## **ANNUAL TRUSTEES REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** **For the period 1[st] July 2024 to 30[th] June 2025** ## **Supportive Approachable Friendly Environment (SAFE)** Charity Number 1203674 c/o Lancaster District CVS The Cornerstone Sulyard Street Lancaster LA1 1PX 1 ## **Table of Contents** |**Table of Contents**|| |---|---| |**Charity Information**|**3**| |**Trustees Report for the period 1st July 2024 to 30th June 2025**|**4**| |Objectives and Activities|4| |SAFE’s Vision, Mission & Values|4| |Vision|4| |Mission Statement|4| |Values|5| |Achievements and Performance 2024-2025|6| |Our Activities|7| |Prop Up Project|7| |Feedback from young people|8| |Impact|8| |BEE SAFE|12| |Prop Up Project Young Adults Group|13| |Feedback from young adults|14| |Impact|14| |Socialease|15| |Feedback from Adults|16| |Fundraising|22| |Grant Applications|23| |Structure, governance and management|23| |Financial Review Jon To Update from here|24| |Reserves Policy and going concern|24| |Funding|24| |Risk|24| |Statement of trustees’ responsibilities|25| 2 ## **Charity Information** Trustees Charmaine Rothwell Rebecca Blackburn Jon Lowson Rhiannon Sharkey Amanda Davey Charity Number 1203674 Registered Office c/o Lancaster District CVS The Cornerstone Sulyard Street Lancaster LA1 1PX Chief Executive Keeley Wilkinson Governing Documents Constitution of Charitable Incorporated Organisation Independent Examiner Shweta Pankhadiwala Lancaster District CVS The Cornerstone Sulyard Street Lancaster LA1 1PX 3 ## **Trustees Report for the period 1[st] July 2024 to 30[th] June 2025** The Trustees present their year-end report and the financial statements as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) for the charity’s reporting period ended 30[th] June 2025. The financial statements comply with current statutory requirements, the charity’s governing document. ## **Objectives and Activities** The charity’s objective is to provide services for the public benefit, the relief of those in need, by reason of suffering from mental ill-health, residing in the Lancaster district, in particular but not exclusively providing early intervention and prevention support, through the provision of creative arts, social and recreational activities, health and well-being workshops, practical advice and support delivered in community settings. SAFE achieves its objectives through its three core programs - Prop Up Project: For young people aged 13-19, we deliver two weekly groups. These sessions use creative activities and wellbeing strategies, nurturing positive thinking and providing coping strategies. Our approach aims to encourage gradual, personalised progress. - Prop Up Project Young Adults' Group: Designed for individuals aged 20-25, these monthly sessions promote connections and coping strategies, helping them overcome barriers to social and educational engagement. - Socialease: This program, running twice weekly for adults aged 18+, offers a space for casual interaction, fostering mental wellbeing and addressing isolation through activities and discussions. It includes a unique table card system to facilitate engagement. Our programs play a vital role in reducing social isolation and developing essential coping strategies. We strive to empower our participants to take control of their wellbeing, manage challenging situations, and recognise early signs of declining mental health. The charity is actively seeking to expand the services and deliver extra sessions for young people – due to increasing referrals from families, external organisations & services. ## **SAFE’s Vision, Mission & Values** ## _Vision_ To build a community where everyone lives a life with the confidence, skills and connections to take positive steps forward. ## _Mission Statement_ SAFE aims to empower people to build a positive life, which they are at the centre of, providing tools to improve wellbeing and life skills in a judgement free space. We believe everyone deserves to live a life with confidence, skills and connections to take positive steps forward. 4 ## _Values_ _**Care and wellbeing** -_ We foster a secure and supportive environment where individuals feel valued, respected, and welcomed. _**Togetherness** -_ We create a sense of belonging and connection, encouraging personal growth and shared learning. _**Fulfilling Potential** -_ Through a personalised approach, we empower all involved with SAFE to reach their full potential. _**Thinking about the Future** – We s_ upport people to envision a brighter future by helping them build the confidence and tools needed to see new possibilities and pathways forward. 