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2020-07-31-accounts

ANNUAL R E P O R T 2 0 1 9 2 0 2 0

WALKMINISTRIES.ORG.UK

CONTE NTS

Key Information 3
Governance and management 4
Our purpose 5
Our values 6
A word from our Chair & CEO 7
Strategic Report 9
Training 11
Volunteering & Work Experience 14
Personal Development Plans 16
Mission & Outreach 17
Churches & Partners 20
Capacity Building 21
Other News 23
The Year Ahead 24
Reserves Policy 26
Financial Review 26
Statement of fnancial activities 27

K E Y INFOR M ATI ON

Walk Ministries Organisation Type: The Walk Centre Charitable Incorporated Phoenix Street Organisation (CIO)

The Walk Centre Phoenix Street Tunstall ST6 5AH

Charity Number: 1168547

www.walkministries.org.uk info@walkministries.org.uk @wearewalkuk

Trustees

Accountants

Richard Henry Kent Gompertz (chair)

Premier Tax Solutions Ltd 17-19 Leek Road Cheadle

Howard Pickering Philip Jeremy Barber

ST10 1JE

Peter Flynn

Bankers

Wayne Gough

Lloyds Bank 7 Carter Street

David Garratt

Uttoxeter

Key Management

ST14 8HD

Governance and Management

The charity is governed by its CIO constitution document and was registered with the charity commission on 1st August 2016. Under the constitution the trustees must be appointed for a term of one year by a resolution passed at the trustee meeting.

Trustees are recruited from those who have an interest in the work of the charity and have skills to benefit the charity ’s work. All trustees are briefed in the operation of the charity when appointed.

The Chief Executive, Simon Edwards has day to day responsibility for the running of the charity and is supported by a Senior Management team including, the Chief Operating Officer, Operations Manager, Finance Officer, Administrations Manager.

Simon Edwards (CEO)

Karen Edwards (COO)

The Chief Executive reports to the chair of the trustees and provides detailed updates at quarterly meetings, where they also receive comprehensive financial information.

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4

O UR P U RPOSE

OU R

Public Benefit Statement

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commissions general guidance on public benefit, ‘Charities and Public Benefit‘.

Objectives and Activities

To promote the rehabilitation of released prisoners or individuals who are at risk of being imprisoned; to enable them to live a more structured life by such means as the trustees think fit including the provision of housing, training, advice, support and counselling with a Christian ethos.

HELPING MEN ON THEIR JOURNE Y TO FREEDOM

&

HELPING THE CHURCH TO W ELCOME MEN HOME

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A W O RD FROM...

The Chair of Trustees - Walk Ministries has continued to expand and make a significant impact, achieving our mission and charitable aims. We have a growing staff team, bringing impressive expertise, that has enabled us to meet and exceed many of the objectives we have set out. We have a strongly supportive and committed trustee board, who are able to assist with all key aspects of governance and strategy. We have successfully secured sufficient funding to continue to expand our operations, allowing us to improve our accommodation and facilities. We have diversified our income base creating greater sustainability.

In the middle of the financial year, the country moved into lockdown caused by Covid 19, which has

created significant challenges for residents and staff, all purposeful activities had to be suspended, which created instability for our residents, many operational changes were needed to ensure residents were adequately supported, the transition was managed well with many of the operational solutions providing significant benefits for the future.

Henry Gompertz

The Chief Excecutive Officer - I always say to the people I meet, “It is a privilege being part of this team.” I see year on year the love and commitment as we grow and it’s humbling. It’s amazing to be part of! What a year it’s been! From saying Yes to The Railway being purposely built for Walk as a recovery home, to working with the local council and Liberty Farm having more bed spaces. Refurbishment of our homes has started, including renewing our apartments. We have seen the partnerships we are in, in our city, flourish and become more complementary. Finally we opened an emergency hotel with partner organisations, for 55 residents straight from homelessness, or from agencies who could not house their residents because of Covid-19. It’s been a maxing, busy, focused year. We have many stories of hope, relationships restored and opportunities for our men. I do believe even in the hardship and confusion of Covid-19, Walk, its team and the men have seen so much growth and understanding.

I feel that this year our foundations have held us in good stead. They have allowed us the time to grow and establish as a Charity that has a great future ahead, built on what we love the most, the love of Christ and the Bibles teachings. It’s a privilege doing what we do now, being part of the wider team across the city and in the UK. I’m very proud to be the CEO of Walk, I’m even prouder to be part of this amazing team.

Simon Edwards

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8 8 % o f p r e v i o u s r e s i d e n t s a r e c u r r e n t l y o u t o f p r i s o n 6 4 % o f p r e v i o u s r e s i d e n t s a r e n o t u s i n g d r u g s o r a l c o h o l 9 4 % o f p r e v i o u s r e s i d e n t s a r e s t i l l o n a f a i t h j o u r n e y 8 8 % o f p r e v i o u s r e s i d e n t s a r e i n s t a b l e a c c o m o d a t i o n

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T R A INING

We have delivered bespoke training to all our residents on Self Esteem, Citizenship, Boredom & Loneliness, Work Readiness, Better Decision Making, Budgeting, Building Healthy Relationships, Romantic Relationships, Shopping and Healthy Eating.

