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2024-03-31-accounts

Registered Charity Number : 1137602

CAMBRIDGE WOMEN'S AID

TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

CAMBRIDGE WOMEN'S AID

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Trustees A Webber
Charity Number 1137602
Company Number 07263026
Registered Ofce JMC Accountancy
L19 South Fens Business Centre
Chatteris
PE16 6TT
Bankers Lloyds TSB Bank Plc
Gonville Place
Cambridge
CB2 1BQ
Independent Examiner Toni Sculthorpe
JMC Accountancy Limited
L19 South Fens Business Centre, Fenton Way
Chatteris
PE16 6TT

CAMBRIDGE WOMEN'S AID

CONTENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Trustees' Report

Independent Examiner's Report

Statement of Finanical Activities

Balance Sheet

Notes to the Financial Statements

CAMBRIDGE WOMEN'S AID

TRUSTEES' REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024 .

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Report of the Trustees

for the Year Ended 31 March 2024

The trustees of Cambridge Women’s Aid, who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, are pleased to present their Annual Trustees’ Report, together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ending March 2024. These are prepared to meet the requirements of ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (FRS 102).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

History and Charitable Purpose

Cambridge Women’s Aid (CWA) offers information, advice and practical as well as emotional support to women affected by domestic abuse. The charity also provides safe and secure accommodation to women and children in need of a place of safety.

The charity’s constitution was established in 1977 with the following objectives:

Significant activities

Throughout the year, CWA provided a range of high-quality support services to women and children affected by domestic abuse, through its safe refuge and its community based services. We delivered:

Social investments

As a long-standing local charity and grassroots organisation, CWA is deeply embedded in the social fabric of our community. The high level of support and goodwill we receive from local Cambridge community groups, businesses and institutions is testament to the value that we bring to our city and wider county. We are a Living Wage employer, employing local people, investing in their skills and training, and creating supportive routes to employment for a number of current or former service-users. We are instrumental in bringing practical and financial resources into the area for the benefit of our community. This includes distributing donated funds and items, as well as applying for funds from central government and grant funders to invest in local people.

While we have the agility and advantages of an independent organisation, with our own constitution and decisionmaking powers, we are also part of a wider national network within Women’s Aid Federation England. This gives us the ability to benefit from rigorous shared standards on best practice, and a louder voice to elevate issues, contribute to research, and campaign for positive change at a national level. For example, this year we fed into national data on domestic abuse services through the Women’s Aid Annual Survey, and sat on the national Women’s Aid Research, Campaigns and Communications group. The CEO of Cambridge Women’sAid continues to be a sub-committee member of the Women’s Aid Federation England Board, sitting on the Finance, Resources, Risk and Governance Group. Asa specialist service committed to the highest standards of practice, we also embarked on the re-validation process for our Women’s Aid National Quality Standards this year, investing time and resources in evidencing our good practice and continuing our organisational development.

CWA values close relationships with other organisations and we strive to be generous with our expertise where it will benefit our service users. The charity recognises the importance of contributing to multi-agency work to combat domestic abuse. In order to fully support a coordinated response to domestic abuse, the charity has been actively involved in a wide range of partnerships and professional networks throughout the year, including:

Public Benefit statement

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The Trustees believe the activities of Cambridge Women's Aid (CWA) continue to comply with Section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 with regard to public benefit. The information about the public benefit provided by CWA is set out in this report.

Volunteers

CWA benefits greatly from a huge number of volunteer hours in our community from kind people who tirelessly collect and deliver much needed toiletries, clothes ,household items, food, toys, vouchers and funds to benefit our service users. Weare very grateful to the individuals, church groups, businesses, colleges, students ,Women's Institutes, Mother's Unions and Soroptimists for their ongoing support.

We continued to develop and support community members trained through our Ask Me project, who consistently volunteer their time to break the silence around domestic abuse in their own communities. Ask Me participants have been an invaluable part of supporting CWA’s work over the year, by taking an active role in ending permissive attitudes towards domestic abuse in their communities. Individuals have organised awareness-raising events, attended further training, and shared information in their own personal and professional networks. They have continued to plant important seeds for change in conversations with friends, family, neighbours and colleagues, to ensure that survivors of domestic abuse get the right response the first time they speak to someone.

ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE

Charitable activities

The main areas of charitable activity in this period were:

Safe refuge for women

CWA offers a high standard of modern refuge accommodation to women who are at risk of harm due to domestic abuse and are in need of safe and supported accommodation. This service is funded by rent charges and by Cambridgeshire County Council. In the year up to March 2023we maintained an 85.5% occupancy rate across the year, accommodating 38 women and the 54 children they had with them. In addition, 20 women and 38 children benefited from ongoing resettlement support during the year. The average stay in refuge was 134 days. The length of stay for those living in refuge at any point during the year was as follows:

< 1 month 6

All women were assigned a Refuge Support Worker on arrival, who helped them settle into the refuge, explore their options, identify their needs and work through a support plan. We supported women with a wide range of needs, including, accessing basic necessities such as food ,clothes and money, claiming the correct benefits; information on legal rights, accessing childcare and enrolling children in school, and creating a plan for the future. We were able to support some women to move on quickly to their preferred accommodation, while others stayed for a significant time while we helped them to get rehoused permanently.

“The staff are very professional and they always recognised our needs. They help with everything. The most helpful thing about the refuge was the protection and emotional support for me and my children” – former refuge resident

Throughout the year, we continued to put effort into making our services as accessible as possible for women with multiple barriers to seeking support, through our designated Access Fund. We noted the increasing complexity of referrals coming through, with high demand from women with additional needs and those with no recourse to public funds, and challenges around long waits for re-housing and scarcity of suitable school places, especially at secondary level. In January 2024, Women’sAid England and the Home Office opened their Emergency Fund for survivors fleeing domestic abuse, and we were successful in applying for significant direct grants for several women, to help them rebuild their lives.

“You helped me to become who I am now - a stronger mum and woman” – former refuge resident

We have kept developing and strengthening our knowledge through continuing professional development, and building our relationships with other specialist organisations, in order to advise, support and refer women effectively according to their needs and circumstances. All staff had a refresh of their child protection training, and attended

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specialist training from Surviving Economic Abuse. Our Refuge Support Worker also completed her Women’s Aid Domestic Abuse Prevention Advocate professional training, which was a great achievement.

“Thank you so much for everything, I really appreciate how all of you work together as a team, I'm glad that I was in a good refuge, thanks for supporting me and my children” – former refuge resident

We were pleased to restart our volunteer-led arts and crafts group, giving women in the house a chance to get together in a supportive setting and enjoy being creative. We also put on a series of group sessions on ‘Growing Our Lives’, which included conversations about self-confidence, boundary-setting, employment, healthy relationships, mindfulness, healthy eating and exercise, and ideas for spending fun quality time with the children.

We were grateful for an outpouring of goodwill and support at Christmas, and received toys to give out to children from the Star Radio ‘Giving Tree’ Appeal, as well as donations of food, vouchers, pantomime tickets and money to support families in refuge at this time of year. With our successful Christmas voucher fundraising appeal, our generous donors in the community directly helped families in refuge to buy their chosen food and gifts to celebrate Christmas. We also put on a successful Christmas party for residents and families who had recently left the refuge, with an appearance from Santa who brought each child a lovely gift.

Safe refuge for children

The main aim of the children’s service is to keep children safe and to strengthen their family. The support given by this service included settling the children in to refuge, accessing health services, support into school or nursery, access to community services as well as the provision of play activities, emotional support and family outings. Together, the Family Worker and Children’s Worker played a key role in the refuge by providing advocacy for families, and liaising with other professionals and statutory services. During the year, 54 children were accommodated in the refuge, with the majority of children being under the age of 10.

It was a year of continuity in the children’s project, with an established team well-resourced to continue delivering a full programme of activities and support across the year. Daily children’s activities such as play sessions in the art room are popular as ever, and create freedom to play and build relationships within and between families. Friday fun sessions led by student volunteers also continued and were always highly anticipated by the children, with activities like face-painting, drama, group games and a marshmallow party. The team has also worked hard across the year to make holidays and celebrations lots of fun for the children in refuge. Half-term holidays were filled with ten-pin bowling, cinema trips, birthday parties, pumpkin carving, museum trips, soft play, and action-packed activity camps which mums could access through the Holiday Activity Fund. In May we held a coronation party in the garden with crafts, food and homemade bunting. In the summer holidays, we had days out in the park, trips out to the seaside, amusement parks, miniature train rides, and lots of water play and art room sessions in the house. Once again Christmas was brilliant fun, and we were grateful to receive a generous donation of tickets to the pantomime, which the children loved.

