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2025-12-31-accounts

Charity Registration No. 228352

Company Registration No. 00634588 (England and Wales)

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Trustees C Hayward MBA NPQH
Dr N J Busfield MA, PhD
J Davis (Appointed 27 January 2025)
P W E Fitt FCA
Dr S MacDonnell MBBS FRCA FFICM
M F Pertwee BA (Hons)
E Thrower DipCOT, MHCPC
I S Turner MA MBA
Dr K J Hochstein-Mintzel MRCGP (Appointed 29 September 2025)
Secretary P W E Fitt FCA
Charity number 228352
Company number 00634588
Registered office 14 Dedham Vale Business Centre
Manningtree Road
Dedham
Essex
CO7 6BL
Auditor Streets Audit LLP
c/o The Old Exchange
64 West Stockwell Street
Colchester
Essex
CO1 1HE
Bankers National Westminster Bank plc Colchester
Solicitors Birkett Long Colchester

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

CONTENTS

Page
Chairman's report 1
Administrator's report 2 - 6
Main grants and donations over £4,000 7
Development Manager's report 8 - 12
Trustees report 13 - 15
Statement of Trustees responsibilities 16
Independent auditor's report 17 - 20
Statement of financial activities 21
Balance sheet 22
Statement of cash flows 23
Notes to the financial statements 24 - 31

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

The 2025 Colchester Catalyst Charity Annual Report is full of inspiration, hope and health based projects which have made such a difference to the lives of individuals. Behind these projects are the committed and motivated people in the charitable sector who have had the vision and ability to make things happen. Part of this effectiveness has been successful applications to Catalyst for grant funding, which is where the advice and support given by Rodney Appleyard, Stephanie Grant and Wendy Larkin has been invaluable.

For over thirty years, Catalyst has been a constant in providing this support. We have been blessed with loyal and amazing staff, starting with Pat Gosling, then Bart Walsh and now our current team, who, although three in number, work only slightly above one full time equivalent member of staff. Their contribution to Catalyst’s continuing work cannot be underestimated and they are thanked very much for that.

I want to emphasise this concept of constancy, especially in the current health landscape, where we are at the beginning of huge organisational and political changes and where the implications for the charitable sector are not fully known. We would encourage charities to continue to talk with us about thoughts for the future. We cannot help with funding gaps or running costs but we can help with small or bigger grants for ideas which are developmental and will make a difference. Rodney Appleyard can also discuss access to other funding streams and he continues to have excellent relationships with major funders covering the CO postcode area. We have had an excellent year financially and Peter Fitt will outline the reasons for this but it means that we remain here to help within the tenets of our Object and Strategy.

Our individual based schemes continue. We have had a drop in applications to our Special Individual Needs Committee, where individuals can apply for items of equipment which can’t be funded on the NHS. This coming year we will aim to increase those applications. Thank you to the Committee who oversee this. Counselling applications have remained steady and we now have a grant ceiling which helps the counselling organisations plan their applications to us. The Respite Scheme is well used and thank you to all the charities which manage their grants so well.

This year, we were very sorry indeed to say goodbye to Dr Max Hickman as one of our Directors. Dr Hickman had been on the Board for twenty years. His wise and considered contributions will be missed. He also overlooked Counselling applications and his knowledge of the health landscape in NE Essex was excellent. Luckily for us, Dr Hickman is still involved in the latter and so will be able to give advice as needed. In his place, the Board was very pleased to welcome Dr. Kilian Hochstein-Mintzel. Dr Hochstein-Mintzel brings immense experience of general practice and has a key interest in mental health, as well as other areas.

With Keith Songhurst’s resignation in 2024, at the beginning of 2025, the Board welcomed Joanna Davis as his replacement. Ms Davis had recently left her post as CEO of Headway Essex and brings a fantastic knowledge of the charitable sector, including funding and relationships between the charity and statutory sectors. This year she has also been involved in developing our equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring and training.

Both our new appointments are already proving great assets to Catalyst’s work.

Thank you to all Catalyst’s Directors. Everyone is clear thinking, empathetic, knowledgeable and committed to delivering Colchester Catalyst Charity’s Object. I am so pleased that these qualities have remained a constant throughout the lifetime of the Charity and that, whoever has been involved, carries them forward.

Thank you, too, to everyone who has worked with us over the last year, both organisations and individuals. Your goodwill and flexibility is very much appreciated and we look forward to working with you in 2026.

Christine Hayward Chairman 2 March 2026

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

This is my sixteenth Administrator’s report for Catalyst and we continue to work closely with a small dedicated team comprising Rodney Appleyard, our Development Manager, Wendy Larkin, Assistant to the Administrator and myself.

In 2025 our total grants expenditure increased by almost £100,000, while at the same time in its 35th year, the Catalyst Charity continued to grow and to carry on making a positive and ongoing contribution to the improvement of health care within the CO postcode area. I think that this is an amazing achievement.

It is very encouraging to note that there has been an 8% increase in the value of our total net assets from last year which makes for a strong position to start 2026.

It is over 30 years since Catalyst became a grant making charity and since that time £11 million has been given in grants.

In April we had a very successful AGM at Wivenhoe House with very interesting presentations from Christie Heath, Claire Bridges and Jessica Cornell from the Ark Centre. Catalyst funded the regeneration of the existing office buildings into a purpose-built baby preschool room with bathroom and play therapy room. The Ark Family resource centre is positioned in one of the highest areas of deprivation in Essex and the families that access their services are the ‘hard to reach’ ones with complex backgrounds that include additional needs, domestic abuse and mental health issues. We also heard from Les Nichol of the Essex Support Team about his work with the Ark Centre.

