Annual Report 2023/24 Herts Area Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre
CONTENTS
THE GROUP........................................................................................................................................................... 3 AIMS..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 OBJECTIVES........................................................................................................................................................... 3 OUR PHILOSPHY....................................................................................................................................................3 OUR SERVICES....................................................................................................................................................... 4 RAPE CRISIS ENGLAND AND WALES (RCEW) – RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT STATISTICS: SOURCES...........................5 THE PAST 12 MONTHS........................................................................................................................................... 6 HELPLINE ACTIVITY................................................................................................................................................7 WAITING LIST........................................................................................................................................................ 8 COUNSELLING........................................................................................................................................................ 8 COUNSELLING HOURS DELIVERED 2023 – 2024.......................................................................................................9 ABOUT THE COUNSELLING SESSIONS......................................................................................................................9 PRE-THERAPY GROUP WELLBEING WORKSHOPS..................................................................................................10 CLIENT FEEDBACK – END OF SERVICE SURVEY.......................................................................................................11 OTHER COMMENTS – CLIENTS END OF SERVICE SURVEY.......................................................................................12 FUTURE PLANS..................................................................................................................................................... 13 SUGGESTIONS AND FEEDBACK.............................................................................................................................13 ACCESS TO POLICIES AND PROCEDURES...............................................................................................................14 COMPLAINTS....................................................................................................................................................... 14 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................................................14 FUNDING............................................................................................................................................................. 15 INCOME 2023/24................................................................................................................................................. 15 EXPENDITURE 2023/24 AND BUDGET 2024/2025..................................................................................................15 EXPENDITURE AND BUDGET.................................................................................................................................16 BUDGET FOR 2024/25..........................................................................................................................................16 AUDITED ACCOUNTS & RESERVE..........................................................................................................................17
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023– 31[st] March 2024
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THE GROUP
Herts Area Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre (HARCSAC) has been operating since 1986 and is located in Hatfield. We are a registered charity (No.1194253).
HARCSAC is run and delivered by a group of fifteen women volunteers who have undergone specialist training in rape and sexual abuse counselling, with one paid part-time Office Manager, one part-time Service Support Coordinator and one part-time Volunteer/Group Coordinator.
AIMS
To offer free and confidential support to any woman aged over 18 living in Hertfordshire who has experienced rape, sexual assault, or any form of sexual abuse at any time in her life.
OBJECTIVES
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To listen to, and believe, the women who contact us.
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To support and assist them in reviewing their options by providing free confidential counselling or support through the appropriate medium.
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To provide them and their family and friends with information.
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To promote education and research into sexual violence.
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To give ongoing training to our women counsellors.
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To set up and maintain a co-ordinated group of contacts to work in partnership with other organisations.
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To receive training on related issues for our ongoing professional development.
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To provide training for any local group wishing to increase their awareness of the needs of rape/sexual abuse survivors.
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To obtain funding for all of the above and to enable us to continue to employ staff.
OUR PHILOSPHY
HARCSAC is committed to a client-led approach to service delivery and understands that the women who use our services are best placed to identify their own recovery needs. We offer trauma informed, non-judgemental, non-directive information, counselling, and support in order to assist each woman’s individual recovery process. All women are supported in their choices with regard to their human rights including sexual health, reproductive rights and the right to safe abortion.
We will not contact a woman at the request of a third party as we feel strongly that she needs to come to the decision to make the initial contact herself. For any woman to undergo counselling and to talk about her experiences, often for the first time, is a very big step and one that takes a great deal of courage. In our experience, it is not helpful to a woman if she is pressurised or pushed into counselling by anyone, however well-meaning they may be.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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OUR SERVICES
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Calls to our helpline are answered by a volunteer counsellor on Thursday evenings between 7.30pm - 9.30pm. At all other times callers can leave a message and a volunteer counsellor will return the call as soon as possible. This service operates 365 days per year.
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Free and confidential face to face counselling is available by appointment at our Centre in Hatfield.
