2025-03-31-accounts - North East Sex Work Forum

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Registered Charity No. 1197243

Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements for the Year Ended March 2025 for the North East Sex Work Forum (NESWF)

North East Sex Work Forum (NESWF)

Report of the Trustees Year Ended March 31 2025

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2025.

Reference and Administrative Details

Registered Charity number

1197243

Address

PO Box 602 Darlington DL1 9DT Home: North East Sex Work Forum (neswf.co.uk)

Trustees

Sarah McManus Laura Mcintyre Dr Alison Jobe

Bankers

Co-operative Bank 29 High Street Durham DH1 3PL - Business Bank Accounts | Ethical Business Banking | The Co operative Bank

North East Sex Work Forum (NESWF)

Report of the Trustees

Reporting period April 24 - March 2025

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

The North East Sex Work Forum is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed by a constitution dated 16[th] March 2021, whose only voting members are its charity trustees.

Recruitment and appointment of trustees Appointment of charity trustees

(1) Apart from the first charity trustees, every trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees.

(2) In selecting individuals for appointment as charity trustees, the charity trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO.

Objectives and Activities

Objectives and aims

The charity's purposes as set out in the objects:

The objects of the North East Sex Work Forum are

(a) To promote social inclusion by working alongside people in (the North East region of the UK, particularly but not exclusively) who are socially excluded and stigmatised on the grounds of their involvement with the sex industry; to address the needs of such individuals and advocate for the more vulnerable and marginalised of the group via an ethic of care, and to promote and raise awareness of any human rights issues or discrimination regarding all members of this community.

(b) such other purposes as may be charitable in accordance with the law of England and Wales 2 Nothing in this constitution shall authorise an application of the property of the CIO for the purposes which are not charitable in accordance with [section 7 of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005] and [section 2 of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008]

Achievements and Performance

The main focus of the charity’s activities over the past year:

Established a Regional Sex Work Harm Reduction Strategic Board representing a range of frontline and strategic professionals to drive the strategic work forward. This board will ensure that regional services are inclusive of the needs of the sex work community. We now sit on a number of boards sharing the needs of the sex work community due to this such as Inclusion Health, Adult Safeguarding, national Police boards.
Regional Sex Work Harm Reduction Strategy – Further developed a collaborative network of statutory and key stakeholders across multiple disciplines alongside the sex work community to agree a cohesive harm reduction approach and implementation plan to inform policy and practice across the Cleveland area.
Expanded our robust training package for service providers to include a further range of work streams such as substance misuse services and sexual health, raising awareness and understanding to educate and inform regarding the needs of the sex work community and how to embed this into policy and practice. Delivered the package to various frontline services which has resulted in the local street sex work community having better access to outreach services and out of hours support alongside service providers reporting more confidence in how to respond to their needs.
Expanded our reach amongst the sex work community to ensure they are aware of developments across the region to provide better access to services. We also provided a platform for peer researchers to speak at our regional workshops and so inform service development.

Conducted local research commissioned by the Clear Hold Build initiative across the region to develop relationships between community residents and the women who street sex work due to rising tensions. A report was produced and plans to hold a mediated meeting will ensue with increased understanding between community members.
Delivered 4 awareness raising training sessions to staff within a local women’s prison to improve support for those identifying with resettlement pathway 9 (Sex Work), informed by peer led research previously conducted by our teams with prison residents. Residents now feel able to more freely talk about their experiences prior to incarceration.
Expanded our digital reach through our charity website, further developing its research/resource pages and expanding the service directory to include more national services for those members of the sex work community who tour and need specific services. The website is designed to provide a discreet platform for the online sex work community who are often isolated and front-line services.
Supported the development of the Sex Work Liaison model alongside the local police force, in addition to delivering a robust training package to raise awareness of the needs of the local sex work community. Local women are now reporting police have a protective and harm reduction approach to them rather than one of enforcement and inappropriate language.
Contributed to the Healthcare Inequalities learning modules on the Boost platform regarding health needs for the sex work community, ensuring front line professionals offer appropriate and needs lead services across the North East and Cumbria.

Future development plans for the next 12 months:

Development of introduction cards with local services on a QR code and pins, to support our regional Sex Work Harm Reduction Strategy and allow for key information to be shared within public and clinical areas, providing safe spaces for disclosure and specific health needs to be shared.
Continue to monitor implementation of the regional Sex Work Strategy alongside key stakeholders and the sex work community as part of a regional continuous improvement commitment, evaluating impact and areas of improvement.
Expand our Sex Work Harm Reduction training across the North East to ensure services are informed of best practice. Explore accreditation for the training programme.
Continue to develop and expand digital engagement with the sex work community and national/regional partners by expanding our website to allow for ease of access to appointments, health kits etc through a specific page dedicated to local services and developments.
To develop a digital blog to provide a platform for the sex work communities experiences to be shared and learnt from.
Provide employment opportunities for the Sex Work community through training development and delivery recognising their expertise and maintaining our inclusive approach to all service development and education.
Agree an income diversification strategy for the charity to support future sustainability.
To secure core funds to allow for project sustainability and development.

Expand membership of the board of trustees aligned to the required skills and expertise needed for robust governance of the charity including peers with expertise.
Deliver further regional learning workshops to inform, educate and provide networking opportunities to share information and best practice alongside the sex work community.
To develop a discussion forum within local prisons to allow for open conversation regarding experiences within the sex industry prior to incarceration and what the future looks like moving back into the community.
To continue to deliver staff training for the female prison estate regarding support for those who identify with resettlement Pathway 9 (Sex Work).

CHARITY ACCOUNTS

Charity Name	North East Sex Work Forum
Email Address	Gaynor.trueman@gstconsultany.co.uk
Contact Name	Gaynor Trueman (CEO)

MONEY IN

Dates	Amount	Origin	Purpose
02/04/24	£3,000.00	A Way Out Ltd	CURVE Fund (Last payment

			for the CURVE research)
24/5/24	£100.00	Agenda Alliance	Expenses for meeting attendance
10/10/24	£458.10	Open Clasp Theatre Company	Mycelial Panel
18/10/24	£100.00	Agenda Alliance	Expense for meeting attendance
28/10/24	£502.60	Open Clasp Theatre Company	Mycelial Panel
06/12/24	£19,580.00	Big Lottery Awards for All	Project Funding
06/01/25	£272.40	Open Clasp Theatre Company	Mycelial Panel
28/3/25	£1,600	Cleveland Police Training Fees	SWLO Training
Total	£25,613.1 0
Funds brought forward	£18,146.1 7

MONEY OUT

MONEY OUT
Category	Dates	Description of Services	Amount £21,144. 00 £333.69 £478.72 £312.00 £2,158.9 0 £24,427. 31 £24,427. 31 £19,331. 96
CEO Services	April 24 – March 25	Chief Executive Ofcer Role– Managing charity, delivering consultancy services/projects, overseeing funding, funding applications, project management
Conference expenses	22/04/24	Travel expenses, accommodation – Sexual Violence Conference, Manchester
Insurance	027/08/24	Marsh Commercial (Charity Insurance Payment)
Website/Email hosting	13/01/25	Digital Edge Online Solutions Limited website & Email hosting
Consultancy Fees	April 24 – March 25	Training Presenter fees, travel expenses, RLD speaker fees
		Subtotal
		Total Monies out

		Charity Funds Carried Forward

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees

on ......27/01/26......................... and were signed on its behalf by:

Date 27/01/26

Signature Name of Trustee