We were pleased to welcome Joanna Davis (Wright) to the Board in 2025. Joanna has over 35 years of experience within the charity sector. We also welcomed Dr. Kilian Hochstein-Mintzel to the Board of Directors in December 2025.

During 2025, the Catalyst Board considered 47 General Applications (46 last year) from various organisations in our area of operation, of which 25 (53%) (24 - 48% last year) were successful. During this period £258,262 was spent on general grants, (£169,850 last year).

In 2025 our priorities were to focus on health inequalities, particularly in consideration to Walton, Frailty, Hubs/Waiting List Support, Suicide Prevention and an openness to applications for charities working with children. Catalyst seeks projects which have a strong health focus with a proven sustainable future and to work with groups to encourage and enable them to seek match funding from other organisations, thus unlocking further funding.

I would now like to tell you about some of the grants that we have made this year to give you a flavour of the wide range of organisations and projects that we supported in 2025.

We were pleased to make our largest grant of 2025 to Kingsland Church. Kingsland help with health and wellbeing and provide a valuable space for groups that service all members of the community. Our grant of £40,000 enabled them to convert their ground floor, extend the community centre and fund a meeting room and two smaller therapy rooms. These extra rooms will be used as spaces for community groups and charities to hire thus increasing the services they are able to offer. The meeting and therapy rooms will be used for health and wellbeing groups, like Disability 4 sport, health support groups, Royal National Institute for Deaf People, addiction support, Home Start, counselling, mentoring and support.

Our grant of £35,000 to CVST in respect of a Health Empowerment & Learning Project is still waiting to be finalised.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

We were pleased to release our second-year grant of £25,030 to Age Well East who aim to alleviate poverty and reduce loneliness for those in Colchester and outlying villages.

This represents a second year of funding. In 2024 we made Age Well East a grant of £24,496. Our grant supported a free-to access dementia advice service which is unique to Northeast Essex. The impact of our grant has been significant with 59 people receiving assistance and feeling more informed and supported following a diagnosis.

Second year funding will ensure that Age Well East continue to meet clients pre-diagnosis or shortly afterwards and will allow them to keep engaging with their clients all the way through their dementia journey. They will have activities and strategies to maintain independence and connection to the community.

In 2025 we continued to support projects that address health inequalities. St Helena is an organisation that is well known to us. It provides specialist palliative and end of life support to all those in Northeast Essex and helps people to face incurable illness and bereavement by supporting them and their families, friends and carers.

Our grant of £23,900 will help St Helena to establish a new Compassionate Community Connector (CCC) initiative in Northeast Essex that will seek to transform end-of-life care and bereavement support by empowering local communities to become more compassionate and resilient. The CCC aims to enhance the well-being of individuals facing serious illness, ageing, loss and caregiving to ensure that no one in Northeast Essex faces these challenges alone.

The programme is designed to cultivate a network of trained volunteers who will serve as essential points of contact within the community working collaboratively with existing community assets and services.

Beacon House has adopted an holistic approach to the problem of homelessness and has an over-riding goal to transform lives rather than simply to serve the need. They provide a non-judgmental environment where people can have a meal, take a shower, access medical care, discuss their needs with an Occupational Therapist, or Housing Officer and get help to obtain benefits. They have about 8,000 guests each year.

Our grant of £17,208 will be used to fund a new project entitled ‘Restore and Thrive’. This is a very different approach to occupational therapy at Beacon House and is based on both external research and their own results/outcomes. Everyone would have a specific health plan that would be based on initial assessments of their needs and assets/abilities and undertaken by both the nursing team and the occupational therapy team.

The Health and Wellbeing Care Hub is a new facility launched at the University of Essex. They have recently completed a two-month trial of an innovative rehab tool called Mindmotiongo from a company called MindMaze. This equipment is clinically evidenced to aid stroke survivors in the recovery of motor arm function and is not restricted to those who have suffered strokes. Our grant of £13,160 will enable HWCH to extend the use of the equipment in the Hub and to teach the future generation workforce of the importance of tech enabled care and to support the ongoing clinical research on its clinical effectiveness.

Our grant of £11,480 to Colchester Life was used to fund a Mobile Medical Clinic that operates through a mobile van that visits various locations, providing essential services such as PSA tests for men and cancer screening particularly focusing on disadvantaged BAME and Caribbean communities in the Colchester and Clacton areas. It is hoped that this initiative will help health inequalities in underprivileged areas which was one of our priorities for 2025.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

Another of our priorities for 2025 was to focus on children and young people and so we were pleased to make a grant of £10,000 to Teen Talk Harwich. They support young people aged 11-25 in Tendring. Our grant of £10,000 would enable Teen Talk to develop a Mentor Programme and will ensure that their vital support for young people continues. The Mentor Programme will address mental health and anxiety, low self-esteem and confidence, family breakdown and relationships, school exclusion and neurodiversity.

Suicide Prevention was also on our list of strategic priorities and Harwich has been identified as an area of need due to its higher-than-average deprivation scores and recent suicide statistics around suicides which are higher than average. With this in mind our grant of £8,000 to Healthwatch Essex was used to co-fund (with Tendring District Council, through the Integrated Care Board), the establishment of a Fella’s Forum in Harwich. The forum is a safe space for men to talk, socialise and support each other by taking part in shared activities. The main drivers will be mental health, tackling loneliness, isolation and physical health concerns.