“Thank you ever so much for the tickets for the Pantomime, it was incredibly good.

The atmosphere was fantastic too, my children they enjoyed it very much, they can't stop talking about it. Thanks again for all of you to make it possible for us to have some joy.”

Challenges this year included the ongoing difficulty in finding timely school places, especially for older children, but we did see some improvement in this area with primary schools and we have built good working relationships with some of our local schools, ensuring a collaborative approach to empowering families living in refuge. We also lost our long-standing children’s counsellor which has left a gap in our usual provision of therapeutic support for children leaving the refuge, but we are looking into options for getting this service going again.

There have also been some successful innovations this year: for example, our Children’s Worker undertook training to be able to deliver the Helping Hands toolkit in group work with the children, which has been a long-standing ambition. These sessions have focused on helping children to think through their feelings and emotions, process their experiences, and consider safety strategies such as how to ask for help and how to handle other people’s questions.

We are grateful to several organisations and generous donors which help us to meet the needs of children living in refuge and those moving on to their new home. Kids Out has provided ten-pin bowling vouchers, toy boxes, supermarket vouchers, and laptops for children to use in the house; the Buttle Trust has provided grants for essential items, and some generous private donations have helped us to ensure that children moving out of the refuge have everything they need to thrive.

Outreach Service

The Cambridge Women's Aid Outreach Service offers a free and confidential service based in the community, offering in-depth, tailored emotional and practical support to women subjected to domestic abuse. As well as supporting survivors directly, outreach workers frequently offer advice to professional and personal supporters in a survivor’s life. The Outreach service was funded thanks to contributions from South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council. This was the first full year in which the outreach service received no funding from Cambridgeshire County Council. Since this major change, the outreach team has worked hard to meet women’s needs, adapt their ways of working, and advise or support all of the many women who continue to contact us. In 2023-4, the outreach service has continued to offer more short-term advice as a proportion of overall work, ensuring that there is still capacity to offer intensive ongoing support to those in complex situations who are unlikely to be able to access another service. We have noted a shift towards supporting more women who are ineligible for legal aid or other forms of means-tested support, and facing issues such as high levels of debt caused by economic abuse, ongoing coercive control and post-separation abuse not being adequately addressed by the criminal justice system, and the wellrecognised failures of the family court system to protect survivors and children from perpetrators of abuse.

“During this very challenging stage in life I will always remember the kindness and help given without limits or condition, just sincerely and with genuine care. Alongside my story of trauma is also the story of the kindness people have shown that has really meant the world to me and carried me though. Thank you so much for being there though this journey and for all the support.” – outreach client

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Across the year 2023-24, we received 96 new referrals for ongoing outreach support, with over 90% of these being self-referrals. This is a marked shift from previous years, when we used to receive significant numbers of referrals via the police and IDVA services as well. Across the year, the Outreach Project provided our capacity to offer ongoing intensive support was hampered by our reduced funding compared to the previous year, our ‘short-term work’ service actually saw an increase in demand since Impakt DASS took over the county-wide outreach contract. In 2023-4 we offered brief advice to an additional 356 individuals including survivors, professionals and third-parties, giving information about rights and options and signposting to appropriate support. This high number demonstrates that despite the decision to cut our funding, survivors and professionals in our area continue to seek us out as a trusted, local, specialist domestic abuse service with established links in the community.

Along side offering support and advice to survivors, the team continued to build their skills and knowledge through training on topics such as economic abuse, the justice system, suicide prevention, elder abuse, and child-to-parent abuse, and attending the local DASV Champions network meetings. We also continued to offer the Moving Forward mental health support group in partnership with the Group Therapy Centre; this fills an important gap, as most women attending have no other access to mental health support to help address well-known impacts of domestic abuse such as depression, anxiety and PTSD.

“The group is a safe place to deal with my struggles where I feel supported and heard. I like talking to women with similar experiences and supporting each other.”

