Charity no. 1159445
## **VOICES Report and Unaudited Financial Statements** Year Ended 31 August 2025
Report and Unaudited Financial Statements | Year Ended 31 August 2025
## **VOICES**
## **Reference and Administrative Information**
_For the year ended 31 August 2025_
**Charity number** 1159445 **Registered office** PO Box 5184, Bath, BA1 0RZ
## **Trustees**
The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report were as follows:
|**Trustee**|**Notes**|
|---|---|
|Emma Sambrook|_Chair, appointed 16 December 2024_|
|Peter Brandt||
|Benazir Ogunlende Jatoi||
|Farha Rasul||
|Aimee Coppard|_Appointed 2 June 2025_|
|Samantha Stone|_Appointed 16 September 2024_|
|Sara Goneos|_Appointed 14 April 2025_|
|Helen Wehner|_Co-chair, resigned 25 March 2025_|
|Joanna Hole|_Co-chair, resigned 25 March 2025_|
|Francesca Carpenter|_Resigned 25 May 2025_|
## **Chief Executive Officer**
|Emily Denne|_16 April 2024 - 7 April 2025_|
|---|---|
|Karen Chana|_Acting CEO 14 April - 17 July 2025; CEO from 18_
_July 2025_|
## **Bankers**
HSBC UK, 41 Southgate Street, Bath, BA1 1TN Bath Building Society, 15 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN Metro Bank, 18-19 Stall Street, Bath, BA1 1QH
## **Independent Examiners**
Godfrey Wilson Limited
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors
2nd Floor – South, One Castle Park, Tower Hill, Bristol, BS2 0JA
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Report and Unaudited Financial Statements | Year Ended 31 August 2025
## **Annual Report of the Trustees**
_For the year ended 31 August 2025_
Reference and administrative information set out on page 1 forms part of this report. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the Constitution and the Statement of Recommended Practice — 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) (effective 1 January 2019).
## **VOICES Overview**
VOICES was founded in 2014 by four survivors of domestic abuse, who realised that beyond crisis services, there was little in place to help people recover and rebuild their lives. Over a decade on, VOICES is still led by survivor voices. We have grown into a centre of excellence for domestic abuse (DA) recovery support and advocacy. The Villa, our trauma-recovery centre, is a place where clients can feel safe, be heard and begin to recover and thrive. Their journey is our journey.
Sadly, the need for services like ours has never been greater. The National Police Chiefs Council and College of Policing have declared that violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a national emergency, reaching epidemic levels in England and Wales. The impact of domestic abuse stretches across every part of a person's life, and it places enormous pressure on an already stretched social, judicial and health system.
Most statutory funding is directed towards crisis and high-risk services (taking on an A&E approach). This means that many people who need support do not meet the thresholds to access it. Crisis intervention is vital, but prevention and long-term recovery are as important. VOICES was built on the belief that recovery is key to the prevention of further cycles of abuse, for stabilisation and mitigating the long-term impact of domestic abuse on individuals and on the wider community. We are also deeply aware of the systemic flaws in services which can cause re-traumatisation to DA victims/survivors, and we are committed to reducing that secondary harm as we walk alongside survivors in their recovery.
## **Objectives and Activities**
VOICES is a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) registered on the 2nd December 2014.
## **The objectives of the charity are:**
To promote and protect the good health of those who are or who have been affected by Domestic Abuse in particular but not exclusively by:
- providing advice, support, interventions and recovery programmes;
- assisting them to engage with service providers enabling the service providers to adapt services to better meet the needs of those persons;
- activities to relieve their mental or emotional distress and which promote their wellbeing such as support groups and networks; and
- relieving the needs of people who are or who have been affected by DA and assisting their integration into society.
To advance the education of the public in all issues relating to the subject of DA, including conducting or supporting research into the factors that may contribute to such abuse and the most appropriate ways to mitigate them and the publishing of the useful results of such research.
## **The activities of the charity within the reporting period are:**
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Group recovery programmes have been reviewed to ensure they address emerging risks and barriers and are delivered in alignment with VOICES' trauma-informed ethos. Programmes are free to clients and run weekly during term-time. We are currently the only organisation running these recovery groups in BANES and we have a specialist team for wraparound support before and after groupwork:
- The Freedom Programme is a nationally acknowledged initiative that identifies domestic abuse and empowers victims and survivors to recognise and comprehend perpetrator tactics, facilitating informed decisions for safely leaving abusive relationships. We provided a complimentary creche service for pre-school children to support parents who attend the programme.
- Breathe Free, our new 6-week programme developed by VOICES, explores themes such as understanding individual trauma responses, creating self-care kits while developing grounding strategies, techniques and practises to overcome trauma-triggers, and creating healthy routines that support wellbeing. This has proven most effective, delivering good outcomes for clients.
- The Recovery Toolkit, is a national psycho-educational group recovery programme building resilience and promoting well-being while recovering from abusive relationships.
- Our Lived Experience Group, is for clients who accessed our recovery services, and are in a safe place to connect as a forum to promote survivor insights informing policy and service development. They have also contributed to volunteering for VOICES at fundraising events.
Individual domestic abuse recovery support sessions for survivors resident primarily within Bath & North East Somerset (BANES), are based on a tailored 'Personal Recovery Plan', designed in consultation with individual clients. We provided:
- Advocacy, advice and signposting for victims and survivors, family members, friends, and the wider public, in person and via the charity's website and social media.
- Free specialist counselling and therapeutic support for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. We received a National Lottery Awards for All grant to launch an in-house counselling service with a Therapeutic Lead to oversee trainee student counsellors, thus extending our support to clients.
- The provision of free legal advice and signposting relating to DA and family law through a Legal Clinic for clients and those of local DA commissioned organisations. This was run by our Law Lead in conjunction with UWE law student solicitors and barristers offering free legal intervention, advice and advocacy which was overseen by their lecturers.
- Support and facilitation for survivors wishing to consult or give feedback on service provision to local authority, national government or other agencies and services, researchers and local and national charity partners.
- The provision of healthy relationship and domestic abuse awareness training to local agencies, professional bodies, community and universities/educational settings, local services, and businesses.
- Consultation with national/local strategic groups and local authorities on policy and service design, providing lived experience insights and survivor voice input.
- The charity operated a hardship fund to which individuals can apply. Applications are considered according to a fixed set of criteria and granted once approved by the CEO/Head of Services.
## **Contribution Made by Volunteers**
Volunteers with and without direct experience of domestic abuse make a valuable contribution to the work of VOICES, modelling the benefits of recovery work and peer support, and are provided with appropriate management, support and training if working directly with clients.
Our role in development and research alongside academic and strategic partners offers our clients the opportunity to turn their lived experiences into valuable insights for policy makers and researchers. The contribution of volunteers through consultation and in feedback to VOICES about our own services
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confirms that effective change and successful services can only happen through co-creation. This is vital for a 'by and for' charity and we honour, respect and value client feedback.