The Colchester Anti Loo Roll Brigade (ALRB) supports vulnerable members of the community affected by poverty, ill health, and abuse. Our grant of £8,000 will be used to cover the costs of a counselling scheme. The scheme is a multi-targeted approach working with children who are affected by exploitation, county lines, abuse and neglect and at risk of expulsion from mainstream education or in pupil referral units. The ALRB provide mentoring to children with mentors with lived experiences and relatable stories which is providing to be highly effective. Most of the children involved have been subjected to traumatic experiences including abuse, exploitation, bereavement, racism, neglect and many other contributing factors that may affect their mental health.

Our grant of £7,348 to Flexfit CIC will provide benefit to people to support their physical and mental health and wellbeing. The group tackle the inequalities in the most excluded and disadvantaged communities in order to improve beneficiaries’ lifestyles. Activities on offer include yoga, adapted yoga, boxing multi sports and body conditioning. Most sessions are without charge to individuals from deprived communities or those who have lost employment due to long-term health conditions.

We made a grant of £7,000 to fund sensory playground equipment for children with special Needs including profound and multiple learning disability pupils at Lexden Springs School.

Ferriers Barn provides day opportunities for adults with disabilities and offers workshops and craft sessions. We were pleased that our grant of £7,000 will provide therapeutic support so that Ferriers Barn can continue to provide a very high level of service and ensure that health and safety is maintained.

The beneficial impact of nature on mental health and well being is well documented and several of our grants in 2025 focussed on the benefit of spending time outside. One such is Freedom Boat Adventures. Our grant of £6,250 will enable them to provide respite boat trips for those with learning difficulties.

iCARP CIC aims to enhance mental wellbeing and personal recovery by reconnecting individuals with nature through evidence-based, outdoor therapeutic programmes. Its objectives are to provide accessible, compassionate support to people affected by trauma or mental health challenges, to deliver nature-focused interventions such as therapeutic angling and countryside engagement, and to strengthen community inclusion through shared experiences and peer support. Our grant of £6,000 will allow them to set up nature-based therapeutic programme for adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the Colchester and Tendring districts.

We supported Edensor with a grant of £5,024 towards the cost of specialist chairs that will make a significant difference to end-of-life care for their residents in Clacton.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

We like to get involved with a wide range of projects across the community of North East Essex, (CO postcode). We funded £5,000 to Colchester United Community Foundation, to enable them to expand their Senior U’s programme at Colchester United. This is a health and wellbeing club for people over 60 from disadvantaged communities in Colchester.

Grant a Smile were established in 2017 to relieve suffering and improve health and well-being among families living in unsafe or neglected home environments. Its core aim is to restore safety, dignity, and stability in homes where poor conditions are directly impacting physical and mental health. They provide trauma-informed deep cleaning, decluttering, and aftercare for young carers, vulnerable adults, and families in crisis, often where statutory services have reached their limits or no appropriate provision exists. Our grant of £5,000 will be used to deliver a defined health and well-being project supporting high-need households across North East Essex who are living in unsafe or unhealthy home environments caused by hoarding, chronic clutter, and poor mental health.

These conditions pose significant risks to physical and emotional well-being—leading to respiratory illness, infections, falls, and chronic stress. While many of these households are known to local authorities or NHS services, there is no statutory provision for the trauma-informed home restoration and emotional support required to prevent further deterioration in health.

We supported Connect Without Limits with a grant of £5,000. This organisation is a service led by Autistic young people, for Autistic young people, with their voices continuing to shape its collaborative service, always adapting and moving with them.

One of the organisation’s goals is to decrease isolation and marginalisation, spreading awareness and education of Autism i.e. myth busting, helping Autistic young people embrace it rather than feel constantly burdened and burnt out by it. Our grant will be used to fund a pilot scheme offering one-to-one counselling support and oneto-one peer support. This project is about treating every single young person as unique individuals and offering person-centred support.

We supported Bright Lives with a grant of £4,200 for a beach wheelchair. Other grants included a grant of £4,000 to Bridgeway Mission for music therapy for young children, £3,000 to Stepping Stones for equipment, £2,000 to Ending Life’s Taboo for training for counselling around bereavement and grief, £2,000 to Breast Friends in respect of support for women with breast cancer and a First Aid Training Package of £1,000 for Market Field School.

As you can see during 2025, we have again supported a diverse and innovative range of projects addressing both physical and mental needs, including counselling/support and equipment, right across the age spectrum. All our grants are monitored regularly, and we ask for feedback, reports and photos where appropriate.

We continue to support counselling services, and this accounted for £23,370 of expenditure during 2025.

Special Individual Needs (SIN) grants continue to be an important part of our work. There were 108 (151 last year) applications of which 86 (123 last year) were successful. This year we spent £53,171 on SIN (£64,122 last year) Once again the vast majority of grants provided mobility equipment for those who could not obtain it from the statutory providers.

Sean MacDonnell chairs the SIN Committee, who meet every 4 to 6 weeks via Teams, and is made up of health professionals.

