**Charity Registration No. 1198393 Company Registration No. 12888233 (England and Wales)**
**SAFE SPACES ENGLAND AND WALES REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
**FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 (A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE)**
## **Safe Spaces England and Wales**
## _Reference and administrative information_
|**Trustees**|The Rt. Rev’d Paul James Mason|The Rt. Rev’d Paul James Mason|
|---|---|---|
||Dr James Herbert Harrison||
||Paul McCallum||
||The Rt. Rev’d Julie Anne Conalty(appointed 9 May 2023)||
||Craig|Russo(appointed 1 May 2024)|
||Paul Langham(appointed 1 May 2024)||
|**Charity Number**|1198393||
|**Company Number**|12888233||
|**Principal Address & Registered Office**|Church House||
||Great|Smith Street|
||London||
||SW1P|3AZ|
|**Independent Examiners**|Jane Askew||
||Haysmacintyre LLP||
||10 Queen Street Place||
||London||
||EC4R|1AG|
|**Bankers**|Lloyds Bank plc||
||1 Legg Street||
||Essex||
||CM1 1JS||
|**Solicitors**|Charles Russell Speechlys LLP||
||5 Fleet Place||
||London||
||EC4M 7RD||
1
**Safe Spaces England and Wales**
## _Trustees’ Report (incorporating a Strategic Report)_
The trustees present their trustees’ report (which is a directors’ report for company law purposes) together with the Independent Examiner’s report, for the year ended 31 December 2023.
## **The Charity**
Safe Spaces England and Wales (SSEW) is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 18 September 2020 and registered with the Charity Commission on 18 March 2022. The Charity’s governing document is its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
The Charity is a Joint Venture between the Church of England (represented by the Archbishops’ Council (AC)) and the Catholic Church in England and Wales (represented by the Catholic Trust for England and Wales (CaTEW)) each of which is a member and guarantor.
## **Governance, structure and management**
The two members (the AC and CaTEW) each have the right to appoint up to two trustees. In addition, two independent trustees may be appointed. The trustees (who are also the company directors) who help office during the year were:
- AC: Dr James Herbert Harrison
- AC: The Rt. Rev’d Julie Anne Conalty
- CaTEW: The Rt. Rev’d Paul James Mason
- CaTEW: Paul McCallum
- Independent: Craig Russo
- Independent: Paul Langham
The trustees meet together regularly. For a meeting to be quorate, one AC and one CaTEW trustee must be present and for any resolution to be passed at least one AC trustee and one CaTEW trustee must be in favour.
In the event of the Charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to a sum not exceeding £1 per member of the Charity.
## **Recruitment and appointment of trustees**
The majority of trustees hold positions in the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Their appointment and training is dependent on the processes in their respective Churches. Two trustees are independent of both the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales.Each member has the power to appoint two trustees to the Board.
## **PUBLIC BENEFIT**
In exercising their responsibilities, the trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s published advice on public benefit, in accordance with the requirements of s17(5) of the Charities Act 2011. Safe Spaces’ activities provide public benefit through provision of support to victims of church related abuse.
## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES**
## **Activities**
In recent years, both the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales identified that a consistent, unified and personalised pastoral response was needed to help address the needs of victims and survivors of church related abuse and in 2018 the Churches became ecumenical partners. Following consultation with victims and survivors, the Churches sought to develop and provide a service which was jointly funded, but which was delivered independently.
From this perspective, Safe Spaces, a free and confidential support service was developed to provide a new and refreshed approach to meeting the care and support needs of survivors. Uniquely, victims and survivors were involved in designing the service and in the procurement process to select the organisation which should manage it. In 2019/2020, Victim Support were awarded the contract to deliver the service due to their experience in supporting victims of abuse.