VOICES' founding mission was to ensure survivors are at the heart of the conversation locally and nationally around how best to prevent and respond to domestic abuse. Volunteers with lived experience contributed to consultations in family law (family law professionals and training needs, Cafcass, and child contact), health and mental health (through consultations with researcher members of the Violence and Abuse Mental Health Network and the IRIS+ project), and local government advocating for survivors to be creating service pathways, not just rating services at local area level.
Other contributions by volunteers to whom we are thankful for in 2024/25 included:
- Knit and Natter: approx. 20 knitters donated a variety of handmade knitted goods for our Christmas Market stall to help raise funds for VOICES.
- Race to Paris: Bath RAG Student Union: approx. 90 students undertook a travel challenge to Paris without any money to raise funds for VOICES.
- Bath Business Studies Students: Created website content for our 16 Days of Activism. 5 students worked on the project for us.
- Guest speakers for 16 Days of Activism: Bristol Mayor, Steve Ojomoh (Former England rugby player) and Anu Anand (BBC journalist) supported VOICES in creating awareness of DA.
- VOICES Charity Skydive: 10 people partook and raised funds for our skydive initiative.
- VOICES Lived Experience (LE) Group: 8 of our LE members helped to organise signage, set up and run our first Christmas bazaar and support with our 'Donate a Teddy' campaign for children impacted by DA. A special thank you also to our volunteer Santa who handed out gifts to children at our Christmas Fair.
- ROTORK competition: 5 Bath University Students promoted VOICES and won the competition (out of 5 teams) and donated the £500 competition prize to VOICES.
- Bath Half Marathon: 3 runners ran on behalf of VOICES and 20 runners from the Bath University Student Union ran to raise funds for VOICES.
- Bath University RAG: raised £12,500 for VOICES as their chosen charity of the year. Their Student Union Dance Society also fundraised for VOICES.
- Volunteer support provided to VOICES for building maintenance and decorating work.
- Recovery Group work support: Volunteers who helped us with running groups and who baked for clients who attended the groups.
- VOICES Trustees supported us throughout the challenging year with dedication, expertise, advice, support and their time and devotion to our cause.
## **Achievements and Performance**
This has been a year of real achievement for VOICES. Our model of integrated, accessible and tailored support continues to make a difference in people's lives, enabling them to address things safely at an early stage, build confidence, find community and move forward. Our training and national consultation work, rooted in lived experience, is helping to shape how services and systems respond to domestic abuse across the country.
VOICES' integrated support and focus on recovery has proven effective in transforming self-confidence and addressing the root causes of mental health problems associated with Domestic and Sexual Abuse.
Between September 2024 and August 2025, VOICES supported 269 individual victims and survivors with our team of 8 staff members. This number excludes their 217 children and other family members and friends who benefitted indirectly from our work with clients. It does not include the unquantifiable number of people who would have benefitted from our nationally published research and development work, or those who were able to access the free 'Court guide' for litigants in person which was co-produced with
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VOICES and members of the Local Family Justice Board (LFJB) Domestic Abuse Advisory Group in the South West, which VOICES chaired.
VOICES continues to provide high quality, effective, bespoke and cost effective services. The benefit is wide reaching to cover individual clients, their families, other professionals engaged with clients and local communities, through improving other service responses (e.g. Family Justice system, Talking Therapies, housing or DWP) to domestic abuse.
We have continued to develop a unique safe space for trauma recovery in Bath, increasing options for partnership with other organisations to benefit local people and their community, and supporting their wellbeing needs. Discussions were in place with a potential partner charity engaged in supporting women who have been through the criminal justice system, to co-locate with us. We continue to explore this possibility of working closely with similar organisations in future.
## **VOICES Domestic Abuse Recovery Services**
During the year, VOICES received 245 referrals, an increase of 25% on the previous year. We received referrals from the Crown Prosecution Service, NHS, Police, Citizens Advice, schools, churches, universities, Bath Mind, Julian House and Refuge, and supported many clients who moved between our in-house programmes as their recovery progressed. The most significant referring organisation was Southside Family Project, the local commissioned IDVA and family support service. At a roundtable meeting, with our MP Wera Hobhouse and other organisations, a Southside manager said that clients referred to VOICES for recovery work rarely return to their crisis services, as opposed to other clients who did not engage with VOICES. That speaks to the long-term difference this work makes, for individuals, for families and for the wider community.
## **Stronger Together: Group Programmes**
All of our group recovery programmes are completely free to attend. We provide travel and childcare support for clients on low incomes if need be, and we work hard to ensure sessions are accessible, safe and welcoming. Some groups take place in community venues across the area so that as many people as possible can join us.
For the period of the report, 61 women attended the Freedom Programme, 25 women attended Breathe Free, 23 attended the Recovery Toolkit and 12 women attended the Lived Experience Group.
For the Freedom Programme, three 12-week in-person group programmes took place. This was held in a hired hall space allowing for larger groups, and 61 women attended.
Four cycles of our 6-week Breathe Free Programme were held in-house with space for approximately 6 people per course, and 25 women attended.
The Recovery Toolkit ran for three 12-week in-person sessions at our Villa with a maximum allowance of 8 people per course, and 24 women attended.
A drop-out rate of only 5% was recorded across all programmes.
Just over 40% of activities by the services team related to group work leading to individual client support work. 50% of service team hours were undertaken with group programme facilitation and related work.
We measure the impact of our work with nationally recognised tools including WEMWEBS, CORE-10 and POWER assessments. We track how clients are doing at the start of their support, during it and at the end. Year after year, those numbers show a real and meaningful change in people's lives.
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## **Client Need Data 2024-2025**
**80%** of clients reported being impacted by mental health issues **93%** of clients suffered with emotional health and wellbeing issues **36%** impacted by physical health conditions **46%** impacted by concerns regarding accommodation issues **40%** of clients in need of support with work and training **56%** struggling with impact of DA on children and parenting with perpetrator issues **71%** did not feel safe **74%** needed to build social communities to overcome isolation **50%** were engaged in legal or family court issues
## **Core Outcomes 2024-2025**
|**Freedom Programme**|**Freedom Programme**|
|---|---|
|Increased safety|**90%**|
|Increased confidence|**78%**|
|Better able to recognise abuse|**93%**|
|Improved support networks|**100%**|
|Better understanding the impact of DV on children|**83%**|
|Increased confidence in parenting|**72%**|
|Better management of mental health issues|**86%**|
|Improved coping strategies|**97%**|
|Reduced symptoms of trauma and anxiety|**87%**|
|**Recovery Toolkit**|**Recovery Toolkit**|
|---|---|
|Increased self-esteem|**100%**|
|Increased safe boundaries/assertiveness|**94%**|
|More effective communication skills|**92%**|
|||
|**Breathe Free**||
|Understanding of trauma responses|**100%**|
|Improvement in coping strategies|**100%**|
|Improvement of mental health and wellbeing|**100%**|
These statistics are often taken in the midst of ongoing family court abuse that could go on for many years. While perpetrators weaponise the system meant to protect victims, we support and hold them up. Behind every one of these percentages is a person who came to us in a difficult moment and left stronger. That is what VOICES is for.