We regularly receive letters and cards of thanks from individuals and their carers who are so grateful for the help provided. Some of these can be found on our Facebook page or website.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

The Catalyst respite scheme continues to represent a significant part our budget and in 2025 £135,500 (last year £120,714) was spent on arranging short term respite care. This scheme allows full-time carers to have a break from their caring duties. We work in partnership with over a dozen care organisations, listed on the inside front cover of this report. Our partners are trained as assessors, and each organisation has an agreed annual budget. We monitor the activity and keep in touch throughout the year.

We were very sorry that the Halstead Day Centre closed in September 2025. Dorothy Lodge started the centre nearly 47 years ago and during that time it has provided respite for hundreds of carers.

In communicating Catalyst’s activities, our website www.colchestercatalyst.co.uk provides a wealth of information about our services and grants in addition to having links to partner sites providing advice, support and services to help improve healthcare within the CO postcode area. Application forms for General and Special Individual Needs grants are available to complete or download from the site, as well as copies of past Annual Reports together with a regularly updated news section. Our website has undergone a facelift. We can also now be found on Facebook which is updated on a regular basis.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues, Catalyst’s Chairman Christine Hayward, Peter Fitt, Company Secretary, Mark Pertwee, Vice Chairman, the Board, Development Manager Rodney Appleyard, assistant Wendy Larkin and our partner charities and organisations for all their help, support and encouragement during the past year. We all feel very happy and privileged to be working for the Catalyst Charity, by bringing help to those people who fall outside the statutory remit.

Stephanie Grant Administrator 2 March 2026

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

MAIN GRANTS AND DONATIONS OVER £4,000

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

Organisation

Project
Organisation Project £
Kingsland Church Community Hub 40,000
CVST Health Project 35,000
Age Well East Dementia Service Year 2 25,030
St Helena Hospice Compassionate Community Care Prog 23,900
Beacon House Health Focused OT Support 17,208
Health Wellbeing & Care Hub New Facility 13,160
Colchester Life Cancer Project 11,480
Teen Talk Harwich Mentoring Programme 10,000
Healthwatch Essex Suicide Prevention Project 8,000
Colchester Anti Loo Roll Brigade Counselling Scheme for Young People 8,000
Flexfit CIC Exercise/Activity Support 7,348
Lexden Springs School Sensory item for Playground 7,000
Ferriers Barn Therapeutic Support 7,000
Freedom Boat Adventures Respite Boat Trips for those with LD 6,250
iCarp Well being Prog for adults with Autism 6,000
Edensor Specialist Chairs 5,024
Colchester United Comm Found Seniors U’s Programme 5,000
Grant A Smile Trauma Support for Hoarders 5,000
Connect Without Limits Pilot Scheme for Autism people in Harwich 5,000
Bright Lives Beach Wheelchair 4,200

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER'S REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

2025 was another successful year for Catalyst, with us supporting a wide range of projects that have helped to improve the health of many people in North East Essex.

However, this year was also a difficult one for the local health sector as a whole, due to local government and NHS bodies facing significant challenges and organisational restructures.

During this period, we have been understanding of the repercussions on local projects and have listened carefully to how community leaders plan to navigate their way around these changes.

Having developed strong relationships with several other funders and commissioners, this has enabled us to provide advice on applying for alternative sources of funding, which, in combination with Catalyst funding, can assist in keeping projects going longer-term. We are grateful for these relationships that have developed over the last few years, especially with the National Lottery Community Fund and Essex Community Foundation.

Despite these challenges holding some projects back, we have still been able to fund original new ideas that have a strong chance of sustainable success.

One example of a project like this is the Kingsland Centre expansion. We awarded this organisation a grant of £40,000 to build a new therapy room in their new health hub based in Stanway.

This funding has gone towards covering part of the overall costs of the project, which will transform an old ALDI supermarket into a new health centre, underneath Kingsland’s main health hub. In total, the project will cost almost £2 million.

In the upstairs section of Kingsland’s building, the staff already support a large number of people each week, helping them cope with their health problems. This work includes taking care of lonely people who are frail or disabled, as well as young people with learning disabilities.

The renovation of the downstairs section of the building will provide the Kingsland Centre with a new space to help people who have been on hospital waiting lists for a long time. It will also assist people who are in need of many different health therapies.

One of the reasons why we awarded a grant to this project is not only because of its strong merits with delivering highly impactful new health services, but also because of its opportunities to link up with joint funding from other organisations.

The Kingsland Centre has been highly successful with sourcing other means of funding to develop this project, which Catalyst’s grant has helped to unlock. We believe it represents a particularly good example of how a project can still succeed, despite the current uncertainty experienced in the funding sector. Therefore, it stands tall as an inspiration to other groups with big ambitions.

We have also supported a number of other projects that are aligned closely with our strategy.

This strategy focused on addressing the following areas:

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

One of the projects that is comprehensively addressing health inequalities is the new counselling project run by the Anti-Loo Roll Brigade and YES, which is based in local schools. This project involves supporting young people who have experienced traumas and abuse in severely deprived areas of Colchester.

We also supported Bright Lives with its new centre in Walton, which involves helping people with learning disabilities in this area, as well as older people who are isolated and do not have much access to health services near them.

Additionally, we were pleased to support Age Well East’s dementia project for a second year in North East Essex, which also involves helping families in deprived areas to cope with their loved ones who face challenges due to dementia.

Another project that addresses waiting lists and makes more use of local hubs is the Community Connector Programme run by St Helena Hospice. This project involves bringing together several local charities and health providers to deliver health services for people in remote regions.