5 Achievements and Performance 2024-2025 SAFE IMPACT 2024-2025 35 Young people 103 98 Young people 73 Adults 201 Adults Adults and young people benef itted f rom our sessions sessions for young people and adults .409HRS FEEDBACK unteered hours across amazing volunteers h in sessions and porting with other as he group has helped e to think about my future more positively 36 15 New referrals for young people New referrals for adults THANK YOU TO ant Funding nk Lyon Memorial Trust, Red rose responding fund. Lancaster City Council Housing Fund recambeTown Council, Co-op Community Fund, Breakthe mold nds in the Bay, Garfield Weston Foundation, Yorkshire Building Society recambè Bay ICCI PCN Fund, North Lancashire Place Based Partnorship nhale Trust ndraising ristmas Craft Afternoon, Quiz night* SAFE Glitter ball, EDF Christmas Activiti ## **Our Activities** In this financial period, the charity has delivered 201 sessions for the benefit of 73 people (35 young people and 38 adults). This included 36 new referrals for young people aged 13-19 and 15 new referrals for adults. ## _**Prop Up Project**_ We have delivered a total of 91 Sessions for young people aged 13-19 who are experiencing barriers to accessing social environments due to mental health difficulties, neurodiversity and other life challenges. This breaks down to 45 2-hour sessions in Morecambe & 46 2-hour sessions in Carnforth across the 12-month period. Our two 13-19 Prop Up Project programs are delivered in partnership. One with the Lancashire County Council Targeted Youth Support Team (Morecambe) & the other with The Salvation Army (Carnforth). From July 2024 to June 2025, we delivered a range of creative sessions which focused on the wellbeing topics that young people identified as a priority. Key to our approach is to provide young people with independent toolkits and resources to take away to use outside of our sessions. These sessions typically had an art, theatre, or otherwise creative focus. These included: - **Self-care and Relaxation:** The young people played Relaxation Bingo, a game that aims to help them identify what relaxation techniques they already use and ones that could potentially be useful for them. We also talked about how stress can affect our physical and mental health, as well as the ways we can mitigate this. The young people tried new ways of managing their stress (such as meditation, creating worry boxes, journals, and worry worms) and learned to set expectations of how and when these techniques can help them. - **Goal Setting:** The young people thought about a goal they would like to achieve in the next six months and how they would achieve this. We also talked about setting manageable and realistic goals; reflecting on the progress they’ve made; and further goals they would like to achieve later on in their life. - **Plant Pots:** The young people decorated plant pots and learned how to plant their own vegetables and flowers. This supports fundraising (as the plant pots were sold at fairs 7 and craft events), encourages young people to learn a new skill, and enables us to start conversations about food and budgeting. - **Overcoming Fears:** The young people learned what fears are, where/when we feel them, and how to manage them to take steps forward. Based on the fears shared by group members, they planned an activity they would find hard and worked with our team to find ways to face this situation. This includes, ordering food at a local fish and chip shop and using public transport. This helped to increase their confidence and independence by reducing their reliance on others for support with tasks in the future. - **Working in partnership:** SAFE’s Prop Up Project, has worked alongside King Street Arts CIC to support their ‘painting with acrylics’ project. The aim of this project was to deliver high quality painting workshops for young people & adults who might not have otherwise been able to access these activities, due to cost etc. Over 6 sessions young people from SAFE’s Prop Up Project & Lancashire Youth Challenge learnt new techniques to build skills when painting with acrylics, which were then used for them to create their own art work. Young people were given all materials and resources which they kept for future use. Their final art workshop was displayed in a public exhibition at Lancaster Library. ## _Feedback from young people_ “Just coming to Prop Up makes me feel better, I leave [the session] feeling happier” The young people regularly give feedback on how SAFE has helped them and the ways in which we could improve. A key theme in the feedback is an increased ability to socialise better and make friends as a direct result of SAFE’s work. A parent noted that ”[their] daughter no longer locks herself in her room. She engages more as a family and talks more freely at