2
**Safe Spaces England and Wales**
## _Trustees’ Report (incorporating a Strategic Report)_
On 18[th] September 2020 Safe Spaces England and Wales (SSEW) was established by the two Churches as a charitable company under the Companies Act 2006 in order to ensure agile and arms-length oversight in connection with the Safe Spaces project. SSEW holds and oversees the contract with the supplier of the Safe Spaces service (Victim Support). The SSEW Directors provide strategic direction by ensuring service assessment is performed regularly and objectively to enable informed decision making.
The contract for Victim Support came to an end in September 2022 after a two-year pilot. Drawing on lessons learned from the pilot and recommendations from an independent evaluation, SSEW undertook a procurement exercise to identify a suitable supplier to continue the service. To ensure support was maintained for victims and survivors and to enable a smooth transition, an interim provider was sought for the period September 2022 to January 2023. This was awarded to FearLess (now known as FearFree). First Light were awarded the contract to deliver the service for a three year period (January 2023 – January 2026) and have been delivering the Safe Spaces service on behalf of SSEW since January 2023.
As per the charity’s Objectives, the purpose of the Charity is to strive to promote and protect the physical and mental health of adults who are suffering as a result of any type of abuse perpetrated in a Christian church-related context, in England and Wales, through the provision of support for their emotional and physical health and wellbeing.
For additional public benefit, the Charity also seeks the advancement of education by promoting and carrying out research into Christian church-related abuse, its effect on the consequences for victims and survivors, and to publish the useful results of such research.
The advancement of Christian religion in England and Wales is also a component in the Charity’s aims.
The Safe Spaces service includes a helpline and live chat service to provide services to adult victims and survivors of church-related abuse. The service provides advocacy and practical and emotional support from ISVA trained advocates. Depending on the needs of individuals, the service can give clear information as to what to expect from the criminal justice system, social care and church processes for managing allegations of abuse. It also offers mediation, liaison and signposting or onwards referrals to available support from other service providers, including voluntary, faith-based, secular and community services. It can also include making referrals to the police and local authorities or organising support from local community-based organisations.
Safe Spaces ensures that all victims and survivors are treated with respect, dignity, compassion and openness and that their voices are central to understanding what makes a difference to the lives of all survivors of abuse. The service can be one off, ad-hoc or ongoing with support being planned in a bespoke manner to the needs of the victim or survivor.
Safe Spaces also provides a website with information, online resources and advice for victims and survivors, families and professionals. In 2023 the Safe Spaces website had 20,093 site visits to its homepage, a significant increase in comparison to 10,331 visits in the previous year.
The service has included a Small Grants Programme to fund new or existing peer support services and self-help based initiatives that helps survivors of church-related abuse, and which promoted physical, psychological and spiritual wellbeing. However, this was closed at the end of the two-year pilot (20202022) and is not a feature of the current three-year delivery period.
In May 2024, in response to survivor voice feedback, an independent chair was appointed to the SSEW board who provides strategic direction and critical challenge to the board of trustees. An additional expert trustee was also appointed to the board in May 2024, bringing the total number of trustees on the SSEW board to 6 in accordance with the charity articles.
## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE**
## **Public benefit and achievements**
In June 2021, Rocket Science was appointed by SSEW as the independent evaluator for the Safe Spaces pilot project. Their reports and the quarterly performance reports provided by Victim Support demonstrated the public benefit of the service to the victims and survivors. The service user feedback
3
**Safe Spaces England and Wales**
## _Trustees’ Report (incorporating a Strategic Report)_
indicated that overall satisfaction with the service was high, with victims reporting very positive experiences with their advocates and feeling well supported. From data gathered from satisfaction surveys throughout the first year of the pilot, 100% of service users indicated their satisfaction with the service and felt that they were responded to well and felt empowered, with 94% saying that their wellbeing was improved as a result of the service. The full independent evaluation report for the two-year pilot of the Safe Spaces service was published in autumn 2022.
In September 2023, Rocket Science were again appointed to evaluate the service across the three-year delivery period with First Light. This includes iterative feedback across the three years, a yearly report for the first two years of the delivery period and a final complete report detailing the full accumulated data and evaluation of the service, as delivered by First Light from January 2023 to January 2026. The first yearly report was published in April 2024, covering the year from January 2023 to December 2023.
