; and how it impacts, including from keyworker; therapeutic changes such as ASPIRE
unconditional positive regard; maturation and trauma; programmes which enable programme
don't tell client what to do, it's conversations about behaviours conversations around "recovery
always their choice; check safety and how they help us survive can be tough"; dealing with
and welfare what has happened; cravings; psychotherapist
encouragement and support if attends drop ins e.g. monthly.
there is a relapse; Support client - maintain contact
psychotherapist attends drop ins and make it ok to “yo-yo”.
e.g. monthly
----- End of picture text -----

OUTCOMES 18 individuals

122 one to one psychotherapy sessions. 16 clients exited therapy after achieving their outcome. 2 therapists available during the reporting period.

Page 32

Developments

In July 2023 we were contacted by Ingeus to provide one to one psychotherapy to female clients attending Ingeus.

Ingeus provides support to individuals on probation and helps their participants with housing, benefits etc. through weekly hubs. They also provide access to various activities such as art, yoga and basket weaving.

From this work we commissioned two therapists, one attending the Middlesbrough Hub and provides support with creative journaling and one attending the Durham hub to provide one to one psychotherapy support.

Rebecca* was referred for psychotherapy via the Phoenix Women’s team.

Rebecca has a history of childhood trauma which included verbal and physical abuse from a young age. She was in a violent relationship for a number of years and has a child from that relationship.

Rebecca was referred into psychotherapy as she was experiencing major symptoms of post traumatic stress which had started to interfere with day to day life.

Rebecca attends her sessions and we are gradually unpacking what has happened to her. This is taking time because in order to cope with what happened Rebecca has developed a number of different coping strategies. Whilst these have helped with dealing with what happened they also result in behaviours which are un-useful. We are gradually unpacking the un-useful behaviours so that Rebecca can develop more useful strategies to enable her to heal from the childhood trauma.

Samantha* has had an up and down year with regards to attending sessions. There have been times when Samantha hasn’t engaged with therapy for several weeks, throughout these periods the Psychotherapist maintained contact with Samantha and her key worker. It is possible that major therapeutic benefits for Samantha have come from remaining in contact and not ending therapy sessions due to non-attendance.

Samantha’s background is one of having been criticised and rejected within the family because of her behaviours.

The main theme of Samantha’s therapy remains one of ego strengthening and validating.

• Real names not used

*names changed

Page 33

R E S E R V E S P O L I C Y

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 £150,000 (previous year £165,000) 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 wind down the operations of the charity in an orderly manner.

It is the intention of the trustees to designate any unrestricted funds above this reserve to invest in sustaining existing or developing new services/activities/roles to ensure we continue to meet the needs of those accessing our services.

With net current assets/cash liquidity of £320,091 at 30 September 2023 (30/9/22 £380,820) and unspent restricted funds of £98,865 (30/9/22 £97,228) the above level of cash-backed unrestricted funds was achieved.

*names changed

P L A N S F O R T H E F U T U R E

----- Start of picture text -----
Board Sub Group Priorities Outcome
Finance and review our processes and procedures, including reduce core costs and/or increase capacity to develop new
Funding internal meetings, to identify further efficiency opportunities
savings
£ explore opportunities to share ‘back office’
support with other organisations
consider other options for office / delivery space more flexible delivery of services and/or reduce core costs
ensure all services achieve a balanced budget increased financial sustainability
within the financial year
increase our (particularly unrestricted) income sufficient resources to respond to the increasing and changing
from commissioning, fundraising and trading needs of those we support
continue to develop our planning and reporting to proactive management of increasing financial risks
ensure effective and efficient financial
management
Workforce continue to invest in staff skills and experience increased recruitment and retention
through in house and external learning and
development opportunities
review contracts and job descriptions and provide more efficient and effective delivery of services and
training and supervision so staff can work across opportunities for personal development
different roles and teams.
define core roles and move to permanent staff increased retention through greater job security
contracts wherever possible
increase staff capacity and/or secure partner greater capacity to deliver our services and opportunities for
support to expand the recruitment, training and volunteers to gain skills and experience
supervision of volunteers
----- End of picture text -----