home. There has been a noticeable change in her mood and she appears a lot brighter and happier”. Another prominent theme was how SAFE has helped them to overcome their challenges and increased their confidence. One young person said: “My confidence has increased … I have made new friends, I … feel like I am able to work on things that may be affecting me more.” In addition to this, the young people identified that the group has improved their mental health, resilience, and introduced them to new or more effective coping strategies. They also state that the “I look forward to the sessions each week so I can see everyone and do activities instead of just sitting bored at home. It helps me get out of the house and have something to look forward to.” support they have received from the staff and volunteers has been beneficial, as has the relaxed and comforting atmosphere of the group. Finally, the group members who have moved 8 on from the group have identified that they appreciated the assistance in finding support in the wider community. ## _Impact_ In 2024-2025 4 young people have successfully moved on from our sessions; to engage in other activities including volunteering with SAFE’s Prop Up Project & attending other activities. As part of the Evaluation Form, the young people were asked to list a few of their concerns and to rate how much it is affecting them. The responses were measured on a 5-point scale, with 5 being the highest value (“it is having a significant impact on me and my life”) and 1 is the lowest (“it isn’t affecting me at all”) (see below). When people first start at SAFE, their average Concerns rating was 3.25 (indicating a somewhat substantial effect on their lives), but this number drops to an average rating of 2.91, and continues to decrease until it reaches an average of 2.00 by the time they leave the group. Young people are asked to think of skills they would like to improve through attendance at our sessions. The group collectively decided that they would like to work on improving their confidence, independence, teamwork, socialising, and making friends. The young people had to answer a question rating how confident they felt in each skill. This was measured on a 5- point scale, with 5 being the highest (“I am feeling very confident”) and 0 being the lowest ("I am not feeling confident at all”). In every single one of these skills, the group showed improvement (see below). Making Friends showed the most improvement, while Independence showed the least improvement (going from an average of 2.00 to 2.26). Similarly, Confidence showed a 0.37 increase, Teamwork increased by 0.81 and Socialising showed an increase of 0.74. However, while there was significant improvement, the group indicate that these skills still have room for improvement. 9 The young people also regularly fill in the Edinburgh wellbeing scale to track their general wellbeing. This scale asks the young people to rate how regularly they feel optimistic, useful, relaxed, able to cope with their problems, think clearly, feel close to others, and able to make decisions. Overall young people’s mental health and wellbeing either remained constant or improved as a result of working with SAFE (see below). 36% of young people showed improvement in relation to feeling relaxed & feeling useful. 27% of young people showed improvement in their ability to deal with problems, making decisions and feeling closer to others. 18% of young people reported an increase in their ability to think clearly. 10 Short Warwick- Edinbur9h I've been feeling optimistic about the luture. Rarely Some of thg time olten None of the time All ol the time I ve been feeling useful. Sotne of the time None of the tirne Rarely often All of the tirne I ve been feel ing relaxed. Some of the tim8 Non8 of th8 time Rarely 0ft8n All of the t1rn8 I￿6 been dealing with my problems well. Rartrly Some of the time Often None of the time All of th& time I ve been thi nki ng clearly. None of the titne Rarely Some of the time often All of the tirne ltre been feeling close to other people. Rarely Some of the time often None of the time All of the tirne I've been able to make up my mind about things. Rar81y Som8 01 the tim8 oft8n Non8 of the time All of the tim8 Logood Median Range Interquartile Ronge ## _Case Study_ When _Alex*_ , aged 15, joined Prop Up, life felt overwhelming. He was not attending school, rarely left the house except with his parents, and avoided socialising due to extreme social anxiety. Even in his first sessions with us, Alex stayed silent, sat apart from others, and avoided eye contact. Over 12 months of weekly engagement with the Prop Up Project, things began to change. Our tailored, non-judgemental approach gave Alex the structure and focus he needed, without pressure. He learned practical daily living and wellbeing skills at his own pace, in an environment where he could truly be himself. Today, Alex attends college full time, speaks confidently with peers, and actively takes part in activities. He now travels independently on the bus, meets friends for social events, and even calls himself “the chatty one.” Alex says, _“Prop Up gave me focus when I had nothing. I could be myself here, learn at my own speed, and feel understood.”