Haven Project Liverpool Company number 07645243 Registered charity number 1144386
Financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024
Page Contents
-
1 - 9 Directors’ (Trustees’) annual report 10 Independent examiner’s report 11 Statement of financial activities (including the income and expenditure account)
-
12 Balance sheet
-
13-17 Notes to the accounts
KK Trustees’ Report ( incorporating the Direc- Project tors report ) for year ended 31 March 2024 Liverpool The trustees who are also the directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act, submit their annual report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024. The company was incorporated on 24 May 2011 and is a private limited company limited by guarantee.
Full name Haven Project Liverpool Registered Charity number : 1144386 Registered Company number : 07645243
Registered Address Haven Project Liverpool Bridge Chapel Centre Heath Road Garston Liverpool L19 4XR
Directors (Trustees) Genevieve Staley John Staley Lynn McNaught Reverend Alyson Tunstall Andrew Pollard
Position Appointed/(Resigned) Chair of Trustees 1[st] April 2011 to present Trustee 1[st] April 2011 to present Trustee/Treasurer 6[th] November 2014 to present Trustee 15[th] October 2018 to January 2024 Trustee 9th February 2023 to present
Bankers
Independent Examiner:
HSBC 23 Allerton Road Mossley Hill Liverpool L18 2DA
Mr Ken Brew, BA (Hons.), FCA, DChA 32, Hallville Road, Mossley Hill, Liverpool L18 0HR
.
Key workers:
Project Manager: Paula Fairbrother Social Work Advisor : Lynn McNaught
1
----- Start of picture text -----
KK Project
Structure, Governance and Management
----- End of picture text -----
Haven Project Liverpool became a registered charity in October 2011. It is a service that provides support to parents who are involved in public care proceedings initiated by Liverpool Children's Services. Its formation in May 2011 was prompted by the identified lack of services available for parents involved in the court arena in Liverpool.
Approximately 100 families per year are involved in care proceedings with Liverpool Children's Services. Proceedings initiated by Children's Services in other areas of Merseyside (Sefton, Wirral, Knowsley, St Helens) increase that number still further. Many parents report going through the court process alone, feeling frightened, confused and alienated. Government guidance and legislation identifies that providing support to parents in these circumstances is important, however there is currently no statutory duty for Local Authorities to provide such services. As a consequence little support is available for families either locally or nationally.
The Haven Project aims to address this gap in services for the Liverpool area. The service has been in operation since January 2012. The Project has three key aims in its work with parents:
-
to reduce parents’ sense of stress and isolation;
-
to enable parents to participate fully in the court process;
-
to promote positive, lasting change.
The structure and management of this service is still developing and is likely to expand in the future. There are currently 5 trustees who between them have many years’ experience working with children and their families, and specifically working with vulnerable families. At each AGM a third of the trustees resign and can apply for re-election. At present this is done by rotation and longest serving trustee resigning first. Prospective Trustees are able to put themselves forward from the membership and are appointed at the AGM by current trustees and members. Members are those either approached by the trustees to get more involved with the project because they have skills the project needs and/or those who demonstrate they share in the beliefs, aims and objectives of the project and want to become involved more on an organisational level. There are also those who are non-members; who become involved on an operational level through praying, giving or volunteering.
2
----- Start of picture text -----
KK Project
Summary of the main activities
----- End of picture text -----
The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the aims and objectives and in planning the future activities. In particular the trustees consider how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been set as explained below. The project is available to all those from the Liverpool area who are referred to us by local social workers and solicitors or by self-referral.
Objectives and Activities
The following statement of vision and aims summarises and develops our purposes, as set out in the objects, contained in the company’s Memorandum of Association.
Vision
Our vision is to bring healing and hope to hurting families, breaking the cycle of harm that passes down from generation to generation.
Mission
Our mission is to support parents who are involved in public care proceedings.
Aims
Our aims are to reduce parents’ stress and isolation, to enable parents to participate fully in the court process and to promote positive, lasting change.
Haven Project Liverpool is an organisation which seeks to demonstrate Christian faith in practice. The service offered by Haven Project is open to people of all faiths and none and is guided by the principle that all people, whoever they are, however they live, whatever they've done, should be treated with equal dignity, care and respect. The work is motivated by the belief that no person or situation is beyond hope.
3
KK Manager’s report 2023/24
Alyson Tunstall stepped down as trustee at our AGM this year after serving Haven Project, Liverpool for 5 years. We are incredibly grateful for her faithful support and that her Church has become one of our new Friends of Haven. This year has continued to see us seek funding grants and new donors as we look towards expanding and growing the work of Haven Project, Liverpool.