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Free and confidential face to face counselling can also be delivered via a secure online platform.
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We endeavour to make outreach services available if a woman is unable to access either ‘in person’ or on-line support due to financial or technological hardship.
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We can offer information on rape and sexual abuse related issues to survivors and to their families and friends, including details of other agencies offering complementary services.
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Presentations to local groups and organisations wishing to increase their awareness of the needs of rape/sexual abuse survivors.
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Although we cannot provide counselling via email or text, we use these to share information about our service and sometimes signpost to other services.
Here at HARCSAC we are very proud that:
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We are rated very highly by the women that access our services.
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Our services are free at the point of delivery.
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We offer a trauma informed client-focused approach empowering women to address their own individual needs.
It is only possible to deliver our services in the flexible way that we do because of the commitment and dedication of our volunteer counsellors and staff.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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RAPE CRISIS ENGLAND AND WALES (RCEW) – RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT STATISTICS: sources
We continued to work in line with the Rape Crisis England and Wales National Service Standards, which represent recognised standards of best practice and quality across the Rape Crisis network and have been mapped against other quality assurance frameworks.
Statistics about sexual violence and abuse
With so many myths surrounding rape, sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence and abuse, it can sometimes be hard to know what to believe. Here are some key statistics from trusted sources showing the scale of the problem in England and Wales.
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67,928 rapes were recorded by Police between April 2023 and March 2024. Source: Office of National Statistics (2024).
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By the end of March 2024, charges had been brought in just 2.6% of recorded rape cases. Source: Home Office (2024).
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Fewer than 3 in 100 rapes are recorded by police between April 2023 and March 2024 resulted in a charge that same year. Source: Home Office (2024).
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There’s currently a record number of sexual offence cases that are waiting to go to court: 10,141. Source: Ministry of Justice (2024).
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1 in 2 rapes against women are carried out by their partner or ex-partner. Source: Office for National Statistics (2021).
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6 in 7 rapes against women are carried out by someone they know. Source: Office for National Statistics (2021).
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91% of people prosecuted for sexual offences are men aged 18+. Source: Office for National Statistics (2018).
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5 in 6 women who are raped don’t report – and the same is true for 4 in 5 men Source: Office for National Statistics (2021).
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Lots of survivors tell someone else what happened. So, why don’t they tell the police? Source: Office for National Statistics (2021).
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40% said ‘embarrassment’
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38% said they didn’t think the police could help
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34% said they thought it would be humiliating
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6.5 million women in England and Wales have been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16. Source: Office for National Statistics (2023).
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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9 in 10 girls and young women in schools say sexist name-calling and being sent unwanted ‘dick pics’ or other images of a sexual nature happens to them or other girls and young women their age. Source: Ofsted (2021).
1 in 2 adult survivors of rape have experienced it more than once. Source: Office for National Statistics (2021).
How many women are raped or sexually assaulted every year? 798,000. That’s 1 in 30 women. Source: Office for National Statistics (2023).
1 in 3 adult survivors of rape experience it in their own home. Source: Office for National Statistics (2021).
You can find more statistics about rape and other forms of sexual violence and abuse at:
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End Violence Against Women: endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk
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Crown Prosecution Service: cps.gov.uk
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Office for National Statistics: ons.gov.uk
THE PAST 12 MONTHS
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Thanks to extended funding from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) our Centre can employ 1 parttime Office Manager/Fundraiser working 16 hours per week and 1 part-time Service Support Co-ordinator working 20 hours per week and 1 part-time Volunteer & Group Coordinator 12 hours per week.
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Our helpline dealt with 867 contacts either by telephone or email.
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A total of 566 hours of face-to-face counselling were carried out at the centre and/or via video.
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Our face-to-face training course started in February 2023 and completed in June 2023. We were successful in recruiting 6 new volunteer counsellors.
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In addition to working with clients our volunteers donated 295 working days, throughout the reporting period, to ensure the smooth running of the organisation - covering general admin, training, special projects, compliance and providing education.