_ Alex has developed confidence and independence, connection, and is able to look forward to a brighter future. ## ***Name has changed** ## _BEE SAFE_ We collaborated with a local Community Interest Company (CIC), BEE Adventures, to create BEE SAFE. This programme was commissioned as part of the North Lancashire ‘Help is Close’ Campaign, offering four sessions to each local high school, college & university. In each setting we worked with up to 15 pupils, sessions tackled some of the challenges and concerns that young people face. Three sessions are delivered in schools, while the final one takes the young people out on an adventure day in the Lake District incorporating all of the lessons learned in the first three sessions. So far, we have provided support to 48 young people across 5 schools. The school sessions cover: - Life changes, which aims to identify life changes, look at the consequences of these changes, and to provide tools to deal with these. The young people also created a stress bucket to help identify their personal stressors and coping strategies, and practice some mindfulness techniques. - Expectations, which aims to identify the various expectations from social media, school, family, and themselves, and to provide tools to manage this. As part - of this, the young people played the Expectation Quest Game, where the young people have to progress through a board game using power-up tokens (coping strategies, such 12 as saying no, setting boundaries, and making a plan) to combat reality checks (such as teachers expecting the young people to get good grades). The young people also had to navigate the Lancaster CVS directory to find support and help for hypothetical young people in case studies. - Fears and life skills, which aims to provide information and tools relating to managing fears, being content in life, finances, and budgeting. The life skills section, enabled young people to practice budgeting & planning for a hiking trip where the choices they make early on in the game (such as picking the cheaper sports shoes over expensive hiking boots) influence the outcomes within the game. Following on from our preliminary feedback & monitoring 43% of the young people reported feeling more able to deal with stress when they were overwhelmed, with one young person stating that this is down to “learning grounding techniques”. Another young person reported that “playing [games] helped me with my confidence”, which correlates to the 36% increase in the young people’s confidence in their ability to handle changes in their life. There was also a 14% increase in the young people being able to manage their finances and fears. Another 43% of the young people increased their ability to know and ask for help when they needed it, and a 36% increase in the young people knowing where to go for support. ## _New Prop Up Group_ Looking forward to 2025/2026 as part of our charity's growth action plan, we aim to start a new Prop Up Project Young People’s group in Lancaster in Autumn 2025. This is following increased referrals for young people living in Lancaster and unsuccessful engagement in our existing sessions. This new group will follow the same model as our existing two sessions for young people ages 13-19. Currently we have been successful in grant applications to local funder Banks Lyon Memorial Trust with others in progress. Thank you to them for enabling this new group to happen. ## **Prop Up Project Young Adults Group** We delivered 12 sessions, 1 per month for young adults aged 20-25 who are experiencing barriers to accessing social environments due to mental health difficulties, neurodiversity and other life challenges. Our creative & wellbeing sessions included: - **Life Skills and Independent Living:** after consulting with the group members, we delivered a series of sessions around interviews & budgeting skills and ways to increase confidence & knowledge of these areas. 