Over the course of 2023/24 we worked with a total of 15 parents, 14 women and one man. 8 parents accessed our one-to-one support both during and after court. In addition, 7 mothers attended the pilot sessions of our birth mothers group, the Butterfly Gathering.
Our Court Support and Next Steps services provide support which is delivered flexibly in the family courts, in the community and in parents own homes as required. Over the course of this year we provided 133 hours of one-to-one sessions and spent 8 days in court with parents. We also attended solicitors appointments and key meetings with parents and enabled them to access other specialist recovery support through CGL (Knowsley drug service), PSS Wellbeing Centres and SLDAS (South Liverpool Domestic Abuse Service).
We also linked parents into community groups, according to their individual interests, to help them start developing more positive, enduring support networks. This year this aspect of our work included going along to a knit and natter group with one of the young mums who initially just wanted to learn to knit and now attends the group weekly by herself. Another mother now attends a women’s only boxing group 3 times a week and another has begun volunteering regularly with a local charity. Her story is told in more detail later.
In the Court Support service all of the parents we supported recorded an improvement in their understanding of, and participation in the court process. For the Court Support and Next Steps services combined, 75% (6 out of 8) of parents reported and demonstrated a reduction in isolation, 38% (3 out of 8) reported an improvement in their mental health.
In June one of our mothers and Paula, the Project Manager, travelled to Nottingham. We were teaming up with mothers from the Ipswich based charity BEAM to deliver training to Nottingham’s adoption social workers, broadening their understanding of the issues faced by birth mothers throughout the adoption process. The training session was very well received and the women were proud to have had input into improving the service experience for other mothers in their situation.
Moving on, in September we started our ‘Butterfly Gathering’ birth mothers group. The group is based at WHISC in the centre of Liverpool, making it easily accessible to women from across the city. We ran 16 sessions in total, delivered in two eight week blocks. The sessions focussed on improving the women’s emotional wellbeing and included two art sessions run by local artist and maker Mandy Smith. Some examples of the women’s work can be seen in the Gallery photos on page 6.
4
KK Project Manager’s report cont’d 2023/24 Liverpool All of the women at the Butterfly Gathering indicated that they had attended the group primarily to meet other women who shared their experiences of having children removed from their care. They all described feelings of loneliness and isolation which they felt the group had helped to address. They also spoke about a common sense of shame and being judged by others, but felt that the Butterfly group provided them with a sense of “ feeling heard and not judged ”. Other feedback included comments such as:
“ This group has kept me going through the darkest days of my life. Sometimes it’s hard enough getting out of bed....but coming here it’s a place I feel connected ”
“ A few times I’ve come in a right state, but with the help of everyone it squashes that black cloud....it’s uplifting ”
Of the 5 women who attended regularly one indicated that her mental health had remained steady, whilst the other four saw an improvement in their mental health, demonstrated by their scores on the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale.
Following positive evaluations from the women who attended the group the sessions are now ongoing on a weekly basis.
5
- ra Pee Pro}ect Gallery
A selection of images from our Butterfly Gathering art sessions this year:
6
----- Start of picture text -----
|||
|---|---|
|a|Project|
|Lucy’s story|
|Liverpool|
----- End of picture text -----
We first met Lucy in 2021 while she was pregnant with her second son. Her older son Ross had already been removed from her care and there
were concerns that Lucy wouldn’t be able to look after the new baby because of her young age, learning disability and the abusive behaviour of the boys father.
Once the baby, Ethan, was born he and Lucy moved into a mother and baby unit out of area. Lucy found it hard to be in the unit by herself and the staff felt she needed a lot of support to look after Ethan. Though she made progress in her parenting the stress of being on her own and away from her home city caused a decline in Lucy’s mental health and she began to experience suicidal thoughts. Ultimately for her and Ethan’s safety he moved into foster care and Lucy returned home.
Counselling services that are geared towards meeting the needs of people with learning disabilities are currently very rare. So we linked Lucy in to the local Mencap service for support around the emotional impact of all that she was experiencing and for some targeted sessions about safe relationships and domestic abuse.
During this time Lucy’s partner was arrested and remanded in custody for threatening professionals involved with the children. Incidents of more domestic abuse also came to light, we made referrals to all the relevant safeguarding agencies and then helped Lucy move into a refuge.
Throughout this very difficult time the court process for the boys continued and sadly in early
2023 the decision was made that they would be placed for adoption together. We supported Lucy at each court hearing and spent time with her during the day of her goodbye contact with the boys. There had been a change in the social worker by this time and the other agencies that had been working with Lucy had all closed their involvement. Haven was the only service that had been able to stay consistently involved.