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_"This group has really made me open my eyes to me knowing that I do matter and that I don't always have to do something that I don't want to do" (A VOICES client, Freedom Programme)_
## **Individual Recovery Support Work**
Supported by the Health Inequalities Fund (BSW ICB)
Our individual recovery support was provided by a small, dedicated team of 5 staff members. During the year, two recovery support workers carried detailed casework, supported by our referrals and law lead, two associate student counsellors and our new Therapeutic Lead, all managed by our Head of Services. 219 clients received 1-2-1 tailored support alongside access to our group programmes, including help with co-parenting with their perpetrators. The most common areas of need were emotional support, children and parenting, mental health issues, alongside finances, family law, housing and physical health support. Half of all clients registered with VOICES received legal support during the year.
Our new Therapeutic Counselling Service, funded by the National Lottery Awards for All grant, launched in September 2024 to August 2025 and yielded good outcomes:
- 28 clients received counselling (including 23 clients with children), exceeding the target of 20-25.
- 302.4 therapy hours were delivered free of charge, of which 285 hours were face-to-face. That is the equivalent of £18,144 in counselling fees, based on a minimum average of £60 per session for DA counselling.
Core-10 outcome measures were used at the beginning and end of therapy (18-session model). Reported improvements from clients:
- 85% experienced a reduction in anxiety, tension, or nervousness
- 95% improved in their ability to cope with setbacks
- 98% reported reduced feelings of despair or hopelessness
- 96.7% experienced a reduction in feelings of terror
Although VOICES did not provide dedicated services for children, the charity did so indirectly through advocacy, learning and support work, as well as group programmes addressing parenting and impacts of abuse on children. In 2024/2025, more than 217 children aged 0-18 were supported in this way while living with clients supported by VOICES.
## **Dedicated Safe Space Support**
The Villa, our dedicated safe space, is at the heart of everything we do. It is more than a building. It is the physical expression of the safety and trust we work so hard to create for every person who comes through our door. In 2024/25, Karen Chana, in her new role as CEO, worked to build wider support for this model, developing a strong relationship with our local MP Wera Hobhouse, who raised the issue of long-term funding and safe space provision for domestic abuse recovery services in Parliament on two occasions during the year. We also began conversations with the Nelson Trust, an organisation supporting women with multiple disadvantages and experience of the criminal justice system, to explore whether we might share a space and build something stronger together.
## **Five Core Values of Trauma-Informed Working**
**Safety** Ensuring physical and emotional safety.
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|**Trustworthine**
**ss**|Creating respectful environments where personal boundaries are maintained.|
|---|---|
|**Choice**|Creating environments where individuals have choice and control.|
|**Collaboration**|Making decisions with the individual and sharing power.|
|**Empowermen**
**t**|Prioritising empowerment and skill building.|
(Harris and Fallot, 2009)
Having a dedicated safe space to provide trauma-informed services is something that has been proven to increase the benefits of support services for people who have suffered trauma and abuse.
Research has shown that holistic services supporting women are best able to implement trauma-informed approaches. The principles of trauma-informed working, upon which VOICES bases its holistic approach, are Safety, Trust, Choice, Collaboration and Empowerment.
## **Safety**
Our unique safe space is the physical representation of the emotional space we aim to foster for survivors. A place to be listened to, believed and where recovery is nurtured. This is psychological safety, an antidote to the tactics of coercive control and emotional abuse that have been used by perpetrators.
## **Trust**
VOICES works hard to establish a sense of trust with people who approach us for support. Building and earning trust is something that requires time and an opportunity to question or explore different options for support. This begins with a conversation, and listening to the diverse experiences of people, with an emphasis on person-centred support.
## **Choice and Transparency**
From first contact with the charity, whether through our website or in a phone call, we aim to provide transparency and choice for people who we have the privilege to work with. This means explaining how we work and what we do and providing as much information as we can about what choices are available for individuals and families dealing with the impacts of domestic and sexual abuse. Informed choice is the basis for support and recovery work at VOICES.
## **Collaboration**
We understand our work with people as a collaboration, based on mutual respect and regard, recognising the strengths and strategies that people are already bringing to solve problems and mitigate their risks, while learning about the areas in which they might require help, and unlocking the support that working with other survivors in group settings can provide. We develop a personal recovery plan with people for whom we provide individual recovery support, dependent on our capacity to fund this work independently, as it is not currently foreseen in Domestic Abuse commissioning models.
## **Empowerment**
Ultimately, support from VOICES should enhance a person's sense of agency in their own recovery journey. We hope that by supporting people to regain a say in their lives and in their recovery, we can aid trauma healing and help survivors and their families to rebuild their lives and realise their full potential as unique and amazing individuals. Part of this work includes the opportunity to provide insights from lived experience to policy makers and services.
During 2024/2025, VOICES' trauma-informed practice expertise has supported a renewed focus by the Domestic Abuse Partnership Board on the need for self-referral options and better communication of domestic abuse support pathways and underpins the new Practitioner Network initiated in BANES by VOICES with local commissioned services working with domestic abuse victims and survivors as founder members.
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VOICES trauma-informed framework for multidisciplinary domestic abuse recovery support continues to reference VOICES' Theory of Change developed in 2023, to which the whole organisation and people with lived experience contributed.
## **VOICES Hardship and Cost of Living Support**
## Via the Circle Fund
Financial abuse is one of the most common and devastating forms of coercive control. The cost of living crisis has made this even harder for many of the people we support, adding pressure at a time when they are already trying to find their footing. Good advocacy at the right moment can make an enormous difference. Small amounts of help, given at exactly the right time, can unlock real progress. A new lock on a door, travel costs to court, a phone to stay safe with, a mattress in a new home or a video doorbell are all things that matter.
During 2024/25, a significant proportion of VOICES clients received hardship funding to overcome barriers at transition points in their recovery. During the cost-of-living crisis, VOICES hardship funding proved an innovative and flexible way to address unexpected expenses relating to financial abuse. Having operated its own, similar Hardship Fund since 2019, VOICES was part of the advisory group developing the Circle Fund, run by national charity SafeLives and funded by NatWest Group, involving specialist services around the country. This groundbreaking national pilot concluded in June 2023 and following this, the Circle Fund continued with renewed grant funding administered via SafeLives.
In 2024-25, VOICES was able to support clients with £2,000 of Circle Fund grants, meeting varied needs including increased home security, access to refuges, travel costs to attend court, cooking items, moving costs, new mattresses, flooring, maternity clothing, video security doorbells and mobile phones.
## **Lived Experience Consultation Work**
_"I hope at least some good can come from the awful experience I have had. I hope that the feedback and information I have given about my experiences, both during and after the abusive relationship, might help women in the future. If lived experience work can help services such as the legal profession understand and be more caring, then I will feel I have achieved something worthwhile." (A VOICES Lived Experience consultation participant)_
Our role in development and research alongside academic and strategic partners continued to evolve during the reporting period. Lived experience work offers our clients the opportunity to use their lived expertise for change. These consulting activities are an opportunity for clients to transform negative experiences into valuable insights for policy makers, which feedback confirms can be healing and empowering for clients. Effective change and the creation of appropriate services can only happen through co-creation.