The training is written specifically for our residents, residents report increased awareness and understanding of gaps in their social capital.

“Meeting so many different people who had previously been in prison and hearing stories about conditioning members of prison staff, I learned how subtle the process can be. It was educational, insightful and also incredibly emotional.”

Training in Safe boundaries, communication and safeguarding, is delivered to both staff and residents who are part of the work program, either volunteering or in part time employment.

We have delivered bespoke training and talks on Rehabilitating Offenders to Keele, Salford and Stafford universities.

Training was delivered to a range of Criminology students and frontline service providers. The modules included – Boundaries, Conditioning, Safe Working, Rehabilitating Offenders and devising rehabilitation strategies.

Students and staff on these sessions report vastly increased knowledge and confidence in understanding ex-offenders and rehabilitation.

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“ T h e tra i n i n g i s
l i ke a ma n u a l o f l i f e
th a t h el ps u s dea l
wi th a l l i ts u ps a n d
do wn s”
Lee W. - Wa l k Resi d ent
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WORK EXPERIENCE

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“
I have been out of prison now for over four years,
before that I could never last more than six months
before getting sent back.
In my life so far I have had thirty years of addiction and
twenty five years of prison, so where I am now is a good
place.
Life was always quick before. Quickly getting into trouble,
quickly getting into addiction, quickly ending up in prison.
At Walk I have learned to slow it all down. To sit and wait, to
trust in God and rest, to not rush through anything
Darren B. ”
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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS

We have been redesigning our current PDP resident’s evaluation system. Our original model was based on the NOMS pathways and it is evident that it does not cover all our residents’ requirements, as primarily it looks at reducing risk.

We have been developing a new evaluation tool which is based on participants needs and level of engagement. It will keep sight of the whole person, generating and sustaining motivation as this is vital to the maintenance of the process of change.

“ We star t from our beliefs and practically outwork them together. Walking alongside one another, we learn as we go.

As residents become aware of gaps in their human and social capital, and are motivated to close them. Work begins on setting achievable goals and developing con-

crete plans. This means we will be able to document the zig-zag journey that residents take from leaving prison to gaining fulltime employment and their own accommodation, and no longer requiring support.

Having a new PDP system which is person-centred will improve our staff’s capacity to support residents and provide better care.

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MISSION & OUTREACH

Each year Walk hosts a “We are men” conference. The event is for men to come together in unity and is a day of teaching and worship. Our February 2020 event was held at Longton Central Hall and the event had over 400 men from all over the UK attend, its theme was “Its our time”

Speakers on the day were, Clyde Thomas ( Victory Church, Cwmbran) Bruce Dyer (Professional footballer) Jonathan Conrathe (Mission 24) and Simon Edwards ( Walk Ministries)

They spoke on Serving, Leadership, Accountability and Authority. Andy Flute (Boxer) shared a personal testimony.

Jamie Hill, Noel Robinson, James Adams, Scott Calvert – provided worship.

“ O u r m e n a re n ot t h e s a m e, s om e of t h e m h a d a re a l t ra n s form a t io n . T h a n ks s o m u c h f or in ve s t in g i n t h e m ”

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“I t ho ug ht
I came he r e
t o day t o l e ad
wo r s hi p? I ’ ve
co me he r e t o day
t o be bl e s s e d”
Noel Robinson (Musician)
“I r e al l y e njo y e d t he We A re M e n
day. The r e i s s o mt hi ng di f f e r e n t
w he n me n co me t o g e t h e r
f o r pr ay e r and wo r s hi p ”
Peter Dixon – The filling station
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CHURCHES AND PARTNERS

Walk is supported by many churches and individuals across the city in a variety of ways.

The residents for each of our properties attend different churches. The churches are from many different denominations, providing a rich experience of church life for our men as they move through the stages of Walk, allowing them to create new relationships which extend long after their time at Walk.

Walk has given out hundreds of food, toiletry and cleaning packs to individuals and other organisations during this last year. During Covid the need for packs has increased. Churches and individuals have made many donations for Walk, which has meant we have been able to help more people.

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Kings Kid - During January and February 11 children aged 11-18 from Uganda arrived in the UK (accompanied by adults) to share songs, dancing and traditional African drumming.

Walk assisted by providing transport and a driver to enable the children to get to the venues and accommodation.

The children played in many different venues including churches, community centres, and football grounds in Chester, Crewe, Stoke-on-Trent and Basingstoke. They visited many schools and took part in the day to day school activities with the other children.

The children shared stories and testimonies, they also raised funds by selling handbags and bracelets from Uganda.

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CAPACITY

OT HER NE W S

Magazine We have produced a new magazine full of amazing stories of some of our mens journeys. We use the magazine to send into prisons to give hope to those currently serving sentences, and to raise awareness of Walk.