Page 34

----- Start of picture text -----
Board Sub Group Priorities Outcome
Performance and achieve the trauma quality mark demonstrate that our trauma informed and responsive
Quality approach is integral to everything we do
continue to develop our monitoring and informed decision making based on a greater understanding of
evaluation methodology and review our key the needs of those accessing our services and how best to meet
performance indicators them
use wider learning to inform the ongoing develop innovative and creative solutions to the internal and
development of our business plan / strategy external challenges we face
seek opportunities to influence others and share address injustice and inequality through wider system change
learning through external evaluation and research by influencing the policy, procedures and practice of other
and/or networks, workshops and meetings organisations
Strategy and combine Blossom, Evolve, and VAWG into Unity prevent abuse, harm and exploitation through coordinated
Governance outreach and support for children and young people
integrate the delivery of Liberty and Phoenix address abuse, harm and exploitation through coordinated
Women outreach and support for women (including those within the
criminal justice system)
develop a long term plan for our psychological continue to develop our psychological pathway as an integral
service part of our services
establish RISE as an integral part of all our ensure families of those accessing our services can also access
services support
build our network of partners across the North develop new opportunities for collaborative working and wider
East and beyond influence
expand the delivery of our services across address gaps in provision and unmet needs and reduce our
Teesside and potentially the wider North East and reliance on a small number of funders and partners
Yorkshire and/or develop new services e.g.
housing, mental health, training etc
----- End of picture text -----

In addition to those identified in the Business Plan, the directors/trustees and senior management team are going to take a holistic look at risk management in response to the current economic climate, so that commissioners, partners and funders understand how we respond to increasing demand, reduced funding and greater regulations.

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.

This report was approved by the directors/trustees on 29th January 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

Robert Thompson� Chair

Page 35

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 2023 which are set out on pages 36 to 51.

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.

Mr J Lester FCA Baines Jewitt Limited Chartered Accountants Spitfire House 19 Falcon Court Preston Farm Industrial Estate Stockton on Tees TS18 3TU

Dated: 29 January 2024

JL/AJW

Page 36

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023 (including Summary Income and Expenditure Account)

		Unrestricted Funds	Unrestricted Funds	Restricted Funds	Restricted Funds	Total	Funds
	Notes	2023	2022	2023	2022	2023	2022
		£	£	£	£	£	£
INCOME
Grants and donations	4(a)	55,143	36,640	693,226	659,261	748,369	695,901
Income from charitable activities	4(b)	20,160	-	-	-	20,160	-
Investment income	4(c)	4,544	630	-	-	4,544	630
Other income	4(d)	-	550	865	4,115	865	4,665
		__	__	____	____	____	____
TOTAL INCOME		79,847	37,820	694,091	663,376	773,938	701,196
		=======	=======	=========	=========	=========	=========
EXPENDITURE
Charitable Activities	6	-	3,883	826,681	764,676	826,681	768,559
Raising funds	8	-	-	12,849	12,830	12,849	12,830
		_	_	____	____	____	____
TOTAL EXPENDITURE		-	3,883	839,530	777,506	839,530	781,389
		======	======	=========	=========	=========	=========
Net income/(expenditure)	10	79,847	33,937	(145,439)	(114,130)	(65,592)	(80,193)
Transfers between Funds	16	(147,076)	(63,744)	147,076	63,744	-	-
		__	__	___	___	____	____
Net Movement in Funds		(67,229)	(29,807)	1,637	(50,386)	(65,592)	(80,193)
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds brought forward	16	303,898	333,705	97,228	147,614	401,126	481,319
		____	____	____	____	____	____
Total Funds Carried Forward	16&17	236,669	303,898	98,865	97,228	335,534	401,126
		=========	=========	========	=========	=========	=========