Our CEO and Finance Officer, Karen Chana, leads our lived experience and research work with energy and commitment. With almost a decade of advocacy and leadership experience within VOICES, she has championed long-term trauma recovery and family court reform across England and Wales. Since 2017, alongside her financial oversight responsibilities, she has developed and sustained partnerships with some of the country's leading research institutions, including University College London, the University of Bristol Medical School, Oxford University, Nottingham University and Sussex University, as well as national organisations such as SafeLives. These relationships, built carefully over many years, mean that the experiences of VOICES' clients are heard in places that shape national policy and practice. Karen
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also serves as our Lived Experience Coordinator, connecting the people we support with opportunities to contribute to meaningful research.
Karen Chana invited Becky Reynolds, Director of Public Health, to meet with the Lived Experience Forum in collaboration with University College London researchers in May 2025. The impact of vital research and consultation work that VOICES have participated in continues to make substantial changes in national policy and practice.
Despite the initial challenges of funding and resourcing Lived Experience consultation with survivors, VOICES received a grant from the ROSA Foundation to further develop our research arm and continued to have a wide-ranging involvement with Lived Experience consultation work locally and nationally in 2024-25, which was both very productive and ground-breaking. We are extremely grateful to all those who bravely shared their individual experience and insights to support change and improvements across the system.
## **Examples of Lived Experience involvement include:**
- Continuing to support the development and evaluation of the IRIS project, which sees Doctors and GP practices trained to identify Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, recognising the links between abuse and physical/mental health and safely referring clients to appropriate services.
VOICES continues to be an inaugural member of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) Practice Reference Group, alongside MyCWA, as an expert group scrutinizing the practice and training of CAFCASS, the largest employer of social workers in England. Our CEO Karen Chana, representing VOICES at Parliament, strongly advocated for this Reference Group to be established in July 2019. This was due to the challenges that many of our clients were facing with CAFCASS in the family justice system. She now sits in on the Reference Group. VOICES brings expertise from direct delivery of recovery and legal clinic services, and aims to ensure Lived Experience perspectives are prioritised.
## **Academic Publications Co-authored by VOICES Staff and CIO Members (2024/25)**
Powell C, Szilassy E, Cowan K, Feder G, Gilbert R, Howarth E, Johns K (VOICES, CEO Karen Chana), Lindenberg U (Founder of VOICES), Gregory A. Adapting a consensus process for survivors of domestic abuse and child maltreatment: a brief report about adopting a trauma-informed approach in multi stakeholder workshops. BMJ Open. 2025 Jan 22;15(1):e090017. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-090017. PMID: 39843367; PMCID: PMC11784130. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/1/e090017
Claire Powell, Emma Jones, Gene Feder, Ruth Gilbert, Antigoni Gkaravella, Emma Howarth, Karen Johns (VOICES CEO, Karen Chana), Ursula Lindenberg (Founder of VOICES), Lauren Herlitz. Child mental health practitioners' perspectives on providing support for families where there is intimate partner violence: navigating complex family relationships and fear at home. Child Abuse & Neglect, Volume 164, 2025, 107442, ISSN 0145-2134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107442
## **Supporting Improvements in the Family Justice System**
_"The Family Courts were an extension of the abuse that I suffered at my husband's hands, providing more hands to harm me and my children in the 'secret court system'! If not for VOICES and their unwavering support, I would have lost both my children to the corruption that poses as justice." (VOICES client)_
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The family law and domestic abuse expertise that VOICES has developed through the operation of its free legal clinic over previous years, as well as involvement in the national family law forum, resulted in the development of a Bristol & Avon Local Family Justice Board Domestic Abuse Advisory Group, which VOICES initiated and chaired. The group, bringing together family law professionals, including judges and solicitors, domestic abuse and trauma specialists and people with lived experience, decided to produce a guide to the family court system for litigants in person, the development of which was funded by VOICES and led by our Law Lead as Chair.
In December 2024, the Guide to Family Court Proceedings for those who have experienced Domestic Abuse was published and made available as a free online resource to local victims and survivors. This Guide was widely welcomed and acknowledged as groundbreaking for its trauma-informed and lived-experience informed approach. The VOICES Lived Experience group helped to consult on its contents.
This publication formed a focal point in the Bristol & Avon Local Family Justice Board's Annual Conference in May 2025, Family Justice, Innovation and Change: Improving lived experiences and outcomes for children, young people and adults. Also at the conference, a young person from VOICES' Lived Experience group presented a testimony of the harms they experienced as a result of their family's involvement in family court processes, which was recognised by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs as very powerful and a call for action to improve the system for children and families.
A further publication, looking at Family Justice and mental health, was in planning during the reporting period.
## **Risks, Challenges and Mitigation**
This was one of the toughest years in the history of VOICES. The national funding crisis that has affected so many small charities impacted us at a moment when we were already navigating significant changes. Our CEO, Emily Denne, resigned in April 2025, and our Head of Services followed shortly afterwards.
The risk was high. As the only organisation in Bath and North East Somerset providing in-house group recovery programmes specifically for female victims and survivors of domestic abuse, a closure could have left families without vital support at the most vulnerable point in their lives.
What followed was a testament to the resilience of VOICES. The team pulled together. Following a thorough interview process, Karen Chana was initially appointed Acting CEO in April 2025 and confirmed as CEO in July 2025. Karen joined VOICES in 2017 as Finance Officer and Lived Experience Lead, bringing with her a rare combination of financial rigour, deep knowledge of survivor voice work and an exceptional talent for building and sustaining partnerships. She has held financial oversight responsibility for VOICES since 2017, working closely with our Founders from the earliest days of the charity. Over those years she built strong relationships with funders, statutory partners, academic institutions and national organisations, relationships that proved vital in the months that followed her appointment. She knows this organisation, she knows this cause, and she has the skills and the connections to lead VOICES into its next chapter. Our Therapeutic Lead, already trusted and valued within the organisation, stepped up alongside her as the new Head of Services.
Our Trustees gave generously of their time and expertise throughout. Karen reached out to major funders to rebuild relationships, and worked with our MP Wera Hobhouse to raise the situation of small DA charities in Parliament. Within five months, we had secured the significant grants needed to stabilise the charity. Our Lived Experience group stepped forward to support community fundraising. Once again, they showed exactly why lived experience at the heart of an organisation matters so much.
Throughout all of this, our clients knew nothing of the difficulties we were navigating. Services continued without interruption. That says everything about the quality and dedication of our staff and volunteers. We
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reached the end of the year in a far more stable position. In June 2025 we secured a final £60,659 grant from BHIF/ICB, and we closed the year with the wonderful news of a new four-year National Lottery grant of £80,000 per year to fund our in-house Legal Clinic, with a full-time solicitor joining us as Head of Legal from September 2025. Challenges remain, and we are under no illusions about the funding landscape ahead, with many of our multi-year grants ending in 2025. But we are here, we are stronger, and we are ready.