We continued giving out grants to women through our ‘Fun Fund’, provided through a generous private donation, for families to be able to do enjoyable activities that they may not otherwise be able to afford, so that mums can give children a memorable experience. A particular highlight of the year was Christmas 2023,when once again we were able to give out vouchers, gifts and panto tickets to women, helping them and their children to enjoy their festivities. We were also delighted to be able to secure grants for outreach women through the Women’sAid/Home Office Emergency Flee Fund in January 2024, which helped meet the financial costs of fleeing or maintaining independence from an abuser.

“Just a quick note to say a HUGE thank you for enabling my daughters and I to visit Bubble Planet in London. We all had a fabulous time and haven't laughed so much for a long time. It was lovely to be able to build some memories with them and forget about everything going on.”

We have also built our skills and practice in co-production this year, with a number of projects which focused on elevating the voices of survivors of domestic abuse about issues that matter to them. With the lingering impacts of the Covid pandemic, continuing cuts to public services, changes in local funding and community services, and the cost of living crisis all impacting disproportionately on women, it has felt more important than ever that women should speak on these issues in the public arena and that those in positions of influence should hear and consider their expertise. Supported by a grant from Rosa UK’s Voices from the Frontline project, we organised a series of workshops involving survivors in conversations about what effective support services look like, and about muchneeded reforms to the family court system. These were captured in two artworks which we then presented publicly at a series of events and talks to prompt conversations on improving support to be more survivor-centred.

We also held our annual Survivor’s Conference at St Catharine’s College on 20thMarch 2024, with the theme of 'Building Resilience & Demanding Better”. Building on the learning from last year’s event, we prioritised creating a space where women who have experienced domestic abuse could come together, support each other, and be part of positive change. Through talks and a choice of workshops on campaigning, designing peer support, and self-care, we created an opportunity for women to make their voices heard, and to nurture hope for creating change, as well as a space of solidarity and care in which attendees felt appreciated, valued, listened to and supported.

“It was nice to meet other survivors at different stages of our healing journeys. It helped me to feel part of something and brought a feeling of not being alone and closure of sorts and meaning to my experiences as it could help someone else to find the right help.”

Throughout 2023, we were also planning for the re-opening of our outreach office in a new physical space, with great ambition for creating a safe and welcoming ‘one-stop shop’ for women to come to access support and services. Due to factors outside our control, the opening of the new office has been delayed, but we are looking forward to these plans reaching fruition in the coming year.

Community Engagement

Research shows that communities are often the first to know about abuse, and that they can act as either gate openers or gate closers for a survivor seeking help. Cambridge Women’s Aid has continued to develop work around education, prevention and community engagement to improve responses to domestic abuse in our area, by delivering the Ask Me course developed by Women’s Aid England.

'It was great to have the documents ahead of the session. It was an interactive session where we learned a lot. Also, I feel it was a safe place where everyone could share ideas and opinions'- Ask Me, participant (2023)

With generous funding from the Monday Charitable Trust, the Ask Me project has reached every corner of Cambridge this year, delivering impactful training and fostering meaningful connections with local organisations. This year, we expanded our training schedule to include morning and evening sessions, along with two intensive Saturday workshops, making the training more accessible than ever. This flexibility has allowed a much more diverse group of participants to join, including two cohorts supported by BSL interpreters in collaboration with the Cambridge Deaf Association. By adapting our workshops to meet the needs of deaf participants, we’ve created a more inclusive learning environment. A total of 71 people have attended our training this year, with a notable increase in participation from minoritised groups.

We have also hosted a series of online, open-access events to broaden awareness of specific issues and extend the reach of our training to a wider audience. In our commitment to inclusivity, we invited The Kite Trust to speak on domestic abuse in the LGBTQ community, PEGS to address child-to-parent abuse, and organised online meet-ups for

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the Ask Me community to engage in constructive discussions on current news and documentaries tackling domestic abuse and gender inequality.

Additionally, we collaborated with Anglia Ruskin University to develop their domestic abuse policy, and they now offer Ask Me training as a standard resource for their staff and students. As we come to the end of the current funding for Ask Me, we are looking at ways to build on the successes of the project and develop our community engagement further into the future.