13 - **Wellbeing:** Group members created booklets to include a weekly routine, a list of support services and a list of people in their networks they could reach out to when needed. - **Team Work:** Activities were delivered such as geocaching & problem solving games to enable people to work together to achieve a common goal and improve group connections.. - **Arts Sessions:** Including Knitting, creating Christmas paper crafts & pom pom making. Group members lead these sessions to share their skills & interests with others - **Art for Relaxation:** Creating gratitude jars as a mechanism to support stress. Sessions were delivered around how stress affects us & our bodies and how we can develop relaxation techniques. With thanks to the Bay Integrated Care Community (ICC) & Primary Care Network (PCN) for grant funding to make the independent living project possible. ## _Feedback from young adults_ “I enjoy coming to the sessions and interacting with the different people. It helps me build socialisation skills and experience different things” The group asked for more frequent sessions (currently monthly) and for some of the sessions to focus on issues surrounding neurodiversity. ## _Impact_ The young adults listed their concerns and rated (on a 5 point scale) how much it is affecting them. On average most concerns started with a 3 and by the next time of recording had dropped to 2 (indicating a reduction in the impact of their concerns and worries). When completing the Edinburgh Wellbeing scale to keep track of their general wellbeing the Young adults mental health and wellbeing either remained constant or improved as a result of working with SAFE. The biggest change was in the Relaxed measure, with 50% increasing by one or more marks on the 5 point scale. 25% of the group increased in optimism & decision making . 14 ## **Socialease** We have delivered a total of 98 Sessions for adults aged 18 and over who are experiencing barriers to accessing social environments due to mental health difficulties, neurodiversity and other life challenges. This breaks down to 49 2-hour sessions in Morecambe & 49 2-hour sessions in Lancaster across the 12 month period. Socialease sessions offer a relaxed and non-pressured environment for adults to get involved at their own pace. Our table card system promotes choice: green side to talk & yellow side where time out is needed. Enabling people to observe and have time on their own. From July 2024 to June 2025 we delivered sessions and talks which focused on topics chosen by the group. These included: - **Budgeting Project:** This was a series of sessions run in collaboration with Lancaster and Morecambe College that focuses on ways to manage finances and budget effectively. - **Arts & Craft:** The group worked with a local artist to make crafts including painting pebbles and jars, card making, felting, and creating storage containers from recycled tins using napkins to decorate them. The group members either took them home or have been used at fundraising events for the Charity. This encouraged people to try new hobbies to discover the benefits for their mental health and wellbeing. - **Mindfulness:** We had a session covering the techniques and benefits of mindfulness practices. This included an open discussion of the meditation techniques that the group members already use and find helpful as well as the limitations and when/how often they can be used. We also discussed grounding techniques to try and improve the general wellbeing of the group members. - **Games:** As part of our regular sessions, we play a variety of board and card games as a mechanism to help encourage conversations and connections within the group. It serves as an easy “in” for group members. Over time, the group members no longer rely on games and develop the skills and confidence needed to start a conversation on their own. - **Working in partnership:** In addition to our Prop Up Project, this year SAFE Socialease has supported King Street Arts CIC with their ‘painting with acrylics’ project. Socialease group members alongside members of other local groups attended a series of weekly sessions learning new skills, creating art work for a final exhibition. 15 We also had a variety of talks from local organisations to help group members to learn about services and charities that are available to them. These included: - **Lancaster District CVS:** Gave us information on the Lancaster District Directory and how to access this to find out about the groups and services on offer in our area. - **Age UK Lancashire:** Shared the wide range of support and services available for adults in our community, such as the Digital Inclusion programme and services to support care at home. This also included a second talk from the Veterans Service at Age UK which covered services specific to veterans and their families, such as the Bay Veterans. - **Citizens Advice North Lancashire (CAB):** Provided helpful information on the many areas CAB can support with, and how people