## **Our Highlights for the Year**
**September 2024:** Finalists in the TBE Awards. Continued delivery of student placement opportunities, including Psychology and Student Counsellor programmes. We launched our first in-house Counselling arm of VOICES with a Therapeutic Lead overseeing student counsellors to the benefit of our clients — the waiting list for SARSAS was up to a 2-year wait.
**October 2024:** University of Bath RAG Race to Paris raised over £20,500 for chosen charities and VOICES received £12,500. Public Survey launched to gather community perspectives on domestic abuse and support needs. Supporters began a series of fundraising skydives running through to May 2025.
**November 2024:** We worked alongside the University of Bath Business students during the 16 Days of Activism campaign. Successful fundraising raffle supported by local sponsors. Participation in the Rotork student competition.
**December 2024:** Christmas Fair brought together supporters and community members. Donate a Teddy campaign supporting children affected by domestic abuse. Free advertising support received from Wiltshire Parent Magazine.
**January 2025:** Launch of Breathe Free, VOICES' new psychoeducational recovery programme.
**February 2025:** VOICES spoke at the Bath and North East Somerset Council Annual Budget Meeting at the Guildhall.
**March 2025:** Twenty University of Bath RAG runners completed the Bath Half Marathon in support of VOICES.
**July 2025:** VOICES attended the Parliamentary Reception celebrating 40 years of Lloyds Banking Group Charitable Foundations.
## **Partnerships and Community Impact**
## **University of Bath**
Throughout 2024-2025, VOICES strengthened its partnership with the University of Bath through fundraising, student engagement, placements, awareness campaigns and professional training. This included:
- Race to Paris Challenge
- Bath Half Marathon fundraising team
- Domestic Abuse Awareness Training for safeguarding professionals
- Domestic Abuse Awareness Training for staff and lecturers
- Student placements and leadership programmes
- Collaborative awareness raising activities
## **Professional Training**
VOICES delivered specialist Domestic Abuse Awareness Training to professionals across the region, including safeguarding teams, university staff and lecturers. These sessions increased understanding of domestic abuse, coercive control, trauma-informed practice and survivor-centred responses.
VOICES | Charity no. 1159445Page 13
Report and Unaudited Financial Statements | Year Ended 31 August 2025
## **Organisational Development**
This year has also seen significant organisational growth:
- Launch of Breathe Free programme.
- Funding secured from Awards for All to create a Therapeutic Lead role.
- New website developed through the support of Delivered Social.
- Expansion of student placements and volunteer opportunities.
- Continued development of survivor-led services.
## **Fundraising and Support**
We are incredibly grateful to all those who supported VOICES during 2024-2025. Special thanks to all our funders mentioned in our reporting, anonymous funders and to:
- University of Bath Students' Union RAG
- Bath Hygiene Bank
- Knit and Natter volunteers
- Female of the Species
- Hillier Garden Centre Bath
- Wiltshire Parent Magazine
- Local raffle sponsors
- Volunteers, donors and community supporters
- Our landlord, for reducing our rent by £4,000 per annum
## **Creating Safe Spaces**
Thanks to the generous donation of flowers and soil from Hillier Garden Centre Bath, we were able to further develop our outdoor wellbeing area, creating a calming environment where survivors can rest, recharge and connect safely.
## **Looking Forward**
As we look ahead, we carry with us everything this year has taught us about resilience, community and the power of survivor voice. We will keep placing lived experience at the heart of everything we do, and we will keep working, one person at a time, towards a future free from domestic abuse.
## **Every voice matters. Every story matters. Every survivor deserves to be heard.**
## **Financial Review**
The charity ended the 2024/25 operating year with sufficient reserves to be deemed a going concern.
We were able to deliver our planned activities without compromise to quantity or quality.
VOICES | Charity no. 1159445Page 14
Report and Unaudited Financial Statements | Year Ended 31 August 2025
We are pleased to report that VOICES ended 2024/25 in a sound financial position, particularly given the extraordinary challenges of the year. Income was £328,345, up from £307,604 in 2023/24, an increase of 5.1%. Expenditure was £331,418, compared with £334,089 the previous year, resulting in a deficit of £3,073 against the prior year deficit of £26,845. We carry forward a balance of £215,539 into the new financial year.
Risks going forward were identified as: continued funding required beyond summer of 2025 to meet the financial burden of funding for the charity premises, with operating costs/rent of c. £40K per year; a shift in funder focus away from domestic abuse to, for example, cost of living themes; housing and children-only focused work; and public donations and community fundraising income still shrinking due to financial burdens, as the wider community, public and private sector are all affected by the negative economic climate.
## **Reserves Policy**
VOICES held general reserves of £91,405 as of 31 August 2025 (2024: £106,632) and designated reserves of £55,000 (2022: £55,000). The stated aim of the charity being to hold unrestricted reserves to cover 3 months' operating costs (£82,854, based on annual expenditure of £331,418), the amount of unrestricted reserves held is in line with the target set, at the end of the period.
However, the charity's commitment to provide long-term support over 18 months to 2 years and sometimes significantly longer to survivors of domestic abuse, among which there is a high incidence of PTSD (of which research has shown a higher incidence rate than among military veterans) and other profound impacts, means that higher levels than the minimum set out in our reserves policy are in the interests of our beneficiaries to ensure consistent support without unplanned gaps in vital services for our clients.
The board of trustees has considered its reserves policy and set itself the ambition to have reserves at a level that meet the following criteria:
- To sustain the charity's core services supported by unrestricted funds, for a period of three months without detriment to its beneficiaries;
- To support the charity in providing a skeleton service for a further three months (including overheads) to enable emergency funding to be sought and available for use; and
- To meet the winding up costs for the charity should there be no prospect of funding going forward — such costs would be in terms of redundancies and meeting any contractual debts.
## **Principal Sources of Funding**
The charity's principal sources of funds are trusts and foundations (including Tudor Trust, Lloyds Bank Foundation, Garfield Weston, David Family Foundation, Scobell Charitable Trust and Denman Charitable Trust) and Government grants (including Police and Crime Commissioner Funding, The National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund, The National Lottery Awards for All and the ICB - B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire Health Inequalities Funding).
## **Principal Risks**
The principal risks of the charity are:
- Financial pressures resulting from rising demand for specialist domestic abuse services, including mental health support and existential support for clients, compounded by the cost of living crisis and upward pressure on operating costs; and
VOICES | Charity no. 1159445Page 15
Report and Unaudited Financial Statements | Year Ended 31 August 2025
- Increasing competition for funds granted by trusts and foundations, and public funding made available through central and local government, due to the impact of the cost of living crisis on smaller charities.
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
Trustee vacancies arising may be filled by the decision of the members at the AGM or by charity trustees "at any time" (clause 13(4) and (5) of CIO Constitution).
Positions are advertised through local charity networks and appropriate social media. In addition informal personal networks are used.
A written role description is used and prospective trustees present CVs and have discussions with CEO and trustees prior to appointment. Any links with existing trustees are declared at this point.