Organisational Development

We were delighted to achieve the Women’s Aid National Quality Standards kite mark at the end of March 2023, and were highly commended for our experienced staff team, survivor-led and rights-based approach, excellent partnership working, and commitment to ensuring all women can access support. In the following months, we continued to put resources into organisational development to ensure that we are continuously reflecting and improving as a charity. This included carrying out a diversity review and action plan, reviewing and updating a number of policies, beginning work to develop a communications strategy, modernising our bookkeeping systems by setting up Quickbooks, and going through a programme of improvements to our cyber security through the IASME Cyber Essentials scheme.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Principal funding sources

The charity's main sources of funds come from Cambridgeshire County Council, which funds the support to women living in the refuge. We receive additional funding from Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council towards our Outreach Project. A considerable proportion of income is received as rent from the residents of the two refuges, mainly from Housing Benefit. The charity also receives grant funding for specific projects, as well as general donations from individuals and organisations who support the work of CWA.

In the past year, we received a significant donation from The Thompson Family Trust to support the work we do with children affected by domestic abuse. Weare indebted to them for their generosity and support. This donation has been restricted to ensure we can meet the needs of families moving on with their lives. We are grateful to a number of other groups, businesses and individuals in our community who contacted us with offers of help and donations, which we valued highly.

We would also like to acknowledge the support we received from Star Radio, who teamed up with the Gifting Tree at a local shopping centre, and ran a campaign to ensure that we could give out Christmas presents to every child we support. We are always touched by the depth of generosity from so many local groups and individuals at Christmas, and 2023 was no different – we would like to thank everyone who helped to make this time of year special for women and children using our service.

We are also grateful to those individuals and organisations who so kindly donated vital items to the charity throughout the year. The clothes, toys, household items, toiletries and furniture we received provided a much appreciated source of support to the service users.

Reserves policy

The trustees have reviewed the charity's needs for reserves in line with the guidance issued by the Charity Commission and believe that reserves should beat a level to ensure the charity can run efficiently and cover perceivable risk factors that may arise. CWA undertakes an annual risk assessment which influences the reserves policy.

  1. The trustees believe that the charity should hold financial reserves to:

  2. Be able to run effectively and be able to meet the needs of the beneficiaries

  3. Protect the organisation and be able to continue operating despite damaging events

  4. Fund necessary development of services

  5. Meet all financial obligations such as lease commitments

The trustees are of the opinion that the minimum level of unrestricted free reserves held should be the sum total of the following

The equivalent of one month’s running costs

Staff redundancy costs (to be reviewed annually) and other staff related financial obligations Adherence to all obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and other statutory requirements An emergency fund (contingency costs incase of an emergency)

This equates to £230,213 for the financial period ending March 2024. This amount is within our policy of holding less than 6 months running costs as free reserves at any given time.

As at 31st March 2024, CWA holds £220,730 as free reserves.

Financial Position at 31st March 2024

While we hold the funds needed to continue to provide our core services, we anticipate a reduction in assured income going forward. CWA is committed to providing refuge, community support, activities for beneficiaries and welfare support alongside the work we do to prevent violence against women and girls. However, to ensure this can continue,

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we must diversify our income streams and find additional funds. Our regular income from local authorities is vital to the continuance of our core services, but the increase in costs has not been matched with an increase in funding.

Note on the lateness of the accounts for the year to 31st March 2024 – CWA trustees take their duties to comply with deadlines to file the accounts very seriously. However, the production of the 2023/24 accounts were hit by a stream of unfortunate events and were seriously delayed. In order to produce them, the charity had to manage a change in accounts staff, a change in accountants and a change in accounting software. This presented significant challenges. We are grateful to The One Group for finding CWA an excellent Bookkeeper to help us get the accounts completed. We are also grateful to the new trustees who joined after the yearend and have provided significant support to help CWA return to a planned schedule of activity. Our systems are now in place to ensure there will be no delay in producing the accounts for 2024/25 in good time.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

Looking to the future, we are:

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

CWA is a charitable company limited by guarantee not having share capital. The company was created under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company, and is governed under its Articles of Association.

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

CWA is governed by a board of trustees, whose principal responsibilities are the setting and monitoring of the strategic direction of the organisation, and the establishment of policy. The trustees are also the directors of Cambridge Women's Aid for the purposes of company law.