Towards the end of 2023 Lucy moved into supported accommodation and began feeling like she could finally start to make positive changes in her life. We started by attending a women only exercise class which Lucy found she really enjoyed. She then moved on to access a ‘lifting mood and raising self esteem’ course at PSS and worked with her local domestic abuse service to complete a freedom programme and recovery toolkit course. When we reviewed our support with Lucy she identified that she often felt bored and on her own, so we helped her to begin volunteering with a local charity once a week. Her plan now is to receive some specialised work mentoring, the hope being to eventually work part time.
When adopters were found for the boys we went with Lucy to meet them. The meeting went really well and, very unusually for adoption in the UK at the moment, everyone agreed that it would be good for Lucy and the boys to have face to face contact as they’re growing up, if it can be safely managed. The process will start with the adopters and Lucy meeting up to begin building their relationship.
Our work with Lucy is now coming to a close. This is a case that demonstrates so clearly the need for continuity of support, often over an extended period of time, if change is to occur in such complex family situations. We’re hopeful that Lucy will now continue to make positive changes into the future.
7
----- Start of picture text -----
KK Project
Trustees’ report (continued)
----- End of picture text -----
Reserves Policy and Financial Review
There are two strands to Haven Project Liverpool’s fundraising strategy namely:
-
Developing a donor base, encouraging donations from both individuals and churches
-
Applications for relevant grants/funds
This year the service was funded by both strands, from a growing number of individual supporters (including additional support from five local churches) and also by grant funding from both the John Moores Foundation and the PH Holt Foundation.
There was a surplus of £4,603 in 2023-24. This is a result of the steady progress in stabilising our finances over the last few years.
To enable Haven Project Liverpool to meet its financial responsibilities, and to survive fluctuations in its finances, the Trustees have agreed to keep a sufficient level of financial reserves, based on a normal year, to ensure that main operations could continue for a period of 3 -6 months. Our target level of reserves has been increased to £17,500 in anticipation of our budgeted increase in expenditure next year.
Haven Project Liverpool currently has reserves of £20,565, which is a satisfactory position. We are grateful to each one of our sponsors for their generosity.
The level of reserves is managed by the Project Manager daily and monitored by the Trustees every 3 months. The reserves policy is reviewed annually by the trustees.
The trustees will continue to seek to implement the reserves policy. We aim to provide diversified funding support, by widening our donor base and continuing to submit grant applications in future years. We will also continue to control our operational costs.
8
----- Start of picture text -----
KK Project
Trustees’ report (continued)
----- End of picture text -----
Exemptions
The trustees have taken advantage of the exemptions available to small companies, including the audit exemption (see statement on balance sheet).
The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees annual report 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 affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
-
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
-
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP
-
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
-
State whether applicable UK Accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements
-
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable group and 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.
Small company provisions:
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006, relating to small companies and constitute the annual accounts required by the Companies Act 2006 and are for circulation to the members of the company.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Signed ______ Date _ Genevieve Staley, Director
9
KK Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2024
I report on my examination of the accounts of the charity, which are set out on pages 11 to 17.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) consider that an audit is not required for this year under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006 and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
-
examine the accounts under section 145 of the Act;
-
follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act; and
-
State whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, I confirm that no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect:
-
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; or
-
the accounts do not accord with such records; or
-
the accounts do not comply with the relevant accounting requirements under section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 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
-
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (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.
Signed ____ Date _______
Ken Brew BA (Hons.), FCA, DChA
10
Statement of Financial Activities (Incorporating the income and expenditure account) for the year ended 31 March 2024
| 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted | Unrestricted | Total | Total | |||
| Funds | Funds | Funds | Funds | |||
| Income from: | Note | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Donations and | ||||||
| Legacies | 2 | 13,000 | 19,965 | 32,965 | 30,187 | |
| Total income | 13,000 | 19,965 | 32,965 | 30,187 | ||
| Expenditure on | ||||||
| Charitable activities | 3,7,8 & 9 | 3,7,8 & 9 | (13,000) | (15,362) | (28,362) | (24,956) |
| Fundraising costs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total expenditure | (13,000) | (15,362) | (28,362) | (24,956) | ||
| Net income(expenditure) | - | 4,603 | 4,603 | 5,231 | ||
| Funds brought forward | 0 | 15,962 | 15,962 | 10,731 | ||
| Transfers between funds | Transfers between funds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Funds carried forward | - | 20,565 | 20,565 | 15,962 |
All the activities of the charitable company are classed as continuing.