During 2024/25, VOICES had a Board of Trustees, including the Chair, Secretary, and Chairs of Finance and HR Sub-Committees. VOICES was led by the Chief Executive Officer, a Finance Administrator, a Centre Administrator, and a Head of Services who managed the staff team comprising a Referrals and Law Lead, two Recovery Practitioners, a Therapeutic Lead and two associate trainee Psychotherapists.
No paid services were provided by related parties of either staff or Trustees during 2024/25.
## **Public Benefit**
The objects for which the charity is established are to provide public benefit through:
- The promotion and protection of the good health of those who are or have been affected by domestic abuse, in particular but not exclusively by: providing advice, support, interventions and recovery programmes; by assisting them to engage with service providers enabling the service providers to adapt services to better meet the needs of those persons; through activities to relieve their mental or emotional distress and which promote their wellbeing such as support groups and networks; and by relieving the needs of people who are or have been affected by domestic abuse and assisting their integration into society; and
- By advancing the education of the public in all issues relating to the subject of domestic abuse, including conducting or supporting research into the factors that may contribute to such abuse and the most appropriate ways to mitigate them, and the publishing of the useful results of such research.
The trustees review the aims, objectives and activities of the charity each year. This report focuses on what the charity has achieved and the outcomes of its work in the reporting period. The trustees report the progress of the activities that underpin each aspect of the charity's objectives and the benefits the charity has brought to those groups of people that it aims to help. The review also helps the trustees ensure the charity's aims, objectives and activities remain focused on its stated purposes. The trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning its future activities. The trustees also give consideration to how planned activities will contribute to the aims and objectives that have been determined.
## **Statement of Responsibilities of the Trustees**
VOICES | Charity no. 1159445Page 16
Report and Unaudited Financial Statements | Year Ended 31 August 2025
The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The law applicable to charities in England and Wales 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 charity and the incoming resources and application of resources, including the net income or expenditure, of the charity for the year. In preparing those 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 accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- State whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- 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 which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the constitution. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charity's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Members of the charity have no liability to contribute to the assets of the charity in the event of winding up. The trustees are members of the charity but this entitles them only to voting rights. The trustees have no beneficial interest in the charity.
## **Independent Examiners**
Godfrey Wilson Limited were re-appointed as independent examiners to the charity during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity.
Approved by the trustees on 25 June 2026 and signed on their behalf by:
## **Emma Sambrook**
Chair of the Trustees
VOICES | Charity no. 1159445Page 17
## **Independent examiner's report**
## **To the trustees of**
## **VOICES**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of VOICES (the CIO) for the year ended 31 August 2025, which are set out on pages 19 to 33.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the charity trustees of the CIO 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 CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 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 examiner’s statement**
Since the CIO’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 (ICAEW), which is one of the listed bodies.
Godfrey Wilson Limited also provides management accounts and payroll services to the CIO. I confirm that as a member of the ICAEW I am subject to the FRC’s Revised Ethical Standard 2024, which I have applied with respect to this engagement.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material 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 CIO as required by section 130 of the Act; or
- (2) the accounts do not accord with those records; or
- (3) the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 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.
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.
## Dougal Howard
Date: 25 June 2026 **Dougal Howard ACA Member of the ICAEW**
## **Godfrey Wilson Limited**
Chartered accountants and statutory auditors 2nd Floor – South One Castle Park Tower Hill Bristol BS2 0JA
18
## **VOICES**
## **Statement of financial activities**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
|Restricted Unrestricted
Note
£
£
**Income from:**
Donations
3
-
40,413
Charitable activities
4
173,845
111,782
Other income
5
-
2,305
**Total income**
173,845
154,500
**Expenditure on:**
Raising funds
-
14,652
Charitable activities
161,691
155,075
**Total expenditure**
7
161,691
169,727
8
12,154
(15,227)
**Reconciliation of funds:**
Total funds brought forward
56,980
161,632
**Total funds carried forward**
69,134
146,405
**Net income / (expenditure)**
**and net movement in funds**|**2025**
**Total**
**£**
**40,413**
**285,627**
**2,305**
**328,345**
**14,652**
**316,766**
**331,418**
**(3,073)**
**218,612**
**215,539**|2024
Total
£
34,287
271,086
2,231|
|---|---|---|
|||307,604|
|||19,827
314,262|
|||334,089|
|||(26,485)
245,097|
|||218,612|
All of the above results are derived from continuing activities. There were no other recognised gains or losses other than those stated above. Movements in funds are disclosed in note 14 to the accounts.
19
## **VOICES**
## **Balance sheet**
## **As at 31 August 2025**
|**As at 31 August 2025**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Note
**Current assets**
Debtors
11
Cash at bank and in hand
**Liabilities**
Creditors: amounts falling due within 1 year
12
**Net assets**
13
**Funds**
14
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds
Designated funds
General funds
**Total charity funds**|**£**
**11,020**
**216,188**
**227,208**
**(11,669)**|**2025**
**£**
**215,539**
**69,134**
**55,000**
**91,405**
**215,539**|2024
£
11,383
231,278|
||||242,661
(24,049)|
||||218,612|
||||56,980
55,000
106,632|
||||218,612|
Approved by the trustees on 25 June 2026 and signed on their behalf by
Emma Sambrook Chair
20
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
**1. Accounting policies**
## **a) Basis of preparation**
VOICES is a CIO registered in England and Wales. The registered office address is PO Box 5184, Bath, BA1 0RZ.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities in 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).
VOICES meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note.
## **b) Going concern basis of accounting**
The accounts have been prepared on the assumption that the charity is able to continue as a going concern, which the trustees consider appropriate having regard to the current level of unrestricted reserves. There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.
## **c) Income**
Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item of income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
Income from the government and other grants, whether 'capital' grants or 'revenue' grants, is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the grants have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably and is not deferred.
## **d) Donated services and facilities**
Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item, any conditions associated with the donated item have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item, is probable and the economic benefit can be measured reliably. In accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102), general volunteer time is not recognised.
On receipt, donated professional services and donated facilities 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 services or facilities of equivalent economic benefit on the open market; a corresponding amount is then recognised in expenditure in the period of receipt.
## **e) Interest receivable**
Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity: this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.
21
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **1. Accounting policies (continued)**
## **f) Funds accounting**
- Unrestricted funds are available to spend on activities that further any of the purposes of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds of the charity which the trustees have decided at their discretion to set aside to use for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are donations which the donor has specified are to be solely used for particular areas of the charity's work or for specific projects being undertaken by the charity.
## **g) Expenditure**
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.
## **h) Allocation of support and governance costs**
Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly undertake charitable activities. Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity, including the costs of complying with constitutional and statutory requirements and any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities. These costs have been allocated between cost of raising funds and expenditure on charitable activities on the basis of staff costs as noted below (the charity has had to rely on volunteer fundraising efforts in this financial year).
|raising efforts in this financial year).|||
|---|---|---|
||**2025**|2024|
|Raising funds|**1%**|3%|
|Charitable activities|**99%**|97%|
## **i) Debtors**
Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.
## **j) Cash at bank and in hand**
Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.
## **k) Creditors**
Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.