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 39 to 51 form part of these financial statements

Page 37

A WAY OUT

(A Company Limited by Guarantee)

Company Registration Number: 06265354

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

			2023		2022
	Note	£	£	£	£
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets	11		15,443		20,306
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors	12	52,459		55,034
Cash at bank and in hand		486,078		427,191
		____		____
		538,537		482,225
CREDITORS: Amounts falling due
within one year	13	(218,446)		(101,405)
		____		____
NET CURRENT ASSETS			320,091		380,820
			____		____
NET ASSETS			335,534		401,126
			=========		=========
FUNDS	16 & 17
Unrestricted funds			236,669		303,898
Restricted funds			98,865		97,228
			____		____
TOTAL FUNDS			335,534		401,126
			=========		=========

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 2022.

The members have not required the charitable company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2022 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 29 January 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

R. Thompson A. Malcolm Director/Trustee Director/Trustee

The notes on pages 39 to 51 form part of these financial statements

Page 38

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

	Notes	2023	2022
		£	£
Cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities	23	60,109	(97,188)
		-------------	-------------
Cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities:
Interest receivable		4,544	630
Purchase of tangible fixed assets		(5,766)	(23,914)
		__	_
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities		(1,222)	(23,284)
		------------	-----------
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in year		58,887	(120,472)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year		427,191	547,663
		____	____
Total cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year		486,078	427,191
		=========	=========
Cash and cash equivalents consist of:
Cash at bank and in hand		486,078	427,191
		=========	=========

The notes on pages 39 to 51 form part of these financial statements

Page 39

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

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 40

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

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 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.

• (i) Going Concern

The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis as the trustees believe that no material uncertainties exist. The trustees have considered the level of funds held and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The budgeted income and expenditure is sufficient with the level of reserves for the charity to be able to continue as a going concern.

