2025-12-31-accounts - Chrysalis Centre For Change

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Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO

Charity number 1188750

Annual Report and Financial Statements

for the year ended 31 December 2025

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025

Contents	Page
Trustees' report	2 to 5
Examiner's report	6
Receipts and payments account	7
Statement of assets and liabilities	8
Notes to the accounts	9 to 11

Prepared by the Greater Merseyside Community Accountancy Service

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO

Trustees' report

The Trustees during the year were: Name

Andrew Vint Mrs Rita Williams Gemma Roby Gail Aspinall Mollie Bird Ian Thomson Laura Hutchings Maureen Norton Michelle Blake

Chairperson Trustee Secretary Trustee Treasurer

Dates

Resigned 8th July 2025 Resigned 17th April 2025 Resigned 13th October 2025 Appointed 8th July 2025 Appointed 8th July 2025 Appointed 8th July 2025 Appointed 8th July 2025 Appointed 9th December 2025

Method of appointment

Trustees are elected by the members at the AGM

Principal address

1st Floor Beacon Building College Street St Helens WA10 1TF

Bankers

Natwest Bank 5 Ormskirk Street St Helens WA10 1DR

Governing document

Constitution adopted 6th November 2019 Registered as a CiO Foundation on 25th March 2020 Charity number 1188750

Objects of the organisation

To relieve the needs of women in St Helens and the surrounding areas who have complex needs, in particular, but not exclusively who suffer with mental health issues as a result from domestic abuse through the provision of information, workshops and support groups.

Independent examiner

on behalf of: Greater Merseyside Community Accountancy Service

Beacon Building College Street St Helens WA10 1TF

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO

Trustees' report continued

Review of progress and achievements

Chrysalis received 1235 referrals; 42% of these referrals came from the health sector (e.g. GPs, mental health teams); 41% came from the social sector (e.g. housing services, social services, safe2Speak); 17% came from the voluntary sector, schools, self or word of mouth, social media, internet searches

We completed 901 registrations for new service users.

We had 32 counsellors in 2025; 2 employed staff; 18 students on placement; 8 self-employed; 4 volunteers. In addition we had 5 counsellors offering sessions under our private counselling service

443 women attended a total of 2731 counselling sessions. Feedback from clients includes:

"It saved me, when I thought I would never survive after what happened to me."; "I didn't understand just how much I would gain from counselling. I have now achieved everything I wanted too plus so much more. I feel confident in my emotions and feelings being valid and strong enough to share them without fear. Changed my life. You have helped me be okay with who I am now and figure out who I am as a person which is something I never knew, so thank you."

80 women attended our groups a total of 1430 times. 51 women attended the Craf & Chat group a total of 779 times. 47 women attended our Healthy Women group a total of 566 times between them. Feedback from women attending the groups includes, "My mental health has drastically improved by coming on a Tuesday and Friday."; "Chrysalis has been a lifeline for me and a lot of the other girls agree and feel the same."; "I have made new and lasting friends."

We re-established our Empowered Women group in September, which was attended 51 times by 20 women.

10 women attended a photography course which we ran in conjunction with Adult & Community Learning

We continued to collaborate with Public Health to explore the connection between suicide and domestic abuse, focusing on the available safety and support resources. We asked the team and service users to review the Staying Alive app and share their thoughts on its usefulness, as well as any suggestions for improvement.

We are collaborating with UBH (Unite Bridge Hope) providing a space for their Human book club where women from all backgrounds came together to create art around their own culture to share with each other.

We held a networking event to coincide with a celebration for our CEO, Siân, to acknowledge her 20 years of service with Chrysalis. The event also raised awareness about Autism and Neurodivergence in light of Siân’s recent Autism diagnosis. We were joined by more than 20 organisations and as part of the awareness raising, we used a game format playing, “Autism is / Autism isn’t” and “Neurodivergent Bingo”, both looked at some of the biggest myths around Autism in particular, and how these impact the autistic community. The story has been covered in the press several times, and details of it were posted on our Facebook page.

Administration & Policies

All policies were reviewed and approved at the Annual General Meeting

We successfully completed our annual Health and Safety audit and Julie our H&S officer was commended in several key areas.

Employment Contracts are reviewed and updated annually in accordance with Employment Law.