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We continue with our regular external clinical supervision to facilitate individual and group development and ensure best practice.
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We continue to play an active role within the Rape Crisis community by maintaining full membership of Rape Crisis England and Wales (RCEW) and attending bi-monthly online regional meetings and managers/director’s liaison meetings. Several volunteers attended online seminars and workshops at the RCEW Annual conference.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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HELPLINE ACTIVITY
During the period of this report, HARCSAC received 867 calls/emails to the helpline.
Calls and emails to the helpline decreased slightly by just under 4% from 899 during 2022/23.
INCOMING HELPLINE ACTIVITY 2023 – 2024
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80
60
40
20
0
April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March
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95% of messages left on the helpline are returned on the same day or within 24 hours.
We support partners, friends and family of survivors who are seeking information.
We do not work with male survivors but treat callers sympathetically and can signpost them to male support organisations.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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WAITING LIST
In 2023-24 our waiting list was 69 women.
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120
100
80
60
40
20
0
April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March
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COUNSELLING
Prior to accepting a woman onto our waiting list, we carry out an initial risk assessment so that she/we can jointly determine whether the service we offer is likely to be appropriate for her. We offer trauma informed, client-led counselling with regular reviews, to ensure that the service remains relevant and appropriate to the client’s needs. Many of the women who contact us are speaking of their experiences for the first time.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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COUNSELLING HOURS DELIVERED 2023 – 2024
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90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March
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ABOUT THE COUNSELLING SESSIONS
Clients meet with two specialist trained female volunteer counsellors on a fortnightly basis at a regular time. In our experience this is the optimum timescale to allow the client to process each session.
HOW LONG WE PROVIDE THE SERVICE FOR
We will aim to work with the client initially for 20 sessions. During this time, we will regularly review how they are getting on to ensure that our service remains both relevant and appropriate. We will always try to be flexible in extending the service if the woman’s needs are more complex.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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PRE-THERAPY GROUP WELLBEING WORKSHOPS
The aim of the workshop is for potential clients to support each other in gaining more understanding about their reactions to trauma and explore healthy ways of coping.
In January 2024 we started our first Group Workshop for some women on our waiting list.
The topics covered in the workshops were determined by the attendees and included anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks, sleep disturbance and nightmares, managing emotions, self-esteem, healthy relationships and health and wellbeing.
The feedback from women attending the groups, was very positive. Please see below.
‘ I was very happy with the group meeting, it was a good way of talking and hearing how other people in this situation feel and how it affects them, on some level it makes you feel like you’re not alone and how your feeling is normal. Found the sessions very informative and helpful very lovely ladies that run the meeting and seem very dedicated to helping us’.
‘As this was the pilot to future workshops, I thought it was very well run and very informative’.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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CLIENT FEEDBACK – End of Service Survey
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8.4%
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Other Comments – Clients End of Service Survey Please explain other ways in which counselling made a difference to you.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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‘For me my counselling session evolved into a space of trust and understanding, something I have not felt/experienced before. This led to me to gently unfold my experience/trauma to heal in a safe space, with encouragement to let go and work towards a better way of living’.
‘To have a safe space in which to talk was invaluable. To be heard, to share things I couldn’t tell anyone else, without being judged, was such a help and relief. I was in a very low place, not functioning well and having the opportunity to talk has brought me to a better place. One with more clarity and hope’.
‘It gave me the time and space to share my experience and feelings and to heal from the trauma of rape. I no longer re-live the experience on a regular basis, I know that it was not my fault and I think I am better equipped for the future’.
‘The counselling enabled me to understand myself and it empowered me to make changes which have enriched the quality of my life’.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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FUTURE PLANS
In addition to offering our usual services to women in Hertfordshire who have experienced any form of sexual violence we are also planning to do the following during the forthcoming year:
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Continue our professional development in a structured manner and actively seek out relevant external courses.
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Develop the reach of our ongoing in-house new volunteer training so that we can increase our number of volunteers.