## **l) Financial instruments**
The charity only 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 their settlement value with the exception of bank loans which are subsequently recognised at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
22
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **1. Accounting policies (continued)**
## **m) Operating leases**
Rentals paid under operating leases are charged to the statement of financial activities as they fall due.
## **n) Accounting estimates and key judgements**
In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affects both current and future periods.
The key sources of estimation uncertainty that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are donated services and facilities as set out in note 1(d).
## **o) Pension costs**
The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for its employees. There are no further liabilities other than that already recognised in the SOFA.
## **2. Prior period comparatives: statement of financial activities**
|**Income from:**
Donations
Charitable activities
Other Income
**Total income**
**Expenditure on:**
Raising funds
Charitable activities
**Total expenditure**
**Net income / (expenditure) and net movement in**
**funds**|Restricted
£
£
1,000
33,287
170,676
100,410
-
2,231
171,676
135,928
-
19,827
205,419
108,843
205,419
128,670
(33,743)
7,258
Unrestricted|2024
Total
£
34,287
271,086
2,231|
|---|---|---|
|||307,604|
|||19,827
314,262|
|||334,089|
|||(26,485)|
23
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **3. Income from donations**
|**Income from donations**|||
|---|---|---|
|Donations
Gifts in kind|Restricted
£
£
-
34,978
-
5,435
-
40,413
Unrestricted|**2025**
**Total**
**£**
**34,978**
**5,435**|
|||**40,413**|
Gifts in kind were for gift voucher donations and professional advice on HR matters and a new lease agreement.
## **Prior period comparative:**
|Donations
Gifts in kind
**Income from charitable activities**
Grants
Avon & Somerset Police & Crime Commissioner
Rosa Fund
Quartet
The National Lottery
NHS BHIF
Liz and Daniel Grant
Lloyds Foundation
David Family Foundation
Garfield Weston
Tudor Trust
Scobell Charitable Trust
Denman Charitable Trust
Frome Council
Training income
**Total income from charitable activities**|Restricted
£
£
1,000
27,937
-
5,350
1,000
33,287
Restricted
£
£
21,000
-
10,000
-
10,000
-
37,000
-
82,545
-
11,300
-
-
25,000
-
7,000
-
30,000
-
40,000
-
5,000
-
1,000
2,000
-
-
3,782
173,845
111,782
Unrestricted
Unrestricted|2024
Total
£
28,937
5,350|
|---|---|---|
|||34,287|
|||**2025**
**Total**
**£**
**21,000**
**10,000**
**10,000**
**37,000**
**82,545**
**11,300**
**25,000**
**7,000**
**30,000**
**40,000**
**5,000**
**1,000**
**2,000**
**3,782**|
|||**285,627**|
## **4. Income from charitable activities**
24
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **4. Income from charitable activities (continued)**
|**Prior period comparative:**
Grants > £5,000
Avon & Somerset Police & Crime Commissioner
Garfield Weston
NHS BSW
Lloyds Bank Foundation
The National Lottery Awards for All
The National Lottery Reaching Communities
Tudor Trust
Grants < £5,000
Training income
**Total income from charitable activities**
**5.**
**Other income**
Student placement funding
Other income
Room hire|Restricted
£
£
21,000
-
-
30,000
35,886
-
-
25,000
19,490
-
74,000
-
-
40,000
20,300
3,000
-
2,410
170,676
100,410
**2025**
**£**
**1,600**
**705**
**-**
**2,305**
Unrestricted|2024
Total
£
21,000
30,000
35,886
25,000
19,490
74,000
40,000
23,300
2,410|
|---|---|---|
|||271,086|
|||2024
£
-
-
2,231|
|||2,231|
All room hire income in the current and prior year was unrestricted.
## **6. Government grants**
The charity receives government grants, defined as funding from Avon & Somerset Police & Crime Commissioner; NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, The National Lottery and Frome Council. The total value of such grants during the year ended 31 August 2025 was £142,545 (2024: £152,876 from Avon & Somerset Police & Crime Commissioner; NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire; Frome Council; and The National Lottery). There are no unfulfilled conditions or contingencies attaching to these grants in the current or prior year.
25
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **7. Total expenditure**
|**Total expenditure**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Staff costs (note 9)
Insurance and premises costs
Other staff costs
Office expenses
Fundraising expenses
Accountancy
Project / session expenses
Consultation for counselling
Provision of charitable services
Survivor consultation
Legal and professional fees
Marketing
Volunteer expenses
**Sub-total**
**Total expenditure**
Allocation of support and
governance costs|£
2,238
-
-
-
9,725
-
-
-
-
-
-
2,188
-
14,151
501
**14,652**
Raising
funds|£
210,815
29,331
6,926
5,063
-
-
10,778
90
3,761
2,579
-
-
174
269,517
47,249
**316,766**
Charitable
activities|£
12,994
13,236
-
7,527
-
10,150
1,450
-
-
-
2,393
-
-
47,750
(47,750)
**-**
Support and
governance
costs|**£**
**226,047**
**42,567**
**6,926**
**12,590**
**9,725**
**10,150**
**12,228**
**90**
**3,761**
**2,579**
**2,393**
**2,188**
**174**
**2025 Total**|
|||||**331,418**
**-**|
|||||**331,418**|
Total governance costs were £3,410 (2024: £2,848).
26
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **7. Total expenditure (continued) Prior period comparative**
|**Total expenditure (continued)**
**Prior period comparative**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Staff costs (note 9)
Insurance and premises costs
Other staff costs
Office expenses
Fundraising expenses
Accountancy
Project / session expenses
Consultation for counselling
Provision of charitable services
Survivor consultation
Legal and professional fees
Marketing
Volunteer expenses
**Sub-total**
**Total expenditure**
Allocation of support and
governance costs|£
4,982
-
-
-
13,591
-
-
-
-
-
-
177
-
18,750
1,077
19,827
Raising
funds|£
187,943
32,034
23,578
10,062
-
-
7,418
4,557
4,302
3,634
-
-
92
273,620
40,642
314,262
Charitable
activities|£
9,135
14,686
-
6,703
-
9,773
1,140
-
-
-
282
-
-
41,719
(41,719)
**-**
Support and
governance
costs|£
202,060
46,720
23,578
16,765
13,591
9,773
8,558
4,557
4,302
3,634
282
177
92
2024 Total|
|||||334,089
**-**|
|||||334,089|
27
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
**8. Net movement in funds**
This is stated after charging:
|**Net movement in funds**
This is stated after charging:|||
|---|---|---|
||**2025**|2024|
||**£**|£|
|Operating lease payments|**34,000**|34,000|
|Trustees' remuneration|**Nil**|Nil|
|Trustees' reimbursed expenses|**Nil**|Nil|
|Independent examiners' remuneration:|||
|Independent examination (excluding VAT)|**2,350**|2,200|
|Other services (excluding VAT)|**4,558**|4,587|
In common with other charities of our size and nature we use our Independent Examiners to assist with the preparation of the financial statements. Our Independent Examiners have also provided bookkeeping and payroll services to the charity during the year.