Domestic abuse support continues to feature heavily in our remit and as such, we continue to be a part of the DV partnership board and fortnightly MARAC conferences. We also receive more complex referrals and as such ensure that we offer a trauma-informed service making adjustments were needed.

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO Trustees' report continued

Volunteer Contributions & Development

Our Craft & Chat and Healthy Women Groups, led by staff member Lindsay are supported by volunteers, Rose, Jill and Georgia, as well as Trustee Mo and her therapy dog Molly. Throughout the year they have arranged visits from the Deafness Resource centre, a specialist in oesteoperosis, social prescribers, Healthy Living and Citizens Advice. In addition they arranged a self-defence awareness session and a Breakfast with Santa session in collaboration with Fuel, a community cafe. The ladies were taken to a community grocery and were able to join and receive groceries at a reduced cost

Volunteers and our Fundraising committee were integral in organising our Summer Fun Day which raised £400

Volunteers were involved in us Chrysalis engaging with and sharing information with a large number of organisations including YPDAAT, social prescribers, St Helens Carers and Young Carers, Jobcentre Plus, Time to Talk, Healthy Living and the Deafness Resource Centre.

Volunteers and other team members completed training on Domestic Abuse Impact on the Child and ASIST training (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training)

Fundraising

We have an ongoing Contract with St Helens CCG for running costs.

We are now in our 4th year of funding from the Safe Accommodation Support Fund via the Domestic Abuse Partnership Board to help us reduce the waiting time for counselling for victims of domestic abuse

We received our 3rd year of funding from the Office of the Police & Crime Commission for Merseyside to support victims of domestic and sexual abuse. We attended a Keep in touch meeting with Merseyside PCC, to discuss our progress, support and future funding as part of the grant agreement with them.

We are currently in the second year of funding from The National Lottery’s Reaching Communities Fund, which is supporting our work to develop and grow our own income-generating activity and move towards greater long-term sustainability

We received funding to run cancer awareness sessions, we will be discussing how we feel about screening tests for cancer, what happens when we notice symptoms, going to the doctor with symptoms, what changes would you like to see, self-care, support, reducing the risk of cancer, having honest conversations. Those who took part were given a voucher for a full holistic therapy treatment

We received a grant of £20,000 from Pilkington Charities Trust to support running costs, volunteer expenses and to enable us to create another private office for staff to engage in confidential work. The grant also enabled us to fund Julie, Manager, to complete training to become a Menopause Champion. Once she has completed the training we will be offering regular menopause meet ups sessions

2 staff members received £7170 from Access to Work to support their disabilities in the work place

We received a grant of £20,000 from Awards for All to supports our work with domestic abuse survivors. It also, enables us to have a dedicated person to undertake networking activities for us, supports our volunteer counsellors with supervision and BACP costs and gives us a small accessibility budget so that we can support women with disabilities and those whose first language is not English to attend.

We received a grant of £2000 from the Tillotson Bradbery Trust to support running costs.

We received £3000 from the LCVS Community Impact Fund to support the groups we offer at Chrysalis.

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO

Trustees' report continued

We raised over £400 from our Summer Fun Day in August, arranged by our Fundraising Committee which is made up of staff, volunteers and service users. They plan events throughout the year and any income is spilt in half - half given to Chrysalis for running costs and half is used to spend on the service users so they can enjoy activities such as a movie afternoon or visit to a community grocery.

We continue to offer our private counselling service and range of online courses raising £1261

We are part of the St Helens Lottery where people can buy ticket, choose a charity and then we receive 60% of those ticket sales. We received £240

We received a donation of £400 from the True Light Lodge of Friendship, Masons organisation and £200 from the Hope Masonic Lodge in Brynn

New Developments & Significant Changes

We were delighted to welcome 5 new trustees onto our Board in 2025. Laura Hutchings, Ian Thomson, Mo Norton, Mollie Bird and Michelle Blake. Laura has her own marketing business and 20+ years experience in marketing and PR, Ian has worked his whole life as a professional in the NHS and has also service as a Magristrate for 20 years. Mollie is our new treasurer, she has been a qualified accountant for over two years and has over 5 years corporate experience. Mo has been involved with Chrysalis on a voluntary basis for a number of years, she has a wealth of experience in the charitable sector involved with the Peace Centre in Warrington and as a member of the WAVE charity in Belfast working towards peace and reconciliation. Michelle was a university lecturer specialising in neurodiversity and now runs a community interest company that provides neurodiversity training and peer support services for neurodivergent people. Michelle got in touch with Chrysalis after seeing the press coverage about our 20 year celebration event.