Page 41

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

4.	INCOME BREAKDOWN
(a)	Grants and Donations	Unrestricted	Funds	Restricted Funds		Total	Funds
		2023	2022	2023	2022	2023	2022
	Grant and Contract Income:	£	£	£	£	£	£
	Accenture	-	-	-	1,667	-	1,667
	Anchor Foundation	-	-	-	4,000	-	4,000
	Anonymous	-	-	4,333	2,404	4,333	2,404
	Arnold Clark	-	-	583	1,417	583	1,417
	Ashburn Charitable Trust	3,000	3,000	-	-	3,000	3,000
	Awards for All	-	-	4,166	833	4,166	833
	B&Q/Neighbourly	-	-	2,000	-	2,000	-
	Ballinger Charitable Foundation	-	-	-	15,000	-	15,000
	Benefact Trust	-	-	600	-	600	-
	Big Lottery Fund	-	-	63,176	80,338	63,176	80,338
	Bursary	-	-	700	-	700	-
	Catalyst	-	-	-	16,739	-	16,739
	Changing Lives (STAGE)	-	-	-	27,065	-	27,065
	Changing Lives (Criminal Justice Team)	-	-	231,031	157,133	231,031	157,133
	Charities Trust	250	-	-	-	250	-
	Charles Hayward Foundation	-	-	-	24,000	-	24,000
	Cleveland PCC	-	-	-	23,401	-	23,401
	Cleveland PCC (STAGE)	-	-	-	7,997	-	7,997
	Cleveland Womens Network Partnership	2,000	-	-	-	2,000	-
	Co-op	-	-	-	625	-	625
	County Durham Community Foundation	-	-	-	973	-	973
	County Durham Community Foundation (Frank Brown)	-	-	2,816	-	2,816	-
	County Durham Community Foundation (High Sheriff)	-	-	500	-	500	-
	County Durham Community Foundation (iwill)	-	-	6,667	2,500	6,667	2,500
	County Durham Community Foundation (NESWF)	-	-	-	1,250	-	1,250
	CSA Transformation Fund	-	-	-	15,848	-	15,848
	Darlington Building Society	-	-	3,167	-	3,167	-
	Durham Community Partnership (Growth &
	Resilience Fund)	-	-	-	3,775	-	3,775
	The Edward Gostling Foundation	-	-	12,917	9,333	12,917	9,333
	Garfield Weston	-	-	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
	Hadrian Trust	-	-	333	667	333	667
	Hospital of God	-	-	1,750	1,250	1,750	1,250
	Ingeus	-	-	9,939	-	9,939	-
	Leathersellers	-	-	18,750	-	18,750	-
	Lloyds Bank Foundation	-	-	25,166	25,000	25,166	25,000
	Marsh Charitable Trust	-	-	-	500	-	500
	Middlesbrough Borough Council	-	-	5,907	9,355	5,907	9,355
	Ministry of Justice (Core)	-	-	41,635	50,000	41,635	50,000
	Ministry of Justice (VAWG)	-	-	22,579	-	22,579	-
	Ministry of Justice (Womens)	-	-	29,431	-	29,431	-
	MVDA	-	-	4,800	5,000	4,800	5,000
	Newcastle Building Society	-	-	250	2,750	250	2,750
	Northfield School	-	-	1,980	-	1,980	-
	Ormesby School	-	-	415	-	415	-
	Pilgrim Trust	-	-	11,250	12,500	11,250	12,500
	Smallwood Trust	-	-	26,050	32,383	26,050	32,383
	Sherburn	-	-	2,000	-	2,000	-
	Sir Tom Cowie	-	-	417	-	417	-
	Sport ED/Ring	-	-	5,000	-	5,000	-
	Stockton Borough Council	-	-	38,667	33,333	38,667	33,333
	Souter	-	-	1,250	1,750	1,250	1,750
	Tees Valley Community Foundation	-	-	-	2,500	-	2,500
	Teesside Poverty Fund	-	-	-	300	-	300
	The Mercer Company	-	-	29,684	15,772	29,684	15,772
	The Vardy Foundation	-	-	-	35,000	-	35,000
	Thirteen	-	-	36,327	12,370	36,327	12,370
	Trusthouse Charitable Trust	-	-	13,994	-	13,994	-
	Virgin Money Foundation	2,700	-	9,000	9,000	11,700	9,000
		__	__	__	____	__	____
	Carried forward	7,950	3,000	679,230	655,728	687,180	658,728

Page 42

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

4.	INCOME BREAKDOWN (continued)
(a)	Grants and Donations	Unrestricted Funds		Restricted Funds		Total	Funds
	Grant and contract income	2023	2022	2023	2022	2023	2022
		£	£	£	£	£	£
	Brought forward	7,950	3,000	679,230	655,728	687,180	658,728
	Vonne/Rend	-	-	4,000	-	4,000	-
	1989 Willian Trust	-	-	6,668	-	6,668	-
	Women’s Voice	-	-	-	200	-	200
	Anonymous	-	-	-	3,333	-	3,333
		__	__	__	____	__	____
		7,950	3,000	689,898	659,261	697,848	662,261
	Donations	47,193	33,640	3,328	-	50,521	33,640
		___	___	____	____	____	____
	Total Grants and Donations	55,143	36,640	693,226	659,261	748,369	695,901
		=======	=======	=========	=========	=========	=========

The charity benefits greatly from the enthusiastic support of its many volunteers. In accordance with accounting standards, the economic contribution of general volunteers is not reflected in the accounts.