We also supported Healthwatch Essex to provide support for men at risk of suicide in Harwich. Plus, we awarded a grant to Teen Talk, so it can increase its support for young people at risk of suicide and those facing severe mental health challenges in Harwich.

In line with our strategy around helping children, we were pleased to award grants to a few other interesting projects, including those run by Connection With Limits, Stepping Stones, the Bridgeway Mission and Market Field School.

Many of these projects are helping to tackle problems that align with the priorities of other commissioners and funders. So, although the sector is experiencing a difficult time, there are still many funders that are keen to keep these projects going.

Our strong team of staff and Trustees are looking forward to welcoming more of your new imaginative projects in the future, plus strengthening the co-funding relationships with our partners, so we can play our role in helping to improve the lives of many more people in 2026.

Hospice’s new project reaches out to people on waiting lists in remote regions

We awarded St Helena Hospice a grant of £23,900 to support a new project that will bring new services to community hubs in remote regions all over Colchester and Tendring, for the purpose of helping frail people with serious illnesses, who are also facing loss and isolation.

Working with several other local community groups, this programme involves training a team of Community Connector volunteers who will provide and signpost vital healthcare support for people on waiting lists affected by ageing, caregiving or bereavement.

Through this initiative, St Helena aims to build stronger, more compassionate communities, where people feel more confident about coping with their illnesses and less likely to face these experiences alone.

“We know that many people in our communities feel isolated or unsure of where to turn for support when they or someone they love is seriously ill or grieving,” said Lianne Keen, the Trusts and Commissioning Manager for St Helena Hospice.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

“Thanks to Colchester Catalyst Charity, we’re able to train and support volunteers to start those compassionate conversations in everyday places – helping people find comfort, information and connections close to home. These people will also receive mentoring support from the connectors.”

The Community Connectors will:

This grassroots approach reflects a growing movement known as Compassionate Communities, which recognises that end-of-life care and bereavement support are not just medical matters, but community responsibilities. This provision is in addition to the support that will be provided to help people on waiting lists to get well again.

The first wave of volunteer recruitment and training is already underway, with the project expected to reach hundreds of local residents over 2026. The impact will be measured through increased community awareness, greater confidence around end-of-life planning and reduced social isolation.

This initial programme aims to establish the foundations for a sustainable, volunteer-led model of community support, building on the hospice’s vision that no one should face illness, dying, death or loss alone.

The Healthwatch Essex Fella’s Forum supports men at risk of suicide in Harwich

The Healthwatch Essex Fella’s Forum first launched in Colchester towards the end of 2021, creating a welcoming space for men to talk openly and support each other on a monthly basis.

What began as informal meet-ups, where men could chat about topics related to their health and well-being; men’s health screenings; and fatherhood - has now grown into a vibrant community that encourages connection and openness.

The project recently expanded into Harwich, thanks to an £8,000 grant we awarded the project in collaboration with Tendring District Council. It was formed due to recent research into local community needs, delivered by Healthwatch Essex, CVST, and Community360. This research discovered that Harwich was in need of further suicide prevention work regarding men.

Scott Tatum, the Engagement Manager for Healthwatch Essex, who runs the project said:

“The main aims of the Harwich Fella’s Forum is to provide a safe and welcoming relaxed environment, to implement light physical activities that can enhance the men’s physical and mental well-being. They create a community, help to reduce social isolation, and a key aim is to link men with other groups and services that can improve their lives through early interventions and preventative measures.”

He added that the Healthwatch Essex Fella’s Forums differ from other suicide prevention initiatives due to the creation of a trusted community of men who support each other and share journeys that inspire each other to seek further help. The men have also helped to shape services and feedback on proposed new services.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

“Long-term, it will enable the Harwich community to feel confident all is being done to provide suicide prevention for men and allow them to gain awareness of further well-being support available,” added Scott. “The Harwich community have a clear pathway now to signpost the men of Harwich to a forum that will reduce social isolation.

“We are extremely grateful to Colchester Catalyst for the funding to enable us to deliver this Healthwatch Essex Harwich Fella’s Forum. It has been heartwarming to see the positive impact the sessions have had already on the men’s physical and mental well-being and also witness them creating their own community.

“Thank you so much again for allowing us the opportunity to get the men of Harwich talking more about their health and improving it.”

Beacon House provides occupational therapy for homeless people to get their health back on track

We awarded Beacon House a grant of £17,208, to provide occupational therapy support for homeless people in Colchester who are recovering from challenging health conditions.

One of the people they helped is a 65-year-old man, who had been evicted recently, with Colchester Borough Homes placing him in emergency accommodation.

At the time, he was struggling with chronic non-healing bi-lateral leg ulcers, depression and anxiety. He also had poor mobility and was at risk of falling.

The OT intervention, provided by Beacon House, involved referring him to bereavement counselling, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and experienced healthcare professionals. Additionally, he attended the charity’s Restore and Thrive and Skills4Life sessions.

As a result of this work, he eventually started to feel much better, plus engaged with a new routine and structure to his life. This involved attending community groups, to address his feeling of loneliness, and primary care appointments. Beacon House also found him suitable accommodation.

Via the outcome measures used by Beacon House, the team discovered that his generalised anxiety and depression scale was reduced from being a score of 15 at the start of the project, to 12.