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Report of the Trustees and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s financial activities during the year and of its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing financial statements the trustees should:

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

In so faras the trustees are aware:

Management of the organisation

The trustees of Cambridge Women's Aid are responsible for the charity. They delegate the day to day running of the charity to paid workers. The workers work collaboratively and all workers work at a high level, taking responsibility for their own area of work. The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the overall management of the charity, particularly the strategic and resource aspects. The other senior worker, the Refuge Manager is responsible for the refuge. All senior workers support and oversee the Outreach and community work. The other workers are all responsible to the senior workers.

During2022/23, remuneration of personnel was set by comparing equivalent specialist roles nationally and looking at the pay of local roles with similar responsibility. CWA has Living Wage certification and the highest paid worker was always paid less than three times that of the lowest paid worker. TheEmployment Group meets regularly to address business related to staffing. Thetrustees carried out an in-depth benchmarking exercise in 2021/22, and this led to salary reviews in 2022/23 to ensure that pay continues to be set at an appropriate level, and that working conditions ensure staff well-being and retain valuable skilled staff.

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Senior workers meet with the trustees at least quarterly. Workers communicate every day and keep each other informed of their work, particularly any challenges or concerns. Workers meet regularly for formal case reviews and to discuss CWA business. Workers offer each other a high level of support and opportunities to reflect and share good practice. Workers also have access to an external counsellor for in-depth clinical supervision.

CWA has a minimum of three trustees. They also act as directors of the company. All trustees are women and are selected for their skill and experience that both represent and benefit the service users. Each woman is nominated and elected by the Board and are co-opted on to the Board by a majority vote of the current trustees. All trustees give their time on a voluntary basis and do notreceive any remuneration from CWA. The CWA Trustee Induction Pack sets out the trustee's job description, authority, responsibilities and induction.

Commencement of Activities

The charity commenced activities on the 1 October 2010 following the transfer of activities and net assets from Cambridge Women's Aid (registered charity number273867) on the 30th September 2010.

Affiliations and Related Parties

Cambridge Women's Aid is an independent charity and a full member of Women's AidFederation England.

This report was approved by the trustee and signed on its behalf by:

---------------------------------------------------A Webber Trustee

Date : 04 July 2025

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CAMBRIDGE WOMEN'S AID

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Cambridge Women's Aid

I report to the Charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2024 which consists of the statement of financial activities,balance sheet and the related notes

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act')

I report in respect of my examination of the charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiners statement

The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

Name: Toni Sculthorpe Date: 04 July 2025

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CAMBRIDGE WOMEN'S AID

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Recommended
categories by activity
Notes
Income and
endowments from:
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable activities
3
Investments
4
Total
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
5
Total
Net
income/(expenditure)
Net movement in
funds
Reconciliation of
funds:
Total funds brought
forward
Total funds carried
forward		 Unrestricted
funds
£
119,079.60
181,013.05
1,910.54
302,003.19
329,562.11
329,562.11
(27,558.92)
(27,558.92)
408,950.56
381,391.64		 Restricted
income funds
£
74,000.00
204,200.00
-
278,200.00
291,736.00
291,736.00
(13,536.00)
(13,536.00)
319,892.51
306,356.51		 Total Funds
2024
£
193,079.60
385,213.05
1,910.54
580,203.19
621,298.11
621,298.11
(41,094.92)
(41,094.92)
728,843.07
687,748.15		 Total Funds
2023
£
190,295.29
480,678.44
407.00
671,380.73
628,269.91
628,269.91
43,110.82
43,110.82
685,732.25
728,843.07

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CAMBRIDGE WOMEN'S AID

BALANCE SHEET

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Recommended categories by
activity
Notes
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
7
Total fxed assets
Current assets
Stocks
Debtors
8
Cash at bank and in hand
9
Total current assets
Creditors: amounts falling due within
one year
10
Net current assets/(liabilities)
Total net assets or liabilities
Funds of the Charity
Unrestricted funds
11
Restricted income funds
11
Endowment funds
11
Total funds		 Total Funds 2024
£
-
-
1,000.00
11,086.46
704,879.60
716,966.06
29,218.36
687,747.70
687,747.70
381,391.64
306,356.51
-
687,748.15		 Total Funds 2023
£
246.27
246.27
1,000.00
29,355.20
747,888.09
778,243.29
49,646.49
728,596.80
728,843.07
408,950.56
319,892.51
-
728,843.07

For the year ended 31 March 2024 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

The trustee acknowledges their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

These accounts have been prepared and delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved by the trustees on 04 July 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

A Webber Trustee Date : 04 July 2025

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CAMBRIDGE WOMEN'S AID

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

1. Accounting Policies

The principal accounting policies adopted by the Charity, which is a public benefit entity, in the preparation of the accounts are as follows.