Based on the views of survivors engaged in the evaluation, consultations with staff, as well as the monitoring reports, the 2023 Rocket Science report stated that Safe Spaces had had a positive impact on the wellbeing and resilience of survivors. The support had significantly improved survivors’ quality of life, including improved mental health and allowed survivors to start feeling more in control of their lives and learning to navigate their trauma. The Safe Spaces service supported a total of 134 people during 2023, of which 95 were new cases and 39 transition from the pilot service.
Victims and survivors’ own testimonies evidences the difference that this unique service has provided in giving them a much-needed outlet where they can feel safe and know that they will be supported and treated with respect and emotional security.
_“It’s been really good and really positive and already made quite a difference to my mindset and how I’m coping with this which has been amazing.”_
_“Helped to recalibrate me to get my life back. There was absolutely nothing of me left, so I’m utterly grateful, it’s invaluable.”_
_“Safe Spaces have been exemplary in their tenacity, effectively within 6 months something quite positive has occurred.”_
The planned full report from Rocket Science, due in March 2026, will expand the information and learning available about effective support provision for victims and survivors of Church-related abuse. This may be utilised by other organisations looking to support those who have experienced abuse in a faith context.
## **FINANCIAL REVIEW**
The Charity’s results are set out in the Statement of Financial Activities (page 7), the Balance Sheet (page 9) and the Cash Flow Statement (page 10).
## **Summary**
At the year-end 2023, which was the Charity’s second accounting period in operation, funds were £17 (2022: £12) and comprised cash of £1,257 (2022: £96,354), debtors of £225,675 (2022: £95,363) and creditors of £226,915 (2022: £191,705).
## **Income**
Income for the year totalled £457,405 (2022: £508,813), with £456,319 (£508,796) consisting entirely of grant income, and £1,086 (2022: £17) in bank interest received.
## **Expenditure**
Charitable expenditure during the year totalled £457,405 (2022: £508,801), consisting of consultancy fees and support costs.
## **Reserves**
All of the Charity’s activities are funded by grant income and therefore the trustees do not consider it necessary to hold reserves.
4
**Safe Spaces England and Wales**
## _Trustees’ Report (incorporating a Strategic Report)_
## **PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS**
First Light have been working to understand how to deliver the online peer support offer detailed in the delivery contract, by engaging with survivors and professional networks to design appropriate deliverables. Subject to board approval, this will be piloted during Q4 of 2024, with a view to expand the pilot in Q1 of 2025.
The SSEW board of trustees are beginning to look at plans for the charity and the service post January 2026, with a view to increasing the charity’s independence and ability to commission further services with other church denominations, in support of its objectives. This will include a restructure of charity governance and the addition of more survivor voices to the board, with the aim of placing victim and survivor voices at the heart of the charity’s strategy. The independent chair is working with the trustees to begin planning SSEW’s strategy and vision post January 2026, and will be working with the Church of England and the Catholic Trust in England and Wales to understand their requirements for a continued service. This is with a view to securing further funding for the charity beyond January 2026.
## **Statement of trustees’ responsibilities**
The trustees are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and for being satisfied that the financial statements are prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of incoming resources and application of resources of the Charity for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles of the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP);
- make judgements and estimates that are responsible and prudent;
- state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departure disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that show and explain the Charity’s transactions, disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity, and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.
They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking responsible steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
## **Approval**
In preparing this report, the directors have taken advantage of the small companies’ exemptions provided by section 415A of the Companies Act 2006.
This report was approved by the board of trustees on 11 September 2024 and signed on its behalf by:
Dr James Herbert Harrison
5
## **Safe Spaces England and Wales**
## _Independent Examiner’s Report to the members of Safe Spaces England and Wales_
## **Opinion**
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of Safe Spaces England and Wales for the period ended 31 December 2023 which are set out on pages 7 to 12.
## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner**
The trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (“the 2006 Act”). The trustees are satisfied that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and have chosen instead to have an independent examination.
Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the charitable company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charitable company’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed the requirements of the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
## **Independent examiner’s statement**
Since the charity’s income is in excess of £250,000, your examiner must be a member of a body listed in the 2011 Act. I can confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a registered member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
2. The accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. The accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
4. The accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Jane Askew ACA Haysmacintyre LLP 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG
Date: September 2024
6
**Safe Spaces England and Wales**
_Statement of Financial Activities For the year ended 31 December 2023_
|**Income from:**
Donations and grants
2
Bank interest received
**Total income**
**Expenditure on:**
Charitable activities
3
**Total expenditure**
**Net movement in funds**
Reconciliation of funds:
Total funds at 31 December 2022
**Total funds at 31 December 2023**|**2023**|**2022**|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|
||||
||||
||456,319|508,796|
||1,086|17|
||**457,405**|**508,813**|
||||
||||
||(457,400)|(508,801)|
||**(457,400)**|**(508,801)**|
||||
||5|**12**|
||||
||||
||||
||**12**|–|
||**17**|**12**|
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derives from continuing activities.
All funds were unrestricted.
7
## **Safe Spaces England and Wales**
## _Balance Sheet As at 31 December 2023_
|**Note**
**Current assets**
Cash at bank and in hand
Debtors
4
**Total current assets**
**Current liabilities**
Creditors: amounts falling due within
one year
5
**Net current liabilities**
**Total assets less current liabilities**
**Net assets**
**Funds of the Charity**
Unrestricted funds
**Total funds at 31 December 2023**|**2023**
**£**
1,257
225,675
**226,932**
(226,915)
**(226,915)**
**17**
**17**
**17**
**17**|**2022**
**£**
96,354
95,363|
|---|---|---|
|||**191,717**|
|||(191,705)|
|||**(191,705)**|
|||**12**|
|||**12**|
|||**12**|
|||**12**|
The directors consider that the Company is entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006.
The members have not required the Company to obtain an audit for the year in question in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.
These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.
The Financial Statements of Safe Spaces England and Wales (Company No. 12888233) were approved and authorised for issue by the Board on 11 September 2024 and signed on its behalf by:
Dr James Herbert Harrison
8
## **Safe Spaces England and Wales**
## _Cash Flow Statement For the year ended 31 December 2023_
|**Note**
Net income for the year (as per the statement of financial
activities)
(Increase) in debtors
4
Increase in creditors
5
**Net cash provided by operating activities**
Change in cash, cash equivalents and net debt in the year
Cash, cash equivalents and net debt at 31 December 2022
**Cash, cash equivalents and net debt at 31 December 2023**
**Analysis of cash, cash equivalents and net debt**
Cash at bank and in hand
**Total cash, cash equivalents and net debt**|**2023**
**£**
5
(130,312)
35,210
**(95,097)**
(95,097)
96,354
**1,257**
1,257
**1,257**|**2022**
**£**
12
(51,527)
82,869|
|---|---|---|
|||**31,354**
31,354
65,000|
|||**96,354**
96,534|
|||**96,534**|
The Charity has no debt and therefore the reconciliation in cash and cash equivalents also represents the analysis of changes in net debt.
Notes 1 to 7 on the following pages form part of these Financial Statements.
9
**Safe Spaces England and Wales**
## _Notes to the Financial Statements for the period ended 31 December 2023_
## **1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
Safe Spaces England and Wales is a company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 18 September 2020 and registered with the Charity Commission on 18 September 2020. The Charity’s governing document is its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
Safe Spaces England and Wales is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
## **a) Basis of Preparation of Accounts**
Safe Spaces England and Wales financial information has been prepared in accordance with:
- Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (“FRS 102”);
- Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (“the SORP”); and
- The Companies Act 2006.