(b)	Income from Charitable Activities	Unrestricted	Funds	Restricted	Funds	Total	Funds
		2023	2022	2023	2022	2023	2022
		£	£	£	£	£	£
	Building income	20,160	-	-	-	20,160	-
		=======	======	=====	=====	=======	======
(c)	Investment Income	Unrestricted	Funds	Restricted	Funds	Total	Funds
		2023	2022	2023	2022	2023	2022
		£	£	£	£	£	£
	Bank interest receivable	4,544	630	-	-	4,544	630
		======	======	=====	=====	======	======
(d)	Other Income	Unrestricted	Funds	Restricted	Funds	Total	Funds
		2022	2021	2022	2021	2022	2021
		£	£	£	£	£	£
	Sundry income	-	550	865	4,115	865	4,665
		=====	=====	=====	=====	=====	=====

5. RESOURCES EXPENDED - CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES BY PROJECT

For details of project costs, see note 16.

Page 43

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

6. ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

	Unrestricted	Funds	Restricted Funds	Restricted Funds	Total	Funds
	2023	2022	2023	2022	2023	2022
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Direct project costs	-	-	25,713	22,918	25,713	22,918
Grants to individuals	-	-	21,260	10,049	21,260	10,049
Monitoring and evaluation	-	-	7,500	2,500	7,500	2,500
Fundraising expenses	-	-	1,037	567	1,037	567
Marketing	-	-	-	-	-	-
External supervision	-	-	-	2,690	-	2,690
Volunteer expenses	-	-	191	271	191	271
Salaries	-	-	504,055	489,763	504,055	489,763
Pension costs	-	-	13,244	12,897	13,244	12,897
Staff recruitment	-	-	122	4,606	122	4,606
Training	-	-	5,192	1,925	5,192	1,925
Office rent and service charges	-	-	17,201	19,627	17,201	19,627
Cleaning and waste disposal	-	-	2,657	2,281	2,657	2,281
Insurance	-	(203)	3,641	3,729	3,641	3,526
Rates and water	-	-	314	582	314	582
Heat and light	-	693	4,792	2,994	4,792	3,687
Telephone and IT support	-	-	9,281	7,846	9,281	7,846
Printing, postage and stationery	-	-	1,910	1,508	1,910	1,508
Repairs and maintenance	-	-	3,136	3,347	3,136	3,347
Legal and professional fees	-	-	4,658	4,220	4,658	4,220
Consultancy fees	-	-	-	-	-	-
Bank charges	-	-	134	149	134	149
Staff expenses	-	-	8,796	6,921	8,796	6,921
Motor expenses	-	(193)	2,158	3,244	2,158	3,051
Licence fees	-	-	1,223	1,121	1,223	1,121
Depreciation	-	3,586	10,629	6,558	10,629	10,144
Profit on disposal of motor vehicle	-	-	-	-	-	-
Support costs - see below	-	-	110,125	94,501	110,125	94,501
Governance costs - see below	-	-	67,712	57,862	67,712	57,862
	_	_	____	____	____	____
	-	3,883	826,681	764,676	826,681	768,559
	======	======	=========	=========	=========	=========

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

7. ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT AND GOVERNANCE COSTS

	Basis of	Support	Governance	Total	Support	Governance	Total
	Apportionment	Costs	Costs	2023	Costs	Costs	2022
		£	£	£	£	£	£
Salaries and national insurance	Staff role	86,641	52,427	139,068	72,946	48,163	121,109
Pension costs	Staff role	2,187	1,715	3,902	1,751	1,256	3,007
Training	Staff time	-	-	-	748	-	748
Business development	Time	17,281	1,887	19,168	14,404	1,483	15,887
Office rent and service charges	Staff time	1,911	-	1,911	2,181	-	2,181
Cleaning and waste disposal	Staff time	295	-	295	253	-	253
Rates and water	Staff time	35	-	35	65	-	65
Heat and light	Staff time	532	-	532	410	-	410
Telephone and internet charges	Staff time	1,031	-	1,031	1,500	-	1,500
Printing, postage and stationery	Staff time	212	-	212	168	-	168
Staff expenses	Direct	-	-	-	75	-	75
Accountancy	Governance	-	9,260	9,260	-	6,960	6,960
Trauma quality mark	Governance	-	2,400	2,400	-	-	-
Trustee meeting costs	Governance	-	23	23	-	-	-
		____	___	____	__	__	____
		110,125	67,712	177,837	94,501	57,862	152,363
		=========	========	=========	=======	=======	=========

