Cster arKI Dlstrlct Chester a District Samaritans CIO Registered charity number: 1170862 REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st March 2025 Reglstered off ice: 36 Upper North9ate Street CHESTER. CHI 4EF
Chester & District Samaritans CIO REPORTS ANt) FINANcfAL STATEMENTS For the year ended '. 31st March 2025 CONTENTS PAGE Trustees, annual report Independent examiner s report Reserves Policy Balance sheet Statement of f inancial activities Notes to the f inancial statements The followin9 Pages do not form part of the f inancial statements etai led statement of f inancial activities 10.11&12
Chester & District Samaritans CIO TRUSTEES, REPORT The trustees present their report and he unaudited f inancial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31st March 2025 LEGAL STATUS Chester and District Somaritans CIO is registered with the Charity Commission. The Registered Charity Number is 1170862. The charity IS 9overned by its Rules, which are in force since the charity was reglstered on 20 December 2016. It came into operation on l April 2017 when it took over the operations. assets and liabilities of the former charity Samaritons of Chester a District {Reg. No. 256460). This chan9e took place at the behest of the S¢maritans Central Charity to improve the operation of the service. Chester a District Samoritans is an aff iliated branch of Samaritons Central Charity- OBJECTIVES OF CHESTER a DISTRICT SAMARrrANS Samaritans exist to provide eonfidential support to anyone 90in9 through crisis and in danger of takin9 their own lives and 9row our branch to better support our local community. 365 days a yetsr. INVESTMEMf POWERS AND REsTrILON5 The Trustees are required to keep o general bank account and any other accounts for specific purposes. All money no required for current expenses shall be invested. The reserves policy is described on page 4. It has a current account with HSBC Bark plc for branch general expenses. There is also a savingsaccount with Vir9in Money. THE BRANCH LEADERSHIP TEAM Chester & District Samuritons has o branch leadership team consisting ¢f Trustees and Deputy Directors. The Trustees are elected by the brJn¢h membership and are responsible for maintainin9 the branch premises and all the faci lities necessary for the continued safe and secure operation of the listenin9 service. There are four Trustees.. The Director, Treasurer (who also takes responsibi lity for building rnaintenance), Se¢ret¢ry and onother who takes responsibi Sity for Health & Safety. Responsibility for fund-raising is token on by The Director currently. The Deputy Directors ore appointed by the Director to look after specif ic areas of branch operations. The full leadership team meets at least four times per year but the Trustees and Jirectors olso meet separately as and when required. THE TRUSTEES The trustees who served the charity durin9 the period were as follows.. Director / Chair Secretary Trustee Trustee Treasurer Secretary Lynne Barbara Steffan Bernard Simon Sally-marie Cosey Smith koughsed9e Woods Barrett RobertS*4•wios Mrs (to 5 Au9 24) (to 31 August 241 Mrs {From 6 Aug 24) i¥ Poge l.
RESULTS The f inGncial results for the year. and the charity's f iTh2nciol position at the end of the year are shown in the ottoched f inoneiol stotements. ACHIEVEMENTS Chester ond District Samoritans ore available to provide conf identiol emotional support f or people who are experiencing f eelings of distress or desprtir including those which may lead to suicide. This servite is provided by an averoge of 92 listening volunteers bocked up by 11 support volunteers whose primary aim is f und-raising. During this period 15,577 telephone contacts have been recÉived and 689 e-mails responded to. The branch has continued to support the on-line chat sÈrvice deoling Wlth 968 contacts. Our oUtrCh trn have olso supported 69 people face to face ot events held in the Chester and tsistrict area. Outreoch - We have continued to work within our communities to develop contacts, show who we ore, and show our support to community events. The Outreoch teom hove ttttended some key community events and we will continue to push this further to help our local communities with support for those in emotional need. Prison Team - Our Samaritan trained Listener teams have continued to of fer vital support to men who ore struggling to cope w1th their time in prison. Of f icers have worked with our Listeners to ensure. where possible, ttr* when o prisoner asks for o Listener, he is oble to see one. Statistics show that the risk of dying by suicide is signif icontly hi9her in UK prisons thon in the general populotiox. Our vision, both Listeners and Samoritons is that fewer people die by suicide. Fundin9 was provided f rom a voriety of sources. We benef ited f rom donotions by Paywl Giving fund. Tarporley kotary Club, Bristol Myers Squibb, among others as well as generous donotions from private benef actors. Fund-roising wos again dif f icult during the year. A more detailed description of our activities can be f ound in the Annual keport submitted to our 2025 A6M. INDEPENDENT EXAMINER David Whiteheod wos conf irmed os the Independent Exominer at the 2024 AGM Si9nEd by order of the T11•y Honorary secretory Pa9e 2.
INt)EPENDENT ExANER's UNQUALIFIED kEPOkT ro THE TkUSTEES OF CHESTEk DfsTrTcf SAMAkITANIS CIO CHARfi7 WMBEk.. 1170862 i I'CVPI-1 thc ocroiinls ol thtstcr & Districl Somoritons CIO (the Chorityl fo.. thp ypor endp4 31¥t IAftrch ?:5 Thr Cha.-ity p.-ewrcs rrif Ipts ond poymrnt.¥ tsccounl_% ond hod an inromE. le.ss thon f ?50 (XX) In the rplp.vnnt E5PONSTSfLrrtES AND 8A5fS OF REpcfftr 4$ ". h¢ rrL<feL¢ ol the Chority, you ore wponsiblt for the preporotion ol ihe occounts in occordonce Wilh Ihe rcoLipemcnls ol thc Charities Att 2011 (the Acll I rep(srt In rpect ol my examination of ihe Ch4rity's ot¢ounts ¢orried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act ond In corryin9 Out my exoninotion I hovt foll¢wed an the opplicoble Directions 9iven by the Charity Commission noer gection 14515Xbl Dt the Art. EPENtsENf EXAMtNER'S STATEIAENT I howe c¢mpleted my exam1r..10. I confirn thot no fftattri41 matters thve comt to My attenfion In c¥nntCliDn wiyh Tne examinufion 9ivirg m£ cws£ to )elie¥t In ma".eriol rtspect t1. :cotsntiry records wtre nat kepT in respect the Charity 0$ required by setfion 130 of the Act." or 2 the a:roumts not occord With those rtcords. r hove N concerns ond ho¥e come acr05s no other matter5 in connection with the exiNrtinaTion to which attention should be drown in ihis report In order to emble a proper vnderstanaiThJ of the accounts lo be reoched. Dowid Whiteheod F.C.C.A. 21 Highlonder Road 5oi9hton Chester CH3 6Dk4 Doted.. 23 July 2025 Pttge 3.