We recruited a new Counselling Lead, Karen who has quickly become an integral part of the team, using her wealth of experience to mentor the student counsellors and offer clinical support to all counsellors

We recruited a new Administrator, Jess, starting in January 2026.

We are in the process of developing training around the links between domestic abuse and suicide. We hope to roll this out in 2026.

We now have our own Menopause Champion in-house and will be offering expert led sessions in 2026

We continue to develop our range of online courses and plan to offer a wider range in 2026 including courses on confidence and assertion, experiencing late diagnosed autism in females, understanding menopause as well as practitioner courses on working with grief, and working with trauma. All courses are written and developed in-house by women with lived experience.

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO

Independent examiner's report on the accounts of Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO for the year ended 31 December 2025

I report on the accounts of the charity set out on pages 7 to 11

Respective responsibilities of the Management Committee and the 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 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

q examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,

q to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and

q to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of Independent examiner's report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair' view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

q accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act or q the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

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.

Jane Williams

Jane Williams MAAT Greater Merseyside Community Accountancy Service Beacon Building College Street St Helens WA10 1TF

10th March 2026

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO Receipts and payments account for the year ended 31 December 2025

Notes 2025 Unrestricted funds £ Receipts Grants and donations (2) 9,570 Better Life Therapies 1,261 Fundraising 8,232 Total receipts 19,063 Payments Wages & Salaries (3) - Payroll support - HR - Access to Work 6,899 Occupational Health - Recruitment - Rent & Room Hire - Refurbishment Costs - Volunteer expenses - Networking 379 Better Life Therapies 6,747 Phone and postage - Printing and stationery - Advertising and publicity - Health & Safety - Memberships - Professional Fees 735 Professional Counselling Fees - Furniture - DBS Checks - Fundraising - Training - Accountancy / independent examination - Crafts & Activities Expenses - Insurance - Supervision - Cleaning - Refreshments - Digital Development & IT - Bank Charges - Total payments 14,760 Net receipts / (payments) 4,303 Cash fund balances brought forward 9,970 Cash fund balances carried forward (4) 14,273	2025 Restricted funds £ 342,925 - 342,925 150,164 552 1,627 2,158 - 850 29,404 - 1,425 - - 4,429 7,263 15,046 1,898 508 17,241 73,260 677 233 236 6,602 300 911 1,648 3,490 3,133 443 1,931 206 325,634 17,290 69,624 86,914	2025 Total funds £ 352,495 1,261 8,232 361,988 150,164 552 1,627 9,057 - 850 29,404 - 1,425 379 6,747 4,429 7,263 15,046 1,898 508 17,976 73,260 677 233 236 6,602 300 911 1,648 3,490 3,133 443 1,931 206 340,395 21,593 80,182 101,775	2024 Total funds £ 257,920 - 7,255
			265,175
			132,952 666 - - 3,750 362 27,225 6,290 1,263 56 4,251 3,850 5,736 8,212 137 310 6,808 75,031 - 265 10 380 300 244 1,550 2,590 3,062 722 829 174
			287,025
			(21,850) 102,032
			80,182

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO Statement of assets and liabilities

as at 31 December 2025

2025 Unrestricted Cash funds £ Cash at bank ~ Chrysalis Centre for Change 14,753 Paypal account 5 Cash in hand 104 Total cash funds 14,861 2025 Assets retained for the organisation's own use Unrestricted Equipment at cost 1,062 Liabilities HMRC Accountancy	2025 Restricted £ 86,914 - - 86,914 2025 Restricted 12,995	2025 Total £ 101,667 5 104 101,775 2025 £ 14,057 14,057 £ - - -	2024 Total £ 79,942 140 100
			80,182
			2024 £ 14,057
			14,057
			£ - -
			-

Approval of the accounts

The annual report and accounts were approved at a meeting of the Trustees held on 10th March 2026

Maureen Norton

Maureen Norton Trustee

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO

Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025

1 Accounting Policies

a Basis of accounting

The Trustees have taken advantage of section 42 (3) of the Charities Act 1993 and have prepared the accounts on a receipts and payments basis.

b Taxation

As a registered charity the organisation benefits from rates relief and is generally exempt from income tax and capital gains tax but not from VAT. Irrecoverable VAT is included in the cost of those items to which it relates.

c Fund accounting

Funds held by the charity are either:

Unrestricted general funds

These are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds

These are funds that can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Designated funds

These are funds set aside by the trustees out of unrestricted general funds for specific future purposes or projects.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the accounts.