11
| Haven | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance sheet at 31 March 2024 KK |
Project Liverpool |
||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||
| Note | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Fixed assets | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Current assets | |||||
| Debtors | 5 | 2,083 | 1,865 | ||
| Cash at bank and in hand | 19,716 | 15,051 | |||
| Total current assets | 21,799 | 16,916 | |||
| Liabilities | |||||
| Creditors: amounts falling | |||||
| due within one year | (1,234) | (954) | |||
| Net current assets | 20,565 | 15,962 | |||
| Net assets | 20,565 | 15,962 | |||
| The funds of the charity | |||||
| Unrestricted income funds | 20,565 | 15,962 | |||
| Restricted income funds | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total funds | 20,565 | 15,962 |
Exemption from audit
For the year ending 31/03/24 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.
Directors’ responsibilities:
-
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 directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies’ subject to the small company’s regime and in accordance with FRS102 SORP.
The trustees declare that they have approved the accounts above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Signed _____ Dated ____ Genevieve Staley, Director
12
KK Notes to the accounts for the year ended Project 31 March 2024 Liverpool
1. Accounting policies
Basis of the preparation of the accounts
These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and 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) issued on 16 July 2014 (as updated through Update Bulletin 1 published on 2 February 2016) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
Incoming resources
All material incoming resources have been included on a receivable basis – i.e., they are included if the date receivable falls within the period covered by these accounts.
Depreciation
Office equipment is written off over a period of 3 years on a straight-line basis.
Resources costing less than £100 are not capitalised but are written off immediately as revenue expenditure.
All Fixed Assets are fully depreciated on 31 March 2024.
2. Voluntary Income
| Unrestricted | Unrestricted | Restricted | Restricted | Total | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |||
| Cash donations | 17,880 | 0 | 17,880 | 22,360 | ||
| Grant Income | 0 | 13,000 | 13,000 | 0 | ||
| Fundraising Income | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,392 | ||
| Tax refunds | 2,085 | 0 | 2,085 | 2,435 | ||
| 19,965 | 13,000 | 32,965 | 30,187 |
13
KK Notes to the accounts (continued) Project for the year ended 31 March 2024 Liverpool 3. Costs of charitable activities
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Salaries | 4,319 | 12,000 | 16,319 | 15,566 | ||
| PAYE | 1,093 | 1,000 | 2,093 | 1,666 | ||
| Pensions | 945 | 0 | 945 | 743 | ||
| Staff travel | 1,657 | 0 | 1,657 | 661 | ||
| Ministry resources for families | 1,250 | 0 | 1,250 | 884 | ||
| Rent and Council tax | 3,800 | 0 | 3,800 | 3,555 | ||
| Volunteer expenses | 121 | 0 | 121 | 172 | ||
| Insurance | 515 | 0 | 515 | 478 | ||
| Office costs | 434 | 0 | 434 | 274 | ||
| Telephone and Internet | 641 | 0 | 641 | 660 | ||
| Printing, Postage & stationery | 138 | 0 | 138 | 28 | ||
| Bank charges | 69 | 0 | 69 | 69 | ||
| Independent Examiner | 200 | 0 | 200 | 200 | ||
| Training costs | 180 | 0 | 180 | 0 | ||
| 15,362 | 13,000 | 28,362 | 24,956 |
14
KK Notes to the accounts (continued) Project for the year ended 31 March 2024 Liverpool
4. Fixed assets
| Additions | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disposals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Closing balance | 2,215 | 2,215 | 2,215 |
| Depeciation | |||
| Opening balance | (2,215) | (2215) | (2215) |
| Depreciation | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Disposals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Closing balance | (2,215) | (2,215) | (2,215) |
| Net Book Value 31 March 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
5. Debtors
| 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Gift aid due | 2,083 | 1,865 |
| 2,083 | 1,865 |
15
KK Notes to the accounts (continued) Project for the year ended 31 March 2024 Liverpool
6. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
1,234 954
1,234 954
----- End of picture text -----
7. Staff costs and numbers
----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
£ £
Salaries 18,412 17,822
Pensions 945 347
19,357 18,169
----- End of picture text -----
No employees have employment benefits in excess of £60,000 (2021: Nil)
The average number of staff employed was 1.0 (2022:1.0).
The key management personnel of the charity comprise the trustees and the project manager. The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charity were 18,169 (2021: £18.169).
8. Trustees’ remuneration, benefits and expenses
There are no donations from related parties which are outside the normal course of business and no restricted donations from related parties.
No trustee or other person related to the charity had any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered into by the charity, including guarantees, during the year (2021: Nil).
Lynn McNaught continues to provide voluntary mentoring services as well as serving as a trustee. We have not recorded a notional valued for these services this year, in accordance with the provisions of FRS 102.
16
KK Notes to the accounts (continued) Project for the year ended 31 March 2024 Liverpool
9. Independent Examination
During the year the cost of the examination and accountancy services was £200 (2023 £200).
17