His loneliness score was initially seven, but eventually reduced to four, following the interventions. He also told staff he now feels much more positive and motivated about his future plans for the year ahead.

Kingsland Centre to set-up a new therapy hub in Stanway

We awarded the Kingsland Centre with a grant of £40,000, to develop a new therapy hub as part of ambitious plans to expand its current building and services.

This new hub will be used to help people on waiting lists, as well as children who are need in therapeutic support.

Self-care groups will be set-up in this space, plus GPs and healthcare professionals will visit the area to provide direct support for people with serious illnesses.

Neil Loxley, the leader of the project, said that Catalyst’s funding has played a significant role in helping the organisation to unlock more funding from elsewhere to bring this project to life.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

In total, the organisation is raising over £1.7 million to transform an old supermarket that used to exist below the Kingsland Centre into a space dedicated to providing new health services for people within the local community.

“We are excited to have started the refit of the previous Aldi store. We are still open upstairs of course for all sorts of community and charitable activities, plus look forward to expanding our facilities to the street level.

“We expect to open around the middle of the 2026. People of all ages and backgrounds come to our busy community centre to receive support from a number of different health-related activities. At present around 160 groups meet each week and we are confident that we will be able to expand this to around 200 with the new facilities.

"We are so grateful to Colchester Catalyst who were the first to offer a grant and this has encouraged others to help with the funding. Colchester Catalyst were good enough to fund rooms in the central part of the new development, which will be used for small groups and one to one sessions meeting mental health and physical well-being needs.

"At the time of writing we have sufficient funds for phase 1, which will open a dozen rooms for community use, including Catalyst’s new therapy hub. The much smaller phase 2 will start after this.”

Rodney Appleyard Development Manager 2 March 2026

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

TRUSTEES REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

The trustees present their report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and “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) (effective 1 January 2016)”.

Objectives and activities

The objective of the charity is the relief of the sick and suffering in the Neighbourhood of Colchester. The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when planning its future activities and setting the grant making policy for the year.

Details of the charities activities and achievements during the year are set out in the chairman's Report, administrator's report and the development manager's report.

Grant making policy

The Charity's detailed grant making criteria are set out on the Charity's website, www.colchestercatalyst.co.uk. All applications for grants are considered by the Trustees and where successful are formally approved. An annual grants budget is set by the Trustees.

Financial review

The results are shown in the financial statements of which the following is a summary:-

31/12/2025 31/12/2024
£ £
Charitable Expenditure 553,194 457,743
Surplus / (Deficit) before Gains or Losses on Investments (199,828) (108,172)
Realised Gains /(Losses) on Sales of Investments 21,925 (55,335)
Unrealised Gains / (Losses) on valuation of Investments 1,324,773 799,785
Total Net Assets at 31st December 13,903,552 12,756,682

Future financial performance will be affected by the investment income and growth achieved in future years.

The current reserves policy is to endeavour to maintain a Capital Reserve of at least £12,000,000 as at 31 December 2023 in real terms. Therefore the target Capital Reserve as at the reporting date is £12,700,000. This level of reserves has been met throughout the reporting period.

Investment policy

The investment policy is determined by the Trustees, with the benefit of external advice, after considering income requirements, risk profile and stock market prospects in the short and medium term.

Risk statement

The Trustees confirm that the major risks to which the charity is exposed, as identified by the Trustees, have been reviewed and systems established to mitigate these risks.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

TRUSTEES REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

Plans for future periods

The Trustees plan for the foreseeable future to continue making grants with a view to making a positive contribution to improving care of the sick or suffering in the CO postcode area.

Structure, governance and management

The charity is a company limited by guarantee (number 00634588), governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association and is a Registered Charity (number 228352).

At 31st December 2025 there were forty two members.

Colchester Catalyst Charity became a grant making charity in 1990 following the sale of the Colchester Oaks Hospital, in Oaks Drive, to Community Hospitals PLC. The sale was conditional on Community Hospitals PLC building a new hospital, to an agreed high specification, by 1994 - this was done and the new Oaks Hospital off Mile End Road was opened in January 1994.

With the agreement of the Charity Commissioners the directors decided to devote the income, from the invested funds resulting from the sale 'for the relief of the sick or suffering of North Essex'.

The Charity is administered by a Board of Trustees.

Trustees

The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

C Hayward MBA NPQH Dr N J Busfield MA, PhD J Davis (Appointed 27 January 2025) P W E Fitt FCA Dr M P Hickman MB B.Chir DCH (Resigned 9 June 2025) Dr S MacDonnell MBBS FRCA FFICM M F Pertwee BA (Hons) E Thrower DipCOT, MHCPC I S Turner MA MBA Dr K J Hochstein-Mintzel MRCGP (Appointed 29 September 2025)

Nominations for the appointment of new Trustees are made based upon the established knowledge and experience of the candidate and on the likely contribution that the candidate may make to the work of the charity. All Trustee appointments are subject to election at an AGM and all Trustees are subject to re-election at an AGM every three years.

Trustees are provided with appropriate information and guidance on induction; no other formal training is provided to trustees.