Page 45

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

8. FUNDRAISING COSTS

FUNDRAISING COSTS
	2023	2022
	£	£
Salaries and national insurance	12,487	12,719
Pension costs	362	111
	__	__
	12,849	12,830
	=======	=======
STAFF COSTS AND REMUNERATION OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL
	2023	2022
	£	£
Salaries and wages	601,380	571,015
Social security costs	38,345	35,828
Agency costs	34,756	32,277
	____	____
	674,481	639,120
Pension costs (note 22)	17,508	16,015
	____	____
	691,989	655,135
	=========	=========

9. STAFF COSTS AND REMUNERATION OF KEY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL

The total employment benefits, including employer pension contributions, of key management personnel were £58,253 (2022: £67,043).

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 £729.47 (2022: £710.12).

The average monthly number of staff employed by the charity during the year was as follows:

			2023	2022
			No.	No.
Direct charitable work			22	21
Administrative			4	3
			____	____
			26	24
			====	====
he full-time equivalent number of staff employed by the charity during the year was 22 (2022: 20).
ET OUTGOING RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR
his is stated after charging:
		2023		2022
		£		£
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets		10,629		10,144
Independent Examiner’s fees:
- Accountancy services	4,500		3,800
- Independent examination	3,020		2,560
- Under provision re previous year	1,740		600
	__		__
		9,260		6,960
		======		======

The full-time equivalent number of staff employed by the charity during the year was 22 (2022: 20).

10. NET OUTGOING RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR

This is stated after charging:

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A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

11. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

1.	TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
			Fixtures,
		Leasehold	Fittings and	Motor
		Property	Equipment	Vehicles	Total
		£	£	£	£
	Cost/Valuation
	At beginning of year	127,294	70,272	15,780	213,346
	Additions at cost	-	5,766	-	5,766
		____	__	__	____
	At end of year	127,294	76,038	15,780	219,112
		=========	=======	=======	=========
	Depreciation
	At beginning of year	127,294	61,801	3,945	193,040
	Charge for the year	-	7,670	2,959	10,629
		____	__	_	____
	At end of year	127,294	69,471	6,904	203,669
		=========	=======	======	=========
	Net Book Value
	At beginning of year	-	8,471	11,835	20,306
		======	======	=======	=======
	At end of year	-	6,567	8,876	15,443
		======	======	=======	=======
**12. **	DEBTORS
				2023	2022
				£	£
	Due within one year:
	Grant/contract income receivable			45,141	49,409
	Prepayments and accrued income			7,178	5,575
	Other debtors			140	50
				__	__
				52,459	55,034
				=======	=======
**13. **	CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year
				2023	2022
				£	£
	Creditors and accruals			11,053	20,697
	Grants received in advance (see note 14)			196,005	60,355
	Taxation and social security			11,388	20,353
				____	____
				218,446	101,405
				=========	=========