1.1 Basis of preparation

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified by the inclusion of charitable properties and fixed asset investments and investment properties at valuation.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (effective 1 January 2019) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

These accounts are presented in pounds sterling and rounded to the nearest pound.

1.2 Going concern

The Trustees have prepared financial projections, taking into consideration the current economic conditions and have, at the time of approving these accounts, a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the accounts.

1.3 Government grants

Grants relating to revenue are recognised in income and expenditure over the same period as the expenditure to which they relate once reasonable assurance has been gained that the charity will comply with the conditions and that the funds will be received.

Grants due from government organisations or received in advance are included as current assets or liabilities.

1.4 Donated goods

Donated goods are recognised as income when the charity has control over the goods, any conditions associated with the donated goods have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the goods is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably.

On receipt, donated goods are recognised on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay to obtain goods of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.

In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), the time of general volunteers is not recognised. The role of volunteers is covered in more detail in the trustees report.

1.5 Income from charitable activities

All income is recognised at the fair value in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

1.6 Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Allocation and apportionment of costs

Support and management costs are allocated between funds based on the proportion of staff and volunteer hours in each service, on the assumption that the major management expenses is a result of personnel. Volunteers are weighted as half and work substantially fewer hours.

1.7 Pensions

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

1.8 Taxation

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

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1.9 Financial instruments

Financial assets and liabilities are recognised when the company becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Trade debtors and creditors are classed as basic financial instruments and are initially measured at transaction price. Cash and cash equivalents are classified as basic financial instruments and comprise cash in hand and at bank and short-term deposits with an original maturity date of three months or less.

1.10 Fund accounting

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

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

1.11 Tangible fixed assets

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off each asset over its estimated useful life.

Tangible fixed assets costing more than £2,000 are capitalised and included at cost including any incidental expenses of acquisition.

Name Rate (%) Year Method
Fixtures and fttings 20% 5 Straight Line Method
Motor vehicles 12.5% 8 Straight Line Method

1.12 Stocks and work in progress

Stocks held by the charity are goods held to be distributed freely or for a nominal consideration. Donated items of stock are recognised at fair value which is the amount the charity would have been willing to pay for the items on the open market.

2. Income from Donations and Legacies

Analysis
Unrestricted funds
Restricted income
funds
£
£
Donation
and gifts
119,079.60
74,000.00
119,079.60
74,000.00
3. Income from Charitable Activities
Analysis
Unrestricted funds
Restricted income
funds
£
£
Contract
service
income
-
159,700.00
Grants
-
44,500.00
Other
Income
5,006.85
-
Rents
receivable
162,636.00
-
Service
charges
receivable
13,370.20
-
181,013.05
204,200.00		 Total funds 2024
£
193,079.60
193,079.60
Total funds 2024
£
159,700.00
44,500.00
5,006.85
162,636.00
13,370.20
385,213.05		 Total funds 2023
£
190,295.29
190,295.29
Total funds 2023
£
159,700.00
156,059.24
-
151,085.00
13,834.20
480,678.44

3. Income from Charitable Activities

Page 13 of 16

4. Income from Investments

Analysis
Unrestricted funds
£
Investment income
1,910.54
1,910.54
5. Expenditure on Charitable Activities
Analysis
Advertising and marketing
Legal/professional fees
Wages and salaries
Bad debt
Social security
Employer Pension
Rent, rates and water
Insurance
Light and heat
Telephone and interest
Postage and stationery
Sundries
Repairs and renewals
Licenses
Cleaning and gardening
Police alarm
Transport
Payment fees
Training and education
Donations
Fund activities costs
Fixtures and fttings depreciation
Support Costs		 Total funds 2024
£
1,910.54
1,910.54
Total funds 2024
£
660.00
16,252.83
324,840.36
1,910.25
25,850.97
34,454.23
90,847.67
3,554.58
18,776.57
5,324.22
972.41
538.90
11,655.27
3,486.00
2,958.54
693.54
2,775.90
486.09
2,568.31
11,024.52
50,615.95
246.00
10,805.00		 Total funds 2023
£
407.00
407.00
Total funds 2023
£
845.15
7,683.40
346,851.75
-
30,318.00
8,087.00
84,926.76
3,328.00
11,191.00
6,366.00
1,319.00
3,481.00
8,192.00
4,979.00
3,257.00
686.00
1,962.00
286.49
2,133.00
21,424.00
67,581.00
248.36
13,124.00
621,298.11
628,269.91