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO

Notes to the accounts continued for the year ended 31 December 2025

2 Grants and Donations The National Lottery: Reaching Communities NHS St Helens CCG Police & Crime Commissioner for M'side St Helens Council: SASF Henry Smith John Moores Foundation Tillotson Bradbery Charitable Trust Halton & St Helens VCA Cancer Alliance St Helens Rotary TNL: Awards for All Pilkingtons Charities Fund LCVS: CIF Community Foundation M'side UKSPF Fund Access to Work Donations 3 Staff costs and numbers Gross salaries Social security costs Pensions	2025 Unrestricted funds £ - - - - - - 2,000 - 400 - - - - - 7,170 - 9,570	2025 Restricted funds £ 86,265 67,674 58,000 56,566 29,500 - - 1,920 - 20,000 20,000 3,000 - - - - 342,925	2025 Total funds £ 86,265 67,674 58,000 56,566 29,500 - 2,000 1,920 400 20,000 20,000 3,000 - - 7,170 - 352,495 2025 £ 136,654 12,691 819 150,164	2024 Total funds £ 44,473 80,903 58,000 28,283 26,400 5,000 - - - - - - 9,471 4,950 - 440
				257,920
				2024 £ 124,478 7,962 512
				132,952

No employee earned £60,000 per annum or more in the current accounting period The average number of employees during the year was 4 FTE

Chrysalis Centre for Change CiO Notes to the accounts continued for the year ended 31 December 2025

4 Restricted funds summary NHS St Helens CCG TNL: Reaching Communities Police & Crime Com For M'side Henry Smith John Moores Fdtn Halton & St Helens Cancer All TNL: Awards for All Pilkingtons CT LCVS: CiF UKSPF Fund St Helens Council: SASF	Balance b/f £ 8,864 13,159 19,276 - 243 - - - - 4,950 23,132 69,624	Incoming £ 67,675 86,265 58,000 29,500 - 1,920 20,000 20,000 3,000 - 56,566 342,926	Outgoing £ 76,535 84,573 61,013 29,500 243 889 6,893 659 24 4,950 60,357 325,636	Transfers £ - - - - - - - - - - - -	Balance c/f £ 4 14,851 16,263 - - 1,031 13,107 19,341 2,976 - 19,341
					86,914

Purpose of restricted funds

St Helens Council have provided funding for general running costs and to support victims of domestic abuse by reducing our waiting times for counselling for them. It came through a fund called the Safe Accommodation Support Fund.

St Helens CCG funding is to provide a Women’s Support Service and Domestic Violence Support Service.

Henry Smith, John Moores Foundation, funding are all for running costs.

The National Lottery’s Reaching Communities Fund is supporting our work to develop and grow our own income-generating activity and move towards greater long-term sustainability.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside: £58,000 was awarded to support victims of domestic and sexual abuse.

UKSPF Fund: For a tailored program of team cohesion, wellbeing and leadership development sessions.

We received £3000 from the LCVS Community Impact Fund to support the groups we offer at Chrysalis.

We received a grant of £20,000 from Pilkington Charities Trust to support running costs, volunteer expenses and to enable us to create another private office for staff to engage in confidential work. The grant also enabled us to fund a member of staff to complete training to become a Menopause Champion

We received a grant of £20,000 from Awards for All to support our work with domestic abuse survivors. It also, enables us to have a dedicated person to undertake networking activities for us, supports our volunteer counsellors with supervision and BACP costs and gives us a small accessibility budget so that we can support women with disabilities and those whose first language is not English to attend.

5 Trustee remuneration and expenses

No trustees received any remuneration or expenses during the period.

6 Related party transactions

Owing to the nature of the charity's activities and the composition of the board of trustees (being drawn from local statutory and voluntary organisation), it is inevitable that transactions will take place with organisations in which a trustee may have an interest. All transactions in which a trustee may have an interest are conducted at arm's length and in accordance with the charity's financial regulations and expenditure procedures.