Administrator and assistant:

S Grant & W Larkin

Development Manager:

R Appleyard

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

TRUSTEES REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

Disclosure of information to auditor

Each of the trustees has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

The Trustees report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

P W E Fitt FCA

2 March 2026

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

The trustees, who are also the directors of Colchester Catalyst Charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and 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 the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

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 Companies Act 2006. 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.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS OF COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Colchester Catalyst Charity (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 December 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and the provisions available for small entities, in the circumstances set out in note 19 to the financial statements, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OF COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors' report included within the Trustees report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of Trustees responsibilities, the trustees, who are also the directors of the charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OF COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

We made enquiries of the trustees, including:

• How they have identified, evaluated and complied with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;

• Their process for detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud; and

• Which internal controls have been established to mitigate risks related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the Charity. These include, but are not limited to, compliance with the Companies Act 2006, UK GAAP, Charities SORP and tax legislation.

In addition, the Charity is subject to many other laws and regulations where the consequences of non-compliance could have a material effect on amounts or disclosures in the financial statements, for instance through the imposition of fines or litigation. We identified the following areas as those most likely to have such an effect: employment law and data protection.

The Senior Statutory Auditor has assessed and concluded that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence and capabilities to identify or recognise non-compliance with laws and regulations. During our audit:

• We reviewed the financial statement disclosures and tested to supporting documentation to assess compliance with relevant laws and regulations discussed above;

• We made enquiries of the trustees;

We considered opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including revenue recognition and the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to management override of the Charity's grant awarding process. Due to the Charity's extensive controls in place and regular oversight from the Board, the risk of fraud in this area is low.

The specific procedures we performed to address this area was as follows:

• We reviewed the integrity of the controls in place and discussed with management where any amendments had been made to ensure processes are up to date;

• Performed walkthrough tests on a sample of grants awarded covering General, SIN, Respite and Counselling grants;

• Ensured that all grants sampled had been approved by the board by reviewing meeting minutes of the Trustees and the SIN board committee;

• Through review of the meeting minutes we concluded that adequate controls are in place for the identification of potential conflicts of interests such that grants are not awarded to those with a financial interest in the Charity.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE MEMBERS OF COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

Our audit procedures were designed to respond to risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we are to become aware of it.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https:// www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Michael Greene BSc FCCA (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of Streets Audit LLP, Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants c/o The Old Exchange 64 West Stockwell Street Colchester Essex CO1 1HE Date: .........................

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

Unrestricted Unrestricted
funds funds
2025 2024
Notes £ £
Income from:
Donations and legacies 2 300 310
Investments 3 353,066 349,261
Total income 353,366 349,571
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities 4 553,194 457,743
Total expenditure 553,194 457,743
Net gains/(losses) on investments 8 1,346,698 744,450
Net income and movement in funds 1,146,870 636,278
Reconciliation of funds:
Fund balances at 1 January 2025 12,756,682 12,120,404
Fund balances at 31 December 2025 13,903,552 12,756,682

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2025

Notes
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
12
Investments
13
Current assets
Debtors
14
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: amounts falling due within one
year
15
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
The funds of the charity
Unrestricted funds
20		 2025
£
534
425,524
426,058
(206,446)		 £
166,697
13,517,243
13,683,940
219,612
13,903,552
13,903,552
13,903,552		 2024
£
538
204,187
204,725
(35,285)		 £
166,697
12,420,545
12,587,242
169,440
12,756,682
12,756,682
12,756,682

The financial statements were approved by the trustees on 2 March 2026

C Hayward MBA NPQH P W E Fitt FCA

Company registration number 00634588 (England and Wales)

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

Notes
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash absorbed by operations
18
Investing activities
Purchase of investments
Proceeds on disposal of investments
Investment income received
Net cash generated from investing
activities
Net cash used in financing activities
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash
equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year		 2025
£
(300,000)
550,000
353,066		 2024
£
£
(381,729)
(1,750,000)
1,735,510
349,261
603,066
-
221,337
204,187
425,524		 £
(465,544)
334,771
-
(130,773)
334,960
204,187

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

1 Accounting policies

Charity information

Colchester Catalyst Charity is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 14 Dedham Vale Business Centre, Manningtree Road, Dedham, Essex, CO7 6BL.

1.1 Accounting convention

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Memorandum of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and “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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

1.2 Charitable funds

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.

1.3 Incoming resources

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Other income including income tax recoverable is accounted for on an accruals basis as far as it is prudent to do so.

1.4 Resources expended

Grants and donations payable are recognised as expenditure when the grant is approved.

1.5 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Freehold land and buildings 0% depreciation

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

1 Accounting policies

(Continued)

1.6 Fixed asset investments

Fixed asset investments are initially measured at transaction price excluding transaction costs, and are subsequently measured at quoted sale value at the close of business on the balance sheet date. Changes in market value are recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year and carried to the capital fund. Transaction costs are expensed as incurred.

Quoted investments are included at quoted saleable value as at the close of business on the balance sheet date, any surplus or deficit arising on such valuation is carried to capital fund.

1.7 Impairment of fixed assets

At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).

1.8 Basic financial assets

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at amortised cost.

Financial assets comprise cash at bank and in hand, together with other debtors. Cash at bank and in hand is defined as all cash held in instant access bank accounts and used as working capital.

Financial liabilities held at amortised cost comprise all creditors except social security and other taxes, deferred income and provisions.

1.9 Employee benefits

The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.

1.10 Retirement benefits

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

1.11 Grants and donations payable

Grants and donations payable are recognised as expenditure when the grant is approved.

1.12 Gifts in kind

The Charity receives the benefit of work carried out by volunteers. No value is placed on this in the financial statements.