can get in touch, such as their energy saving and debt management programmes. - **Lancashire Police Neighbourhood Teams:** They came in to spread awareness about scam prevention and safety, which is especially important for individuals who are particularly vulnerable to scams. This helps not only the group members to avoid scams, but also the other people in their lives. ## _Feedback from Adults_ “I don't know where i would be without Socialease, its a stepping stone to bigger things, it's really helped my confidence” Age 52 “I would recommend it to anyone” Age 50 “The volunteers and the Manager are always on hand if you need to a have a private chat” Age 35 “The team are friendly I can meet other people in similar situations and I find it smaller and more manageable than other groups” Aged 40 “‘Through coming to Socialease I have got help with energy and other things at home. I also have benefited from the talks from the local GP surgery. Without these I wouldn't have been able to access help or know where the help is available as I wouldn't have had the confidence to contact them myself.” Age 54 16 ## _Case Study_ _Simon* who is in his 40s, first joined Socialease 18 months ago. He was juggling the challenges of long-term health conditions while caring for his partner. His wellbeing and confidence had been affected, and wasn't attending social activities._ _He came to our sessions weekly and with encouragement from our team and volunteers, began taking small steps—joining in discussions and activities and gradually feeling comfortable enough to chat with other group members. Over time, he started contributing his own ideas for activities. He sought guidance from our team when personal challenges arose, such as support with rising household bills and we were able to connect with appropriate support._ _Through an external talk at Socialease, Simon connected with a local veterans’ group, which opened the door to new opportunities. Another talk from a local CIC led him to a painting with acrylics course, where he rediscovered his passion for visual art._ _Today, Simon’s confidence has grown enormously. He now volunteers at a local community centre to run an art group (which he previously attended), regularly attends community events and activities, and continues to build his own networks._ _Attending Socialease encouraged Simon to build confidence in a non-pressured environment at his own pace and to create supportive connections to enable him to rediscover his strengths and thrive._ _*Name changed_ ## **Volunteers** In 2024-2025 we have had 26 active volunteers. These include; local residents who have work & life experience with adults & young people and are interested in supporting our Charity, students who are building their experience within mental health & wellbeing support and graduates from our Socialease & Prop Up groups who are ready to take on a new challenge to build their mental health & wellbeing. Volunteers support with the following areas: - Assistants within our Prop Up & Socialease groups, this involves working with group members on a 1:1 & group basis to support engagement in activities & discussions. - Fundraising- Generating ideas for activities, creating a calendar of events and delivering these. Including our first Charity Ball: SAFE Glitterball. - Data Collection & Auditing- collecting feedback & monitoring information from group members and to analyse these showcasing our impact. - Marketing & Communications- attending events & network meetings to promote our charities activities and build connections. 17 Collectively in 2024/2025 our volunteers have committed 2409 hours to enable SAFE to achieve our charitable aims and improve the lives of those adults & young people living in our communities. ## **Achievements** 2024-2025 brought a number of achievements & opportunities for the SAFE team. In January 2025 SAFE CEO, Trustees & group members met with the Lieutenant for Lancashire, Amanada Parker to discuss the work of the charity, its impact and the future direction & fundraising of the charity. In May 2025 our CEO, Keeley was nominated to attend the royal garden party at Buckingham Palace in recognition of her work towards the skills & education of young people in our community. In June 2025 our volunteers were nominated for recognition awards as a group & individually for their contributions towards SAFE at the Lancaster District CVS Volunteer awards. This included one of our volunteers receiving Young Volunteer of the year for their continued commitment towards SAFE’s groups & operations. ## **Fundraising** In 2024-2025 we held public fundraising events including: Christmas craft afternoon, Christmas Fairs, making plant pots, Bare festival stall, quiz nights and SAFE’s Inaugural Glitterball. We also received donations from a team of knitters & local businesses including a team working at Heysham Power Station. This in total raised over £8000 for the charity’s funds. This year saw increased involvement from our young people & adult group members with our fundraising. Creating crafts including plant pots, Christmas stockings, light jars & bracelets to be sold at events, with some group members in attendance at these events. 