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Continue our commitment to inter-agency liaison and partnership working e.g., partnerships with Herts SARC and SHPG.
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DPMS Database - All members will be offered continued training and development of the database and our reporting capabilities.
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Website/Intranet – complete the review and update of our website. This aims to be completed by the end of 2024.
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To continue our ongoing review and updating of our policies and procedures.
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Comply with all requests for reporting, for example every 6 months for MoJ; Annually for Charity Commission; new requests from anyone who donates money and wants to see how it is used.
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RCEW National Service Standards – Our accreditation is due to be submitted in June 24 and our service standards will be verified by the Independent Quality Assurance panel.
SUGGESTIONS AND FEEDBACK
We are always looking for ways to improve and develop our service. When a client finishes her counselling, we ask her to complete a feedback form which is used to inform our service for the future. This can be done anonymously if preferred. Suggestions and feedback are also welcomed and encouraged during the counselling relationship.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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ACCESS TO POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
It is our policy to provide open, honest and transparent services. Full access to our Policies, Procedures are available upon request and our Annual Reports including audited accounts are available on our website at www.hertsrapecrisis.org.uk.
COMPLAINTS
We hope that our clients will not have reason to do so but should they wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our service, they may initially address this with the person concerned. If, however, this is not a suitable course of action for them, they should make a complaint in writing to: The Chair of Trustees, PO Box 256, Hatfield, Herts AL10 ONE or by e-mail to admin@hertsrapecrisis.org.uk.
A copy of our complaints procedure and form are also available upon request.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank the following people who have helped HARCSAC in the past year:
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Peter Holman who kindly does the final parts of the bookkeeping every year. We recognise the time and effort that this takes.
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Brenda Alcock who very kindly audits our accounts. We are very grateful for Brenda’s continued help and support.
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James Tiplady, Centre Manager, and his team for opening our premises at unsociable hours.
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Volunteer Counsellors, Trustees, Staff and Members of HARCSAC for their continued support.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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FUNDING
Our finances for 2023/24, in terms of grant, were focused on money from the Ministry of Justice with £52,268.00 . The only other grant giving body was POhWER, who work on behalf of Hertfordshire Count Council, who gave us £2,500.
However, we did have other donations totalling £4,805. D Wilkins continues to support us on a monthly basis and we had a new monthly regular contributer – Verinder. Patsy Daeche ran a charity raffle for HARCSAC; the Soroptimists again gave us £100 and we also had regular funds from the Broxbourne and Wel/Hat Lottery organisations. Several members of a local gym contributed this year, donating funds from a local tennis tournament.
HARCSAC is indebted to all organisations and individuals that provide us with funds as without these resources we could not continue supporting women.
Details of our income for 2023/2024 are in the following table.
INCOME 2023/24
| INCOME 2023/24 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Grants | Ministryof Justce | £45,400.00 |
| POhWER | £2,500.00 | |
| Sub total | £47,900.00 | |
| Donatons | D Wilkins | £600.00 |
| Bingo Night byHARSAC | £1,068.00 | |
| PatsyDaeche - Rafe for HARCSAC | £740.00 | |
| Broxbourne Lotery | £130.00 | |
| Members of a local Gym | £480.00 | |
| Soroptmists | £100.00 | |
| Verinder | £60.00 | |
| Wel/Hat Lotery | £27.00 | |
| Other donatons | £1,943.00 | |
Sub total |
£5,148.00 | |
| Bank interest | £1,615.00 | |
| GRAND TOTAL | £54,663.00 |
