## **Trustees’ Annual Report** 

**And Unaudited Financial Statements for the Reporting Period 01 April 2021 to 31 March 2022** 

**Charity Name:** Safer Dorset Foundation **Charity Number:** 1166234 **Address:** c/o Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Dorset Dorset Police Headquarters Winfrith Dorchester DT2 8DZ 

## **Trustees:** 

The Trustees who served the Charity for this period: 

Simon Bullock James Vaughan Jane Stitchbury 

**Objectives:** 



The objective of the charity is to support and enhance the capabilities of policing to keep communities safe by working with partners to prevent crime and empower individuals and groups to take positive action. 

The Safer Dorset Foundation is an independent charity working across Dorset that aims to support individuals, organisations and communities affected by crime and the impact of crime. 

The charity’s aims are to: 

- Promote for the benefit of the public in Dorset, in partnership with the Police, the protection of people and property from criminal acts and preventative measures. 

- Promote the efficiency of Police in Dorset, good citizenship, and greater public participation in the prevention and solution of crime in the county. 

- Improve the feeling of safety for victims of crime in Dorset. 

## **Activities:** 

## **The Bobby Van Scheme** 

In the accounting period, the Bobby Van scheme continued to expand, with the implementation of a second van and crime prevention operative to enable the scheme to have a greater geographical reach to ensure all victims across Dorset receive the same access to the service. 

This year represents the cessation of the OPCC/Police Innovation Funding, which saw the initial implementation and pilot of the scheme. As part of the long-term sustainability of the charity, the Trustees noted that future funding needed to be secured once this funding ended and were pleased to note that the Bobby Van scheme is now going to become business as usual for Dorset Police, having found the additional budget to maintain the scheme. 

## **Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Domestic Abuse (DA) and Sexual Violence (SV) Fund** 

The MOJ invited Police and Crime Commissioners to apply for funding for DA and SV services that had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This included the need to manage increased referral numbers, increased difficulties with accessing services, and increased complexity of cases. 

The charity applied to the fund to supplement the high-risk domestic abuse services, Maple, which was delivered by Dorset Police. 

This  funding  saw  additional  resources  committed  to  the  Adult  Safeguarding Team  to  undertake  research  into  Clare’s  Law  disclosures  (which  enable  the police to disclose information to a victim or potential victim of DA about their partner's  or  ex-partner's  previous  abusive  or  violent  offending)  and  manage subsequent safeguarding concerns. It also enabled recruitment of an additional Domestic Abuse Advisor to sit within the Maple team to manage the increased demand and complexity of cases. 

Following the bid process, the charity was awarded £46,543 for the period. 

## **Accounting Delays:** 

The charity recognises that it missed the 2021/22 reporting period. 



As with other public sector bodies, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was significant  as  the  charity  relies  on  the  Office  of  the  Police  and  Crime Commissioner  (OPCC)  for  administrative  support.  The  OPCC  experienced  an increase in demand during this extended period, exacerbated by some staffing difficulties and shortages which has led to the OPCC not being in a position to offer the same levels of support to the charity. 

Due to these issues, the charity is reviewing the opportunity to augment the existing OPCC support with external advice around certain professional services – including accounting. 

## **Financial Review:** 

The charity balance at the beginning of the reporting period was £408,400.75. 

A total income of £46,659.70 was received, of which £46,543.00 came from grants and £116.70 came from four small donations. 

Expenditure during the period totalled £98,707.97, leaving a net income of - £52,048.27. 



Draft Accounts attached: 


These financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 15/03/2024 and were signed on its behalf by 

………………………………………………….. 

Simon Bullock - Trustee