Chester & District Samaritans CIO RESERVES POLICY The branch currently holds cash reserves of £135,621 These reserves are deemed necessary for 3 purposes.. Support for on-going operations. The branch is heavily reliant on f und-raising for income and this can be variable depending on the success of particular fund-raising initiatives. It is, therefore, deemed sensible to maintain reserves equivalent to approximately 18 months expenses at minimum operating Costs (£60,000) to protect the operations of the branch against signif icant f luctuations in income. A small f und that can be used to pay for unexpected outlays on maintenance of existing premises. This has been set at £15,000. 3 Income increased during 2024/25 as a result of (l) a reduction on donations generally but an increase in private individual donations, (2) receiving the balance of 2023/24 prison grant with in the year in addition to the annual prison grant for the current year 2024/25, (3) a grant restricted f or use on capital projects at the owned property, of f set by (4) a lower 9ift aid reciept due to the annual 24/25 HMRC claim being delayed to 2025/26 year. New chairs for the Operations room and a new CCTV camera system were purchased as Captial expenditure during the year. Expenses were lower mainly as a result of the lower Berwyn prison expense claims, a decrease in the annual contribution to the Samaritans central charity, of f set by a donation to support another Samaritans af f iliated charity. As a result, our cash reserves increased by just over £4,000 during the year. Page 4.
Chester & District Samaritans CIO BALANCE SHEET 2025 2024 Note FIXED ASSETS 266.677 183,872 CURRENT ASSETS Bank 135.621 131.070 CREDITORS NET CURRENT ASSETS 135,621 131.070 NET ASSETS 402,298 314,942 REPRE5ENTEt) BY: TOTAL FUNDS 402.298 314,942 The f inancial statements set out on pages 6 to 9 were approved by the Trustees on 5 September 2025 and were signed on their beholf by.. Lynne Casey t)irector Simon Barrett Treosurer Page 5.
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Chester & District Samaritans CIO NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Year ended 31st Mar¢h 2025 ACCOUNTINE POLICIES 8asis of accountin9 The f inancial stotements have been prepared under the histerital tost convention on a Receipts a Payments bosis. generally os set out in Charity Cornmission guidance CCI6. Cash flow statement The trustees hove taken advont¢¥ of the exernption in Financial Reportirg Stondard PQO l (revised) f rom intludin9 0 cash f low statement in the f inancidl statements on the grounds thot the ¢hority Is small. Depreciation Depreciation is rolculated so ds to write off the cost of an asset. less its estimated residual vtslue. over the usef ul economic life of that osset bearin9 in mind that the off ice equipment is in use 24 hours per doy. An asset list has been set up to aid calculation of the depreciaion for each item. Freehold property Of f ice Equipment Fixtures & f ittings See below 251. io/. New assets purchased in the yeor were chairs for the operotions room. fn Awust 2024, the property was subjected to a revaluation by a chartered surveyor. The outcome of this survey was that the current volue of the property. if sold on the open market. was now £250.1X)O. Theref ore, this is the volue which is now displayed in these occounts. The next revoluation is planned f or 2034135. DONATIONS Total Funds 2025 Total Funds 2024 Voluntary donations Friends of the 5omoritans HMPPS prison team oront Gif t Aid Tox Contribution Grant Other income 22,840 3,900 10.197 228 Lo,0 17,131 4,120 8,459 2.746 371 32 826 47 164 INrrEREST RECEIVABLE 2025 2024 8ank interest receivable 576 535 Page 7.
SUPPORT COSTS l oyal Punds l otal trunds 2025 2024 Of f ice costs Head Office Funding Direct Costs 27.251 7,186 10,948 29.245 11.645 11,913 52, TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENt)ED i oyal unds l otal trunds Depreciation Other costs 2025 2024 Fundraisin9 Publicity Support Costs 39 5,131 40,254 45.385 52,803 Particulars of employees.. The average number of staff employed by the chority during the financial year amounted to: 2025 2024 Number of support staff Pa9e 8.
TAN61BLE FIXED ASSErs uttice Ixtures a Freehold property Equipment f ittings Total C05T At 31st March 2024 Assets disposed of Additions At 31st March 2025 165.000 27,155 144,241 336,396 85,000 250,000 2,935 30 090 87,935 424,331 144.241 DEPRECIATION At 31st March 2024 Assets disposed of Charqe for the year At 31st March 2025 26,397 126,127 152,524 507 26,904 4.624 130,750 5.131 157,654 NET BOOK VALUE At 31st March 2024 At 31st March 2025 165.000 250.000 758 3,187 18,114 13,491 183,872 266.677 CREDITORS: Amcyjnts falling due within one year 2025 2024 Creditors ANALYSIS OF NEf ASSErs Tangible f Ixed assets Other net assets Total Unrestricted kestricted Designated Total f unds 266,677 125,621 10,000 402,298 Pd9e 9.