The financial information has been prepared on the historical cost basis and on the accruals basis.
## **b) Going concern**
There are no material uncertainties about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The trustees have a reasonable expectation that Safe Spaces England and Wales has adequate resources and cash flows to meet its spending commitments for the foreseeable future.
## **c) Income**
All income is recognised on the accruals basis. It is recognised when Safe Spaces England and Wales is entitled to the income, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of income can be measured reliably.
Income from Donations and Donations predominantly represents grants received.
## **d) Expenditure**
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis.
Charitable activity costs are the cost of operating Safe Spaces services.
Governance costs include costs associated with the governance arrangements of the Charity including the independent examination.
## **e) Taxation**
Safe Spaces England and Wales is a charity within the meaning of Para 1 Schedule 6 Finance Act 2010. Accordingly it is exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains within categories covered by Chapter 3 of Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.
## **f) Related Parties**
The two members are related to Safe Spaces England and Wales. Details are given in Note 6.
## **g) Funds**
As all the Charity’s resources are spent in pursuit of its primary charitable objects, Safe Spaces England and Wales resources are categorised mainly under Unrestricted Funds.
## **h) Judgments in applying accounting policies and key sources of estimation uncertainty**
There are no significant judgements or key sources of estimation uncertainty.
10
**Safe Spaces England and Wales**
_Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)_
## **2. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES**
|**. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES**|||
|---|---|---|
|**Grants received from:**
Allchurches Trust Limited
Benefact Trust
The Archbishops’ Council
The Catholic Trust for England & Wales
**TOTAL**|**2023**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
–
84,000
242,008
130,311
**456,319**|**2022**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
125,721
–
206,670
176,405|
|||**508,796**|
Grant income is used by Safe Spaces to provide support for those affected by Christian church related abuse of any kind, and to promote research into such abuse and its consequences for those who experience it.
## **3. CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE**
|Core Service: Survivor Support
Support costs
**TOTAL**|**2023**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
367,004
90,396
**457,400**|**2022**
**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**
405,084
103,717|
|---|---|---|
|||**508,801**|
Support for survivors consists of consultancy and staff costs incurred in the setting up and running of these services. All support costs are allocated to this activity.
## **(i) Governance costs – independent examiner’s remuneration:**
Included within charitable expenditure support costs are governance costs consisting of independent examination fees (inclusive of VAT):
|Independent examiner’s fee
**TOTAL**|**2023**
**£**
3,623
3,623|**2022**
**£**
3,450|
|---|---|---|
|||3,450|
11
**Safe Spaces England and Wales**
_Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)_
## **4. DEBTORS**
|**Current assets** **:**
Amounts due within 1 year:
Amounts due from the Catholic Trust for England and Wales
(Note 6)
**. CREDITORS**
**Current liabilities** **:**
Amounts due within 1 year:
Trade creditors
Amounts due to the Archbishops’ Council (see Note 6)
Accruals||**2023**
**£**
225,675
**225,675**
**2023**
**£**
–
148,913
78,002
**226,915**|**2022**
**£**
95,363|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**95,363**|
||||**2022**
**£**
91,844
48,373
51,488|
||||**191,705**|
## **5. CREDITORS**
## **6. RELATED PARTIES**
Safe Spaces England and Wales is a jointly controlled entity between the Archbishops’ Council and the Catholic Trust for England and Wales. Each member holds equal guarantee rights in Safe Spaces England and Wales.
As at 31 December 2023 the following amounts were owed (to) / from related parties:-
|The Archbishops’ Council
The Catholic Trust for England and Wales
**Total**|**2023**
**£**
(148,913)
225,675
76,762|**2022**
**£**
(48,373)
95,363|
|---|---|---|
|||**46,990**|
## **7. EMPLOYEES AND TRANSACTIONS WITH TRUSTEES**
There were no employees during the period. £217 of travel and subsistence expenses incurred were
reimbursed to one board member during the year to 31 December 2023.
12