5. Expenditure on Charitable Activities

6. Support Costs

Analysis
Governance Costs
Auditors fees		 Total funds 2024
£
10,805.00		 Total funds 2023
£
13,124.00
10,805.00
13,124.00

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7. Tangible Fixed Assets

7.1 Cost or valuation
At 01 April 2023
Additions
Disposals
Revaluations
Transfers
At 31 March 2024
7.2 Depreciation and impairments
At 01 April 2023
Charge for the year
Disposals
Revaluations
Transfers
At 31 March 2024
7.3 Net book value
At 01 April 2023
At 31 March 2024		 Motor Vehicles
£
16,759.00
-
-
-
-		 Fixtures &
Fittings
£
1,238.00
-
-
-
-
16,759.00 1,238.00
16,759.00
-
-
-
-		 992.00
246.00
-
-
-
16,759.00 1,238.00
- 246.00
- -

8. Debtors: Amounts falling due within one year

Prepayments & accrued income
Trade debtors
Other debtors
Rent receivable		 Total funds 2024
£
897.46
(689.00)
7,157.00
3,721.00
11,086.46		 Total funds 2023
£
18,030.00
-
7,157.00
4,168.20
29,355.20

9. Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand Total funds 2024
£
704,879.60
704,879.60		 Total funds 2023
£
747,888.09
747,888.09

Page 15 of 16

10. Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year

Trade creditors
Accruals and deferred income
Taxation and social security
Other creditors
Hugg voucher scheme
Pension liability		 Total funds 2024
£
2,932.30
15,267.82
7,302.69
-
195.00
3,520.55
29,218.36		 Total funds 2023
£
9,012.51
28,409.98
10,362.34
150.66
-
1,711.00
49,646.49

11. Charity funds

11.1 Details of material funds held and movements during the CURRENT reporting period

Fund names
Fund
balances
brought
forward
Income
Expenditure
Transfers
Gains and
losses
Fund
balances
carried
forward
£
£
£
£
£
£
Unrestricted
funds
408,950.56
302,003.19
329,562.11
-
-
381,391.64
Restricted
income funds
319,892.51
278,200.00
291,736.00
-
-
306,356.51
Total
728,843.07
580,203.19
621,298.11
-
-
687,748.15
11.2 Details of material funds held and movements during the PREVIOUS reporting
period
Fund names
Fund
balances
brought
forward
Income
Expenditure
Transfers
Gains and
losses
Fund
balances
carried
forward
£
£
£
£
£
£
Unrestricted
funds
359,080.76
305,623.20
255,753.40
-
-
408,950.56
Restricted
income funds
326,651.49
365,757.53
372,516.51
-
-
319,892.51
Total
685,732.25
671,380.73
628,269.91
-
-
728,843.07		 Fund
balances
brought
forward
Income
£
£
408,950.56
302,003.19
319,892.51
278,200.00		 Expenditure
Transfers
Gains and
losses
Fund
balances
carried
forward
£
£
£
£
329,562.11
-
-
381,391.64
291,736.00
-
-
306,356.51		 Expenditure
Transfers
Gains and
losses
Fund
balances
carried
forward
£
£
£
£
329,562.11
-
-
381,391.64
291,736.00
-
-
306,356.51		 Expenditure
Transfers
Gains and
losses
Fund
balances
carried
forward
£
£
£
£
329,562.11
-
-
381,391.64
291,736.00
-
-
306,356.51
728,843.07
580,203.19		 621,298.11
-		 - 687,748.15
685,732.25
671,380.73		 628,269.91
-		 - 728,843.07

11.3 Transfers between funds

This Year

Amount
£
Between unrestricted and restricted funds -
Between endowment and restricted funds -
Between endowment and unrestricted funds -
Last Year
Amount
£
Between unrestricted and restricted funds -
Between endowment and restricted funds -
Between endowment and unrestricted funds -

Page 16 of 16