18 ## _SAFE Glitterball_ On 22nd March 2025 SAFE hosted our Glitterball, at the Mazuma Stadium. The night was hosted by Mark Caudle and included a 3 course meal, games, raffle & auction. The night was captured with photographs by one of our Prop Up Group members & Katy Wainwright photography. Gorgeous media worked with our group members, team & CEO to create a film to showcase what we do. We secured seven sponsors for our Glitterball: - HMT Group - EDF- Heysham Power Station - BAE Air - Jon Lowson & Co - TP Financial Solutions - Two Stories - Paul Johnston electrical contractor This sponsorship alongside 26 raffle & auction prizes and kind donations on the night enabled us to raise £6660. 19 In 2024-2025 we successfully raised grant funding of £24,755.75. Some of our top funders Included: - Garfield Weston Foundation - Yorkshire Building Society - Penhale Trust - Banks Lyon Memorial Trust - North Lancashire Place Based Partnership - Morecambe Bay ICC/ PCN fund - Minds within the Bay - Lancaster City Council Housing Fund - Lancashire County Council Members Grants ## **2025/2026** ## _Public events_ Looking forward to 2025-2026 financial year we have plans to hold the following events - Christmas Craft Afternoon - Quiz Nights - Bucket Collections - Cross Bay Walk - Other themed nights including a comedy night. ## _Grant Applications_ As part of our current plans for income generation for 2025-2026 financial year, alongside continued research and development we expect to apply to follow trusts & foundations: - Awards for All- National Lottery - Francis Scott Charitable Trust - Quilter Foundation - Kathleen-Beryl Sleigh - 3R’s - Dutch of Lancaster Benevolent Fund - Peter Sowerby Amongst others 20 ## _**Structure, governance and management**_ Every Trustee must be appointed for a term of 3 years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as trustees, the trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO. The Trustees will make available to each new trustees, on or before his or her first appointment: - A copy of the current version of the Constitution; and - A copy of the CIO’s latest Trustee’s Annual Report and financial statements - A copy of the CIO’s policies and procedures documents New trustees are given a full induction into the activities of the charity and a full brief on all the activities, including future plans. New trustees are DBS checked and made aware of the charity’s safeguarding and protection policies. The Trustees have reviewed all of the Charity’s current policy documents. Amanda Davey will step down at the Charity AGM in September 2025, SAFE trustees are looking to elect two new Charity Trustees: Val Baxter & Sue Horner as of the September AGM for the 25/26 financial year for a term of 3 years. All other current Charity Trustee will remain for the next Financial year. 21 ## **Financial Review** This accounting period runs from 1st July 2024 to 30[th] June 2025 (12 months) The net surplus for the financial period was £26,141 and the total restricted funds at the end of the period were £26,613 with general reserves (unrestricted funds) now standing at £23,891. The total cash balance at 30[th] June 2025 was £50,504. ## **Reserves Policy and going concern** It is the charity’s policy to regularly review and maintain reserves comprising of unrestricted and designated funds to ensure the prudent day-to-day financial management of the charity and to meet obligations as they fall due. The policy also aims to ensure that unrestricted funds are built to match at least 10% of turnover. As at 30[th] June 2025, total unrestricted funds are in excess of this target (40% of Turnover) but we remain focused on securing further unrestricted funding to improve the charity’s financial position and enable us to better manage activities and projects. The trustees have currently not designated any reserved funds for future projects. The trustees have identified no significant short to medium-term financial risks to the charity’s continued operations, and therefore the accounts have been prepared on the going concern basis. ## **Funding** The charity’s principal sources of funding are: - Restricted Grants from various Charitable trusts or other Funders - Unrestricted Grants from various