**9. Staff costs and numbers** Staff costs were as follows:
|Salaries and wages
Social security costs
Pension costs|**2025**
**£**
**208,414**
**11,853**
**5,780**
**226,047**|2024
£
188,149
10,339
3,571|
|---|---|---|
|||202,059|
No employee earned more than £60,000 during the current or prior year.
The key management personnel of the charity comprise the Chief Executive Officer and acting Chief Executive Officer. The total employee salary and benefits of the key management personnel were £102,943 (2024: £92,774).
|Average head count|**2025**
**No.**
**8**|2024
No.
7|
|---|---|---|
## **10. Taxation**
The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.
28
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **11. Debtors**
|Prepayments
Deposits|**2025**
**£**
**2,520**
**8,500**
**11,020**|2024
£
2,883
8,500|
|---|---|---|
|||11,383|
## **12. Creditors : amounts due within 1 year**
|**Creditors : amounts due within 1 year**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Trade creditors
Accruals
Other taxation and social security
Pension
**Analysis of net assets between funds**
Current assets
Current liabilities
**Net assets at 31 August 2025**
**Prior year comparative**
Current assets
Current liabilities
**Net assets at 31 August 2024**|£
69,625
(491)
**69,134**
£
59,514
(2,534)
56,980
Restricted
funds
Restricted
funds|**2025**
**£**
**741**
**7,096**
**3,017**
**815**
**11,669**
£
157,583
(11,178)
**146,405**
£
183,147
(21,515)
161,632
Unrestricted
funds
Unrestricted
funds|2024
£
3,009
16,396
3,825
819|
||||24,049|
||||£
**227,208**
**(11,669)**
Total funds|
||||**215,539**|
||||£
242,661
(24,049)
Total funds|
||||218,612|
## **13. Analysis of net assets between funds**
29
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **14. Movements in funds**
|**Movements in funds**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Restricted funds**
Circle Fund
Frome Council
J & M Britton Charitable Trust
Legal Education Fund
Liz & Jack Daniel Foundation
NHS BHIF
Quartet
ROSA Fund
The National Lottery Awards for All
**Total restricted funds**
_Designated funds:_
Salaries
_Total designated funds_
General funds
**Total unrestricted funds**
**Total funds**
Quartet Community Foundation
**Unrestricted funds**
Avon & Somerset Police & Crime
Commissioner
The National Lottery Reaching
Communities
The National Lottery (Uplift for Cost
of Living)
The National Lottery (New
Premises)|£
917
1,730
2,500
1,940
7,111
6,323
5,075
3,549
-
-
19,490
-
3,905
4,440
56,980
55,000
55,000
106,632
161,632
218,612
At 1
September
2024|Income
£
21,000
-
2,000
-
-
11,300
82,545
-
10,000
10,000
-
37,000
-
-
173,845
-
-
154,500
154,500
328,345|£
(21,717)
(1,714)
-
-
(5,122)
(13,506)
(44,141)
(3,549)
(7,525)
-
(19,072)
(37,000)
(3,905)
(4,440)
(161,691)
-
-
(169,727)
(169,727)
(331,418)
Expenditure|**£**
**200**
**16**
**4,500**
**1,940**
**1,989**
**4,117**
**43,479**
**-**
**2,475**
**10,000**
**418**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**At 31**
**August**
**2025**|
|||||**69,134**|
|||||**55,000**|
|||||**55,000**|
|||||**91,405**|
|||||**146,405**|
|||||**215,539**|
30
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
**14. Movements in funds (continued) Purposes of restricted funds** Avon & Somerset Police & Crime Funding for VOICES' Gateway service. Commissioner Circle Fund Hardship payments for clients, administered by VOICES and monitored by SafeLives via monthly reports. Frome Council To fund client work for individuals from Frome. J & M Britton To fund client work for individuals from the Bristol area. Legal Education Fund LEF funding was provided for the facilitation of survivor consultation groups by SafeLives. Liz & Jack Daniel Foundation To fund the creche for group work and associated utilities for the premises. NHS BHIF To fund recovery practitioner salaries, a portion of rent, utilities for premises, and staff management costs. Quartet Community Foundation To fund the creche for group work and associated utilities for the premises. Quartet To fund the express grant for website upgrade. ROSA Fund Funding from Stand With Us for new Executive Officer and Centre Administrator roles, staff training, travel and wellbeing support, and consulting, IT or website improvements. The National Lottery Awards for All Therapeutic Practitioner post and staff management costs for client counselling services. The National Lottery Reaching To go towards core costs including salaries for CEO Communities and Finance Administrator. The National Lottery (New Premises) Uplift funding as part of existing Reaching Communities grant. Designated for premises project costs. The National Lottery (Uplift for Cost of To go towards cost of living increases to core and staff Living) costs.
31
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **14. Movements in funds (continued) Purposes of designated funds**
Salaries
Funds to cover salary costs if a shortfall in funding arises.
|**Prior year comparative**
**Restricted funds**
BANES CIL
BANES COMF
Circle Fund
Frome Council
J & M Britton Charitable Trust
Legal Education Fund
Liz & Jack Daniel Foundation
NHS BHIF
ROSA Fund
St John's Foundation (Programme)
The National Lottery Awards for All
Zucchetti UK Ltd
**Total restricted funds**
**Unrestricted funds**
_Designated funds:_
Salaries
_Total designated funds_
General funds
**Total unrestricted funds**
**Total funds**
The National Lottery Reaching
Communities
Avon & Somerset Police & Crime
Commissioner
Quartet Community Foundation
The National Lottery (New
Premises)
The National Lottery (Uplift for Cost
of Living)
Women's Aid Training|£
1,526
17,941
3,520
-
-
-
7,806
-
-
-
7,377
6,042
-
91
6,768
38,266
1,386
-
90,723
55,000
55,000
99,374
154,374
245,097
At 1
September
2023|Income
£
21,000
-
-
2,000
2,500
2,000
-
8,800
35,886
5,000
-
-
19,490
74,000
-
-
-
1,000
171,676
-
-
135,928
135,928
307,604|£
(21,609)
(17,941)
(3,520)
(270)
-
(60)
(695)
(2,477)
(30,811)
(1,451)
(7,377)
(6,042)
-
(74,091)
(2,863)
(33,826)
(1,386)
(1,000)
(205,419)
-
-
(128,670)
(128,670)
(334,089)
Expenditure|£
917
-
-
1,730
2,500
1,940
7,111
6,323
5,075
3,549
-
-
19,490
-
3,905
4,440
-
-
At 31
August
2024|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||56,980|
|||||55,000|
|||||55,000|
|||||106,632|
|||||161,632|
|||||218,612|
32
## **VOICES**
## **Notes to the financial statements**
## **For the year ended 31 August 2025**
## **15. Operating lease commitments**
The charity had operating leases at the year end with total future minimum lease payments as follows:
|follows:|||
|---|---|---|
|Amount falling due:
Within 1 year
Within 1 - 5 years|**2025**
**£**
**30,667**
**65,000**
**95,667**|2024
£
34,000
5,667|
|||39,667|
## **16. Related party transactions**
There were no related party transactions in the current or prior period.
33