2 Income from donations and legacies

Unrestricted Unrestricted
funds funds
2025 2024
£ £
Donations and gifts 300 310

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

3 Income from investments

Unrestricted Unrestricted
funds funds
2025 2024
£ £
Other income 353,066 349,261
Expenditure on charitable activities
2025 2024
£ £
Direct costs
Staff costs 60,939 63,248
Office expenses 10,334 11,526
71,273 74,774
Grant funding of activities (see note 10) 470,303 372,174
Share of support and governance costs (see note 11)
Governance 11,618 10,795
553,194 457,743
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds 553,194 457,743

4 Expenditure on charitable activities

5 Trustees

None of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration, benefits or payments for expenses from the charity during the year.

6 Employees

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

2025 2024
Number Number
3 3

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

6
Employees
Employment costs
Wages and salaries
Other pension costs
There were no employees whose annual remuneration was more than £60,000.		 (Continued)
2025
2024
£
£
59,150
61,415
1,789
1,833
60,939
63,248		 (Continued)
2025
2024
£
£
59,150
61,415
1,789
1,833
60,939
63,248
63,248
7 Retirement benefit schemes
2025 2024
Defined contribution schemes £ £
Charge to profit or loss in respect of defined contribution schemes 1,789 1,833

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the charity in an independently administered fund.

8 Gains and losses on investments

Unrestricted Unrestricted
funds funds
2025 2024
Gains/(losses) arising on: £ £
Revaluation of investments 1,324,773 799,785
Sale of investments 21,925 (55,335)
1,346,698 744,450

9 Taxation

The company is a charity and is not liable to corporation tax on income. It is entitled to receive certain types of investment income without deduction of Income Tax at source.

Expenditure includes where appropriate irrecoverable Value Added Tax.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

10 Grants payable

Grants to institutions:
Charities etc
Special Individual Needs
Respite Care
Counselling		 2025
£
258,262
53,171
135,500
23,370
470,303		 2024
£
169,850
64,122
120,714
17,488
372,174

A detailed analysis of Grants and Donations over £4,000 made in the year can be found on page 7.

11 Support costs

Support costs Governance
costs
£
£
Audit fees
-
5,610
Accountancy
-
990
Sundries
-
5,018
-
11,618
Analysed between
Charitable activities
-
11,618		 2025
Support
costs
Governance
costs
£
£
£
5,610
-
5,710
990
-
918
5,018
-
4,167
11,618
-
10,795
11,618
-
10,795		 2024
£
5,710
918
4,167
10,795
10,795

Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £5,610 (2024: £5,710) for audit fees. An amount of £990 (2024: £918) was payable to an associate of the auditor, Streets Whittle & Partners LLP, for non-audit work.

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

12 Tangible fixed assets

Cost
At 1 January 2025
At 31 December 2025
Carrying amount
At 31 December 2025
At 31 December 2024
13
Fixed asset investments
Cost or valuation
At 1 January 2025
Additions
Valuation changes
Realised gains/(losses)
Disposals
At 31 December 2025
Carrying amount
At 31 December 2025
At 31 December 2024
Investments at fair value comprise:
Blackrock Charities UK Equity Fund (formerly Charishare):
Blackrock Cash Fund Class D Acc
Newton Growth & Income Fund for Charities:
Schroders Charity Multi Asset Fund		 Freehold land
and buildings
£
166,697
166,697
166,697
166,697
Listed
investments
£
12,420,545
300,000
1,324,773
21,925
(550,000)
13,517,243
13,517,243
12,420,545
2025
2024
£
£
3,482,933
3,372,260
302,470
-
7,350,511
6,823,140
2,381,329
2,225,145
13,517,243
12,420,545

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

14
Debtors
Amounts falling due within one year:
Prepayments and accrued income
15
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Other creditors
Accruals and deferred income		 2025
£
534
2025
£
200,746
5,700
206,446		 2024
£
538
2024
£
29,785
5,500
35,285

16 Outstanding grants payable

The analysis of grant funding and the balance outstanding included in other creditors for the period is as follows:

follows:
Note 2025 2024
Grants approved not yet paid - brought forward 29,357 38,072
Grants approved in period 10 470,303 372,174
Grants paid in period (299,784) (380,889)
Grants approved not yet paid - carried forward 199,876 29,357

17 Related party transactions

There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2024 - none).

COLCHESTER CATALYST CHARITY

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025

18
Cash generated from operations
Surplus for the year
Adjustments for:
Investment income recognised in statement of financial activities
(Gain)/loss on disposal of investments
Fair value gains and losses on investments
Movements in working capital:
Decrease in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
Cash absorbed by operations		 2025
£
1,146,870
(353,066)
(21,925)
(1,324,773)
4
171,161
(381,729)		 2024
£
636,278
(349,261)
55,335
(799,785)
373
(8,484)
(465,544)

19 Non-audit services provided by auditor

In common with many businesses of our size and nature we use our auditor to assist with the preparation of the financial statements.

20 Unrestricted funds

The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.

At 1 January
2025
£
General funds
12,756,682
Previous year:
At 1 January
2024
£
General funds
12,120,404		 Incoming
resources
£
353,366
Incoming
resources
£
349,571		 Resources
expended
£
(553,194)
Resources
expended
£
(457,743)		 Gains and
losses
£
1,346,698
Gains and
losses
£
744,450		 At 31
December
2025
£
13,903,552
At 31
December
2024
£
12,756,682