Page 47

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

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 1.10.22	in Year	as at 30.9.23	Per SOFA
	£	£	£	£
Anonymous	-	13,000	(8,667)	4,333
Arnold Clark	583	-	-	583
Awards for All	-	9,999	(5,833)	4,166
B & Q/Neighbourly	-	5,000	(3,000)	2,000
Benefact Trust	-	3,600	(3,000)	600
County Durham Community Foundation (iwill)	-	10,000	(3,333)	6,667
Darlington Building Society	-	7,600	(4,433)	3,167
The Edward Gostling Foundation	6,667	25,000	(18,750)	12,917
Garfield Weston Foundation	-	30,000	(20,000)	10,000
Hadrian Trust	333	-	-	333
Henry Smith	-	34,950	(34,950)	-
CDCF – High Sheriff	-	1,000	(500)	500
Hospital of God	1,750	-	-	1,750
Leathersellers	-	25,000	(6,250)	18,750
Lloyds Bank Foundation	2,083	25,000	(4,167)	22,916
Mercers	25,772	-	-	25,772
Newcastle Building Society	250	-	-	250
Pilgrim Trust	3,750	-	-	3,750
Sherburn	-	3,000	(1,000)	2,000
Sir Tom Cowie	-	1,000	(583)	417
Smallwood Trust	6,250	30,000	(30,000)	6,250
Smallwood Trust	-	10,000	(10,000)	-
Souter	1,250	-	-	1,250
Sport ED/Ring	5,000	-	-	5,000
Stockton Borough Council	-	40,000	(3,333)	36,667
The Mercer Company	-	24,211	(24,211)	-
Trusthouse Charitable Trust	-	23,989	(9,995)	13,994
Vonne/Rend	-	8,000	(4,000)	4,000
1989 Willian Trust	6,668	-	-	6,668
	___	____	___	____
	60,356	330,349	(196,005)	194,700
	========	=========	========	=========

15. OPERATING LEASES - LESSEE

Total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable leases are as follows:

	Land and	Land and
	Buildings	Buildings
	2023	2022
	£	£
Not later than one year	15,000	21,600
Later than one and not later than five years	-	-
Later than 5 years	-	-
	=======	=======

Page 48

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

16. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
	Balance			Transfers	Balance
Restricted Funds:	as at	Incoming	Outgoing	Between	as at
Core Costs, Projects and Support Services	1.10.22	Resources	Resources	Funds	30.9.23
	£	£	£	£	£
Core Services	-	191,087	275,155	84,068	-
Volunteer	-	4,166	4,583	417	-
Liberty	8,782	94,445	115,952	12,725	-
Family Services (RISE)	-	22,970	15,431	(1,250)	6,289
Psychological pathway	-	12,089	9,211	-	2,878
Evolve	19,205	10,005	24,214	-	4,996
Family Services (RISE)	-	12,315	10,756	-	1,559
Blossom	(10,748)	120,862	149,206	39,092	-
Blossom Specialist	2,465	-	-	(2,465)	-
STAGE Project	21,154	27,832	30,077	(1,250)	17,659
Monitoring & Evaluation	5,569	-	7,500	1,931	-
Community Engagement Officer	-	634	13,822	13,188	-
Vehicle	-	350	2,217	1,867	-
Criminal Justice Team	27,697	182,336	160,146	(1,247)	48,640
Client grants	23,104	15,000	21,260	-	16,844
	___	____	____	__	___
	97,228	694,091	839,530	147,076	98,865
	--------------	---------------	--------------	------------	-------------
Unrestricted Funds	303,898	79,847	-	(147,076)	236,669
	---------------	-------------	--------------	------------	---------------
Total Funds	401,126	773,938	839,530	-	335,534
	=========	=========	=========	=======	=========
Previous year:
	Balance			Transfers	Balance
Restricted Funds:	as at	Incoming	Outgoing	Between	as at
Core Costs, Projects and Support Services	1.10.21	Resources	Resources	Funds	30.9.22
	£	£	£	£	£
Core Services	42,028	161,419	257,746	54,299	-
Liberty	35,958	84,006	111,182	-	8,782
Family Services (RISE)	-	8,522	17,818	9,296	-
Psychological pathway	32	8,168	8,200	-	-
Evolve	13,763	56,945	51,503	-	19,205
Family Services (RISE)	2,018	587	2,605	-	-
Blossom	10,826	109,290	130,864	-	(10,748)
Blossom Specialist	7,037	21,906	26,478	-	2,465
STAGE Project	6,142	44,285	29,273	-	21,154
North East Sex Work Forum	1,802	1,250	3,052	-	-
Monitoring & Evaluation	8,069	-	2,500	-	5,569
Community Engagement Officer	1,552	833	12,877	10,492	-
Vehicle	-	13,587	3,244	(10,343)	-
Criminal Justice Team	6,901	130,911	110,115	-	27,697
Client grants	11,486	21,667	10,049	-	23,104
	___	____	____	__	___
	147,614	663,376	777,506	63,744	97,228
	--------------	---------------	---------------	------------	--------------
Unrestricted Funds	333,705	37,820	3,883	(63,744)	303,898
	---------------	-------------	----------	------------	---------------
Total Funds	481,319	701,196	781,389	-	401,126
	=========	=========	=========	=======	=========

Transfers between funds are as agreed by the Board of Trustees.