Minibus We received funding this year to purchase a new minibus, its used for taking residents to the doctors, probation, dentist etc, Friday is Walks residents day out where they go on walks, the new minibus has meant we can do more for our residents.

THE Y E A R A HE A D

Our focus for the next 12 months is to continue to add improvements to our buildings and homes. We believe that all of our homes should be of an excellent standard of accommodation, one of our fundraising focuses will be on providing new furnishing to properties. We also seek to ensure that we continue to increase our free reserves whilst balancing this with the operational needs of the charity.

Securing holistic support and accommodation for people leaving the prison system is challenging

“O ne i n fi ve peo pl e ser vi ng a pr i son sent enc e o f l ess t ha n si x m o nt hs we re

ho m el ess” P ris on re form t rus t

We aim to increase the number of prisons we work with, and create more awareness of ‘ Walk’ as a charity, thus being able to assist more men upon leaving prison. We remain committed to providing holistic specialised support to our residents, journeying with them as a family community. Having staff with lived experience is paramount for their journey, and we continue to develop residents into these roles.

Covid 19 had considerable impact on our residents and operations. During lockdown all of our daily activities had to cease, which caused instability. Some residents dropped back into addictions, some chose to leave and make themselves homeless, others were recalled to prison due to committing crimes. We had to adapt any large group activities into smaller safe groups, increase our support visits to properties and undertake more regular drug and alcohol testing. This all created an additional work load for our staff, and they worked extremely hard to adapt to the changes, learning new ways of operating to support residents well-being.

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R E SE R V E S PO L I C Y

The trustees aim to maintain free reserves in unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted charitable expenditure. The trustees consider that this level will provide sufficient funds to respond to operational needs and ensure that support and governance costs are covered. In 2019/20 our reserve policy equated to holding of £51,536. This doesn’t include restricted funds of £20,000.

£20,000 of this will be set aside for planned property improvements during the next year.

Due to the rapid growth of the charity reserves levels are reviewed during the year to ensure we are meeting operational and governance costs.

FI N A NCI A L R E V I E W

During the year, the charity received income totalling £679,118. The income consisted of donations of £20,293 and income from funders of £120,170.

£7,000 of this was towards a new minibus, and £113,170 was towards core and salary costs.

This includes £20,000 restricted funds to be carried forwards. Expenditure for the year was £571,915.

These financial statements were approved by the board of trustees and are signed for on behalf of the board by

Henry Gompertz (Chair)

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S TATEM ENT

Walk Ministries Statement of Income and Expenses For the year ended 31 July 2020

Independent Examiner ’s report on the accounts

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The Charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts.

The Charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner ’s statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with 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.

I have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Income
Investment Income
Donations
Income from Charitable Activites
Activities for Generating Funds
Revenue Grant Income
Direct costs
Charitable Activites
Gross Surplus
Other Administrative expenses
Charitable Activites
Wages
Premises and Office costs
Repairs
Motor and Travel costs
Professional fees
Sundry expenses
Depreciation
Governance costs
Accountancy
Net Surplus/Deficit
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
Surplus/Deficit in the period
Total funds carried forward		 £
£
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20,293
524,885
13,762
10,000
568,948
151,088
151,088
417,860
213,764
20,269
20,720
33,772
35,055
1,293
5,185
330,057
600
600
330,657
87,203
3,487
87,203
90,690
Unrestricted Funds
2020		 £
110,170
110,170
60,000
60,000
50,170
30,170
30,170
30,170
20,000
0
20,000
20,000
Restricted Funds
2020		 2020
Total funds
£
8
20,293
524,885
13,762
120,170
679,118
211,088
468,030
243,934
20,269
20,720
33,772
35,055
1,293
5,185
360,227
600
600
360,827
107,203
3,487
107,203
110,690		 2019
Total Funds
£
13,347
370,929
8,965
43,790
437,031
206,151
206,151
230,880
176,350
17,924
1,636
18,044
6,775
2,611
11,232
250
234,822
-3,942
7,429
-3,942
3,487

This was approved on 18 May 2021

Emily Precious signed on behalf of

Premier Tax Solutions Limited

Unit 1, 36 Raymond

Street Stoke-On-Trent

ST1 4DP

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Walk Ministries Statement of Financial Position As At 31 July 2020

Fixed Assets
Net Book Value
Current Assets
Debtors
Cash at bank and in hand
Current Liabilities
Creditors
PAYE
Pension
Total Assets Less Current Liabilities
Non-Current Liability
NET ASSETS
Capital Account
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
Balance carried forward		 Unrestricted
Total
2020
2020
£
£
39,154
39,154
21,880
49,448
71,328
-7,473
5,635
1,631
-207
71,535
0
110,690
90,690
20,000
110,690		 Total
2019
£
17,437
8,562
22,511
-13,949
0
3,487
3,487
0
3,487

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