EXPENDITURE 2023/24 AND BUDGET 2024/2025
The figures in the table below have some different side headings for 2024/25 or descriptions compared to 2023/24. This has been undertaken as the headings for 2023/24 are a requirement of a major funder.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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EXPENDITURE AND BUDGET
| EXPENDITURE TYPE | BUDGET 2023/24 |
EXPENDITURE 2023/24 |
BUDGET 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Charges | £120.00 | ||
| Marketng/Advertsingand Recruitment | £3,500.00 | £1,700.00 | £3,500.00 |
| Wellbeingof staf and volunteers | £1,600.00 | £1,941.00 | £1,600.00 |
| Insurance | £1,500.00 | £1,607.00 | £1,500.00 |
| General Expenses | £100.00 | £391.00 | £100.00 |
| Admin(Statonery/Postage/Printngetc) | £1,300.00 | £979.00 | £1,300.00 |
| Rent | £6,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £6,000.00 |
| External/room hire | £300.00 | £133.00 | £300.00 |
| IT Support | £2,220.00 | £2,475.00 | £3,000.00 |
| Staf Salaries | £38,906.00 | £33,012.00 | £40,056.00 |
| IT and telephone services | £2,200.00 | £1,515.00 | £4,170.00 |
| Consultancyand contracts | £1,000.00 | £1,750.00 | £1,000.00 |
| Subscriptons | £100.00 | £30.00 | £100.00 |
| Counsellors’ Expenses | £6,000.00 | £6,009.00 | £6,000.00 |
| Trainingand supervision | £6,000.00 | £7,890.00 | £6,000.00 |
| Ofce equipment | £1,000.00 | £433.00 | £1,000.00 |
| Furniture & Equipment | £150.00 | £203.00 | £150.00 |
| IT and telephone equipment | £1,750.00 | £1,515.00 | £1,750.00 |
| TOTAL | £73,926.00 | £70,065.00 | £74,646.00 |
The expenditure in 2023/24 was £3,861 less than was budgeted for. This was largely due to; not using our advertising budget for new recruits as we obtained a list from a free alternative source; we did not experience a rent rise and we had two staff vacancies. One vacancy was for two months and another for five months. Some of this shortfall was offset by spending more than we planned in training/supervision, consultancy and contracts.
At the end of 2023/24 our cash in hand balance was £27,524. The Trustees decided to keep this in the current account to allow some flexibility in the coming year. This was because our income for 2024/25 was uncertain as we had to find at least 40% of our funding from non MoJ resources.
Our reserves at the end of 2023/24 were £71,692. This is not as much as we planned but is still helpful as it enables us to offer continuity of service to women in the event that our current funding sources dry up, and it would offer protection to the expected rise in running costs.
BUDGET FOR 2024/25
We have increased the budget for 2024/25 as we will have three members of staff and not two. This is because of our part time worker has organisd our planned group work which focuses on the wellbeing of women on the waiting list. This work has had good feedback from the women who have attended. This new worker will now manage a new training course for which funds are required. After this she will plan a more efficient way of allocating volunteer support workers/counsellors to clients on the waiting list.
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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HARCSACAnnual Report and Accounts I. April 2023- 31" March 2024 Page 17 of 19
AUDITED ACCOUNTS & RESERVE
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023– 31[st] March 2024
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Ways you can help…
Here are some ways to get involved.
Fundraise
Choose Herts Area Rape Crisis as your Company’s Charity of the Year. Arrange a fundraising event or activity. Take on a challenge.
Volunteer
Help at one of our events.
Donate
Make a contribution online, via bank transfer, by phone or by cheque. Provide prizes for us to auction or raffle.
Legacy Giving
Leave a gift in your will.
Contact details
P.O. Box 256, Hatfield. Hertfordshire. AL10 0NE Registered Charity: 1194253 www.hertsrapecrisis.org.uk
Telephone Admin : 01707 276539 / Email : admin@hertsrapecrisis.org.uk Telephone Helpline : 01707 276512 / Email: helpline@hertsrapecrisis.org.uk
Find us on Facebook: crisis87 / Twitter : @hertsrapecrisi5
HARCSAC Annual Report and Accounts 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024
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Audited Accounts T•* Allli
Auditorfs Re ort I have examined the financial statements of the Herts Area Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre in accordance with approved accounting standards and in my opinion, they give a true and fair view of the charity's affairs as at 31, March 2024. J hi L fr-cA B Alcock F.C.A.