Page 49

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

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 Changing Lives, Thirteen, MoJ, Pilgrim Trust, Smallwood Trust and Lloyds Bank Foundation.

Volunteer – working with the local community, VCSE infrastructure organisations and churches to build a bank of volunteers to support project delivery within A Way Out. Funded by Awards for All.

– Liberty project 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 Reaching Communities, MoJ, MVDA, Anchor Foundation and Thirteen.

Family Services (RISE) - Reach, Inspire, Support and Empower, supporting families of Liberty and Blossom clients who have experienced trauma and are often impacted by this. Restricted funded by The Mercer Company.

– Psychological pathway is our in-house psychotherapeutic counselling service. Restricted funding includes Ingeus, Darlington Building Society and Benefact Trust.

Evolve – consists of projects working with vulnerable young people in areas with high levels of deprivation to educate and promote healthy relationships between parents/guardians, friends and potential partners. Restricted funding includes Ring/Sport Ed and The Vardy Trust.

Family Services - (RISE) Reach, Inspire, Support and Empower. Supporting the young people within the families of Liberty and Blossom clients. Restricted funding by Trusthouse Charitable Foundation.

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 Reaching Communities, Virgin Foundation, County Durham Community Foundation and Stockton Borough Council.

Incorporated within Blossom is the VAWG project which works with young women in transition (aged 16 to 24) who have experienced any form of gender-based violence. Restricted funding includes MoJ administered via the Police and Crime Commissioner.

STAGE Project - a partnership of seven 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. Restricted funded by Changing Lives.

Monitoring & Evaluation - funding towards additional costs of the Liberty and Blossom projects. Restricted funding from Big Lottery.

Community Engagement Officer - working with the local community, businesses, charities and other partners to fundraise and raise awareness and understanding of A Way Out and increase the unrestricted funds to enable an increase in service provision.

Vehicle - restricted funding from Smallwood Trust and The Vardy Foundation to purchase a new van which is used for outreach and community delivery.

Criminal Justice Team - restricted funding through Changing Lives as part of a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) 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 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.

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.

Page 50

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

17. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

NALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
	Tangible	Net
	Fixed	Current
	Assets	Assets	Total
	£	£	£
Restricted funds	-	98,865	98,865
Unrestricted funds	15,443	221,226	236,669
	__	____	____
	15,443	320,091	335,534
	=======	=========	=========

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 2023 was £1,080 (2022: £1,080.

Other than the above, there were no reportable related party transactions (2022: 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 £17,508 (2021: £16,015).

23.	RECONCILIATION OF NET MOVEMENTS IN FUNDS TO
	CASH OUTFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES	2023	2022
		£	£
	Net movement in funds	(65,592)	(80,193)
	Depreciation charge	10,629	10,144
	Interest receivable	(4,544)	(630)
	Decrease/(increase) in debtors	2,575	2,306
	Increase/(decrease) in creditors	117,041	(28,815)
		___	___
	Cash Outflow from Operating Activities	60,109	(97,188)
		========	========

Page 51

A WAY OUT (A Company Limited by Guarantee)

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

24 . FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

At the year end, the charity had financial assets at amortised cost of £531,359 (2022: £476,650) and financial liabilities at amortised cost of £11,053 (2022: £20,697).

The income attributable to the charity’s financial instruments is summarised as follows:

2023 2022 Interest receivable: £ Financial assets at amortised cost 4,544 630