Charitable trusts or other Funders - Unrestricted donations from the general public or businesses - Fundraising activities The Trustees carry out due diligence to ensure that the Charity’s funders and partners align with the directives of the charity as per the fundraising and donations policies. ## **Risk** The charity is dependent on Restricted and Unrestricted Grants for its core funding. At the end of this financial period, it had secured such funding until at least February 2026. The charity’s activities will be at risk if further such funding cannot be secured for after this period. The Charity is also reliant on the Founder/Chief Executive Officer for delivering services and would be at risk, if the Founder/Chief Executive Officer were unable to continue in that position. The charity’s aim in the short to medium term, is to reduce this risk by taking on other staff who could ensure continuity of service, if the Founder/Chief Executive Officer was not available. ## **Statement of trustees’ responsibilities** Law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the charity’s financial activities during the period and of its financial position at the end of the period. In preparing financial statements giving a true and fair view, the Trustees should follow best practice and: 22 - Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - 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 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 Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. This report was approved by the Trustees on 17th September 2025 and signed by: Charmaine Rothwell Chair Rhiannon Sharkey Trustee ## R.Sharkey Jon Lowson Treasurer Amanda Davey Trustee Rebecca Blackburn Trustee R.Blackburn 23 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES SuppDrtl¥8 Approachabl8 Frléndly Ehvlronmgnt 1203614 (SAFE) Recei pts and payments accounts CC16a For the period from L111D7ll024 30nj6r2￿￿5 To Section A Recei ts and ents Lknrestrictsd fvnds tDthe Marost Restricted funds End0V￿nt fiJtxl$ ftnds Last year tot￿ ￿are￿£ totheneare5t £ to nearesi£ tothenearest £ A1 Recei 22ffj7U 2.824 890 35 37511 2￿26 112 11,W3 14,217 890 54 20 Sub total(Gross income for AR) 26.427 32,390 58,817 40249 P2 ￿Set and Investrr*nt sales see table . Sub total 26,427 32,390 58,817 40249 nts 2[ 17,160 328 707 218 17,160 328 721 218 9,715 EmplO￿￿r Pension Cos15 176 932 960 242 63 581 70 506 Enue Hire Office Expenses & Recruitment Volunteer Expenses 514 514 335 126 loo 197 164 490 126 496 346 164 490 Advertlsing Travel Cos 149 94 Sub total 24,725 32,675 15￿8 A Asset and investnRnt ur¢trAse$ see table Sub total 7950 24,725 32,675 15￿B6 Net Olrec￿ptsl￿ayrnentS) 16 Tran￿erS betsAeen funds Ca5hfunds la5tyew Q￿j Cash funds this ye8r•nd 65 24 63 5.415 23,891 18,948 26￿13 24,363 ,504 24363 24 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted funds Restricted funds tD￿00[q$t 4 Endowment funds Categorles Detalls B1 Cash funds 23091 26,613 Totaleash funds 23091 26,613 cC￿nt(SI) Unrestricted funds tTr newest£ Restri¢ted funds tonearest Endowment funds 10 Mare5t & D•taili FundtTrwlxh asset ￿l0￿S CUrrent￿lUe lorlionall Detalls CD51 IDplionWI urrerrtv4lup ional Details asset ￿10 cos110￿"OnfJI B4 Assets ret￿ne￿ for the charfty's own use Fundtowlxh Ilabiltyr8iaié8 Amourl due lilptit￿￿Il Illthn the D•tailq T￿ & National Insurancp B6 Liabiliti?s 520 2?JU￿2025 Signed by one or h¥0 I￿SteeS o Signature Print Name Dzte of ro￿1 JON Lo￿oN 17n9QO 25 Idewident examiners reiKfft to the trustees ol Supportive Approaehable Friendly Envlronmènt (SAFE) Clmi 12036T4 I Ihe accomts t¢the ￿01￿TraY24- 3￿25 Itisryrewmtltylu. ex¥￿ 145ofts 2)11 145(5Koloftr*Z)11 ¥. 5h*ets PankWr* 11° &02025. 26 ## **Accounting Policies** ## **Basis of accounting** The financial statements of the charity have been prepared under the Receipts and Payments basis. ## **Grants Receivable** Grants, including grants for the purchase of fixed assets are recognised in full in the Statement of Financial Activities in the period in which they are received, even where those grants may be fully or partly restricted for other financial periods. ## **Other Income** Other income is recognised in full in the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which it received. ## **Allocation of costs** All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SOFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Some costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others are apportioned on a appropriate basis. ## **Fund Accounting** Unrestricted funds comprise those funds which the Trustees are free to us in accordance with charitable objectives. Restricted funds are funds which have been given for particular purposes and projects. 27